Last month I made an order from TFSource.com. The order was shipped through Fedex. I’m not the biggest fan of Fedex and this recent order has further reaffirmed that sentiment. I’ll spare you all the details of everything that went wrong with this shipment, but this afternoon it finally arrived. Every item in my order appears to be intact. Here’s what I got:

• Predaking 2010 Reissue Boxed Set by Takara
• BTS-03 G1 Prime Matrix of Leadership Upgrade Set by BTSToys
• TFX-04 Protector Trailer by FansProject
• TFX-05 Sidearm by FansProject

They shipped this in a pretty big box, though its not the biggest box I’ve received for ordering collectibles. Here’s a pic next to a soda can for size comparison.

TFSource is known for packing their items well and I would have to agree.

All items are brand new, but to save money I bought all C9 versions. As far as I can tell, the boxes for TFX-04, TFX-05, and BTS-03 all seem perfect. However, the box for the Predaking set is flawed. Below is a pic.

Notice the side of the box is kinda pushed out. There is a piece of tape holding the side panel in place. The tape looks factory to me, but I really don’t know. Not sure if a C10 would be better, and I’m not sure if Takara boxed them up bad or if TFSource messed with it. But regardless, I’m not too concerned since I plan on opening this set. I’m cool as long as there are no issues with the figures. As a kid I dreamed of owning the Predacons. In my youth, there was no way my parents would’ve bought me all 5 Predacons, and my allowance was next to nothing. There was a reissue set in 2005. This was around the time I got back into TFs. Most dealers asked between $150 to $200 for the set. That amount can seem like a lot when you’ve just started to buy TFS. So I hesitated, and before I knew it they were all sold out. 6 years and 350 TFs later, I’m now kinda desensitized to TF spending and I didn’t even blink when I chose to buy it this time. In retrospect I’m glad I didn’t buy the 2005 set, because I hear the 2010 set has die-cast and the 2005 set does not.

I am on a mission to have all the G1 Combiner sets. The figures could be G1 or reissue. I now have 4 Combiner teams complete: Combaticons (G1), Technobots (G1), Seacons (reissue), and now Predacons (reissue). I have some other figures of various teams from G1: Air Raid, Breakdown, Dragstrip, Dead End, and Seawing. Dead End is missing all accessories, and Seawing is kinda unnecessary since I got the complete Seacon set as a reissue. I’ll be looking for other Combiner figures, and I’m hoping Hasbro/Takara would do more reissues.

I’m looking forward to opening the other items as well. Actually, I already opened BTS-03 and I’m really liking this upgrade set. I like it so much I may review it in a future post. And I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Protector armor and Sidearm, so it’s a pretty sure bet I will be impressed with those.

As a sidebar, this is my 100th post on this blog. I’ve been enjoying the experience and I will keep this blog going for as long as I can. Long Live TFs! Transform and Roll Out!

Here is a quick review of Generations Thundercracker. Much like the quick review for Generations Dirge, I’m just gonna point out some differences between the recently mass-released Generations Thundercracker and the semi-limited Henkei Thundercracker. I think all TransFans who are even remotely interested in Classics-verse figures are already familiar with this mold, so there’s no need for me to go in-depth.

As far as I know, the Generations figure is the third Thundercracker released in the Classics-verse. The first one was a Botcon 2007 exclusive (released with exclusives of Thurst and Dirge) and it was extremely limited. The second one produced was the Japanese only Henkei version. The price of the Henkei was more reasonable, but the figure still had a limited status so it wasn’t cheap either. I bought mine for about $60 to $70 at Botcon 2009 from BBTS so I could complete my Seeker squadron.

TransFans who bought Henkei Thundercracker will tell you that, construction wise, this is the worst figure produced by Hasbro/Takara of all the CHUG Seekers. The joints on this figure is way too loose. In jet mode its not too bad since everything comes together as one, but in robot mode the problems become obvious. The leg/hip joints swivel way too easily. The back wings do not stay up. And worst of all, the cannons do not stay on the arms! Seriously, shaking the figure just a little in robot mode, and the cannons come right off. Either the pegs are too small or the holes on the arms are too big. Many fans have resorted to buying the KO version of this figure even after they got the Henkei, simply because the KO version is better built. At one time I thought about buying the KO also. But then I kinda forgot, and before I knew it Hasbro announced they will be doing a mass release Thundercracker in the US in the Generations line. I got mine for about $12 and received it early this month. I’m happy to report that Generations Thundercracker have no quality issues. This is the figure to get. But there are paint and color variations between the two. Below I point out some key differences.

JET MODE:

• Generations is a darker shade of blue. I think Generations is more G1 accurate to the toy. More on this later.
• Generations has the nosecone painted black which is accurate to the G1 toy. Nosecone on Henkei is blue and that’s G1 accurate to the show. No preference from me here.
• The Decepticon symbols on the Generations fig have the crown towards the rear, while Henkei has it in the opposite orientation. I like the orientation on Generations better because when you transform into robot, the symbol will be right side up. Generations also has a silver outline around the symbols so they look better. Generations wins here.
• The red and white stripes on the wings and tail fins are slightly different. See the pics above. They both look good.
• Henkei has a small Decepticon symbol on the nosecone and Generations does not.

Check out the pic above with the 2 CHUG figures next to a G1-reissue. I know it’s hard to tell from this pic, but it looks to me like the blue on the Generations fig matches closer to G1.

ROBOT MODE:

• Henkei has chrome on the guns while Generations does not. This is about the only thing that is hands down better on the Henkei.
• Shoulder stripes on Generations are painted red while on Henkei they’re painted white.
• There’s a little bit of red painted near the waist on Generations. The same area on Henkei only has the base blue color.
• On the legs of the Henkei, there are panels near the knees that are painted silver and black. This same area on Generations is unpainted.
• Pattern on the shoulder/intake are different. Generations has little triangles painted red. Henkei has the base design painted black.
• I didn’t take a pic of this, but Henkei also has Decepticon symbols on the back of the wings (wing underside in jet mode). Generations does not.
• The launchers on Generations are mostly black. Henkei launchers are mostly blue.
• In the chest area near the cockpit, Generations is colored silver. The same area on Henkei is colored blue.
• There is a small Decepticon symbol on the chest of the Generations. Henkei does not have this.

One last thing that I wanted to point out are the missile launchers. On the Henkei, the missile shoots farther, but its kinda hard to press the button. Sometimes it feels like its stuck. With Generations, the missiles don’t fly as far, but pressing down on the button is not an issue.

Below is a pic of all my opened Thundercracker figures.

From left to right: Generations, Titanium, Henkei, Movie

In conclusion, I definitely recommend buying Generations over Henkei. It’s way cheaper and way better built. Only buy the Henkei if you must have that particular Thundercracker color scheme. Back in 2009, I had a feeling Hasbro would eventually mass produce Thundercracker, but wasn’t 100% certain so I bought a Henkei anyway. I should have more faith in my own TF instincts.

This reminds me, I still need to buy a MP Thundercracker. I’m hoping Hasbro will do one here in the US like they did Starscream and Skywarp (both Walmart exclusives). Transform and Roll Out!

The time has come for another exciting round of Before Carly! As always, I will start by what I think was the official description given by Seibertron:

“Spike is quite the ladies man. He eventually married Carly, but she was not the only one to have fun in the backseat of Bumblebee.”

The name of each girl is made to sound like various characters in the TF universe, and each part of every name is based on real names I’ve seen. See how many TFs you can identify while you contemplate how does a geek like Spike get his freak on with all these babes. My theory is Perceptor was able to use Autobot technology to isolate some unknown human pheromones and Spike put those to use the best way he knows how.

Frequent users of WordPress.com will tell you that all JavaScript is locked out. Some fancy DHTML tags are also locked out. This forced me to use a lame way to reveal the name of the TF in previous editions of Before Carly (links appear below). However, CSS still works so I was able to leverage it to build a more intuitive way to reveal the answer. Hover the mouse over each girl’s name to see the name of the TF. Enjoy!
 

Links to previous posts of Before Carly are below:
Before Carly
Before Carly 2
Before Carly 3

Transform and Roll Out!

In my last post I mentioned I made an order from Hasbrotoyshop for Wheeljack, Thundercracker, and Lugnut. The two deluxe figures were shipped out first, and Lugnut was shipped out about four days later. Weird that they all arrived on the same day. Here are some pics.

I’ll be back with my thoughts later. Transform and Roll Out!

It is now the end of March. Looking back, this has been a very productive month as far as hunting for new TFs. I will show here what I got this month, in the order that I found them.

Highbrow

Highbrow is a voyager figure that has been released for some time now. If I’m not mistaken, he is released under The Hunt For Decepticons subline. Right before Halloween of 2010, I met up with a dude from Craigslist to buy Armada Starscream from him. At that time he told me there has been sightings of Highbrow at the local Target. Other sightings on Seibertron does confirm that this figure has been released. So I’ve been keeping my eyes open, and almost 5 months later, I find one around mid March in said Target. To this day I’ve only seen one Highbrow. He’s hard to find in my area. I forgot to take pics of him in the box, so here he is in robot mode.

Highbrow is ok in robot mode, but his alt mode is where he really shines. I can’t think of any other TF that has a WWII plane has his alt mode. The plane is well constructed, has plenty of detail, is very robust, and simply looks awesome. The spinning propeller gimmick is also a nice touch. For a pic of the alt mode, check out my last post where he appears in a group shot.

Kup and Scourge

Around the middle of the month, the GF and I had sushi near her place. There was a TRU nearby so naturally I suggested we stop and take a look. This TRU is located in a really crowded shopping center on a major avenue in the heart of Silicon Valley. Navigating around the parking lot was next to impossible with all the cars trying to get in and out. When I finally parked, I complained to her that we’re not coming back unless I find something. As it turns out, I found Kup and Scourge here. So I guess we’ll be going back.

I opened both of these and they are awesome figures. Kup as a pickup is a great update for 2011. The alt mode is solid and the robot mode more resembles how he looks in the G1 Movie. Scourge in this form is way less of a shell-former. Oh btw, he his NOT a Targetmaster. I always assumed he is because of how the gun looks and the fact that Universe Cyclonus is the Targetmaster version. The gun does Transform like Targetmaster figs, but it is so he can use them as twin pistols or one larger rifle. This kinda reminds me of the Double Targetmasters in G1, except the guns do not transform into figures. I highly recommend both Kup and Scourge.

G2 Laser Optimus Prime

The following day I went to Target to buy some everyday supplies. This is a different Target from the one where I found Highbrow (I got a bunch of Targets near me). If I’m at any store that sells TFs I’ll be sure to stop by and check it out (more on this later). On this trip I found G2 Laser Optimus Prime in the Reveal the Shield line.

I opened this figure as well. Overall he’s not too bad, but he does have some flaws. I like the robot mode. The mechanism of the wheel transformation is not too intuitive. In fact I already broke off some tabs trying to figure it out. Also, in alt mode it is hard to store the sword where it’s supposed to go. I can’t recommend this Prime as highly as the 3 figures above.

Wheeljack, Thundercracker, Lugnut

About two weeks later, I made an order from HasbroToyShop.com for Wheeljack, Thundercracker, and Lugnut. I saw that they were available and in stock, so I went ahead and bought them. I think I already mentioned repeatedly that I bought Jazz and Tracks from HTS around Christmas and I didn’t see them in stores til about 3 months later. I have a feeling the same thing will happen again for these 3 figures. I don’t feel like waiting for 3 months to get them, so I made the order. I don’t have them in hand yet, so no pics to show. But I’ll be sure to do that for a later post.

Perceptor

After work in that same day, I went back to the shopping center of the Target where I found Prime for a haircut. Since Target is right next door, I stopped by real quick to check it out. I’m glad I did because I found Perceptor.

I still have not opened Perceptor, but I plan to real soon.

I mentioned earlier in this post I will stop by the TF section of any store that sells TFs. This includes even clothing stores! For instance, earlier this week I was at Kohl’s. For those that don’t know, they do have a toy section and they carry TFs. They generally put it all the way in the back. Anyway, I found a whole bunch of Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz at Kohl’s! They had like 5. Before the Kohl’s visit, I only saw him twice at different Targets, and only 1 each. So how did Kohl’s get 5?! I can’t explain it. Either Hasbro has a really weird distribution system, or there are way too many TF hunters out there camping out at the Targets and Walmarts and TRUs that as soon as some new figs come in, they hunters snatch them. I didn’t see anything I needed on this visit. However, I should point out that Kohl’s sell the deluxes at $14.99 each. Ouch! But regardless, I think I will make Kohl’s a regular hunting spot from now on.

Well, that’s it for March. I don’t plan on hunting for TFs today (but you never know, hehe). NCAA March Madness is coming to a close with only 4 schools left, and it feels like I’ve had a March Madness of my own in getting all these TFs. I already have plans for some more TFs in April, so the Madness will continue. I might do full reviews of some of the figures here. Transform and Roll Out!

Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone! To honor this holiday I decided to take pics of my green color Transformers. I didn’t think there would be that many green robots, but after looking through my TF List, there turned out to be more than I thought.

Below are the TFs that would never get pinched on St Patrick’s Day. I know this post is dated 3/18, but that’s only because I left my time zone settings at default on WordPress, which is like 7 hours ahead of Pacific Time. Here in California it is still 3/17.

The Autobots
Bottom row: Animated Bulkhead. Middle row (left to right): Movie Ratchet, G1 Hoist, Movie Highbrow, Movie Dune Runner, Alternator Hound. Top row (left to right): Universe Air Raid, Botcon Springer, Warbot Defender, Universe Hound.

The Decepticons
Front row (left to right): Movie Hailstorm, Robots in Disguise Rollbar, Movie Brawl, Movie Bludgeon, Universe Brawl. Top row (left to right): Robots in Disguise Mega-Octane, Animated Oil Slick, Animated Waspinator, Universe Acid Storm.

Today was also the start of March Madness. This is my favorite weekend as far as sports go. 16 games today, 16 more tomorrow, and 16 more over the weekend… I can barely contain myself!

There were some very close college basketball games today. I did my undergrad at UCLA so of course I was happy to see them beat Michigan St. UCLA was up by 23 points with about 8 minutes left in the game, so naturally I thought this one was all wrapped up. But by a weird combination of the Spartans making 3s and getting offensive rebounds and the Bruins not making their free throws, Michigan St. made of game of it down the stretch. In the end UCLA barely survived 78-76. I’m happy for the win, but the Bruins can’t continue this kind of sloppy play if they hope to have any kind of chance against Florida next round (who knocked them out of both 06 and 07 tournaments).

Go UCLA! Bruins… Transform and Roll Out!

I’m not the biggest fan of the Movie designs, something I’ve repeatedly mentioned on this blog. However, early prototype pics of Shockwave from the 3rd movie (Dark of the Moon, or DOTM) have begun to surface. I gotta say, this Shockwave looks pretty damn cool. I’m liking this look and the toy is shaping up nicely. Check out the pics.

Based on these pics I can’t tell if this is a Voyager or Deluxe, but he looks pretty cool regardless. His colors, head design, arm cannon, and the tube connecting the cannon, these are all terrific homages to G1. If the final production toy looks anything like this, I’m buying one for sure.

On a related note, I recently picked up a brand new Alternator Shockblast, who we all know is really Shockwave. I got him relatively cheap on Ebay. I could have got this at $20 when he was first released, but I waited too long and before I knew it they stopped making Alternators. I’m glad I was able to secure a brand new one now in the $30 range.

Go Shockwave! Transform and Roll Out!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! I spent most of today watching all 5 NBA games and opening some TF figures. My beloved Lakers got embarrased by the Heat. No effort and thus no holiday cheer for the Lake Show.

On this day exactly a year ago, I reviewed ROTF Dirge. So in keeping with that strange holiday tradition, today I will review Generations Dirge.

There’s been so many figures made out of this mold already, so I think by this time everyone already knows what the CHUG Seekers are all about. So I’m just gonna point out some differences between Generations Dirge and Henkei Dirge.

First some background info. The first CHUG Dirge produced was the Botcon 2007 exclusive Dirge, which is really just a repaint of Classic Ramjet. This was extremely limited and online dealers wasted no time asking $150+ for the figure. Then in 2009, the Japanese only Henkei line released a new Dirge that had a more G1 accurate wing mold. This was also a limited release so most likely you would’ve paid between $60 to $70 for one, but getting one from an importer was not difficult. Generations Dirge is the first CHUG Dirge produced for mass retail, MSRP at $12.99, though usually you can find him at around $9 at Target or Walmart.

The following compares Henkei with Generations Dirge. I apologize for not taking pics of the two Dirge side by side. I am home for the Holidays and I left Henkei Dirge in my apt, so the following comparisons come from me looking at the Generations toy and old pics of Henkei dirge on this blog.

JET MODE:

• Generations Dirge has red and white stripes in a pattern that is more G1 accurate on the wings, as opposed to Henkei’s blue and white stripe patterns.
• Generations shade of blue seems a little more G1 accurate. The blue on the Henkei figure looks too bright.
• The Henkei figure has a nice Decepticon logo on the nose cone. Generations does not.
• The grey bits on the Henkei figure is painted black on the Generations figure. I think grey is more G1 accurate here.
• The wing Deception logos are painted closer to the body and in one orientation on the Henkei figure (crown towards the nose) whereas the Generations figure has it farther out and in the opposite orientation (crown towards the rear). Honestly, half the time they go one way and half the time they go the other way, so I really don’t know which orientation is the right one. However, Henkei Dirge has a smaller Decepticon logo on the nose, and it doesn’t match the orientation on the wings.

ROBOT MODE:

• Henkei Dirge has some nice chrome bits on this guns. Generations Dirge gets no love on the bling.
• Again, most of the grey bits on Henkei Dirge is painted black on Generations Dirge. I think grey is more G1 accurate.
• Generations Dirge has a small Decepticon logo on the chest that Henkei Dirge does not.
• The Henkei figure has stripes painted on both sides of the wing so in robot mode you can still see the pattern from the front. Generations figure has stripes painted on one side only.
• There are other minor color scheme variations between the two figures, such as the locations of the blue, red, and black/grey. These are two separate interpretations of the character. Generations Dirge has black forearms which is accurate to the G1 toy but not the G1 show (grey forearms). Henkei Dirge has blue forearms.

So which one of these is better? I really can’t say. Construction wise, I think the Henkei figure is a little better, though the Generations toy is also very good. Neither of these is like Henkei Thundercracker in terms of mold quality so it’s a non-issue here.

If you can only get one, I definitely recommend you get the Generations figure since it’s so much cheaper and they’re really about the same. If you already have the Generations toy, then I would not recommend getting the Henkei because spending $60 for something so similar is not a good investment in my opinion. Conversely, if you got the Henkei and is considering getting Generations, I say go for it since its so cheap. But you won’t lose either way. Both figures are great interpretations of the character.

On a related note, I think I have a total of 13 figures of this mold if my count is right. They are: Classic Starscream, Classic Ramjet, Classic Skywarp x 2, Universe Starscream (G1 color) x 2, Universe Acid Storm x 2, Henkei Thundercracker, Henkei Thrust, Henkei Dirge, Generations Thrust, and now Generations Dirge.

That’s all for now. I hope all TransFans got all the TFs they wanted for Christmas. Transform and Roll Out!

Earlier this month I decided to make an order with Hasbrotoyshop.com. Seibertron will usually post when new figures are available for purchase. They made the announcement that Jazz and Tracks are out and HTS had them. I had a feeling I was not going to find them before Christmas in the stores. And being the G1 guy that I am, I had to have them during the Holidays, so I made the order.

Usually I prefer to hunt for figures in the stores. I find it fun to hunt for them, I like to save on shipping, and I can usually find it cheaper than what HTS wants, which is MSRP. But like I said, I must have Jazz and Tracks now, so I made an exception. Plus HTS was doing free shipping for orders over $50. In this order I got Jazz, Tracks, Dirge, Skullgrin, and Cybertronian Cliffjumper. Dirge was $12.99, while the rest of them was $11.99 each.

HTS divided this order into 2 separate shipments. Dirge, Skullgrin, and Cliffjumper came first. I guess those were in stock and ready to ship. Actually, I found these 3 when I found Thunderwing at Target, each for less at $9.04. So in some ways I was kicking myself for the HTS order. But I just kept reminding myself that I did it for Jazz and Tracks and it’ll be worth it. These 2 finally arrived yesterday and I now have them all in hand!

I opened Dirge before Jazz and Tracks arrived, so he’s all by his lonesome.

HTS used boxes not at all appropriate for what they were shipping. The backing was Jazz and Tracks was bent when they arrived. They were stuffed into a box not long enough for the backing.

On the other hand, the box used for the other 3 was way too big. Again, I already opened Dirge when I took this pic, but just imagine him in the box below and there’s still way too much space. Length and width of the box is about right for 3 deluxe figs, but the box is way too deep.

I guess I should be grateful that the shipping was free. Shipping for something this large would not be fun to pay for.

There’s certainly enough TFs here to make for a fun Cybertronian Christmas. I still haven’t opened the Power Core Combiners that I got from Thanksgiving, so I still got those to mess with. I’ll be doing reviews of some of these, so stay tuned. Have a safe and happy holiday my fellow TransFans. Transform and Roll Out!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was in the process of moving. Moving is such a pain in the butt, especially when you have a lot of collectibles. It pretty much took up all my time for the last 2 weeks so I haven’t really had time to hunt for TFs or write in this blog. I finally got done with the move last Friday, so on Sat I had some time to do a hunt. I went to Target and I was lucky enough to find Thunderwing. He is a rare find as of this writing. There are 28 sightings on Seibertron currently, but only one of them is in California. He’s also all sold out on Hasbrotoyshop.com.

I’m done moving, but a lot of my stuff is still unpacked at the new place. I need a break from unpacking so I’m gonna do a review. Here we go.

Below is Thunderwing in the package.

For those that are not familiar with the character, Thunderwing was a G1 Pretender. Pretenders came around after the US G1 cartoons officially stopped. Thunderwing was a Mega Pretender (the shells transform), and they appeared even later. So yeah, he arrived just in time to see G1 come to an end. I’m only aware of the character because he played a fairly significant role in the comics. He is also the lead villain in Stormbringer, where he is depicted as being huge and very powerful.

This Generations figure seems to take cues from both the G1 and Stormbringer versions of the character. His alt mode seems to be some kind of stealth jet fighter. I really like the look of this jet. His appearance in this mode is sleek to say the least. Hasbro has been really good about hiding the bulk for their jet figures as of late, unlike earlier figures (especially from the first Movie) where the bottom is pure bulk. Thunderwing is no exception. I also like the shape of the wings, the canards, and the tail fins. There’s some nice detailing all over the jet.

The colors are a pure homage to G1, where he is mostly white with stripes of blue here and there. I don’t remember what was the color of the cockpit in G1, but in this version I like the bright orange. It kinda gives the colors that little extra something. The missiles are also the same orange to match. The thrusters and missile launchers are purple, and I think that was the color of his G1 weapons. The Decepticon logo is printed on the end of both wings. A very nice color scheme overall.

Thunderwing has enough guns in jet mode to seriously take out some Autobots that dare get in his way. He’s got two black guns near the intake. These can be rotated to shoot to the side. The missiles on the wings do fire and they can also be rotated. Oh, these are probably some of the most powerful launchers I’ve tested in all my TFs.

The shot above shows the bottom of the jet. He’s got landing gears at the usual positions that you would expect. Obviously they can be retracted. It is not hard to get these landing gears out.

As you can see from the pic above, the front nosecone area can be detached to form a mini-drone. I think this feature is a pure homage to G1. The G1 figure, as far as I know, also had some kind of drone, so it’s nice to see Hasbro not forget us older fans. I don’t think this drone serves any real purpose on this figure, but it’s still kind of a nice feature. You can simply ignore it and leave it on the main figure if you find it useless.

I do have one gripe about the jet mode, and it is best illustrated with the pic above. In this shot, I purposely left the wings extended to the side. This is what you do when you transform him to robot mode. My issue is that it is really easy to accidentally misshape the jet into this configuration. This is because there is nothing locking the blue pieces of the wings in place where it needs to be. So if you’re trying to rotate or remove the missiles, or if you’re just being a little too rough with the figure, the wings will come apart as shown above. I think the easiest thing that Hasbro could have done here is put a tab on the arms somewhere, and that can stick into a slot on the underside of the wings. This way, both the wings and arms are locked in place.

But other than the issue mentioned above, Thunderwing in jet mode is still well made and well engineered. I find no other weaknesses with the jet mode.

Thundering is only rated a 2 on the new transformation scale of 0 to 5. This ranks him as easy, and I agree with this score. He’s about the same difficulty as Generations WFC Megatron (who is rated a 3 but I think it should have been a 2). Hasbro came up with some very clever and new twists on the jet to robot transformation. When I describe it here in words, it will sound like the same tried and true formula for a jet transformation (ex: nose and wings form the back, sides become the arms, back of jet form the legs, etc). However, there are refreshing implementations to how all this is done, and the result is a transformation that feels like nothing we’ve seen before. For example, the waist and upper legs have a mechanism that folds outwards in robot mode to extend the legs, instead of the usual method of pulling the legs out. However, I should point out that the transformation is pretty easy. Fans that found issues with the simplicity of Universe Silverbolt may also find issues here, though Thunderwing is not that bad. Personally, I think this is a nice change from all the more difficult TFs we’ve been getting recently. You can really have fun with this figure and transforming him won’t feel like work.

I mentioned that in G1 Thunderwing is a Pretender. In this version, his robot mode resembles the Pretender shell and not his G1 robot mode. ROTF Bludgeon started this trend for G1 Pretender characters and I’m happy to see it continued.

Thunderwing looks quite cool in robot form. His appearance is without a doubt G1 inspired. His head mold, color scheme, and overall body styling resembles the shell closely. However, since this robot mode is not a shell, Hasbro is able to make him appear nice and lean, unlike G1 shell toys where they’re all clunky and bulky. In the comics, Thunderwing is almost always inside the shell, so this is the robot form that we are used to. It’s awesome to see this figure represent that interpretation faithfully.

This figure can be put into a wide array of poses. He’s got no waist articulation and the knees are not on a ball joint, but I think those are the only limitations. I’m sure there are fans out there that will cry and whine over this, but it’s something I can easily live with. Construction-wise, I see no issues. Thunderwing hold his poses well. All his joints are just right, not too tight and not too loose. I don’t detect any paint or assembly goofs on my figure. Some might say he’s got too much kibble on his back, but I like the way it looks. Kinda reminds me of the design of the Aerialbots, having a mini-jet on the back. Besides, I think this is how he looked in the comics.

Thunderwing is able to hold a weapon in each hand for some serious twin gun action, or you can combine the two guns into one giant rifle for some heavy fire power. There are tabs and holes on the launchers designed to do this, though you won’t see that anywhere on the instruction manual. I saw someone point this out on YouTube. Oh, btw, I want to take this time to commend Hasbro for printing transformation instructions to go forward and back, instead of simply saying to reverse the process to go back. They’ve been doing this in the latest batch of figures. Personally I don’t need it, but I know it’s been a complaint by the more casual fans, such as parents trying to transform it for their kids.

I do want to gripe about the scale of this figure, and I guess just with Generations figures in general. They are all deluxe class, meaning they’re all the same size. Scale wise, that’s just wrong. Bumblebee cannot be the same size as Megatron. Thunderwing is supposed to be HUGE in the comics. Don’t get me wrong, having a figure is better than not having one at all, but Hasbro could improve on the size. I understand that Deluxe is their best selling class. But the Generations figures are really aimed at a more seasoned audience, who in my opinion would spend the extra dollars if some of these characters are released as Voyager or Leader class figures.

But that aside, I highly recommend the Thunderwing figure. He is a great update of the character. Don’t let the wing and scale issues that I mentioned discourage you. He’s got way more positives than those minor negatives. Do not hesitate to get one if you spot one at your favorite retailer.

Until next time, this is Hsunami Prime, reminding you to… Transform and Roll Out!