Dayum...
Well, a retool _that_ extensive would be quite costly for Hasbro. But I like liegeprime's initial idea of a simple head retool and replace the tank/sword accessories with a smaller (and much cheaper - remember that the tank is electronic) plastic guns and Matrix w/ chain. That would be an affordable enough option for Hasbro if they wanted to go down that path.
Will it be a proper Pretender, or just a Transformer based on G1 Thunderwing's Pretender shell (à la ROTF Bludgeon)? I'd like to see the former, but I suspect it will be the latter. What would be interesting is if they gave him a four-barrelled gun (as seen in G1 canon - something the original toy never had). I'd like to see it being a gatling missile launcher like BW Rampage's gatling gun (Movie-1 Voyager Starscream's hands are the same gimmick, but they're not detachable guns).
I actually like that Bludgeon isn't a Pretender - since the whole Pretender aspect of Bludgeon (& Thunderwing) wasn't so prominent in the Marvel comic, anyway. The new Bludgeon toy focuses on his image seen in the comic, giving that (Pretender) form a good transformation, rather than a relatively clunky inner figure.
So yeah, I'd be happier if Thunderwing was not a Pretender.
Mind you, I like the original toys of both of these characters - but doing them as Pretenders now would hamper the potential for the ipdated forms of the characters to use modern technology.
Eagerly waiting for Masterpiece Meister
+1, as long as the robot mode is as close to the shell/predominant character model as Bludgeon I could care less for the Pretender aspect.
Still would have liked a bigger size class than Deluxe though, an Ultra would have been great.
Maybe have a Mini-con who looks like the inner robot?
One funny thing with Thunderwing was how the Pretender shell has that opening behind the head... since I was a kid whenever I play with Thunderwing I sometimes flip up the robot head while it's still inside the shell just to play it from Thunderwing's robot's POV while still inside the shell. So it's like the whole is a "cut-away" showing the audience (i.e.: me!) what Thunderwing is doing inside the shell, so I can actually _see_ him "piloting" it! Anyone else do this?