Toy Review - BLITZWING (Legacy)

[GoktimusPrime]

BLITZWING
Serie - Generations
Unterzeile - Legacy
Größe/Klasse - Leader
Neu/Unformen - Neu
Veröffentlichung - 2
Hier verkauft - Ja (Juli 2022)
ungefährer Verkaufspreis - $100
ungefähre Größe - 16cm
Treue - Decepticon
Untergruppe - Triple Changer
Transformationen - Panzer und Luftwaffe
Haupteigenschaften - drei Transformationen
Hauptfarben - beige und purpur
Hauptzubehör - zwei Kreisel-Kanonen und ein Elektron-Krummsäbel

















THOUGHTS

By far the most cartoon-looking Blitzwing toy to date. I don't know if it's worth paying full price; I got mine on sale for $75 at Zing, and I think that this is a good price for this toy. Tank and robot modes are fine. The backpack on mine doesn't lock into place which is a minor nuisance. Thankfully the point where it tabs in is on the bottom, so I don't need to worry about backpack collapse happening in the future. The way that the tank barrel folds in is pretty neat. The jet mode is the most compromised mode though, as it is very chunky.

Overall I think that Titans Return Blitzwing is still the best CHUG Blitzwing toy. I still don't like how it's a Headmaster, but aside from that, I think that it's the most well balanced CHUG Blitzwing toy in all three modes. Plus TR Blitzwing is half of TL Blitzwing's price at full RRP (and even cheaper when Big W had it on sale at $15, which is when I got mine ). If you're perfectly happy with your TR Blitzwing then you might want to skip Legacy Blitzwing. Otherwise I recommend grabbing one while it's on sale now.

[Skyfire]

In my view, the best Blitzwing was my original G1, until now. The TR (Legends) one has disappointing track kibble on his arms. The tank mode is ugly and cartoon inaccurate, and the jet mode, while a nice looking realistic jet, wasn't really accurate either. And since I disliked the TR Astrotrain, and never bought it, it meant that my Siege/Earthrise Astrotrain was out of scale. So I'm quite pleased with Legacy Blitzwing. The tank and plane modes are still not fantastic, but close enough to the G1 style I want. I wish the cockpit windows were blue though.

For those cartoon episodes where Blitzwing's cannon was long, you can choose not to fold it in and simply rotate the turret 180 degrees.

[Sinnertwin]

Even though I have the TR and LG versions, I couldn't resist ordering one from Amazon for $75.

I'd love to Frankenstein both the Legacy and TR/LG versions for the Ultimate Blitzwing as I feel both have pros and cons.

[Bemblebuu]

Triple-changers would be hell to design on a reasonable budget, so I can forgive Legacy Blitzwing's horrible jet mode; the bot mode and tank are nice enough. The huge fist accessories are a bit daft. Blast effects woulda been preferable.

Overall, worth it for $75, although it really should be $60 max (the fists don't make it a leader class fig)...would not buy at $99...at least I don't think I would...

[doublespy]

The Shogo Hasui fanboy in me was shocked in disbelief when it was revealed in the livstream that he's the TT designer behind Blitzwing. I wonder what happened that left us with two seriously half assed alt modes here. Was it scheduling, likw what happened with ER Starscream? or Hasbro's insistnece to include the Energon hands? Or could it be somthing else that we might never know. Hasui has given us three great SS86 Dinobots, and an incredible Legacy Tarantulas of late，so it's not like the quality of his design output has suddenly dropped. Would be nice to read about it in an interview somewhere. Ben mentioned in the stream something along the lines of "you guys know Hasui san very well" so we know Hasbro are aware of the celebrity status Hasui holds in the fandom. I do wonder if the sometimes too honest interviews Hasui did with Japanese publications may not sit too well with Hasbro (the inadverdent effect of fan translations), and in turn influence TakaraTomy's decision on who to put in the interviews in the future.

Anyways, let's talk about transformation first, as some of the decisions made here really hurt the alt modes imo.

Transformation:
G1 Blitzwing was an ingenious design in terms utilizing geometry and difference sufaces of the same parts to turn froma beige tank to a purple jet. Hasui clearly wanted to do something different here, instead of re-using the G1 engineering like he did with Sixshot. The main sticking point was probabaly the robot shoulder articulation, so the back half the tank no longer connects to the arm/shoulder blocks that form the front. The jet wings now form from the leg panels instead which I thought is a really nice touch. But these two decisions create the problem of all that excess tank mass doing thing in jet mode. If the turret wasn't there, these chuncks could possibly swing inwards. As is, they are an asbsolute eye sore in jet mode.

The only real prolem I have with the tank mode is the(fake) jet nose being too long; I know it's in the character model but it was flush with the front of tank. It even has a dedicated fake translucent cockpit only for this mode! Admittedly to have waist articulation, theres' only so much you can fit in the chest cavity, but maybe the tank treads could've slit forward to at least be flush with the jet nose?

There are some really nice Hasui touches still, like the extra panel folding over to bulk up the 'bot mode chest, and how the cannon is stored inside the turret, but I can't help but thinking the overall design should've been better.






Tank Mode:
It's a nice modernized tank, with some heavy armor plates over the treads (which also help the other modes as there's less treads visible compared to the G1 design). The turret turns but the cannon has indented upward rotation mainly for transformation, it doesn't look natural in any position other than horizontal.

The Energon hands are okay in this mode. I was gonna try these on Menasor but the hands are so damn hard to untab from the forearm part I gave up and gave them to the kid next door. Awkward design and a waste of mold/parts count imo.








Jet Mode：
The front proportions are more cartoony compared to the G1 toy, which is amazingly realistic, but it's cartoon accruate. The sword has no good place to store that doesn't look silly in either tank or jet mode.








Bot Mode:
This is where this figure shines. Great toon accuracy. Silver details esepcially the thighs really pop. Incredible head sculpt.

The beige panels on the inside of his arms seem to have been originally designed to fit a tab on the purple part, but the tab's no longer there. So now the panel doesn't tab in anywhere.

On my copy, the backpack doesn't tab in bot mode, luckily gravity still makes it sit flush on the back.





You can tell he's much denser in hand and has more parts packed in than a Voyeger figure.


Articulation wise, he has a dedicated up and down neck joint, which will help in flying poses. The shoulder articulation is generally unhindered, but the arms don't go back very far.








Overall:
I got him on sale and I don't think he's worth the full retail. I knew this was gonna be a bit of a disappointment going in, but in hand I really think the alt modes could've easily been handled better. As mentioned, I would love to see an interview with Hasui about this one, or the development insights from the Hasbro side.

[Butcher31]

I mentioned this in a recent Facebook post but my suspicion is they planned on the fake wings from the bot mode to be the underside wings in the jet mode, similar to the G1 toy, but then they ran out of part-count and had to downgrade their plans. The fact that there's a set of wings underneath the jet and in the right position but pointing the wrong way is telling.
I'm just guessing but I can imagine them going "good plan but we've got to fit the gloves into the part count, so rather than have the second set of wings, just fold the tank parts underneath as best you can".

[GoktimusPrime]

I'm just guessing but I can imagine them going "good plan but we've got to fit the gloves into the part count, so rather than have the second set of wings, just fold the tank parts underneath as best you can".

I suspect that this is the case.

TL Blitzwing is definitely above the level of a Voyager. Having recently compared this toy with T30 and TR Blitzwing, it is certainly worth more than a Voyager. But it's not worth the Leader Class RRP IMO. It feels more like an Ultra Class figure ($70 RRP); so I do think that the current $75 sale price is worth it (think of the extra $5 as paying for those silly "hand" accessories). This is why I voted on the "Only if cheap" option.

[Butcher31]

I suspect that this is the case.

TL Blitzwing is definitely above the level of a Voyager. Having recently compared this toy with T30 and TR Blitzwing, it is certainly worth more than a Voyager. But it's not worth the Leader Class RRP IMO. It feels more like an Ultra Class figure ($70 RRP); so I do think that the current $75 sale price is worth it (think of the extra $5 as paying for those silly "hand" accessories). This is why I voted on the "Only if cheap" option.

You're bang on. I keep a little spreadsheet of figure part count and weight. All classes seem to be pretty consistent in terms of price as a factor of part and weight (deluxe, voyager, commander, titan). The overpriced exceptions being the small classes (core and below), which is understandable, and leader class, which doesn't make much sense. Based on their parts and weight, they really should have a RRP of around $75-$80 instead of $100. And Blitzwing is a pretty typical leader class toy by modern standards.

I got impatient with JB not having it in stock, so I picked Blitzwing up at Toyworld at full price and have no regrets. But, yeah, I reckon $75 is about right too.

[KELPIE]

I hate the power gloves, even though I can see some cool intended play value. However that's probably because I've never really been a fan of line-wide gimmicks.

That said, I think this is the better Blitzwing to own... also, what's the deal, no Animated Blitzwing in any photos?

[GoktimusPrime]

However that's probably because I've never really been a fan of line-wide gimmicks.

↑ 100% agree. Gimmicks are meant to be an additional special feature on a toy. And to paraphrase Syndrome from The Incredibles: when everyone is special, nobody is. :/

also, what's the deal, no Animated Blitzwing in any photos?

This is a G1 CHUG toy, so... I'm not gonna take a comparison pic next to my Animated Blitzwing (or Movieverse Blitzwing). But hey, if you or anyone else wanna do that, more power to you.