Toy Review - Generations Doubledealer

[BigTransformerTrev]

Series - Generations
Sub-line – Thrilling 30
Wave: Wave 2 - 2014
Size/class - Voyager
New/remould/redeco – Redeco of Generations Blitzwing
Released here – Not yet
Approximate Retail Price - $20US
Approximate Size – 20cm
Allegiance – Decepticon
Alt-mode – Decepticon Jet & Autobot Tank
Main Features/Gimmicks – Triple Changer/Dual Alliance
Main Colours – Blue, Purple, Black
Main Accessories – Sword, Gun






Factions:
What I first thought was silly is that they gave him an Autobot sticker to represent his dual-factionism, but it’s on his arse so not really visible in robot mode. Then after transforming him saw where it was in tank mode so now it’s:

G1
Autobot Robot
Decepticon Bird
Neutral Missile Carrier

Generations
Neutral Robot
Decepticon Jet
Autobot Tank



Robot Mode
*Not a lot changed here from Blitzwing which is both good and bad. He still has that problem with the shoulders but most folk have learnt the ‘clip trick’ by now so it should not be too big a deal. He has a new head sculpt which makes him look like his IDW appearance which is good and has gotten rid of the ‘3 faces’ thing Blitzwing had. What I really like is that you can fold Doubledealer’s wings behind him and have the tank turret down, and then do the opposites for Blitzwing. This way they both look that extra bit different and that bit more like their G1 counterparts.


Decepticon Jet mode
*The strongest of the alt-modes in my opinion. Looks very cool. Has a mouth and eye motif on the nosecone as a partial shout-out to the fact the G1 version was a flying creature. Once again you can differentiate him from Blitzwing here by having Doubledealers tank gun on the top of the jet with Blitzwing’s underneath like BW's G1 toy. He sports his Decepticon symbol on the nosecone.


Autobot Tank mode
*Not particularly strong or impressive looking, however still not bad. Ways to customize him here to change his appearance to Blitzwing’s Tank mode are minimal. Sports the Autobot symbol at the front of the tank under the turret.


Transformation
Those shoulders still give me the irrits when turning him from robot to jet. I remember how to do it, then by the next time I have completely forgotten again. Not the most intuitive of toys and for someone new to the mould you may be better watching someone do it on youtube rather than going by the instructions.


Worth getting?
*Not the greatest triple-changer mould in the world, but if you like the character and like G1 homages I think there are enough differences to Blitzwing here (colours, headsculpt, dual faction stickers etc) to warrant buying, as stated you can position their parts in different ways to accentuate that more. Also because he is a less popular character sporting a less than popular mould he can be found a bit cheaper online than most Voyager figures.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

If I got him, i'd have the cannon underneath the jet since the Birdmonster carried the missile that way. The neutral robot is a shame, but I am not going to get this guy anyway. I'd rather have a proper Doubledealer made, with Powermasters and mega missiles, and and HOOKERS!

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'd rather have a proper Doubledealer made, with Powermasters and mega missiles, and and HOOKERS!

Lol


Maybe they will repackage him with the long awaited ROTF Alice figure for ya

[kup]

Unless I see him super cheap, I'll wait to see if a 3rd party makes the character right.

[griffin]

Got this figure on Monday, and after never transforming Blitzwing I didn't mind this figure too much, as it therefore didn't feel like a redeco to me.
They probably did well on the Doubledealer homage, as more bird decos on the jet might have made it look stupid.


A couple flaws I found though with the instructions/packaging images...

- On the packaging images for Doubledealer (above, which are also on the box), the black panels at the front of the tank should be flipped up to make it a flat front to the tank. At least it's in the instructions though, and the product images for Blitzwing).

- The tank barrel pointing forward in jet mode (in the instructions for BOTH figures) isn't correct, as it covers up the landing gear and should be pointing back through that giant cavity underneath the toy. Follow the packaging image... or even the original Blitzwing toy, which had it pointing backwards as well.

[DELTAprime]

Looking forward to getting him in hand even if he is only a redeco.

[Sinnertwin]

I'll give you guys this, you weren't exaggerating when you said that this mold is fail plasticified

[GoktimusPrime]

As expected, this mould carries over many of Blitzwing's flaws, most notably the shoulder issue. On the plus side, the lack of the 'triple changing face' gimmick is a welcome loss, as it allows Doubledealer's head to tuck in easily, as well as greater clearance for the nosecone to clip over. Hasbro has compensated for the removal of this gimmick with more paint apps, which nicely highlights some parts of the mould which look more bland on Blitzwing.

I was surprised to learn that the "mode factions" between the robot and tank modes have been switched compared to G1 Doubledealer -- only the Decepticon flight mode remains consistent between both toys. But upon consideration, I think that this makes sense for this toy. G1 Doubledealer's 'neutral' mode is the ICBM missile launcher truck mode as it's the "odd one out" between the 3 modes as the only vehicular mode. His Autobot mode is a humanoid robot, and the Decepticon mode is an avian robot. However, the Blitzwing mould has only one robot mode and two vehicle modes, so evidently Hasbro has decided to reassign the neutral mode to this mould's "odd mode out," which is the sole robot mode, with the two vehicle modes becoming the factioned modes. So while it is a notable departure from G1 Doubledealer, it is an understandable one. It also helps to make the Decepticon jet mode no longer feel "forced" (which is what turned me off initially getting this toy when it came out). I've also personally decided to place the tank turret on the top of the jet mode to help differentiate it from Blitzwing's jet mode, and also as a visual tribute to G1 Doubledealer's Decepticon mode.

It's a shame that Hasbro didn't take the opportunity to fix the shoulder flaw. Recommended if you're interested in adding this character to your Classicsverse collection and you can find it cheap.

Doubledealer's three modes


Comparison w/ Generations Blitzwing


Comparison w/ G1 Doubledealer