This one should be interesting, this week we have a triple changer that since its release garnered a lot of backlash due to a massive flaw in its design. I'll try not to dwell on it to much as I discuss this weeks review.
So this week I'm talking about Generations Blitzwing.
Lets get the obvious out of the way first, this figure has a massive flaw. The body has been built in such a way that the clips that should sit snugly in the chest to hold the shoulders in place don't clip in. There's two fixes to this problem, you either add supports to the chest or you dismantle your Blitzwing and sand down the insides to bring the front mounts closer to where they will attach to the shoulders. I went with the second option. At the moment I need to go over one side again, one clip sits well and the other is still loose. If you don't go to rough and keep checking the chest you should get it perfectly.
Weirdly this flaw was never fixed with Doubledealer.
The cannon on mine has a bit of a hair trigger, I've got into the habit of removing the missile before I transform him into any of his modes. I've not really listed this as a flaw as it may just be a case that I'm heavy handed with it.
Onto the figure itself then, Blitzwing transforms from a tank, a jet and then a robot.
I want to cover a couple of things before I get into each of the modes.
Sometimes triple changers suffer with obvious “other alt mode” parts on display in one mode or another. Lets use Classics Astrotrain for example, the shuttle mode has two train halves stuck to the side of it and the train has a set of shuttle rocket booster engines at the back of it.
Blitzwings tank mode has some jet parts outwardly showing, just the tail fins on the back of the turret and the rear wings are just tucked into the back. The jet mode has a tank cannon slung underneath it as a kind of jet booster but that's it.
Another thing that's done well is that each mode has a dominant colour, purple for the jet and tan for the tank. It creates a clear definition between each mode. Something which the other “CHUG” triple changers really don't do.
The tank mode isn't based on any particular design that I can see but it does look pretty good. The only real problems I have with it is the turret and the robot feet. The turret isn't centred on the joint (transformation would be awkward between modes if it was) but I can live with it. The treads can be a little awkward to get into the right posistion but once everything is in the right place it is solid. Ahh the robot feet, I really don't know where they're supposed to go (I should really pay more attention to the instructions....) I've put them into a posistion I can live with but they will never sit any where properly.
The weapon storage in tank mode works and doesn't work. The gun pegs either into the top of the cannon or into the holes on the side. I pop mine into the cannon and it works well, the sword however is an issue. It either pegs into the side or the cannon again. It doesn't really fit well anywhere. I peg mine into the side as it seems to be the least “offensive” of all of the options.
The weapon storage in tank mode works and doesn't work. The gun pegs either into the top of the cannon or into the holes on the side. I pop mine into the cannon and it works well, the sword however is an issue. It either pegs into the side or the cannon again. It doesn't really fit well anywhere. I peg mine into the side as it seems to be the least “offensive” of all of the options.
Jet mode, as mentioned before, does some neat tricks to hide the tank parts, only the tanks cannon remains on view. It forms a kind of jet engine but I much prefer the option of swinging it forward on it's hinge to form an extra weapon (yes I'm aware of the fact it would never work in reality but it's still fun!). Like the tank it doesn't look like any pre-existing jet, most jets don't have a giant chunk of armour mounted on the back of it. A simple trick with the arms on said piece of armour make them slightly more aerodynamic than they would be in tank mode.
The jet mode has an opening cockpit but I've no idea why. It has some detail inside but nothing much.
Weapon storage in jet mode is much like tank mode, one weapon stores perfectly, the other not so much. This time however the roles are reversed. The sword stores nicely in between the armour on the top and makes a pretty good space filler, without it there's a bit of a gap. The gap isn't completely gone but its better with it than without it. The gun never really finds a good place to sit. You can mount it in the sword, either wing, the side of the armour or in the cannon underneath the jet. Each mount has it's problems, when mounted on top it looks out of place, on the wings it looks uneven without a second gun to match it and it will never sit properly stored underneath. The side of the armour seems the best place to store it but even then I don't like it.
The jet mode has an opening cockpit but I've no idea why. It has some detail inside but nothing much.
Weapon storage in jet mode is much like tank mode, one weapon stores perfectly, the other not so much. This time however the roles are reversed. The sword stores nicely in between the armour on the top and makes a pretty good space filler, without it there's a bit of a gap. The gap isn't completely gone but its better with it than without it. The gun never really finds a good place to sit. You can mount it in the sword, either wing, the side of the armour or in the cannon underneath the jet. Each mount has it's problems, when mounted on top it looks out of place, on the wings it looks uneven without a second gun to match it and it will never sit properly stored underneath. The side of the armour seems the best place to store it but even then I don't like it.
Time to talk about robot mode.
I'll not mention the shoulder issue here, I've already talked about it once.
The figure has some decent articulation. Nothing to fancy but enough to get him in some decent “ready to fight” poses. He handles his two weapons well enough, the only problem I find is that the gun doesn't get enough clearance from the forearm to sit straight, you have to turn it a bit. Nothing serious really but I thought it worth mentioning.
In his robot mode Blitzwing shows a good mix of his two alt modes and his two main colours. It also introduces a good splash of bright yellow with his helmet.
Within said helmet is the last of Blitzwings gimmicks. Taking inspiration from his animated appearance Blitzwing has a face changing gimmick. However he is missing the “Arnold” face that the animated version has. He has a more traditional/G1 face, a “monocled” face and a crazy face the last two based on their animated counterpart. I don't really use any of the other faces, this isn't animated Blitzwing, I have one of those, this is Generation 1 Blitzwing for me. Don't get me wrong I don't hate the gimmick, if you got into Transformers because of animated it's a great pull, it's just wasted on me that's all.
I'll not mention the shoulder issue here, I've already talked about it once.
The figure has some decent articulation. Nothing to fancy but enough to get him in some decent “ready to fight” poses. He handles his two weapons well enough, the only problem I find is that the gun doesn't get enough clearance from the forearm to sit straight, you have to turn it a bit. Nothing serious really but I thought it worth mentioning.
In his robot mode Blitzwing shows a good mix of his two alt modes and his two main colours. It also introduces a good splash of bright yellow with his helmet.
Within said helmet is the last of Blitzwings gimmicks. Taking inspiration from his animated appearance Blitzwing has a face changing gimmick. However he is missing the “Arnold” face that the animated version has. He has a more traditional/G1 face, a “monocled” face and a crazy face the last two based on their animated counterpart. I don't really use any of the other faces, this isn't animated Blitzwing, I have one of those, this is Generation 1 Blitzwing for me. Don't get me wrong I don't hate the gimmick, if you got into Transformers because of animated it's a great pull, it's just wasted on me that's all.
I will mention that there is a second flaw with this toy. The head gimmick sticks in the helmet due to the paint, often cracking the paint as the faces are changed. Luckily I seemed to have dodged the problem as my Blitzwings faces have changed easily since day one.
I've no real favourite out of the three modes, I like each one for different reasons.
I think the flaws of this mold massively over shadow what is a pretty good figure. He is a good figure but you have to work on it, I've done some work on it but he needs more, his right shoulder is still loose.
I feel like he is missing something though, something easily fixed with a quick visit to Toyhax for some repro labels.
Well that's another Florida based review all done, in the words of Goldberg, "Who's next?"
I've no real favourite out of the three modes, I like each one for different reasons.
I think the flaws of this mold massively over shadow what is a pretty good figure. He is a good figure but you have to work on it, I've done some work on it but he needs more, his right shoulder is still loose.
I feel like he is missing something though, something easily fixed with a quick visit to Toyhax for some repro labels.
Well that's another Florida based review all done, in the words of Goldberg, "Who's next?"
Stu "Darkageis" Murray is a founding member of The Old Oilhouse, a lifelong transformers nut and collector of Sentai and Kamen rider in most of it's forms.
He sometimes takes epic trips and tells tales of these sagas often.
When not watching people in spandex fight each other he paints miniatures, go HERE to take a look.
He sometimes takes epic trips and tells tales of these sagas often.
When not watching people in spandex fight each other he paints miniatures, go HERE to take a look.
