Review: #270
Name: Blades
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Combiner Wars
Year of Release: 2015
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 3)
Mold Status: retool of Combiner Wars Alpha Bravo
COMIC:
Blades comes with The Transformers #35 (or
Combiner Wars #11), this issue takes place on Earth. Spike Witwicky makes a resurfaces and his
enemies takes an interest, wanting to eliminate him. Once again, if you are not aware of any past
events, especially what Spike had done to end up being a rogue, then the impact
and importance is probably lost upon you. The events are a bit bland, there is a lot of
talking and exposition, especially amongst the humans. The most surprising thing is that this issue
was originally released in November 2014, considering that the toy started
appearing in April 2015, that's not much of a time delay. So all in all, not many other things
happened, so it ends up being quite a bland issue.
HELICOPTER MODE:
Blade transforms into a red and white helicopter, the combiner piece acts as a stand (which is a nice use for the extra piece). Many people have complained that he retained missiles despite being a rescue helicopter. Considering the amount of retooling other figures got, Blades got the short end of the stick.
Nevertheless, this is a really nice helicopter mode. The main rotor is free-spinning, while the tail rotor is fixed.
Blades is a Deluxe classed figure but he has a very slim profile, also the robot arms jut out to the sides making him less aerodynamic.
A comparison with Alpha Bravo, you can see that there are no differences in helicopter mode. Slightly disappointing is the dull grey used for the robots and the robot shoulders, it makes Blades feel cheap and it stands out a lot.
You can attach the robot gun either on ports on the side or in the robot fists, either way works quite well.
This is a great helicopter mode, the red plastic used is very nice and different than your standard color scheme for an alternate mode of this type.
TRANSFORMATION:
Blades transforms exactly the same as Alpha Bravo, and it is quite simple yet fun. I find that detaching the legs on Blades to be easier than Alpha Bravo, although it still pegs a bit too tightly for my liking. I like how the rotors end up in robot mode, Blades has one of the best transformation schemes for a helicopter.
ROBOT MODE:
Blades' robot mode has some really nice proportions. He is slim yet looks great. Once again though, the grey shoulders ruins it, if only they used white instead.
He wears the rear of the helicopter on his back, and the main rotor tucks in nicely there.
The only new piece here is the head, with the face painted a metallic blue. While accurate to the character, it clashes with the rest of the figure.
Size-wise, he is just a tad bit shorter than Universe Drag Strip. He feels a bit smaller in your hands due to the slim profile but all in all, he's not noticeably smaller.
A quick comparison with Alpha Bravo, as mentioned, the only new part is the head, slightly disappointing that they couldn't have put in a few more unique features considering the mold is being used for Vortex without any changes apart from the head either.
Articulation is fantastic, he has all the joints that you would hope for (excluding a wrist swivel which he has no need for anyway).
One of the best things are the missiles surrounding his hands. Not only are they painted silver so they stand out, but they work very well as weapons too.
Blades' main weapon is a gun, it's the same mold as Alpha Bravo.
He can hold it in either hand as you'd expect. While posing him, you may notice that the piece containing the rotor may get in the way.
Blades has a large footprint which comes in handy.
The other weapon is the combiner piece which holds two barreled Gatling guns.
While just a tad bit too large, the Gatling guns do look quite convincing as powerful weapons.
Blades has a nice robot mode, the red and white are striking and really differentiate him from Alpha Bravo.
OVERALL:
The mold that Blades uses is a fun one. The helicopter mode is great and the robot mode is equally good. The transformation is simple yet fun. Only the unpainted grey plastics used for the shoulders and rotors let the figure down. Despite that, the color scheme works very well and while the fact that he is the same mold as Alpha Bravo may dampen your enthusiasm, Blades is a solid toy in his own right.
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Blades naturally form a part of the Protectobots, who can combine to create Defensor. Defensor will get a review of his own later on but for now, lets take a look at Blades' other two modes.
Blades normally forms the right arm, thanks to the slim profile, the hands are proportionally too big to look natural.
As a foot, Blades looks fantastic and is one of the only molds to create a seamless transition to the combiner piece foot. That and he has a knee spike makes Blade one of the best figures to use as a combiner leg.
Defensor looks fantastic (note that I have used Groove as a chest plate), he has one of the bulkier combined modes and Blades look fantastic as an arm.
An advantage of the limbs modes of the Combiner Wars line is that they have functioning elbows, shoulders and knees. The downside is that the figures are generally too heavy to support dynamic poses.
That's it for now, thanks for reading and hope you stay around for the next review!