Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series Windcharger (86 Movie)

Review:  #921

Name:  Windcharger

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Studio Series

Year of Release:  2026

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 30)

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Windcharger transforms into a red muscle car, although he has the cartoon proportions, which means he looks "mushed" together.  

It's still not a bad looking vehicle, and he has some nice sculpted features, although said the back are exposed knee hinges from robot mode.

Due to his proportions, he is quite short compared to contemporary Deluxes, and he is slightly smaller than normal, but similar in size and mass to the other Minibots like Brawn and Huffer.

The rear wheels aren't great if you look at the vehicle from a certain angle, as it's on a hinge / panel, and you can see through it.

While the gun pegs underneath, the other effects piece attaches at the front.  Apart from that, the wheels roll and that's it for gimmicks.

It's still a decent vehicle mode, it just depends on your tastes and preferences.

TRANSFORMATION:

Windcharger has one of those neat transformations where the roof of the vehicle folds in panels upon itself into the legs, even includes the rear wheel tucking in, thereby removing a lot of kibble in robot mode.  The rest of the transformation is pretty stock standard, with the sides forming the arms, and the torso revealed when the roof folded away.

ROBOT MODE:

It's an excellent looking robot mode and very clean looking.  Although given that this type of transformation has been done a few times now, it's not as mindblowing, but still quite impressive.

Since most of the vehicle is in his legs, this means it doesn't randomly sticking out of the robot mode elsewhere.  That said, this does make his lower legs very chunky.

The head sculpt is a classic G1 cartoon look, and has a hinge at the back so he can face up.

As mentioned earlier, he is smaller than a typical Deluxe, as you can see, he is quite short, but the proportions are good and he does look great.

Articulation is nice, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips and knees.

He comes with two accessories, a small grey guy, and an effects part that emulates his magnetism powers.

He can hold the gun in either hand.

While the effects part attaches to his chest.

Both the gun and the effects part can store on his back.

One thing to note is while the leg transformation is impressive, this robs him of ankle tilts.  Instead, he has the tilts at his knees, so they do look a bit weird if you tilt them too much.

He also lacks proper feet, but that's based on the cartoon design, so he just has big lumps instead.

A great looking robot, and with just enough versatility in his accessories to make it fun.

OVERALL:

Despite his small size, Windcharger is a nice figure.  He has an interesting transformation, even if it is something we have seen before, it's still impressive.  The vehicle mode is weaker due to its purposely deformed look, but the robot mode is where he shines, and he looks fantastic, and plays well.

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How Not to Summon a Demon Lord (2018)

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord is a 12 episode anime based upon the light novel series. It is yet another isekai anime, and the twist here is that the protagonist, Takuma Sakamoto, has dedicated his time in playing the MMORPG Cross Reverie and leveling up his character, known as the Demon Lord Diablo. He’s infamous within the game, but as per usual with these types of anime, he finds himself summoned into another world, within his game avatar of Demon Lord Diablo.

Now the world that he was summoned in has parallels with Cross Reverie, however, there are still many differences. The biggest of which is that while he retained Diablo’s high level, the monsters aren’t as common and ferocious in this world, so most people / characters are at a much lower level. Therefore, Diablo is now a super overpowered character that is leagues stronger than anyone else that he will ever encounter.

The excuse given for his reincarnation is that two characters, Rem and Shera, used a spell to summon a servant. Instead, they got Diablo, who, because he wields a ring that reflects all magic, ends up causing Rem and Shera to be the servants instead. To be honest, this isn’t a big thing over the course of the anime, there’s no real repercussions, and it just means that Diablo ends up accompanying the two girls.

Naturally, the two are attracted to Diablo. Diablo, in his previous life, being a shut-in, has no experience with girls at all. He has his own outwardly cold persona, but inside he’s freaking out a lot (like Ains from Overlord). While not extreme, there are ecchi scenes, especially with Shera who unashamedly lays it on thick to Diablo. If you’re watched isekai / harem anime before, these scenes would not come off as a shock and are stock standard for the genre.

The plot mostly had Diablo helping Rem and Shera, and the issues that their backgrounds bring with them. At least as characters, they have a more involved backstory so that they feel more fleshed out. The pair are head over heels with Diablo though, although the anime keeps up the pretense of having the group working together to find a way to remove the slave collars.

While the world is based on a game, and Diablo has a significant advantage given that was his whole life previously, it’s not a one-to-one creation. It was established early on that Diablo is severely overpowered, with a huge gap in levels compared to the next strongest. It’s fun watching him be so overpowered though, since he doesn’t fully abuse it (i.e. humble brag about it too much), so there’s a good power trip going on. However, the anime falls into typical traps where the villains are one-note, obviously evil people, with ugly expressions, and that’s a big turn-off.

The anime isn’t too serious most of the time, but it can get more so when required. The season does completely cover off the two girls’ backstories, making it feel complete. Although the party gets larger, there are still plenty of stories left to tell. The season finale was interesting as it included some world building and character development but ramps up the ecchi side of things. Look, it’s not going to win any writing awards, but the plot was more involved and more fun than you would expect.

Overall, How Not to Summon a Demon Lord starts off as yet another generic isekai. After completing it, in a way, it still is. However, that’s not to say the anime doesn’t have its charms. It doesn’t have much action, and it’s not a full ecchi harem, and while it has the power fantasy element, it doesn’t go overboard with an overly arrogant or overly humble protagonist. It has a little bit of everything and is a fun journey.

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Toy Review: Transformers Cyberworld Megatron (Cyber Changers)

Review:  #920

Name:  Megatron

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Cyberworld

Year of Release:  2025

Size Class:  Cyber Changers (Wave 1)

Mold Status:  new

BEAST MODE:

With the new Cyberworld cartoon comes new toys, and we get a completely different design for Megatron, who transforms into a mechanical bull rather than a tank or anything he had transformed into in the past.

It's an okay beast mode, it's very angular due to the simplified transformation.  He has a tail that's formed by the robot weapon.

Cyber Changers are roughly the size of Core from previous lines, so he's a bit small (the hollow limbs doesn't help).

It is a breath of fresh air though to have a Megatron that transforms into something different.

There isn't any meaningful articulation, the best you can do are the front legs moving around.  It's also disappointing that the robot hands are so obvious, they couldn't even give it hoof sculpting.

A surprisingly okay beast mode, for the size class and the target audience, it's not too bad.

TRANSFORMATION:

All the Cyber Changers share a similar transformation.  The back unfolds to become the legs, the front arms are just the arms.  When you fold the beast head down, there are gears within the torso to move the whole assembly down, which is pretty impressive for this size class.

ROBOT MODE:

Robot mode is also quite unique for Megatron, and of course, the blue and gold color scheme is not what you'd expect of the character.

He's quite kibble free, with a flat back, sadly he does have hollow limbs, but the legs are hollow due to transformation requirements.

The head sculpt is okay.  He has horns which matches well with the horns on his shoulders and the beast head on his chest.

He gets taller in robot mode, but is still much smaller than a Deluxe.

Articulation is poor, he only has joints for his shoulders, hips and knees.

At least he comes with a weapon, which is a small axe that he can hold in his hands.

The lack of joints for his head and elbows really hurt, since sculpt-wise and design-wise, it's not too bad for such a small figure.

An okay figure, you can tell it's designed for a younger audience.

OVERALL:

Sadly, Cyberworld doesn't have a more adult orientated "Deluxe" line, so Cyber Changers are your best representation of those characters.  He's not a horrible figure, and the auto transformation for his waist is surprisingly complex (and satisfying).  The lack of articulation in robot mode is where it hurts the most.

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Toy Review: Transformers Age of the Primes Big Convoy (Leader)

Review:  #919

Name:  Big Convoy

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Maximal

Line:  Age of the Primes

Year of Release:  2026

Size Class:  Leader (Wave 3)

Mold Status:  new

MAMMOTH MODE:

Based upon the character that appeared in the Japanese exclusive Beast Wars Neo anime, Big Convoy transforms into a woolly mammoth.

As an update to the original toy, this is still pretty much a brick.  It's still looks fairly decent, with the only robot parts peeking out the back are the white robot legs.

He is big and bulky, but compact as well.  He's still clearly much bigger than a Voyager, although he's smaller than the original toy (which was an Ultra size class).

There is some articulation, but they're not super useful.  The trunk can move up, while the front legs can move forward.  It's not designed for this mode but you can still use it if you wish.

If you look very carefully, since the front legs aren't fully enclosed, you can also see the robot chest from underneath.  As mentioned earlier, it's still a very good beast mode.

This version doesn't retain the original toy's "attack mode", which isn't a big loss.  Everything here holds together very solidly.

A strong mammoth mode that doesn't have many flaws.

TRANSFORMATION:

He's still very much a shellformer, but less so than the original.  You would still want to remove around a third of the mammoth mode (comprise of the trunk and his back) to set it aside, since it'll be the robot mode's weapon.  After that, the halves on either side of the head form the shoulder pads.  The back unfold for the legs, taking the front mammoth legs as waist armor.  The arms unfold from the middle.  It's not as twisty and complex as the original, but can still get confusing.

ROBOT MODE

Robot mode looks very good, although like the original, there are some slightly proportion issues.  Most are ironed out, but his arms still look a little bit skinny.

He carries a massive amount of kibble, but that's just replicating the original.  He has giant shoulder pads, the front mammoth legs around his waist, and lots of panels behind his legs.

The head sculpt is almost classic Optimus, but with tusk like horns on either side.

In terms of height, he is around a Voyager.  He is heftier though, carrying more mass.

From the side, you can see how much the kibble stick out, mostly in the lower body.  The upper body is surprisingly clean.

Articulation is good, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

Big Convoy has a ton of gimmicks that are focused around his weapons.  First up are the tusks, which are attached via 5mm posts (and are prone to falling off...), these can be detached and attached underneath his arms as melee weapons.

Next up he has a small white gun that he can wield in either hand.

The gun can peg and store behind his waist.

Next are red missiles that attach to the sides of his legs.  They're not as big and impressive as on the original toy though but still great that the gimmick was kept.

Those can be held in his hands as well, so that's a bonus (although it looks stupid like that).

Next, underneath each arm you can flip out some tonfas, they look small in proportion to his body but are still very cool since they're integrated weaponry.

Finally, it's the piece that you detached when transforming him (technically you can leave it on during transformation but good luck having it stay on).  It's a huge piece, and can store on his back.

Surprisingly, having it on his back doesn't cause him to go completely off-balance.  It still looks ridiculous though.

That piece has to do something (since it basically cheats the transformation, so that it doesn't stay as kibble in robot mode).  It unfolds to form a massive gun.

The gun can be held, and it is as long as he is tall, so it's quite unwieldy.

To help with that, the gun has a few improvements, including a stand to keep it upright, and it also attaches at the shoulder, so it's quite solid when you use it.

And then finally, you can flip up the shoulder pads to reveal sculpted missile launches.  Phew.

Yet, that's not all the gimmicks, because open up his chest to reveal a gold Matrix of Leadership.

It's detachable and can be held in both his hands.

And that's a lot of gimmicks, which makes for a really fun figure, giving him a lot of play value.

He's super stable in robot mode as well, and the pieces all peg together nicely.

Despite the amount of kibble, they don't get in the way of articulation either.

A really nice robot mode, and while it is arguable if it is a completely improvement over the original toy, it's is one of the funnest Leader figures we've gotten thanks to the sheer amount of weaponry gimmicks.

OVERALL:

Big Convoy is a figure with a lot of play value.  His mammoth mode is static, but makes up for it with a fantastic robot mode.  The number of weaponry options that he has is astounding, and it is super fun even just trying them all out.  Even the big gun isn't as unwieldy and awkward as the original.  it's a figure well worth getting.

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