MakeToys Contact Shot

Coming with an almost impossible amount of hype from reviewers and the online community, MakeToys Contact Shot is a figure that couldn’t possibly live up to expectations, or deliver on what it promises, right?

Wrong. So very, very wrong.

Contact Shot is everything you’ve read about it.

A third party essentially Masterpiece caliber version of Autobot Targetmaster Point Blank, complete with Peacemaker partner, Contact Shot is all around beautiful and a true masterpiece of a transforming robot. The figure is a terrific amalgam of plastic and die cast metal, giving it a great, sturdy nature, feeling like quality in your hands. This is not a paean to die cast, as some fans are known to engage in, but the combo of materials and their implementation results in a totally excellent toy experience. The usage of die cast is intelligent, as workmanlike a word choice as that is: the feet and leg mounted fin/spoiler parts, the thighs, all lower body areas so the balance or stance of the figure is not compromised. Having recently spent some time covering Masterpiece Shattered Glass OptimusPrime, a comparable figure in terms of the use of die cast and the impression that it makes would be the original, MP-01 Masterpiece Optimus Prime, another figure that makes intelligent use of the material, and feels like a quality piece as a result.

Aside from the metal, there is a lot to love about this figure. Real posable, all the lines of the robot mode are clean and sharp, except for the ankles, which basically exist as joints thanks to transformation elements, and some poses make the lower leg split apart ever so slightly to attain via ankle movement. The figure is lanky and tall, but there are enough joints to effect some real good poses, and the robot is well-proportioned and all, so even though it’s tall and slender in the limbs there is a serious sense of size and thickness. The legs are obviously very large, but the arms are more substantial than they sometimes appear in pictures. Photos occasionally make the arms look too thin, since they come down from the large shoulder pads and resolve in large forearms with comparatively small biceps. The legs repeat this Popeye-type appearance, with large lower legs and generally small thighs. The figure also comes with interchangeable faces and a different helmet, so the animation, toy, or comic book version of the character can be recreated. (As is usual here at the Coffin, swappable faces are a neat gimmick, but not one that gets much attention personally. –mr)

Posing is not an issue, as the figure is capable of doing almost anything asked of it with ease. Joints are everywhere, including a waist swivel, so even a chronically poor poser like yours truly can get Contact Shot to look cool. Aside from the Targetmaster partner, Contact Shot has a removable shield/vehicle spoiler that can be stored on the back or mounted on the arms. There is an extra blaster barrel piece as well, the stores on this part but enhances the blaster mode of the partner figure, but attaching it to the shield piece creates a second blaster weapon, or acts as a blaster when the partner is in partner mode. Said partner is a cool little figure, with a transformation that is pretty to-be-expected for a toy of this size, but serves as a rather excellent weapon.  The Targetmaster partner is decently poseable for the size and complexity, and becomes a pretty excellent weapon. The transformation is simple but of quality.

Vehicle mode is outstanding, a terrific futuristic car that looks exactly like the G1 Point Blank vehicle. The lines are sleek and there are a ton of cool little touches, like headlights that pop up and other things that flip up from the body, and are apparently supposed to be blasters or something for the vehicle. The transformation is COMPLEX, and the instructions are not that great, so a video is recommended for the first few transformations. The legs in particular transform through folding a bunch of panels out, and that is something of a harrowing experience the first time. The instructions are essentially color coded pictures of the figure with arrows drawn in to indicate movement, and I am not a fan of that approach. It often leads to confusion, or startled realizations that I’m doing this part wrong, fortunately caught in time so as not to lead to damage to a figure.

But, the car mode is rad. An opening cockpit allows the Targetmaster partner to sit inside the vehicle and drive it, and that is always cool. The car is not overly detailed, instead content being “just” a futuristic space car, but there are vents and molding here and here, so it’s not a flat, smooth vehicle. It just doesn’t need to be excessively detailed. Honestly, the car is striking, and the sparing use of light blue paint makes the red absolutely explode off the body. Panels tab together very nicely, and the vehicle holds together super well.

For all of the hype this figure got, and totally delivers on, it is a relatively plain figure. There are no flashy gimmicks, no real innovative or unusual or different or mindboggling things at work. Contact Shot is a terrific example of a figure that is well-made, well-designed, and well-executed. It is a converting robot figure that does every single thing it sets out to do marvelously well. Perhaps because it is not trying to do too much, or carry the weight of unnecessary gimmickry. A good transforming figure should have a) a good robot mode, b) a good vehicle mode, c) a satisfying conversion between them, regardless of complexity or simplicity, and d) be enjoyable. While these criteria are all subjective, as some people would even find ways to apply them to the heinous live action movie figures, it is generally accepted that they are indeed the criteria for a good transforming figure. Contact Shot checks off all of them with ease. It’s not part of a combiner team, and despite being a Targetmaster is not beholden to said gimmick so much that enjoyment is dependent on it. It is a fun figure that is strong in everything it attempts. Worthy of all its praise, to be sure.

If there is  drawback to Contact Shot, it would be the price. Standard etail prices for this figure hover around $130, give or take a few dollars, and that is pretty steep. Another Black Friday awesome deal landed this one on the Coffin’s shelves for a cool $99, and at that price, Contact Shot is quite the incredible value. At this point, having had it in the collection for a few months, and really getting to spend some time with it, I would have to say that the figure is worth the higher price tag, but I am glad I didn’t have to pay it. Truthfully, it is easy to recommend this figure even at the higher price, but I am not sure I would have bought it for that greater cost. I had put it off long enough to get a Black Friday deal on it, basically being comfortable with keeping it on my shopping list for however long it would take for the figure to go on sale, or maybe to be a large TFCon 2018 purchase. Contact Shot is a Masterpiece caliber representation of a character that I have no attachment to, and not a whole ton of interest in outside of aesthetics and a desire to experience the joy so many other people had reported when they got it in hand. But, good news, as at least one etailer appears to have lowered the cost permanently to $99, that etailer being TFSource, (who I am not shilling for. They already have a blogger in residence, one far, far better than the discount act I’m running here. –mr) so you too can grab Contact Shot for below retail and discover the magic. At $99, I would recommend that everyone buy one, whether you are in to Targetmasters or Masterpieces or whatever or not. This is a figure that embodies almost everything good and wholesome about converting robot toys, and you owe it to yourself to love yourself enough to experience this figure.