A difficult Encore decision

[GoktimusPrime]

Sky Lynx is my most hated Tf btw so i'm biased on this

Even more than this guy?

[iceburn]

going other suggestions:
- save money for omega supreme else get the lot one at a time...
they're all still available at many online stores for these later encore TFs

[kup]

Even more than this guy?

IDW is going to make him cool, remember?

[Paulbot]

Like the others have said Jazz has been resisused a lot and likely will continue to be, whereas Sky Lynx due to size, rights and being a less popular character may not.

[1orion2many]

I voted Jazz but just remebered I can get SkyLynx for $100 Aus, that's including postage. I don't know if this is any cheaper than what your going to pay but if not PM me for details.

[roller]

skylynx will get you out of your jynx

[Adzma]

Well the majority has ruled in Sky Lynx's favour, so I'm currently browsing for a good deal. 1orion2many has pointed me in a good direction, and now I am awaiting a response from his dealer, (sounds like doing drugs ).

[jaydisc]

Sky Lynx is my most hated Tf btw so i'm biased on this

I couldn't agree more, and yes, he's WAY crappier than Wheelie. It's a simplistic, silly, oversized, gimmicky toy.

[GoktimusPrime]

While Sky Lynx isn't the most amazing toy in G1, I would still say that he's not the worst and certainly not worse than Wheelie.

First of all, Sky Lynx's vehicle modes look pretty decent for what they're meant to be, especially the shuttle mode. Aside from the lack of a black underbelly and visible robot leg kibble it's a decent looking shuttle that also features the actual thruster configuration used on NASA shuttles. And the leg kibble is forgiveable by G1 standards considering that the inside of the shuttle already houses the very long tail. The way the neck extends and the formation of the 'frill' on the neck is also cleverly done IMO. The mouth is well concealed in shuttle mode and looks nice in robot mode with the teeth and gun. The reissue looks nicer in that it as extra paint decos on the inside of the mouth that further accentuates and highlights the details of the palates and gun.

The rolling platform doesn't seem to resemble any realistic ones used by NASA but it's passable - you can tell that it's meant to be a rolling platform carrier for a shuttle. The opening canopy in the shuttle mode is a nice touch too. The transformation of the dinobird mode is pretty nifty for a G1 figure. The transformation is very simple, but in spite of being the housing for the main electronic gimmick, the toy still effectively transforms from a platform into a puma. The toy isn't trying to be too ambitious; although the electronic gimmick is very dominant in this toy, it doesn't overwhelm it and smother it as a Transformer action figure, like say with Ultimate Bumblebee. By G1 standards neither its vehicle nor robot modes are really compromised by its gimmick. The platform rolls and the puma's legs can move. What more would you want from those modes? Ultimate Bumblebee on the other hand - from all the reviews I've read and from what I've seen of it in package in stores - seems to have a dodgie looking car mode and underwhelmingly craptacular robot mode. By contemporary standards Ultimate Bumblebee seems to be a toy that is overwhelmingly smothered by its gimmicks - to the point where it's more gimmick than action figure. I would not say the same for Sky Lynx - by G1 standards it still plays as an effective shuttle, platform, dinobird and puma Transformer. Sky Lynx also has the luxury of being very unique and the only member of his class.

Wheelie on the other hand is part of the Autobot Mini-Cars and compared to all other Mini-Cars he is easily the weakest of the group. Bumblebee is a VW Beetle, Cliffjumper is a Porsche 944, Beachcomber is a buggy, Cosmos is an Adamsky flying saucer and Seaspray is clearly and hovercraft... Wheelie on the other hand transforms into a... car. Of some vague description. The greys also clash badly with the oranges.

But the real weakness of the Wheelie toy lies in the robot mode. As dirge's review states, the robot mode is "a horrible orange hunchback thing which seems to have been sacrificed for the car mode" and I couldn't agree more. The lack of hands in this mode is also really poor. I hate how his forearms just end in stumps. Yes, there are attempts at moulding hands on the inner sides of said stumps, but when I first got this toy in 1986 it was several weeks or months later that I even noticed that HasTak had attempted to sculpt hands on it! Okay, Cosmos lacks hands too - but you could believe that the thrusters on his forearms could be guns... and the cartoon/comic made them into hands (you could believe that they could be fingers). Wheelie on the other hand, until you look closely, just looks like a double hand amputee.

Okay, I'm going to start comparing the characters now, so if anyone feels that this shouldn't factor into the appreciation of TF toys, then stop reading now.

Sky Lynx may be an arrogant prat, but unlike Wheelie he actually makes more substantial contributions to continuity. And that has long been Wheelie's main point of contention amongst those who hate him - the fact that he contributes virtually nothing to TF lore.

The only really useful thing Wheelie ever in the animated continuity was in Transformers The Movie where he helped the Dinobots to locate Hot Rod and Kup. That's it. There's really nothing else he ever did that couldn't have been accomplished without his presence. Finding that Quintesson ship; Hot Rod, Kup & Co. could've done that if they ever bothered to look behind them. Transporting Metroplex's transformation cog to Earth? It was Sky Lynx who rescued Blurr, Wheelie and Marissa and finally delivered it to Earth. Getting drunk in The Headmasters and making an ass of himself? Definitely could be passed.

Wheelie's appearance in the G1 comics was very brief but tolerable - he rescued Wreck Gar from Quintessons and helped him to fight against them.

In both the comics and cartoon Sky Lynx acted as intersteller transportation for fellow Autobots and their comrades - much like Astrotrain's role for the Decepticons in the cartoon. Not the most glorious role, but important nonetheless (even if Sky Lynx saw it as beneath him). Sky Lynx was vital in forming the Autobot-Decepticon Primitives Alliance (ADPA) and leading them to Primacron and the Oracle. It was also Sky Lynx who found and delivered a Quintesson to ressurect Optimus Prime.

In the G1 comics Sky Lynx made a noble attempt at rescuing three human children from being executed by the Dinobots (they had been convicted of conspiracy with Blaster, who'd been convicted of treason) - it is unsure if Sky Lynx could've battled the Dinobots without endangering the humans since Blaster turned himself in to prevent that battle from ever taking place. The incidences with the Cosmic Carnival and Meccanibals wasn't too important, but it did result with Sky Lynx encountering the Powermasters and Autobot Pretenders (Landmine and Cloudburst), the latter which proved very useful when Sky Lynx rescued Landmine and Cloudburst from the Decepticon Powermaster jets and also captured their Nebulans, which the Autobots used as hostages to blackmail the Meccanibals into restoring all of their former victims.

Sky Lynx's canonical appearance isn't the greatest, but he only really appeared when he was needed. Wheelie's canonical appearance is mostly very forgettable, yet he had a very prominent and recurring appearance in the cartoon! He was like Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. They both keep appearing in multiple scenes where they're not really needed - i.e.: they're not making any substantial contribution to the story, yet they're getting a disproportionate amount of limelight and attention!

And while Sky Lynx may sound like a snoot, at least he doesn't talk with a high-pitched BABY voice and speak in badly strung rhymes all the time!!

[jaydisc]

The toy isn't trying to be too ambitious

Woah. You can say that again.

The shuttle is a shuttle with a head and a tail. The platform is a headless puma lying down (great transformation ;-)) The suspension of disbelief is non-existent. And I think the electronics focus is entirely responsible for the figure's shortcomings.

Your analogy of Wheelie to the other minibots is flawed. Complaining about the realism of Wheelie's alt mode would be the same as complaining about the realism of the alt modes of Kup, Hot Rod, Cyclonus or Scourge. These figures alt modes were not designed to be of Earth.

And while I really shouldn't even be entertaining the comparison, why don't you compare the monetary value. It's one thing to spend less than $10 on a toy and be disappointed, but over $100? Your analogy to Ultimate Bumblebee is definitely more appropriate, and I couldn't agree more. They're both poop.

And lastly, regardless of any further comparisons, just remember that comparing poop to smellier poop doesn't stop the original poop from being poop.