Generations Jetfire

It took me a while to get Generations Jetfire in my possession.  While everyone else was posting pictures on Facebook and reviews on their blogs, I had to sit patiently, waiting.  I pre-ordered Jetfire from BigBadToyStore as soon as it went up, but apparently, I was placed into a second group of pre-orders and had to wait until October for him to ship.  Whatever the wait, he was worth it.

This latest iteration of Jetfire blends the elements of the original G1 figure, which was the Bandai Macross figure, with modern touches.  Jet mode, without all of the armor, is a sight to behold.  Not only does Jetfire look fantastic, he looks like he'd fit in well with and Macross or Robotech collection.

However, armor is something that Jetfire is known for, and he does come with a bit, albeit not as much as the G1 incarnation.  The main add-on is the booster pack up top and a couple of guns on the bottom.  Hasbro seems to have infuriated a lot of collectors with the addition of red chrome on the armor pieces, which is odd, since Takara deco's always get tons of love due to the fact that chrome is a main draw.  Just goes to show that Hasbro can never win.  There is a process for removing the chrome that can be found on any TF message board, but I've decided to just keep my chrome.  It isn't nearly as bad as many seem to make it out to be.

Jetfire's booster pack swivels for some reason.  Maybe it's supposed to double as an artillery delivery system?  It's just an oddity that I'm not really fond of.

Jetfire's gun can attach to the bottom of the nosecone for added firepower.  This is the only instance of me attaching the gun to the jet mode. 

A neat feature of the jet mode is that the canopy opens.  If only I had a little figure to stick in there. 

Robot mode is where Jetfire really shines.  He's proportioned well and just looks imposing.  Jetfire's new and improved robot mode has been featured in the pages of the IDW Transformers book. 

Jetfire's chest is highly reminiscent of Skyfire's chest in the G1 cartoon.  Look at how bulky his is.

For some reason, it has been decided that Jetfire has a removable battle mask.  Remove the mask, and you get a normal face, like the Skyfire version.  I'm not really a fan of the battle mask treatment.  I'd rather not have the normal face.  One thing that I did not photograph is the guns' ability to combine to form a super weapon.  It's o.k., but not something I'm really fascinated with.

Here's Generations Jetifre with Classics Jetfire, a figure I was never fond of.  The size difference is noticeable. 

Next, we have Generations Jetfire with G1 Jetfire.  They're about the same size.  Yes, my G1 Jetfire is a bit yellowed, but I'm a bit at a loss at how to whiten what needs to be whitened without ruining the rest of the paint.

Here's all three together again, for the first time.  Man, Classics Jetfire is such a runt.

Lastly, all three in jet mode.  The odd nosecone from Classics Jetfire sticks out like a sore thumb.

Generations Windblade

Yeah, so I got Windblade.  I was really hesitant to get her, but only because of the fan designed elements to her.  When I first head about it, it just seemed like a recipe for disaster.  While Windblade isn't perfect, she is pretty good.

I really like the red and black color scheme.  It isn't something that you see too much these days and it reminds me of G1 Inferno for some reason.  I'm still not a fan of the kabuki styled face, however.  It just doesn't seem right.  As you can see, she's equipped with a sword. 

Windblade's wings are a bit problematic.  I can never seem to get them in a position that I like. 

There's this nice sheath for the sword.  Mine doesn't really want to stay in, so I haven't bothered to put the sword in it while in robot mode.  This picture brings up another issue that I have with not ust Wingblade, but most female figures - the high heels.  Is it really necessary for a giant robot that's locked in a civil war to have freaking high heels?  Whatever. 

Windblade transforms into a VTOL jet, automatically making her a favorite.  I love VTOL jets, they're just things of beauty, and Windblade is no exception. I really enjoy the moving fan blades, or are they...wind blades?  See what I did there?

Windblade's sword and sheath can be "concealed" under the body of her jet mode.  I'm not a fan of this.  Maybe I'm just not attaching it correctly, but it doesn't really let the jet mode balance well.  As a result, I just leave the sheath off.  That's just me though, do as you like.

Generations Waspinator

As I've mentioned before, I was a fan of the Beast Wars series.  The figures, not so much.  As a refresher, here's what a Waspinator looked like from that line.

Well, the Japanese version, at least.  Pulled from TFWiki.net

Ugh..no thanks.  Waspinator, the character?  Absolutely delightful.  He was comedic relief, but I was still drawn to him.  Outside of Beast Wars, Waspinator has become a character in the IDW Transformers: Robots in Disguise series.  Then again, who hasn't been seen in that book?  Freaking Sky-Byte is in that book, so look for Kicker to show up soon.  Anyway, on to the figure.

Waspinator was available in the same wave as Skids, and just like I was unable to procure a Skids so many months ago, I was unable to get a Waspinator in my grubby mitts.  Thankfully, with Hasbro doing another production run, Waspinator is mine.  The wasp mode is head and shoulders above the original version.  His robot mode legs aren't jutting out of his abdomen.  Instead, they fold up under his head.

There's a button on his thorax that makes the wings flap.  I may have pressed it once or twice.  Maybe three times.  That bump on the abdomen is where Waspinator's gun is stored.

My only complaint with Waspinator's wasp mode is the placement of his robot arms.  They're very noticeable.  I understand that the insect legs need something to be placed on, but the hands sticking out just looks odd.  Perhaps if the hands folded into the arms or something.  Still, it's a small thing, and not anything to dwell on.

Waspinator's robot mode is where it's at for me.  Like all insect themed Transformers, the insect legs are clearly visible.  It still doesn't detract from how great looking Waspinator is.  He's so poseable.  While the Beast Wars version of Waspinator had a normal face and then a battle mask, this version features the face as it should be.  I'm still not sure why so many of the original Beast Wars figures had those masks.

Kenner did a fine job with Beast Wars.  IF Hasbro hadn't shoved the Transformers over to the Kenner division, we probably wouldn't be discussing new figures.  Kenner did so much to reinvigorate the brand.  I'm just glad that Hasbro gave us a nice update.

MP-20 Wheeljack

I can't believe that I get to do a review of Masterpiece Wheeljack.  This has been a long time coming.  It was a bit longer for me, however.  The month of September was a very busy one for me.  One week, I got the wave containing Skids.  The following week, the wave containing Windblade.  UPS made a killing off me with shipping, so I decided to turn on my Pile of Loot option at BBTS, knowing that Jetfire and Wheeljack were to release soon after.  What I didn't realize was that I wasn't going to get in on BigBadToyStore's initial shipment of Jetfire.  My Wheeljack was placed into the pile pretty quickly, but I had to wait another two weeks for Wheelack.  Two long agonizing weeks.  Everywhere I looked, people were posting about how great Masterpiece Wheeljack was while I waited, dejected.  My wait is over and it was worth it.

Let's start with Wheeljack's alt-mode.  It is truly a thing of beauty.  Takara really went all out with the deco on Wheeljack.  There's a nice balance between toy and cartoon accuracy.  Curiously, the side mirrors must be snapped off a sprue and then placed on the car.  Why, I'm not sure., but it doesn't detract at all from the splendor of the Lancia.

 I don't recall Wheeljack ever having an attack mode in the cartoon, but it's been awhile since I've watched the series.  Does that make me a bad fan?  I don't care.  Regardless, it's a mode he has, just like the rest of his Masterpiece car brethren.  One thing that set's Wheeljack's missile launcher apart from Bluestreak's and Sideswipe's is that Wheeljack's missile is removable.  While great in concept, I'm irrationally worried now that I'm going to lose the missile.  It's not like it's spring loaded or anything.

Here's where things start to get real with Wheeljack - robot mode!  I can't say enough about how great this is.  The bent legs just really make this figure.  I've always wondered why Wheeljack was in a permanent squatting position on the show, but at least his figure matches his animation model now.  He's equipped with one shoulder mounted missile launcher, as he should be.  There's a third party add-on that will give you two launchers like the original toy, but I think that's missing the point of the Masterpiece line.  The tiny pistol is very show accurate as well.  The only thing missing are light up panels on his face.  Good lord is Wheelack pretty.

Not only is Wheeljack beautiful, he's also poseable.  I've never been that great with posing my figures in action shots, but I think I did a decent job here.  It's only now that I realize that his wings aren't aligned correctly; I really need to stop taking these pictures at 2:00 in the morning. 

I opted to purchase the Wheeljack that came with the coin and the anti-hypnosis device.  I still don't know what to do with the coin.  I have quite a few of them, and they're still sealed in the little sleeves.  Is there a coin binder that these will fit in?  I'm loathe to get more of them, seeing as how I'm already experiencing space issues that forced me to get rid of my G.I. Joe figures.  Still, the coins come with the little bonus accessories, and they look great.  I'll just have to suffer, I suppose.  First world problems and all that. 

Because I haven't touched my Masterpiece  Grimlock is years, I've decided to take a little photo with Wheeljack and his creation.  Father and son, together.  Makes me misty-eyed. 

Another shot of Wheeljack and Grimlock.  I had forgotten just how massive Grimlock was in robot mode.

And because it's become de rigueur to show off one's Masterpiece collection, here's a shot of my first two seasons worth of cars, minus Bluestreak.  Silverstreak is taking his spot since I'm so enamored with the deco over Bluestreak's.  I'll say that this type of shot is taking longer and longer to set up, even as horrid as mine is.  It seems that each passing month is adding another great Masterpiece figure.  I'm not complaining; I think it's great.

Finally, a shot of all of the Masterpiece Autobots released thus far.  Well, excluding Bluestreak, who again, is replaced with Silverstreak.  Bluestreak is on probation in the Detolf.  One day, one day I'll let him come out in public again.  Now I can't wait for Ultra Magnus so I can have a nice car carrier for all these guys.

Finally! Generations Skids! Finally!

I think it was a year ago, roughly, when Generations Skids was released to general fanfare in the collecting community.  He was also nearly impossible to find.  I never even sniffed any of his wave-mates at any store in my area.  Because of my inability to find Skids, even at online retailers, I believe that I, uh, whined a lot about it.  Sure, he was readily available enough on eBay, but there was no way I was paying secondary market prices for a new figure.  Finally, a ray of hope - around February or so, I placed a preorder for Skids from ToyWiz.com, and patiently waited.  As days turned into months, BBTS announced that Hasbro would be making another production run on the entire wave that Skids was in and it would be released in September.  Score!  If only I had remembered to cancel my preorder wit ToyWiz.  Alas, I now own two Skids figures.  That's right, I went from none to two in the blink of an eye.  They actually arrived within days of each other.  Hoo-Hah?

I tried something new with Skids' photo shoot with the blue background.  It's not too great.  Skids' alt-mode is a Honda Fit or something.  He's definitely some sort of sub-compact car, like his G1 incarnation. 

Like most Generations figures, Skids is able to mount his weapons in vehicle mode.  The Dodge Dart may not look scary, but just wait until one is barreling towards you with guns ablaze.  Scared yet?

Here's Skids in all of his Alex Milne goodness.  Skids is surely the most armed Theoretician in the universe.  Look at him - two hand-held guns, wrist lasers, shoulder-mounted cannons, and what I'm assuming are missiles in his actual shoulders.  Never, ever tell Skids that his hypotheses are incorrect.  He just won't have a good rebuttal, but he'll probably just blast you.

Speaking of guns, I keep popping the wrist lasers out and I don't know why.  Also, Skids' two pistols combine to form a bigger rifle.  It's pretty great.  I love how the rear wheels from the car still wind up under Skids' feet, like the G1 version.  Posing is both fun and easy with this guy.  I've been able to get a myriad of poses with Skids, but I was too lazy to actually photograph them.  Imagine them for me.

Finally, we have a shot of Generations Skids slumming with his G1 counterpart.  Naturally, the G1 Skids that I own is the Encore version.  Don't hold that against me; I'm a real collector, I swear.  I was actually a bit stunned to realize that both of these guys are roughly the same height.  For some reason, I was expecting Generations Skids to tower over his more primitive self.  Shows what I know.

Was Skids worth a nearly year wait?  Primus yes.  As for the second Skids?  My oldest son will have a nice treat under the tree on December 25th.  Nice indeed.  Next time - Waspinator!

Generations Roadbster

I'll be honest, when I first read that there would be a Generations release of Roadbuster, I was a tad confused.  Don't get me wrong, I've always loved the guy, but it seemed like most Generations had some sort of tie-in with the IDW comics.  Roadbuster hadn't even appeared in a comic since Transformers: Bumblebee, what 4 years ago?  Then I saw the pictures.  I had to have him.

Roadbuster comes with a metric ton of weapons.  He has weapons for his shoulders, weapons that he can hold, and weapons to mount on his weapons.  There are a multitude of weapons, is what I'm getting at.  What's more, these weapons care designed in a way to allow for a vast array of combinations.  I'm pretty much staying basic for my setup. 

All of the weapons can combine for the Voltron of weapons, which can awkwardly be held using both arms.  I'm not overly fond of this configuration.  Still, it's a thing that can be done.  So, do it if you want.

Roadbuster is pretty poseable.  Certainly much more poseable than the G1 incarnation, which I meant to show in comparison with the Generations version, but I forgot.  Roadbuster also comes with a lot of decals.  This seems to be a running thing now as Whirl also came with decals.  I used to love decals, but this is starting to get tedious.  For Roadbuster's chest, there is the regular insignia decal and one for the Wreckers.  I went with the plain Autobot decal just because I was worried that the blue of the Wrecker decal would clash with the other colors.  Gotta be fashionable, you know.

Keeping with the modern G1 look, Roadbuster transforms into a heavily armored all-terrain vehicle.  He is armed to the teeth.  The transformation scheme is pretty straightforward and not complicated at all.

I really love the vehicle mode.  It looks like it could climb over mountains.  If I wasn't so worried about messing him up, I'd take Roadbuster out on some rocks in the yard.  Gotta keep him mint, you know. 

Roadbuster is awesome.  He's a long awaited, if somewhat surprising, addition to the Generations line.  Now if only we could get a new version of Jetfire.  What's that?  Oh yeah...

Generations Tankor

I've gone on record a number of times about how I really like both Beast Wars and Beast Machines.  I liked Beast Machines more for the animation than anything else, and I only owned one figure from the line, Cheetor, which wasn't that great.  Truth be told, none of the figure were that great in my mind.  With the new tooling and design of the Generations line, I was hoping that Tankor would prove to be better than his original incarnation.

Here's a shot of Tankor in his tank mode.  With a name like Tankor, it would be highly unlikely that he'd transform into anything else.  A distinguishing feature with Tankor through the years is that his head is visible in tank mode.  That continues with this iteration.  Maybe I have Tankor transformed incorrectly, but it looks like he's just a scrunched up mess.

The cannon launches a missile.  The missile itself is rather flimsy.

Tankor is rather short and stocky, earning the name "Fat Tankor".  Robot mode is much better than tank mode, for sure.  While not as poseable as other Generations figures, he certainly looks great. 

Here's a closeup shot of Tankor's forearm. There is a dial on each forearm that does...nothing.  They spin, but the claws work independent of the dials. 

Tankor's a good figure, but not a great one.  Hey, that sounds like this post!