Toy Review - Generations VOY Springer

[CBratron]

Playing with Springer today at Supanova, I've noticed that one side of my Springer's car mode doesn't line up as well as the other side. So it seems to be a QA issue and perhaps not all figures are affected. Cos the right side of my Springer has no gaps at all, but left one does. But as Lord_Zed said, it is a pretty minor issue and nothing compared to Blitzwing.

Check underneath. The yellow parts that peg into his chest sometimes get caught on the head/neck assembly.

[SMHFConvoy]

Mine doesn't line up on both sides but the parts all stay where they're supposed to.

[GoktimusPrime]

Check underneath. The yellow parts that peg into his chest sometimes get caught on the head/neck assembly.

Cheers, I'll be mindful of that next time I transform it to Brazilian Batmobile mode.

Mine doesn't line up on both sides but the parts all stay where they're supposed to.

Yeah, it's a nuisance but it's relatively bearable. It personally doesn't bother me enough to make me want to do an overseas exchange, but if I'd bought it locally I totally would try. Knowing my luck w/ Animated Blitzwing, they'd all have something dodgy... (-_-)

[Bidoofdude]

My Thoughts:

Pros:
Visually astounding
Colours fit nicely
Good classics representation of Springer
Good design basis (IDW)
Rotor sword
Light piping
Well pulled off alternate modes

Cons:
End tailfin comes off sometimes
Instructions were a little hard to follow at first
My shoulders are a tad flimsy/loose

This is an amazing representation of Springer, in his IDW Nick Roche (I think I got that right ) representation. The robot mode, although a little skinny, fits nicely and his stealthy-looking robot body works well.

The alternate modes are nicely pulled off and distinction can be made between the two, unlike some other representations of Springer. Though mass is kind of a problem, it can easily be overlooked.

Weapons are very nice. The rotor to sword transformation works effectively and there are no flaws in the design of the sword. The gun is nice and as said by others, he works well with big weapons. The missile launcher Springer comes with is round and big, just the way he likes it. The push missiles, which normally do not work too well on some figures, are well camouflaged at the back and do not make the figure look goofy.

Light piping and posability are quite good on this guy as well, with few hindrances in articulation.

Overall, amazing figure and a great addition to any classics or triple changer collection.

Visual: 10/10 Playability: 9/10 Transformation: 9/10 Alt Modes: 9/10

Overall: 37/40
Mean of Scores: 9.25/10 (92.5%- A+)

Very good figure. Highly recommended.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I quite like his robot and armoured car modes - for some reason the helicopter mode just doesn't do it for me. There seems to be too much coming off the sides where his arms fold up, which admittedly the G1 toy suffered from as well.

Overall a good figure though and best Springer representation we've had since the original.

[Bidoofdude]

My arms are very loose at the shoulder ball joint. Painted with clear nail polish.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I just got around to opening mine last night. I waited for the TakTom version and it would seem I am in the minority, but I prefer the softer colours. Pretty damn amazing figure. Love the armoured car mode and robot mode is as evryone has said pretty impressive.

Helicopter mode.... Well, don't really like it much at all to be honest, but I do like that the transformation from robot to car and robot to helicopter is fairly different. As opposed to just a few changes of the car for the chopper.

Light piping is incredible in hi blue eyes. Very impressive figure this one and all the good points far outweigh the fairly ugly chopper mode. I find it so bad, I almost have trouble believing it to be a helicopter....

The blades/sword thing is very cool, and the fact there is a bit of transformation for it is nice as well. Not so sold on his gun, but it is big enough, I just think the sculpt of it was sacrificed for the missiles too much. Having said that though, that is the main reason I have bought some other weapon sets of various sorts to go with him.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Just opened mine (TT version) and yeah...what everyone else has said.
Wow. I'm enjoying him more than MP Prowl.
Robot mode is amazing, car mode is pretty good aside from the gaps, and helicopter mode is OK. All things considered this is an incredible piece.

Really glad TT altered the colours from the first shots we got - he's not as bright as the Hasbro version but he looks vibrant enough that it works.

[Lint]

I just got around to opening mine last night. I waited for the TakTom version and it would seem I am in the minority, but I prefer the softer colours.

I got the TakTom version too. The green is vastly different to the promo pics (I was actually looking forward to the olivey green but oh well ) and is more akin to the Hasbro version. Overall the plastic/paint colours are quite representative of the original G1 Toy, especially the yellow.

I opened Blitzwing first which made this toy feel a little... well... boring. Perhaps the designers were deliberately going for a G1 inspired transformation. While the transformation is way more elegant and solid than Blitzwing, neither alt mode looks or feels particularly good. Springer is meant to be a heroic swashbuckling bot and neither of these attributes are reflected in his alt-mode designs which seem to be inspired from cold-war era Russia which is not reknowned for being especially heroic or swashbuckling. I feel like if they were going to go this far for G1 accuracy, they should have fully gone for a futuristic look. Unfortunately I think it was always in their design plan to have this mold also service as Sandstorm.

As with Blitzwing the bot mode is the strongest. You get good articulation, poseability and balance (HAH! Take that FP Defender).

Overall this guy still wins the award for best Springer toy ever, mostly because he is a triple changer and we havent had a triple changing Springer since the days of old. I just wish they had invested in making him just Springer and not Sandstorm as well as the Sandstorm elements really interfere with his look and character.

[kurdt_the_goat]

I'm very late to the party, but I finally got this toy as Legends Springer. I couldn't really decide which of the earlier colours i liked (this or Sandstorm!) and skipped it back then. I always wanted the toy and so when i the Legends version was announced, put in a preorder. Over time i was getting a little worried about the shade of green and considered cancelling... but stuck with it and glad i did!

I opened this along with a bunch of MP's stockpiling at my inlaws recently, and first impression of robot mode is at least as impressive as the MPs. To the touch, you can tell the difference, and the fit in car mode especially is kind of weak, but overall it's a great looking and posing figure. I really like the headsculpt, it's perfect! In person, the green is a very good match next to MP Hot Rod and Magnus, and is really vibrant and deep - the photos aren't a good representation, the green gets blown out or looks more pastel than it is in real life. The varying shades are more distinct than they appear as well, and there's a lot of little paint apps over the place that give it a more premium feel.

I know why they have them all yellow, but I wonder if they'd have painted the tops of his shoulder pads green, and left the underside yellow.. you'd have a pretty believable colour scheme in all modes, which would be mighty impressive for a triple changer!