Review: #222
Name: Powerglide
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Combiner Wars
Year of Release: 2015
Size Class: Legends (Wave 1)
Variations: repainted into Viper
ALTERNATE MODE:
Powerglide transforms into his classic A-10 Thunderbolt II with a predominantly red color scheme complemented by the grey.
This plane mode looks good at first glance but once you have him in hand, there are a few visual flaws. The major one being that his rear landing gear is situated too low and too far behind so that the plane slopes upwards.
Furthermore, his fists are left out into the open which is disappointing. If it faces down it wouldn't be as bad. His robot face just manages to peek out from the small gaps.
Powerglide is approximately the size of a Commander sized figure. He feels small in your hands since most of the mass is in the fuselage with the thinner wings sticking out.
Unfortunately, the rear doesn't peg in as securely as you would hope (they are the robot legs). Otherwise, a decent plane mode.
On a side note, Powerglide comes with a collector's card with a fantastic piece of artwork (from the mobile game Transformers Legends). The card itself is made from hard cardboard so it's better quality than you'd expect. Although this doesn't really make up for the loss of a Targetmaster partner.
TRANSFORMATION TO WEAPON MODE:
Very simple, you just have to slide the rear thrusters down, fold up the fuselage to form the scope and fold up the wings to reveal some missile pods underneath his arms and whola!
WEAPON MODE:
Powerglide acts as a Targetmaster himself, he forms a dual barrel gun with a third barrel underneath the two more prominent ones. It looks... okay, there is too much junk for it to look like a proper gun.
Even though the backing card places the weapon for Combiner Wars Skydive, it is better to use the weapon for a Voyager class or above. He is actually recommended for Combiner Wars Superion. What's cool is that his landing gear acts as the 5mm post handle.
TRANSFORMATION:
Powerglide's transformation is simple but works really well. I love the fact that that his robot head is still formed by the plane's nose and how his rear thrusters slide up to provide clearance for his tail fins to fold back. The most disappointing is his arms which doesn't improve from the G1 toy.
ROBOT MODE:
Powerglide's robot mode is definitely the stronger of the three modes. He looks fantastic here with perfect proportions and aesthetics.
The only flaw he really has is the flap on his back which is the weapon's scope. It's right behind his thighs which means they get in the way and is just generally annoying.
The head sculpt is great, and as mentioned earlier, the head is the plane's nose cone. Despite that, it still retains side to side motion.
To me, Powerglide looks bigger than he actually is. He is about the same height as Swerve.
For its size, Powerglide has a decent amount of articulation. He is missing an elbow swivel though, which makes the arms slightly more static.
His feet lacks heelspurs but he manages to maintain his balance without too much trouble in nearly all poses.
He has a gigantic Autobot insignia on his chest which works really well. I also love the thrusters sitting behind his legs. Of note, the tail fins don't actually peg into place, they can be quite loose in their friction joints.
A great robot mode that reeks of Powerglide. The shade of red and grey is perfect, which, along with the great poseability makes a near perfect robot mode.
OVERALL:
Powerglide has two solid modes, and the lackluster weapon mode is just a bonus really, it doesn't compromise the figure that much. While his high pricing is still a bit hard to stomach (in my opinion, Legends pricing provides the least amount of value), this is a good figure.
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