Well, not entirely down to the facts:Originally Posted by Omega Metro
I like your reviews too, BigTansformerTrev.Short, sharp and down to the facts. Keep up the good work!
...but damned funny! Good review Trev.Heloped Mode
Did they really need to bother? I think they just created the figure and someone said:
“Hey, check this out – if you leave his legs down halfway through the transform he kind looks a bit like the bad robot from Robocop 2!”
“Oh shit! He does too! Reckon we can sell that off as on purpose?”
“Damn straight we can! We can even market him as a triple changer now!”
“Good call! Let’s go to lunch”
“Hooters again?”
“Yeah, the buffalo wings there give me heartburn, but I don’t go for the food”
“Dude – you are such a perv! Lol”
“Lol - yeah I know”
And that’s how we got the Heloped mode.
My thoughts on Whirl:
Pros: I love the funky look, a great G1 homage. Oddly enough, this is very similar to many of the Bay-verse toys in terms of aesthetic, especially the chicken legs. He's a nice size, and feels solid to me. The one I have has really nice tight joints and ratchets, although I'm hoping that doesn't mean the ratchets are going to strip with use over time.
Have to disagree with Trev regarding the stickers. I think it's a good compromise to return to the age of stickering TFs out of the box. For years we've come to expect diminishing paint apps in Hasbro toys, and I've seen first hand how a (relatively) inexpensive sticker sheet from Reprolabels can improve figures immensely. Hasbro can surely produce stick sheets much less expensively than Reprolabels can (economies of scale and all that). The only thing I would be wary of is the quality of the sticker stock - generations Metroplex being an example of that done very poorly. Whirl's stickers are quite a different material, so time will tell how they go. I really like the detail they add to the figure.
Cons: The instructions aren't the best in regards to sticker placement (there are 2 different types of stickers labeled 17 & 18, and I managed to bungle these. Fixed now though). The instructions also fall down with regards to the weapon accessories - I only worked out the forearm/hand replacement gun because of the stock photos in Trev's first post. I'm still trying to figure out weapon configurations that work for me in alt mode.
Overall, I really like Whirl, and would recommend him.
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