Review: #332
Name: Afterburner
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Unite Warriors
Year of Release: 2016
Size Class: Deluxe
Mold Status: remold of Combiner Wars Groove
VEHICLE MODE:
Afterburner transforms into an orange bike. The shade of orange isn't as orangey as the Hasbro version but is nevertheless moreso than the red of Lightspeed.
This is a good bike mode although unfortunately, the plastic used is dull and looks cheap compared to the rest of the set.
Afterburner is a remold of Combiner Wars Groove and has an elongated windshield. Not only that, but the guns attached on either side of the rear wheel are new.
Size-wise, this is a really big bike so it is grossly out of scale with the other Technobot's alternate modes. Above is a comparison against BotCon Lift-Ticket.
There is a kickstand and you can also attach the combiner piece as a weapon although it looks quite ridiculous.
A decent bike mode only hampered by the cheaper looking plastic.
TRANSFORMATION:
Afterburner has a nice transformation and there are no changes compared to Groove. The shoulder joints remain quite tight but the legs transform the same way as most other Combiner Wars deluxes. The windshield component neatly rotates onto the robot's back which is probably the most satisfying aspect of the transformation.
ROBOT MODE:
Robot mode is a winner as Afterburner looks quite fantastic. His proportions are perfect and he looks ready for action.
The front of the bike beings a big backpack, which is further worsened by the elongated windshield.
He bears a new headsculpt. It is on a balljoint so has a high degree of motion.
The official configuration is to have the bike wheel pointing up to homage the original G1 figure. Unfortunately, if you do it this way, it makes the kibble stick out really far from his back and is not worth it.
In this mode, Afterburner looks more in line with other Deluxes.
A comparison against Groove shows that there are no other new sculpting in robot mode.
Articulation is of course very good. He has all the joints you'd want including a waist swivel. The only negative is probably the lack of ankle tilts.
He can feel a little bit hollow thanks to the legs but Afterburner is a solid figure.
As previously mentioned, Afterburner comes with a new pair of guns. They even have different sculpting from each other (although the other side of the gun is hollow).
Of course, Afterburner can dual wield the guns. They're a bit too big to look natural though since they're also proportionally thin.
The other weapon is the combiner piece, which is a dual-barrelled cannon, it looks a bit weird though.
The gun is too big to look good but is still passable.
Afterburner can hold all three weapons at once. There is a port underneath the right arm where you can plug in the combiner piece.
A great robot mode. The new weapons, headsculpt and different coloring makes this figure vastly different compared to Groove.
OVERALL:
Afterburner utilizes an excellent mold and therefore is a fantastic figure. The coloring is the only reason you may not like him since the plastic used is too opaque and dull compared to the rest of the Technobots. The new weapons and headsculpt is appreciated and distinguishes him from Groove.
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Afterburner is a part of the Technobots, who combine to form Computron.
Afterburner normally forms the right arm.
You have two configurations, the official configuration is to point the wheel upwards, which matches the pointy bits of the left arm (Strafe). You can fold such that the wheel faces the side and that also looks good.
Naturally, there is a leg mode too but unfortunately, the elongated windshield presents a problem and the wheel not only points up but also out, and it becomes a bit awkward.
That's it for the review, thanks for reading!