Canadian Transformers News and Discussion Forum

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

I picked this guy up on rollback a couple of days ago and just got around to opening him up today.

He's frikin' awesome, and might just displace Beast Machines Deluxe Jetstorm as my favourite jetbot. His transformation is extremely complex yet it's not really difficult; all the pieces have room to move, none of them have to occupy the same space at the same time, everything pegs together securely and it's usually pretty intuitive what you have to move next. The first time I transformed him I only had to glance at the instructions to see how the leg-wings were supposed to be arranged; everything else just went naturally.

His robot mode is very well-articulated along with being just plain good-looking. I'm amazed at how compactly his torso fits together despite being made up of about half a million parts all folded against each other. His leg articulation is decent but not amazing (ball-and-swivel hips, hinged knees that can't quite manage a 90-degree bend, no side-to-side ankle articulation) but his arm articulation is exceptionally good, with hinged and swiveled shoulders, double-jointed elbows and rotating wrists. He's also pretty much entirely free of restrictive kibble, making him very easy to pose.

His weapon is unusual for a jetbot, being a spear that transforms into a trident (yes, on top of the robot's transformation the weapon also transforms) and he can hold it in both hands and look great doing it. It also stores nicely on his back when not in use. He's also got a clip on his shoulder that can fit one of the new style interchangeable weapons that everything seems to use these days, although he doesn't come with anything to put into it.

The jet mode has a bit of undercarriage junk but overall it's a lot slimmer in person than it looks in the pictures. The spear can also be stored facing forward, with its tip hidden under the plane's body rather than sticking out the back. This gets in the way of the front landing-gear, though, so make sure you decide on whether you want him to be flying through the air or sitting on a runway before you attach the spear.

Overall, the only thing I'm not sold about with this figure is the colour scheme, but I'm sure Hasbro will offer some more variety on that front in the coming months. As far as the mould goes, he's absolutely awesome and I recommend him without reservation.

EDIT: IT looks like his knees actually bend a bit more than 90 degrees. Not sure why I couldn't manage that before.

I also have no problems with joint looseness on mine. Everything holds together nicely.