This week we talk about the Lost Lights resident ex-watch maker and everyone's favourite one eyed thug. I also features a small discussion on people who open toy boxes to steal the contents.
So yeah, this review will be missing a gun and the photos of the toy will have no labels on it. I'll be hitting up repolabels/Toyhax at some point to get some labels for him. He doesn't even have an Autobot symbol right now!
So Whirl transforms from a robot to a Helicopter and they added a “Gerwalk” mode. He's molded in a nice shade of blue accented by some black, silver and yellow parts. Both Whirl and Roadbuster had a unique distinction in that they came with label sheets. Mostly owing to the fact the original figures had a lot of labels.
There's no real paint app details on the figure, like I said he doesn't even have an Autobot symbol. I don't think he suffers much for losing out on the labels and I kind of like how clean he looks because of it.
Now I've labelled my Roadbuster and those labels weren't fantastic, I'd assume that Whirls labels would pretty much be the same.
Whirl has a lot of nicely sculpted panel and rivet detail as well as a opening cockpit with detail (painted black to help it stand out) sculpted in it as well.
He has various ports and clips all over it that you can plug the 4 (if you have all 4 weapons that is, thieving douche-bags!) weapons into. You can pretty much put them where you want to but I've got one set up I like (I'll show it in the photos). It's pretty solid, everything pegs together well, it's not perfect but it's good enough for me. There is a couple of problems I have with this mode though. He has, to put it politely, small landing gear. There not to small, they serve the purpose they're supposed to and I understand why their so small, if they were bigger they'd get in the way.
Secondly there is a gap between the cockpit and where the thighs sit. If you don't look at it to closely it's OK. I wish something could've been done about it. We're probably stuck of it because of the sliding hip joint you use for Gerwalk mode.
The large rotors on mine are very tight. They spin a bit but not by much. It's not like it ruins the figure it just takes away some of the fun.
It's a helicopter with legs and arms. It didn't have to have one. Not sure why he does but he does. Live with it.
The robot mode is a bit of a weird mix between Whirls original G1 look and his MTMTE design. He has the claw hands, weapons and colour of his G1 predecessor but he has the curved head parts and “chicken legs” of the MTMTE Whirl. The colours are nicely spaced out, it doesn't feel like any of the blues dominate the figure. The black and orange details nicely break all that blue up a little bit more.
There's a lot to like in this mode, despite the fact that he has no face and no hands you can emote quite a lot with Whirl. A simple tilt of his head and a positioning of the arms/claws can evoke some emotion from him. I've had him ranging from “kill everyone!” to “I miss my hands.”
His legs and “feet” (I use the term lightly) make up a good chunk of his body and its a good thing they look good then. Something worth mentioning is the knee joints. These suckahs are tight, worryingly so. I've seen a few reports of the joint snapping. I worry about mine. There is a fix but you need to knock the pin out to get to the black knee piece to trim it down. Keep an eye on yours and treat it gentle, he's not invincible.
The last thing I'll mention on robot mode is that Whirls neck lifts up, not sure why but it does. I suppose you can do it if you want a little extra height but it looks weird to me, it's to thin. Ahh well if you like it you can do it. I don't so I wont be.
Overall Whirl has problems, he's far from a perfect figure but I like him. I feel I'd like him more if he had his full compliment of weapons and an Autobot symbol. GAH!! THEIVING ASSHOLES! I WILL HAVE MY VENGENCE!!
Ahem.
Next week we look at the next Wrecker in my small collection. He's suited for Florida, lot's of “Sand” here and the odd “Storm”.
(Oh lord I hate myself for doing that joke! Help me!)
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.