I was surprised that Vortex is actully the best "feeling" out of the others that I have. Just feels higher quality. Pegs and tabs together just flawlessly. LOVE the colors.
I find that Vortex is the weakest of the Combaticons. Now, don't get me wrong, he's sculpted nice and his color scheme is great, but his helicopter-ness gets in the way of everything-- his rotor gets in the way, his arm/missile pods get in the way of every mode he's got. I mean, sure, it was a nice gesture to allow us to compact his rotors, but they hang so far down his back that it interferes with leg motion (and therefore arm motion). Compared to his FoC version his Combiner Wars version seems weaker. The FoC version the rotors were very much away from the combined "elbow" so it didn't suffer the same sort of problem. The only thing I'd say the CW version has over FoC is the karate-chop hand.
Thats happened alot with other people except its on their Blades and Alpha Bravo. My Alpha Bravo has the issue as well and no amount future polish has been able to fix it
I wish his gun was symmetric. I would buy two Vortex just make one super bad ass armed Copter. The yellow missles suck, and I just wish they had done ANYTHING to hide the arms.
Just picked up Vortex. Funny, I was expecting to be put-off by the yellow arms/missiles; however next to the G1 figure, I can totally see what they were going for. I like. So I always try to not let the little things irk me in this hobby....buuuuuuut in this one particular case, it IS a bit annoying when you think about this. ALL THEY had to do, was remold the front "cockpit" part, (the part on the two front ball joint thingies) and make those parts flat fronted. Then give a different tailfin part, which snaps right on anyway....and throw 2 more rotors on it. Viola! Would've been the perfect Vortex. EDIT: After some tinkering.... hmmmmm, it's a start.
You just made Vortex even more badass. For me he'll stay the way he is just an Alpha Bravo wearing Vortex's paint, but heck it works.
Vortex is sweet. I really think he was intended as the design of this mold over the other two characters. It fits him the best. My only issue with these three Coptors is that the hole the peg goes in for arm mode gets nasty stress marks from the peg going in.
So stress marks where the combiner peg plugs in for limb mode as mentioned here in this thread: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/1059957-tfws-combiner-wars-vortex-hand-gallery.html I just now noticed em on my Blades and AB,what a bummer. Whats the best way to shave down the peg on the CW H/F/G?
I could buy ,but hope that several transformations don't create stress marks...my CW Onslaught after few transformations following instructions and videos, has some stress marks on the internal section of 1 leg that locks to create knee,despite this,robot still seem strong on that section but I'll be more cautious on future transformations Does CW Vortex present some stress marks after simply transformating him in bot or helicopter or here, these problems are especially in combiner mode?
Got Vortex the other day. Would it of been to much to ask for a lil remolding here and there and maybe even a different gun and HFG. Im a bit let down by him,but then again I already have him twice,with AB and Blades. I know Takara doing the 4 rotors,but even that doesnt feel like enough. I had to loosen his chest since the CW Peg was super tight,but other then that no QC issues. I think I might paint him up a bit and get rid those those odd colors. Definitely paint he missiles and get rid of of the teal.
This guy really could have used a different head. I get that the Alpha Bravo mold is meant to be Vortex in a way, but after months of the mold being with the Autobot, one came to associate this head and face with that character. Now, with that being said: I kind of like the colors. They seem to be taking him back to the G1 toy and I like how the dark purple and grey contrast with the brighter red and yellow. I like how he looks with his hand/foot/gun in gun mode. Missile forearms are always a good armament. Good helicopter mode, where the purple and grey really come out. Looks really Decepticon in helicopter mode. He looks kind of friendly in some ways, though probably as a result of me associating the mold with an Autobot. Also, that HFG peg is too big for his hand/foot peg hole, as I found out via some bad stress marks. Is there a good way to make the HFG peg smaller? I do really like this guy, despite me constantly pointing out its faults. They aren't that big a deal to me. He makes a nice rival for Alpha Bravo and a welcome addition to the Combaticon ranks.
I was thinking if they just retooled the cockpit a bit differently and gave him gatling guns on his arms instead of the missiles,he would look amazing also give a bit of AirWolf vibe.
The legs are incredibly hard to separate. I have seen some stress marks on the transformation joint. This guy looks cool but he is filled with problems. How do I handle this leg connection issue?
I would have been happy with just a slight remolding of the cockpit and 4 blades instead of 2. Such an easy job for a 3P company.
I for one love Vortex! I have no issues with him at all not being any sort of remold or retool. I dig his colors too. I love military vehicles an all, but since these toys are based in science fiction, I don't mind how colorful he is. I feel the colors add more personality to the toy overall. all this being said, I'm so glad I finally got mine a few days ago via Amazon Prime. No complaints at all. However a minor quip. It's too bad the Hasbro version didn't get a 4 bladed propeller. but i get why in terms of duel limb modes.
Prelude: Today we shall talk of Vortex, the helicopter of the Combaticons. If the Combaticons are the A-Team of Transformers, then Vortex is, of course, Howling Mad Murdoch. He also utilizes the same mold as Alpha Bravo, he of Hasbro’s doomed attempt to inject a little variety into the Aerialbots. But we don’t talk about Alpha Bravo, he who replaced Quickswitch aka Quickslinger in the Aerialbots. There is no Alpha Bravo, actually, at least that’s what I was told to say whenever the topic of Alpha Bravo came up. This review is dedicated to my buddy Reyjin, who is a huge fan of Alpha Bravo, I believe. Differences: I have already reviewed Combiner Wars Blades, who shares the Alpha Bravo mold with Vortex, so here we’ll just be talking about the differences. Unlike Blades, Vortex didn’t get a new head, he shares the same noggin’ as Alpha Bravo. He did get a new paint job, though, being mostly grey in vehicle mode and actually quite colorful in robot mode with green, purple, red, and yellow joining the grey. He comes with a grey gun and a grey combiner hand/foot/weapon thing, too. Overall Vortex looks pretty close to his Generation 1 animated counterpart, it’s easily apparent that the mold was made mostly for him (and Blades), not so much Alpha Bravo. Who was Alpha Bravo again? Anyyway, Vortex makes the most out of what is really just an average Combiner Wars figure. And, naturally, he can become either an arm or a leg for Bruticus, whom I’ll review separately once I’m through with the individual Combaticons. Remarks: When Starscream liberated the Combaticons’ brain modules from prison, he installed Vortex in the shell of an old World War II Corsair fighter (or rather the wreck of one). How an old single engine jet fighter ended up becoming a modern military attack helicopter will forever remain a mystery of Cybertronian technology (maybe he had scanned Alpha Bravo’s vehicle mode at some earlier point). Anyway, when it comes to combiner teams, it’s often the case of simply having to get all five for the sake of the combined figure. Vortex isn’t a particularly thrilling stand-alone figure (none of the Alpha Bravo remolds are, really), but you need him to complete the team and he works well as part of the whole. Some bonus points from me, too, because I found mine at a flea market in San Diego during a vacation with my dad. Rating: C+ Source: Transformers-Universe.com
