2017 was the tenth anniversary of Michael Bay’s first live action Transformers film as well as seeing the release of the fifth film in the franchise, Transformers: The Last Knight. With the property being as popular as ever, a sub genre of toys continues to grow along with it; third party Transformers.
These are toys of either new or existing characters made by independent companies that generally have much more complex parts and transformation steps than official Takara Tomy or Hasbro products. One of these companies, Unique Toys, recently released their take on the main antagonist of the fourth film in Bay’s series, Transformers: Age of Extinction, the intergalactic bounty hunter, Lockdown. The only official toy previously released for Lockdown from the film was a basic, deluxe class figure. Usually the big villains from the film series would get the larger, voyager class figure and sometimes even the largest, leader class figure. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen for Lockdown and fans had always voiced some disappointment. Well, Unique Toys took up the challenge and the results are honestly one of the greatest Transformers I have ever seen.
R-01 Peru Kill is the code name given to this figure by Unique as to use Lockdown is copyright forbidden for a 3rd party transforming toy company. This also applies to the trademarked Autobot and Decepticon logos appearing anywhere on the figure. However, Lockdown wore neither symbol in the film. This helps the screen accuracy of this particular figure more than other Bay film 3rd party Transformers. The main reason that this figure is so amazing is that it is extraordinarily close to the actual character you see on screen. Most of the Bay Transformers are such complex designs that recreating them in plastic form perfectly isn’t really possible. The CGI final designs are not conducive to being made into a toy completely. Meaning, parts will stand out on the toy that are much more well hidden in the film designs.
Peru Kill doesn’t have this issue. He is basically exactly what you seen on screen both in robot and vehicle mode.
Almost all the car parts are hidden. He almost looks like just a robotic character of some sort when not in vehicle mode. Here you can see the rear wheels covered by the tail lights on the robot’s calves.
Even the usual robotic pieces you see underneath the body of a Transformer all very well hidden. Fingers are the only clear, humanoid part you can see.
You have a hard time spotting that he is a Transformer at all and that’s why so many fans are taking notice of him. I’ll be honest, when I saw this prototype last spring, my jaw dropped. I put in my pre-order but there was a little, pessimistic voice in the back of my head that said the final version won’t look this good. But, it does.
As you can see, Peru Kill comes with some really large accessories!
The hyena type creature is one of a pack of many seen as pets and bodyguards of Lockdown in the film.
The hyena comes with articulation in the jaw, neck, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles and he really is large enough to look like a pet next to Peru Kill.
Next is a ridiculously huge rifle that he used in the film.
And just like in the film, the rifle can be affixed to Peru Kill’s head to appear to have transformed out of his body.
A small tab on the back of the head and a metal bar that connect to the spine are what attach the weapon.
This rifle can also be attached to the roof of the car.
Peru Kill also comes with an alternate bright, green, clear, plastic face plate.
A claw hand accessory that can extend in and out.
And a “seed” device as seen in the film that can explode like a molten metal grenade.
His face and chest are also marked with battle scars.
Copper colored missiles adorn the arms.
The vehicle mode of Peru Kill/Lockdown is the 2014 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 and it is a beautiful replica.
The tail lights and glass engine cover in the back are a red and clear plastic meant to look like glass.
The calipers of the disk breaks are visible behind each wheel.
In fact, the only thing missing from this vehicle mode is the Lamborghini badge on the front of the hood, something else forbidden for 3rd party Transformers.
This figure’s transformation is surprisingly easy for such a complex looking figure. And he is incredibly tall! Look at him in between two Transformers from the Human Alliance line, Barricade and Jazz.
You can clearly see how much taller he is. However in vehicle mode…
He is no bigger than the other two. In fact, he is a tad shorter than the other cars while being about the same length.
It’s hard to see how the robot can be made from the vehicle, in honesty.
I cannot recommend Peru Kill enough if you are a fan of Transformers of any sort. Now, unfortunately, he comes with a hefty price tag, around $125. This is due to his complex design, his limited production and the fact that he comes from a much smaller company than normal. He can be purchased from sites that specialize in Transformers such as TFSource.com
Thank you very much for reading and you can follow me on Twitter @Ode2Ash