What do fans want most? The was a question Hasbro asked Transformers fans to begin the kick off for the Thrilling Thirty. Once voting was completed and tabulated, I believe we received a combination that I can say was not expecting. For starters we get an Autobot but no real surprise there. The alt mode is not a car but a plane to which we know is rare for an Autobot. Now I cannot recall all the questions that were asked but I belive but gender and weapon were asked. To which the answer a sword and the most surprising is a Fembot.
Once the basics were answered it was time to hand the results to the great folks at IDW Publishing to add life to a character to what would later became a four part mini series. Now this review is not about the mini series but what that series was inspired by. That is the toy that was created by the fans. I present to you Deluxe Class Windblade.
I am not going lie but once I saw the first mock ups of Windblade I was excited. As time passed and more photos began to appear my excitement grew. Then later came the release of Windblade #1 through #4 from IDW and I knew that I just had to have this toy. Being in Canada I have gotten use to waiting longer than we should for releases, but with a single
tweet I knew what I had to do. I sent a text message to a friend on the floor at the Toronto Fan Expo to swing past the Hasbro booth and pick up my very own Wingblade.
Two days later I had her in my hands and I could not wait till open the package. I felt like Charlie Bucket and I knew my golden ticket was inside. Now with this being the official Hasbro Canadian release there was no packed in comic as with other releases of the Generations toy line. The comic that will be packed in should be Windblade's first appearance in Dark Cybertron chapter 8, sadly I don't have that one.
After handling the figure a few times going from robot to jet mode and back, I am happy that we have received a completely new figure as everything feels new with Windblade and no "stolen" engineering from other toys. Now with saying that, I am going to start with my impressions with what I feel is the poorer of the two modes, that is Jet Mode. Yes we have seen and heard all the complaints about jetformers, so I am not going to rehash the old complaints but I will list flaws that appear with this particular figure. The first real glaring fault I find are the feet on the rear of the jet. They do not fold down or away creating a blemish in the tail section that even my imagination can't come up for a reason for being there.
Now between those feet is a gap and a very noticeable one and hard to forget once seen. The weapon can be stored underneath to which does help with filling in the gap, but you will lose one of the pleasant surprise of Windblade in VTOL Mode, more on that later. The handle of the weapon does stick out further than the exhaust, but the added addition of the fan blade in the handle adds to the appearance of a directional fan for the VTOL mode (See I told you I have an imagination)
On the underside you have your very traditional robot junk tucked and folded away, but being a jetformer no surprises there. The one disappointment is the rear landing gears. They are well detailed but perhaps too detailed. I know space would prevent folding struts, but their size become apparent in robot mode. What I think should have been done is to give them a slightly lower profile so when the front gear is down it will give the impression of take off when laying on a flat surface. One last thing and honestly this is not a complaint but an observation, the cockpit canopy does not open. To me that is not a make or break deal but for others it might be.
OK, I have gone on long enough about the bad, lets get to what makes this VTOL great. the overall design screams a plane that we have not seen in the Transformers universe, and I am even including Thrust. The dark colour scheme we are use to seeing on Decepticon jets works on Windblade, maybe it is the red or the white nose cone but you just know this is an Autobot. The highlights of the yellow canopy does not take away from the off white rotor blades of the VTOL parts on this jet. The blades do rotate within the cowlings quite easily with your finger but will take more than lung power to get them rotating on their own. If you have read the comics, you know that those blade were rotated not only for take off but also for flight and in this figure you can emulate this.The cowlings do pivot to allow some dynamic poses never seen before in wings.
Straight on down the white nose of the jet, the robot parts tuck away just enough to add the illusion of intakes for the dual jet engines. The front landing gear as I mentioned does retract to aide in the next little surprise. The port that stores the weapon in alt mode can serve as a port for an action figure stand. Now I do not have one as the majority of my own toys are displayed in robot mode so a qucik little makeshift stand I am able to balance Windblade to emulate the look, but if I ever come across a second Windblade I know my hunt for a real stand will begin.
Transformation from jet to robot is fun, but the same cannot be said about robot to jet. Starting in jet mode once everything is unpegged the transformation seems natural, as the parts flip, slide and move in ways we are familiar with. It is going from robot to jet mode for some odd reason that it doesn't seem to be as cooperative. I have transformed Windblade a few times and I still have gotten the knack of it but it does get easier. The poseibility of the figure is beyond belief for a Hasbro release and unlike recent releases, Windblade seems to have the collector in mind. I will start with the restrictions in movement, the head is on a swivel joint and the only real up and down movement comes from the transformation joint and the collar hinders the side to side movement. The feet are static and the heel piece can cause more issues with standing Windblade than what is is designed to prevent. Nothing fully pegs in and the majority of the joints just friction into place. It is those friction points that will cause extra work when posing this figure. The shoulders are on a mix of a swivel and ball joint followed by an upper bicep swivel, which is awesome to see in a thin arm but every time you move them you will need to readjust the should pads. The elbow has a natural bend with a surprising wrist swivel. Outside the static feet all the traditional movement is in the legs, There is a deep knee bend and ball jointed hips. An added feature missing from most Hasbro releases and due to transformation there is an added waist swivel. The wings tilt up and back allowing for some dynamic and expressive poses.
In robot mode Windblade will be a conversation starter even while standing in your display. The head sculpt stands out above and beyond the rest. There is no light piping but the paint details make up for that minor nitpick. The design is explained in the Windblade mini-series so go out and pick up your copy.
The gold head crest does slide out from behind to be an additional fan weapon but when removed, I feel leaving it in storage is the best place for it. Speaking of weapons, Windblade come packed with a sword and sheath.
The sword is held easily in her hand and with the wrist swivel it adds to the playability and poses. The sheath can also be pegged into the slot on her thigh adding both storage and the aesthetics.
There is one major flaw with this figure in robot mode and that are the heels. When flat footed the heels give a great look but due to transformation they only move towards the foot. That movement can cause issues when standing Windblade, and much like most of this figure the heels do not peg into anything. I feel the lack of pegs can cause issues in the future. On my figure the joints are tight but I have heard word that some figures are coming with lose joints but just how wide spread that issue is uncertain. It is a concern I have if the joints on mine work themselves lose as time goes on.
In short, is the figure for everyone? I would say no. Windblade screams to me as a collector's toy and more so if you enjoyed the Windblade mini series produced by
IDW, written by
Mairghread Scott and drawn by
Sarah Stone as much as I did then this figure is a must have. If you at all on the fence about picking up Windblade and my words have swayed you do not hesitate is grabbing your own as I feel this one will be tough to find once pre-orders and initial releases are grabbed up. I was fortunate enough to get one as I have heard others were not so lucky.
If you are so bold you can win your very own Wingblade. The good folks at the
Transmissions Podcast have a contest you can enter. Click on the following link for the details and you will be battling other Transformers fans, including myself, for an awesome Windblade prize pack. All you need to do is follow the directions
here and enter. Good Luck. *EDIT* I'm sorry to report that the contest is now closed, if you entered I wish you luck as you will be going up against me.
TheRealRonin
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