Not quite a fan of G1 Inferno besides the fun episode “Auto Bersek” that he shared his spotlight with his partner Red Alert. Skipped him when he was on the shelf and when later I got Red Alert, the desire of getting him is stronger but was always scared off by the evilBay with its after market price. Since he is always a optional good addition for me, acquiring him isn’t always a high priority and recently during the drought period playing catch up, I ran across a good deal with a local seller on craiglist that includes Inferno. Finally patience paid off.

Inferno’s alternate mode is a smaller size fire truck with a water gun, no ladder. The windows and emergency lights are in clear plastic, which is nice that I can see through to see the seats. Color is mostly red with some silver, black, and brown. His paint jobs aren’t really lacking in this mode but there are a lot of details here and there that I can easily paint to bring up even more. This truck has six wheels and they roll nicely on the floor.Robot parts are well hidden here except there are some open spaces on the back that you can see the legs. Also except the back of the truck, all panels are well connected and he is quite sturdy.

Normally I don’t mind easy transformation if it is well designed. Prime is a good example and Inferno is very close. Only he has few panels to flip here and there and honestly they can be put in a better use. Inferno’s robot mode is taller than voyager Prime and he looks wide and blocky if you look from the front. He has thick limbs and broad chest which makes him look very nice. But if you look at him from the side or back, something really went wrong. While many of the Transformers have back heavy or back kibble issues, he has no back. Or he is missing his back. It’s just the front end of his truck cab. Since he has those thick limbs with those panels flipping around, why the designers couldn’t sacrifice some of the extra plastics to make him a back is beyond my understanding. Besides that, he is well balanced and can pose well. The water gun is like Megatron’s fusion cannon style, hanging down on his forearm. I don’t think it would be difficult and could be much nicer if the water gun is removable and can be held in his hands. The front bumper can flip down to form a ……….. skirt for cover his crutch area but won’t affect the leg movement. Color wise is still pretty much red with black and brown, but there are also plenty of details to help adding colors. Overall, he is a nice toy but some strange designs to take him away from perfect, like voyager Prime.