The first series of Built To Rule, I thought, in general, left quite a bit to be desired. While there were nice pieces there (like the Armadillo HAV), a lot of them were pretty forgettible, and seemed to work around the building block theme, and not necessarily try too hard to be successful G.I. Joe toys. Well, I think the second series really shows a large upswing in thought, effort, and desire, and we end up with some sets that not only make fun building block toys, but end up constructing some pretty neat vehicles as well.
I've never been a huge fans of large, lumbering armored vehicles like your typical tanks. As a kid, I wanted something different and unique with lots of potential uses, not just something that drives around with a huge cannon. I mean, as cool as the Mauler is, what does it really do besides crawl along and fire it's big gun?
However, armor isn't always a bad thing, and I have an affinity for smaller tracked vehicles, especially ones designed in such a way to indicate they have some speed to go along with their armor and firepower. Stuff like the Armadillo mini-tank and the COBRA Paralyzer always seemed pretty cool to me, because they were fast as well as potent, and were at least somewhat vulnerable as well. I'm happy to say that the Sledgehammer, at least in it's primary vehicle mode fits right in with those other two vehicles.
I was initially surprised at just how small the Sledgehammer was. I was expecting something a bit bigger, but instead got a real "mini" mini-tank. However, what the vehicle lacks in size it makes up for in style, at least to some degree.
The front armor is nicely sloped, and the armored pieces on the sides of the tank all have some unique sculpting elements to them, making them look pretty realistic and effective. BTR blocks are not all that visible from the outside, mostly hidden by detailed surface-blocks and other trimming that do a pretty nice job of making this look like a normal Joe vehicle, even though it's made of BTR blocks.
Something that is immediately obvious with this second series of Built To Rule is that Hasbro has designed a lot more interesting armor blocks and such so that the building foundation isn't quite so visible from the outside. What this does is give you the impression that this is an actual Joe vehicle instead of just a bunch of blocks slapped together to resemble one. The effect is pretty decent in this case, giving you some cool looking armored surfaces and a nicely effective looking tank.
The wheel system here works wonders too, hooking in nicely to the struts underneath, and threading the real rubber treads almost flawlessly. These rolling wheels and real treads go a long way towards making this a cool little vehicle, and help out a lot. It's a terrific little feature that makes a huge difference and makes the Sledgehammer more appealing.
The cockpit and control scheme still have your typical BTR problem, meaning they simply do not exist. Heavy Duty pretty much just sits in an empty cockpit with no levers, console, or buttons...heck, he barely has a seat. This is one aspect of the BTR line that really requires some imagination, and sometimes the figures roll around a little bit inside the cockpit, too, which doesn't help portray the realism at all. In the case of the Sledgehammer it's not quite so bad, because the cockpit is small and Heavy Duty is pretty bulky, so he fills it out well. Still, one glance inside the cockpit will tell you that as cool as this little tank is, there is simply no way to drive it!
Speaking of Heavy Duty, the version you get here is a pretty straight forward figure, but is still kinda neat. He's back to basics, and pretty much as different as you can get compared to the pseudo comic super hero armored version we got in Valor Vs. Venom. This Heavy Duty uses the same head, but borrows Hollow Point's body, which actually works really well. The simple pull over vest w/ pouches is nicely detailed and effective, and it doesn't really matter if Hollow Point uses the same mold, because the uniform design is generic enough to work for multiple characters.
His arms are decent, although the left seems a little bit longer than the right, and as is the norm with the BTR figures (I'm not sure why) he has a little bow-leggedness going on. The design of his legs is effective and appealing enough, and works for what it is. Ultimately, the Heavy Duty figure is pretty neat, but nothing terrific one way or another. This BTR set actually works on the merits of the vehicle and not the figure, which is sort of a nice change of pace.
At least until you take a good look at the Sledgehammer's second mode:
Now this thing is just flat out strange. It appears as though Heavy Duty is supposed to drive this thing standing up, using the main cannon as a steering mechanism as well as controlling the firepower. It's overly tall, clumsy, and the tires just do not work without the rubber treads running around them. I'm not sure how Hasbro came up with this one, but it seems obvious in this case at least that they focused their attention on the first mode of the vehicle, and then just tried to cobble something together for the second. The result is a vehicle that works really well in one modification, but does not work at all in the other. I see no reason to ever recommend using this strange second mode for anything.
Bizarre alternate mode and all, though, the Sledgehammer is still essentially a pretty cool little vehicle. Nice sloped armor, and a great angular main cannon all provide some interesting design asthetics, and it's size also means a decent price tag as well. The figure isn't anything amazing, but he works fine, and the vehicle overall is more successful than not. It would seem Hasbro has started to learn how to walk that fine line between a fun toy to build and a fun toy to actually play with.
The first series of Built To Rule, I thought, in general, left quite a bit to be desired. While there were nice pieces there (like the Armadillo HAV), a lot of them were pretty forgettible, and seemed to work around the building block theme, and not necessarily try too hard to be successful G.I. Joe toys. Well, I think the second series really shows a large upswing in thought, effort, and desire, and we end up with some sets that not only make fun building block toys, but end up constructing some pretty neat vehicles as well.
