Transformers the Ride Universal Studios Hollywood exclusive Evac figure review

If you've been to Universal Studios in California (or Singapore) you may have had a chance to hop on Transformers The Ride and immerse yourself in a 3D extravaganza. Afterwards you can immerse your credit card at the ride's gift shop and snag a brand new deluxe mold, Evac. His packaging is nicely done and similar to the Transformers Universe figures with a bio on the back. He's a 'Supercar' and more importantly your attraction ride. That's right, you ride in an Evac during the show.Big thanks to LegendAntiHero who picked one up for me! Check him out on Facebook and Twitter!

Sculpting for Evac is a brand new mold even though some mistake him for a DotM Roadbuster repaint and he's quite nice. The headsculpt is very detailed, there's all sorts pistons and wires running through his limbs, and the inner chest cavity is skeletal looking. He has movable waist guns that double as the car's weapons too. His back wings fold out and have sculpted rocket boosters on them. There are four c-clips on his shoulders and arms allowing for weapon placement though you will have to supply your own.

Articulation for Evac is like your basic deluxe. Ball neck, bicep, and hips. Good 90 deg range on the elbows and knees. He doesn't have wrist or waist movement but it doesn't seem to hinder him as you can turn his arm to aim his wrist guns. What does hinder him is the lack of forward tilting ankle. He has amazing side-tilt, able to do a complete split but no way to step forward. If you can over look this he's fine but this may be a deal-breaker for some.

Evac's paint apps are cleanly applied on both modes. The blue and silver looks nice breaking up his bot mode and the yellow lights look sharp on his chest. On his alt mode you can see the green hex-tampo which is done cleanly as well as autobot logos on either side. Silver rims complete the look. His blue light-piping was painted over with yellow so it no longer works. A savvy customizer may be able to scrape that off however.

Alt mode is a 'Supercar' and as mentioned the car you sit in during the ride. A close look through the windshield reveals four tiny seats for the audience. The overall vehicle look is something of a cross between the shoebox-design of War for Cybetron and a concept car. The thruster in the back looks neat and the waist guns now poke out of the headlights, another cool feature. The car rolls fine and looks good doing so without a ton of cut lines. Lifting a wing up kind of opens the 'door' to the seating.

Transformation is a bit complex requiring you to twist then fold the waist, line up the shoulders, and fiddle a bit. The picture of the figure has the back mistransformed so go by the step-by-step pics on the instructions. Evac has no accessories but the C-clips allow you to add your on in bot and alt mode. He has 5mm holes for hands but no mech-tech ports hinting he may have been designed before the DotM plug-in craze.

So what's the verdict on Evac? If you can get past the ankle issue he's a really neat deluxe. I like the idea he has a jetpack on his back and his overall design in both modes is pretty decent. He's $21 at the gift shop and keeps selling out though they do get entire cases of him in when they restock. You can snag him off of Ebay (all eBay links are eBayPartnerNetwork affiliate links that help me out!) to avoid buying a ticket or if you have a friend in California pay for their ticket to get in and buy one for you.