Dave's Transformers Animated Rant: Voyager Wave 3
Lugnut (bomber jet)
Autobot Grimlock (robot T.rex)
Blitzwing (jet/tank triple-changer)
Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/TFA/Voyager3
The original Wave 3 assortment was Lugnut, Grimlock, Starscream and
Optimus Prime. Later on, Starscream was swapped out for one Blitzwing per
case. I'm making a purely arbitrary call and saying that Blitzwing is
part
of Wave 3, not 3.5 or 4 alpha or 5.1 or whatever the official designation
is. So there.
CAPSULES
Lugnut: The vehicle mode is rather cartoony, but nice otherwise.
Okay
transformation, but one of the Automorph features causes problems in
vehicle
mode. Okay robot mode hampered by numerous loose joints. Mildly
recommended. $19.99 at Target.
Autobot Grimlock: A good Animated-style update of the original
Grimlock
toy. No real brilliance, but also few significan't faults. Recommended.
$19.99 at Target.
Blitzwing: Jet mode is a floppy, fall-apart mess. Tank mode is
decently
solid, if kinda "it has treads and a turret so it's a tank". Robot mode
is
great. Recommended, pretty much for the robot mode. $19.96 at Wal-Mart.
RANTS
Packaging: Same as Wave 1. The co-sells on the left side are for the
other Wave 3 Voyager plus Bulkhead, and the co-sells on the bottom are
Wave 3
Deluxes (Snarl, Autobot Jazz, Soundwave, Oil Slick). The instructions are
behind the cardboard inner tray now, not under the right side flap.
On Blitzwing's packaging, the side co-sell is of Lugnut and Grimlock,
the bottom is still Wave 3 Deluxes.
I'm introducing a new feature in my reviews, a list of what I've
found
to be notable defects, be they bad design, bad redesign (done to get past
drop tests), or just stuff that seems to be recurring quality control
issues.
I'll also present solutions where possible.
DECEPTICON: LUGNUT
Altmode: Bomber Plane
Function: DECEPTICON Thug
Previous Name Use: Cybertron
Previous Mold Use: None
Callouts: (front) "Mechanized auto-conversion!" (upper right) "LUGNUT
smashes enemies with his mighty power mace!" (back) "Mechanized
auto-conversion!" "Rear stabilizers become power mace!" "Slam base
to auto convert into power mace!" "Bombs open to reveal
turbolasers!"
"Poseable cannon turrets!"
Motto: "All hail mighty MEGATRON!"
Galactic Powers & Abilities:
> Known as the "Kaon Krusher" on CYBERTRON.
> Mace is powered by a star core.
> Learned dirty fighting in the Grand Arena
LUGNUT has absolute faith in MEGATRON, and that makes him one of the
most dangerous DECEPTICONS. He is fanatic in his sup****t of the
DECEPTICON
cause, and unquestioning in his following the orders of his commander.
His
dedication is backed up by incredible strength, and fighting skills that
led
to him being feared and respected across Cyberton. Each punch from his
powerful hands carries the force of a small bomb, so the only way to
survive
a fight with him is to avoid ever letting him hit you. Unfortunately,
he's
almost as fast as he is strong.
Packaging: Two twist-ties through to the cardboard tray, two more
just
through the blister, and a couple of rubber bands around the tail to keep
it
from popping open.
Vehicle Mode: It's kinda like the Cybertron Jetfire mode, a bulky jet
with a weird tail section (a flattened X profile) and upward-bent
wingtips.
But then add in some WWII bomber aspects like multiple turrets (one on
top,
two flanking the nose) and a "stained glass" sort of multi-pane nose end.
Now, put comically bulbous bombs under each wing and an infeasibly large
intake scoop on top of each wing...and paint the whole thing deep purple
and
dark teal (a little lighter than #006666). There's plenty of highly
stylized
vehicle modes in this line, but this is the first that I'd really call
"cartoonish".
8.5" (22cm) long with a wingspan of 8" (20cm). Most of the toy is a
deep purple plastic, although there seem to be at least three groups of
purple plastic. The tail fins are rubbery purple. A few of the places
that
need to move (like the piece concealing the head, and some of the robot
joints) are a ****ny-finish purple. And the rest is matte-finish purple.
The
nose halves are a clear smoky plastic. The bombs, rear engine covers,
wingtop intake grates, landing gear, turrets and some jointing pieces are
dark teal plastic.
I'll say this for the paint job...while I'm not exactly a fan of
purple
and teal, the purple and teal paints used are excellent matches for the
plastics. There's teal paint on the window borders and most of the
topside
of the wings, and purple plastic on most of the nose. There's black and
poorly-covering yellow hazard stripes on the bombs, red paint on the rear
jet
intakes, and gold Decepticon symbols on the wingtips.
The landing gear folds away, the turrets rotate on swivels, and the
bomb
fronts can open up to reveal purple plastic Mini-Con ****ts that the
call-outs
refer to as turbolasers. Yes, Mini-Con ****ts. 5mm holes with a thin peg
in
the center. If you have a couple of Skyblasts (from the Requiem Blaster
team) you can mount them as missiles. This is meant to work with his
power
mace weapon, but it does make Lugnut the world's biggest Mini-Con. ;)
[Later note: Oops, Skyblast has the wrong sort of connector at his base,
never mind.]
Transformation: Well, he has the Jetfire-style arm transformation,
the
bombs are just his forearms (I can see someone, maybe Matt Moylan, doing a
cartoon in which Lugnut drops his bombs and then transforms to find he has
no
forearms) and the wingtips just sort of fold back. Flipping up some
panels
on the sides lets you pull the legs down from the rear fuselage, and
folding
down the top of the rear fuselage triggers an automorph that flips
Lugnut's
head out and releases his nose halves to fold back to the sides. The
power
mace can either be left on the back, or detached and placed in either
hand.
WARNING: His Power Mace has a live hardpoint! It will not transform
unless it's plugged into his hand or has a Mini-Con attached. Trying to
force it will just break the toy! Once the hardpoint is plugged in,
tapping
the bottom of the staff on a hard surface (or just pu****ng in the little
rod
on the bottom) will make the tail unfold into a sort of flanged mace head.
Robot Mode: Hulking and cyclopean, but he suffers from Bulkhead
Syndrome, in that he has a lot of width but not as much height as he
should
have to be in scale with other toys. He's only 5.5" (14cm) tall but also
5.5" across the shoulders. Definitely the point-down-triangle body plan.
The face is a piece of teal plastic attached to the purple rotating
bit,
with dark clear red lightpiping that really doesn't work even with a laser
being ****ned in the back. The thighs, knees, toes, heelspurs, elbows, hip
joints, knee joints, part of the shoulder joints and the bottom of his
mace
are teal plastic. Everything not already mentioned is purple.
There's not-very-covering yellow hazard stripes on the power mace on
the
parts normally covered by the teal cowling pieces, red dots painted on the
sides of his head, a purple "mohawk", and a gold Decepticon symbol on his
chest. There's some black paint on his abdomen, around his head, and on
the
edge of his "pants cuffs".
Neither the head nor the waist turn. The shoulders are somewhat
restricted ratcheting universal joints, although the shoulderpad mount has
its own ratcheting swivel which improves range of motion. Upper arm
smooth
swivels, double-hinge elbows, and the claws open up by sliding some purple
bomb fins forward (which can be a little tricky to manage). The hips are
smooth universal joints and there's a smooth swivel just above each smooth
hinge knee. The toes and heel spurs have joints for folding away, but
these
aren't particularly useful posing joints. The turrets now on the sides of
the chest can still swivel.
The angle of the feet is such that he's meant to stand with his legs
slightly spread apart.
Oh, and having Powerlinx ****ts on his palms means he can hold hands
with
Armada Hoist. And it will be GLORIOUS.
Defect List: The swivel joints in the thighs and upper arms are very
loose, but they're pegs that can be fixed by popping them out, adding a
layer
of something (superglue or nail polish topcoat) and reassembling. The
"out
to the side" hinges on the hips are a touch loose, but not so easily
fixed.
And given the bulk of the upper body and of the forearms and the power
mace,
loose swivels and hinges are a Really Bad Thing.
The ****t side cockpit half won't snap into place in vehicle mode, and
it
might not be fixable. Some re****t that closing it first and then the
starboard side will help lock it, but not on mine. Nor does the other
order
help. Gumming up the teal struts a bit with nail polish top coat seems to
have helped mine.
[Later note: I've been pointed at a screw inside the left side of the
chest, that holds the trigger in place for the cockpit window half. If
it's
been tightened down too far, the trigger can't "set", making the window
pop
out easily. If you loosen it a little it'll have the play to catch
properly. However, after I did this, there was still a 1-2 millimeter
gap.
It'll stay mostly closed, but not all the way closed.]
Also, while not a defect, the power mace's locked trigger can lead to
breakage.
Overall: It looks nice, if cartoonish, but suffers significantly from
a
number of design flaws. Things that should be tight are loose, and things
that could stand to be looser (like the hinges opening the claws) are too
stiff.
AUTOBOT: GRIMLOCK
Altmode: T-Rex (according to the box, although T.rex is more correct)
Function: DINOBOT Leader
Previous Name Use: G1, G2, BW, RiD/Universe, Alternators, Classic
Previous Mold Use: None
Callouts: (front) "Snapping jaws!" (upper right) "GRIMLOCK torches
DECEPTICONS with his flame breath!" (back) "Flames pop out of
sword!"
"Snapping jaws!" "Removable jet of fire breath!"
Motto: "Where are DECEPTICONS? Me GRIMLOCK getting hungry!"
Galactic Powers & Abilities:
> Fire breath can melt granite.
> Created on Earth.
> Just as strong as MEGATRON.
GRIMLOCK more than lives up to the reputation of his Tyrannosaurus
Rex
mode. Ill-tempered, powerful, and always ready for a fight, he loves to
throw his weight around. He likes the way the ground shakes as he stomps
around, and the way people scatter when he roars. He's happiest on
DINOBOT
Island, where he can stomp and roar to his Spark's content, shattering
trees
with his tail, and breathing jets of flame into the sky. Every once in a
while, though, he prefers to find the biggest, most powerful DECEPTICON he
can, and smash its chassis to pieces.
Packaging: Three twist-ties all the way through, two more just to the
plastic blister. One more tie holds the sword onto the blister.
The instructions do not show how to use the sword for flaming breath,
I
think you're just supposed to jam the hilt in his mouth...there doesn't
seem
to be any pegging.
Dinosaur Mode: A somewhat chunky (I wouldn't go so far as to say
"chibi") robotic Tyrannosaurus rex with a serious underbite. While he has
a
more G1-ish body shape, he's clearly built along the modern interpretation
of
the T.rex with body held horizontal. If nothing else, the head can't pose
properly for an old-fa****oned tail-dragger pose, plus there's some big
gaps
on his flanks that get mostly covered by the thighs only if he's in
horizontal-torso configuration. The tail's a bit stubbular, though.
Overall length is 8.5" (22cm) from jaw to tail tip, and while height
is
variable depending on exact pose, it's about 4.5" (12cm). Mainly medium
gray
with gold and dark red accents, plus some black parts.
Most of the visible parts in this mode are made of medium gray
plastic.
There's light blue lightpiping, and a sort of pale not-very-metallic gold
plastic on the teeny forelimbs, on the claws of the feet, and the tip of
the
tail. The root of the tail and the middle section of each hindleg are
black
plastic. There's also some visible black joints and connectors. The
"flame
breath" sword is made of clear orange plastic.
There's gold paint on the neck plus accents on the butt, hips and
elsewhere on the hindlets. There's a dark red (about the same as
Ratchet's
red) stripes on the upper torso, plus "jewels" on his hips, "spats" on his
feet and some bits at the root of his tail. There's a silver Autobot
symbol
on his left hip. The sword has black and gold paint on the hilt and
crosspiece, and a sort of black fading to red-translucent paint on the
"solid" parts of the blade so it looks like magma.
Gaps are an issue here. From underneath there's really nothing
covering
his chest, and his robot head is peering out. And there's big gaps on the
flanks, only mostly covered by the thighs.
The hips are slightly restricted ball joints, there's hinged knees
and
elevated ankles, swivels in the mid-foot (remember, he's digitigrade or
"chicken-legged", so the false ****ns are really part of his feet). The
forelimbs really don't move, they just fold together on transformation
joints
(although this does let him rub his claws together and do a Montgomery
Burns
impersonation). No articulation on the neck or tail. However, if you
press
down on a button on the back of his neck, the jaw opens up, and it snaps
closed on a spring when you let go.
The spring is strong enough to let him hold his sword in his mouth as
a
sort of flaming breath, but there's no peg for it to attach to, suggesting
this is something not designed into the toy, just tacked on by the box
copywriters. So I'll talk about the sword more under robot mode, since
it's
really just an accessory for that.
Transformation: In essence, it's the G1 transformation, although
instead
of revealing fists by sliding up the false ****ns, instead the middle
segment
(the true ****n) slides partway into the shoulder/thigh to shorten the
hindlegs into robot arms. Also, part of the back of the dinosaur folds
round
as heels, making the feet less hollow than the G1 version. The robot
chest
actually slides up and clicks into place (plus the dino neck/head kibble
pegs
onto it to keep it from sliding back down), so that his hips can be
farther
back in dino mode without giving him a weird robot pro****tioning. :)
Robot Mode: 6.25" (16cm) tall at the head, add a bit more for the
"wings" sticking up behind his head. And if you thought the dino mode had
a
big jaw, the robot mode is an orthodontist's nightmare. :) A lot more
dark
red gets added to the mix (including a "Dormammu collar" of the stuff) and
gold.
The head, thighs and elbow region are black plastic. There's light
blue
lightpiping, and colorless clear plastic in a panel over the chest (with
some
circuitry detailing molded in it) and on the shoulder ball pegs. The
torso
core, including abdomen, and the pelvis are made of dark red plastic. The
claws on the hands are pale gold. The upper arms, forearms and boots are
medium gray plastic. The back half of the upper torso is black plastic,
and
the front half is painted completely over in gold, but I *think* it's
medium
gray under that.
Most of the paint apps here are thigns visible in dino mode, although
the context changes a lot. There's a silver Autobot symbol on the clear
chestplate, the "spats" are now knuckledusters, the gold on his dino butt
is
now gold on his robot toes, the red that was at the root of his tail is
now
his kneecaps. There's a few bits of black paint on the abdomen.
The head and waist both swivel smoothly. The shoulders are somewhat
limited ball joints, which can compensate a little for the lack of an
upper
arm swivel. The tall shoulders tend to get in the way of the winglets in
the
back if you try to keep them folded forward. Hinge elbows, swivel wrists,
and the fingers and thumbs can fold closed on hinges. The hand joints are
not counted on to hold the sword, though, which pegs into the palm.
Reasonably stiff universal joint hips, hinge knees, swivels below the
knee.
He also has the same sort of "knees can bend sideways" transformation
joints
as Ratchet does. There are no motion gimmicks or automorphs to screw up
joint stability, all the gimmicking relates to the sword (and while it
involves the right wrist, it doesn't mess up the wrist any).
The sword is 5.5" (14cm) long and plugs into the palm using a
rectangular version of a live Mini-Con hardpoint. A tab inside the peg is
tripped by a smaller tab in Grimlock's right palm to make extra flames
spring
out along the length of the blade when you rotate the wrist. He can hold
the
sword in the left hand, but it won't trigger the flames. Pulling back on
a
tab on the blade itself makes the flames retract. Trying to get the
flames
out without poking the tab inside the hilt is a good way to break
something.
You can see inside the mechanism of the sword, which is basically a
"tree" of flames that get pushed out the sides of the blade when a central
shaft is pushed out of the hilt by a spring. It generally looks pretty
cool,
although it could have stood to continue the darker paint onto the last
couple of chunks at the tip. The black fading to red paint on the "solid"
parts fades completely before the last two bits.
Defect List: Some people have re****ted that when sliding the upper
arm
together in robot mode, the black piece either won't go all the way inside
the shoulder piece, or makes things bulge dangerously. Mine doesn't have
that problem, but it does require significant pu****ng to get the arm
snapped
together that last bit. If you have this problem, fixing it is not
trivial,
since the shoulder piece is held together by glued pegs in addition to
screws, and you'll need a Dremel or similar tool to carve out extra
clearance.
The neck area in dino mode can be a little flimsy, but that's mainly
a
matter of figuring out how to get all the tabs in place at the right time.
Overall: It doesn't really try anything astounding, settling for a
solid
update of the G1 design. But this is not a bad goal to have, and he has a
nifty sword. Watch out for the defect mentioned above, otherwise it's a
good
toy.
DECEPTICON: BLITZWING
Altmodes: Fighter Jet, Tank
Function: DECEPTICON Berzerker
Previous Name Use: G1
Previous Mold USe: None
Callouts: (front) "Triple Changer!" (upper right) "BLITZWING confuses the
AUTOBOTS with his changing faces!" (back) "Two launching missiles!"
"Three quick-switching faces!" "Rotating Turret" "Triple Changer!"
(gee, just not as enthusiastic about the turret?)
Motto: "Whoooo! I'm freaking out!" (odd, since his Ahnuld face is shown
above the motto)
Galactic Powers & Abilities:
> Sometimes changes to tank in midair, and crashes. (This is a
power?)
> Likes to freeze, then melt his opponents.
> Has trouble flying in a straight line. (Again, how is this a power
or ability? Should be "Galactic Flaws & Liabilities".)
Even by DECEPTICON standsards, BLITZWING is totally insane. He's got
three personalities packed into his cyberium-steel chassis, and he argues
with himself almost as often as he argues with other DECEPTICONS. The
only
person he listens to without interrupting is MEGATRON, because all three
of
his personalities are terrified of the DECEPTICON commander. He carries a
superheater cannon and a hyperfrost emitter to burn or freeze his enemies.
Packaging: Man, this is the most dinged up box I've ever bought a
non-clearanced, non-knockoff toy in. And yet the toy survived. It's
packaged in jet mode.
Two twist-ties through all the way to the card, and four more only
through the blister tray (two on the jet, two on the missiles). The
missiles
can be removed without undoing the ties. Another twist-tie holds on a
mini-blister that protects the tailfins. Both of the ties that go through
to
the card are invisible from the top, going only through the undercarriage
junk, so you have to detach the whole blister to free the toy.
Four rubber bands wind in and around so insidiously that you have to
cut
them AND pretty much pull the toy apart at most of its transformaiton
joints
to get all the bands out.
Easily the most annoying packaging since 20th Anniversary Prime, and
the
result is a toy that's practically a pile of disassembled parts by the
time
you're done. I got one re****t that the toy is slightly mistransformed in
the
package, but by the time I got mine out it really didn't matter.
Jet Mode: It's an F-14 Tomcat, more or less, with tank treads on the
underside. And it's floppy as all get-out, with nowhere near enough pegs
or
tabs to keep things in place. You just sort of carefully set things in
place
and then don't touch it again. Kid play value in this mode is virtually
nil.
7" (18cm) long if you just count the clearly jet parts. If you load
the
flame missiles into the tank barrels that stick out the back, the total
length is 9.5" (24cm). It's a swing-wing design, with a wingspan from
4.75"
(12cm) to 6.25" (16cm). The color scheme is mostly ghost gray and a matte
Decepticon Purple, with some black and red bits.
The nosecone and the fuselage right behind the cockpit (aka the robot
mode helmet) are rubbery ghost gray plastic. The main fuselage and wing
roots are rigid ghost gray plastic, as are some details along the center
and
rear. The wings and tail (both vertical and horizontal bits) are slightly
metallic purple plastic and so are the cannon/thruster tips. The tank
treads
and much of the undercarriage junk is black or very dark blue plastic.
There's a few bits of very dark gray plastic, but they're mainly robot
mode
stuff and will be covered there. The cockpit is made of a clear plastic
that
seems to be nearly black...I can get just enough laserbeam penetration to
know it's meant to be clear of some sort.
There's some slightly metallic purple paint accents on the wing roots
and around the cockpit, a very good match to the plastic. There's a gold
Decepticon symbol printed on the cockpit window and some little bits of
red
on odd wing details (which become the vision slit in tank mode). Black
paint
is used extensively on the wingroot area. The sides of the treads are
painted ghost gray, a reasonable match to the plastic color, with purple
accents.
I'd talk about articulation, but it pretty much all articulates
whether
you want it to or not. The swing-wings are intentional, though, and I
suspect the two flaps ahead of the tail are supposed to represent
deployable
air brakes or something.
Transformation to Tank: Fairly intuitive, oddly enough. Mostly a
matter
of tucking and folding everything you can to make it more compact. It's a
bit tricky getting it all in place and pegged, but it's not hard to be
more
solid than the jet mode.
You can either transform the turret as per the instructions (the
barrels
may pop off a few times in the process), or leave them pointing backwards
for
a more anti-aircraft feel. The turret spins 360 degrees, so it works
either
way.
Tank Mode: A purely fantasy tank mode, the jet took precedence in
design. The treads are flattened irregular triangles (rounded off, of
course) and the center of mass is way back towards the rear of the tread
unit. You can clearly see jet elements in there, but they did a good job
of
at least turning the wings into sloping front armor thanks to some hinges.
In addition to the turret, there's what look to be smoke canisters on the
front "fenders" and on the rear flanks (aka front wing roots).
4.25" (11cm) long, 3" (7.5cm) wide, 3.25" (8cm) tall. It's like a
cute
little Gunbound tank. The turret is ghost gray plastic with some metallic
purple paint on the back. The barrels are black plastic with purple
plastic
tips. The front armor is purple plastic with red vision slit. Most of
the
rear body is ghost gray plastic. Treads as in jet mode. It rolls
somewhat
poorly on four little dark gray wheels.
Most of the toy is still just held together by joint stiffness (such
as
it is) rather than pegs, but the compact shape holds together better
simply
because there's fewer projecting bits to knock into. The turret turns
with a
faint ratcheting click, but does not elevate. The barrels pop off pretty
easily, though, did I mention that? :)
Transformation to Robot: Pretty straightforward, but susceptible to
some
missteps. Pull the treads out into lower legs, pop out the feet. Unpeg
the
turret assembly and the wing sections pull out to the sides as shoulders,
with arms coming along for the ride. Flip the head up. Re-peg the
turret,
adjust bits to suit. Little purple bits spring out from the forearms to
give
them more thickness, a tiny bit of automorph. The tailfins need to be
separated a little to let the backpack peg on all the way.
An undo***ented feature in here, actually. The wings are designed to
swing forward so that their leading edges are facing front rather than out
to
the sides, but the instructions and box photos show them held back. Swung
forward they look more like elements of a cloak, fitting for the icy
persona. You can't actually leave them connected to the back, though.
Robot Mode: He's got inverse Bulkhead Syndrome...teeny tank, big
robot.
:) 7.25" (18.5cm) tall at the head. If the missiles are loaded and the
barrels pointed up (they can fold down to get out of the way), the total
height is 9.5" (24cm). The color balance is mainly ghost gray in the core
and black/dark gray on the forearms and boots, with slightly metallic
purple
mixed in.
He's a fairly standard cockpit-chested jetformer, although the tank
treads let him have much beefier legs than would otherwise work. The head
is
visually inspired by a desert tank corps helmet, with goggle-like shapes
on
the top and a "skirt" around the back and sides evoking the way such
helmets
were usually work with a cloth to cover the ears and neck. The front
flank
smoke dispensors end up on the shoulderpads as missile racks.
The pop-out forearm bits and knee joints are metallic purple plastic,
joining the visible vehicle parts. Shoulders, upper arms, head, most of
the
torso, and thighs are ghost gray plastic. The helmet is rubbery ghost
gray
plastic. The lower legs, feet, hands, most of the forearms, the elbows,
hip
joints, collar area and a lot of hte internal workings are black plastic.
Much of the torso is painted metallic purple with some black accents
that make it look like he's wearing a broad-lapeled military jacket, and
his
thighs have jodphur protrusions, they really do a good job of making him
look
like a Nazi tank commander under Rommel. The goggles are black, the gold
Decepticon symbol ends up on the abdomen. Other than on the faces, the
rest
of the paint apps come from the vehicle mode.
He's got a Man-E-Faces sort of gimmick, where turning a dial on the
back
of the helmet rotates one of three faces to the fore. However, the
mechanism
is very stiff. The three faces are a lantern-jawed Ahnuld Schwartznegger
parody with an exaggerated chinstrap, a monocle-wearing pointy-chinned
German
Aristocrat sort, and a sort of jack-o-lantern-ish crazy face. I call them
Ahnuld, Monocle and Crazy. :) Ahnuld is associated with the fire powers,
Monocle with the ice powers, and Crazy with whatever he feels like at the
time.
Ahnuld has a red sungl*****-style visor and his face is a slightly
reddish violet. His mouth isn't painted in, it really calls for the
gaptooth
(a fairly simple mod that a lot of people are doing). Monocle has a red
right eye and red left monocle-style optic, and an icy blue face. Crazy
has
a black face with red visor and jagged mouth zigzag. All three have the
chinstrap unpainted.
The helmet can turn either with or independently of the head, so
unlike
a lot of face-swap toys, he has the ability to look around. As with most
jets of his general transformation, his waist does not turn. The
shoulders
swivel and have a limited ability to shrug up on a hinge. There's an
upper
arm swivel, double-hinge elbows, and his open-palm hands can fold inward
on
hinges to slap people around or go limp-wristed. The combined jointing
lets
him cross his arms indignantly across his chest, put his hands up to his
mouth in girlish glee, play karate warrior, or cover his pelvis in shame.
The hips are soft-ratcheting universal joints, there's swivels above the
knees, and the knees are hinged for transformation such that they can bend
a
full 180 degrees. The toes have a decent range of motion on
transformation
hinges, allowing for some pretty extreme stances.
The toy can sort of store the missiles by cramming them into slots in
the backs of the boots (thanks to James Tamoush for the tip). It doesn't
seem to have been intentionally designed, though, just a happy accident,
and
it doesn't always work (it works on both of the legs on James's, but only
one
leg on mine).
It woulda been nice if he came with four missiles, storage issues be
scuppered. Two flame, two ice, so you could make the attacks fit the
persona.
Defect List: The entire jet mode is a defect. It's just too floppy
and
doesn't connect solidly much of anywhere. The barrels pop off too easily
in
either mode.
Overall: Let us not speak of the jet mode again. The tank is decent,
if
of the "slap treads and a turret on something and call it a tank" variety.
But this toy's real purpose is to be the robot mode, which is very good.
ONLINE CONTENT:
All three just get the box bio note and GP&A.
Dave Van Domelen, likes how each personality of Blitzwing can assume
a
pose that fits the face, although a forearm swivel would have helped.
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