| 03.02.2018 – The Robots in Disguise TV Series may have wrapped up but that doesn’t stop Hasbro or Takara Tomy to produce further merchandise and tie-in products based on the characters that appeared in the show. Clearly there are more Robots in Disguise than Meets the Eyes.
Usually, promotional tie-ups with fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s make the property even more relevant despite mixed reactions of the recent iteration of the live-action films. With that in mind the Happy Meal toys based on the series were released subsequently between its series premiere and last year’s release. |
The 2015 Robots in Disguise series continued the aligned continuity that started with Transformers Prime in 2010 with all the versions of the famous characters being produced that Transformers continue to make toys outside of the manufacturers with McDonald’s Happy Meal tie-up there are interesting version of these characters that are a hit or miss with some are exclusive to a specific country of region.
With the Happy Meal toys released in Australia in early 2017 that featured Robots in Disguise and My Little Pony it produced five characters in each brand. But when it finally got released in Southeast Asia it was trimmed down to four characters each leaving one from Transformers and My Little Pony an exclusive to a select country and region that includes Australia that is not from Southeast Asia.
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Robots in Disguise: Drift
Originally an IDW Generation 1 character introduced in the comibooks has been adapted to other media first appearing in Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction as a Samurai Warrior with Ken Watanabe voicing the character, which has no connection the comicbook Drift.
Drift makes another appearance this time in the 2015 Robots in Disguise series as a Bounty Hunter with Honor that hunted down Bumblebee in the series and then becomes his personal bodyguard. Of course Hasbro and Takara Tomy would produce subsequent versions of the character, but the Happy Meal version take less of the colors of the animated counterpart and adapts a different aesthetics.
The lone Samurai is predominantly black with yellow-orange colors painted in the robot’s shoulders, arms hips, and parts of the legs. There is no articulation with this figure and it doesn’t transform into the Bugatti Veyron/Gumpert Apollo hybrid design super car that the actual toy turns into, but it has a sword slash action feature by the push of the button on its back.
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Sword Slashing Samurai
Given that this toys is produced by McDonald’s for its Happy Meal promotion there’s little detail on the robots back as you can see the arms are hallow, but gives you the impression this figure has enough heft to take down any Decepticon it sees. But you’ll be a bit disappointed to find how this figure looks cheap.
But in comparison to the other four characters that was included in the Happy Meal Toy. Drift has more than one accessory unlike Optimus Prime, Strong Arm, Grimlock, or even Bumblebee this figure still carry what the original IDW Generation 1 character has is the identity of a samurai wielding Autobot despite a different characterization in the animated TV series.
Despite being a Fast Food toy Drift has more details than its sword slashing action feature with aesthetics down to his robotic stache. Being an exclusive to a specific country or region makes this a sought after collectible that are into Happy Meal.
Overall RID Drift stands out beautifully that was produced by McDonald’s for their Happy Meal and an exclusive to a selected country and region means there’s a rarity to get your chance to have this figure that was not even available in Southeast Asia.
This was acquired early this year on a yard sale in the City of Marion’s Sunday Market for $2.00 AUD (Roughly ₱ 76.76 Philippine Peso **) as surprise find since the toy was even challenging to get when it was released in Australia as the toys are not released as a complete set most stores have a random character available every week.
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** - Currency Converter via Google.com
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