The figure we all saw coming the moment we saw Alpha Bravo. How does he hold up? ...about as well as Alpha Bravo. Seriously, I'm not going to go into Robot, Vehicle, Weapon because they are the same. Not even a new gun, which annoys the heck out of me (seriously, hasbro... you couldn't have fold an older gun mold and given him that?!?). But he is what we were all expecting. The strengths are the same, the weaknesses are the same (I hate that the rotor piece doesn't tab and you have to adjust it yourself to find the right positioning) but overall he is a good figure and there will be few, if any, complaints. Final Result He's Vortex in the right colors... nothing surprising about him. He's exactly what you were expecting which, in a way, makes him the least interesting. Blast-Off has the controversy, Swindle is a retool, and Brawl is a new mold. Poor Vortex is just... there. Suggestions to Improve Your Figure Give him a new gun. I took away his silly silver weapon and gave him a spare blaster that I had from Blitzwing.
I've long expected Vortex to be a repaint of Bravo for a long time so there's no complaints from me. I have an idea that he and Bravo could be twins who went different paths or at least bots who share the same design body like how Bee and Wasp did in Animated.
Oh hey look, the character this figure was obviously designed as from the beginning looks like the character. Shock. Let's be real here, Alpha Bravo is the repaint. He just happened to come out first.
I just wish the helicopter mode looked different compared to Blades. I can tolerate Vortex looking identical to Alpha Bravo, since AB is a new character made for certain marketing reasons. But the Combaticons and Protectobots are supposed to be "rival" teams and shouldn't have the exact same vehicle with the exact same gun looking almost identical in robot modes aside from head sculpts and colors. Blades needed some remolding, Vortex doesn't (altering the wrist missiles to tri-barrelled cannons might've been nice though). +-MWG-+
I really, really wish Vortex could have been an attack copter and not an armed Life Flight helicopter. I just can't see it as aggressive or even 'evil' with the row of passenger windows along the sides.
Like emgo said, "It's/He's....Alpha Bravo." But to me I don't care if Vortex is a repaint at least we have an official Vortex figure.
"Now folks, if you look to the left you'll see the Statue of Liberty... ooh, and coming up here on our right is your untimely and certain demise!"
I figured that we'd get Vortex once they showed the design sketches of Alpha Bravo.......heck, they probably had Vortex on the design docket while they worked on the other Combaticons
While not the best of the wave he is FAR from being terrible. I love how accurate they tried to make towards the original toy and I just love this mold. Reminds me how excited I am to get Spinister.
I am the least impressed with Vortex. The colors a bit garish for my tastes, the absolute LACK of any remolding. Its just unacceptable. The front end pieces could have easily been replaced with a flatter nose and reshell his legs so he doesnt have passenger windows. As it is, when I see him in store, I see Alpha Bravo. Holding out for a slightly better version from TT
Alpha Bravo was always a nice figure, and the rainbow colors peppering the gray is actually pretty nifty in person (not to mention G1 toylike). The joint tightness is good (almost TOO good in spots). I only wish there was more remolding to go around on all the variations of the chopper mold. The Victorion twins get the most remolding and even they look mostly the same.
Does anyone know if Vortex's yellow paint on his forearms would come off with alcohol? It just really bothers me how loud the color is.
Pretty sure all paint can come off with alcohol, it's just getting the application of the alcohol right and not screwing up other apps.
Evil red eyes. Great G1 homage. Metallic purple looks good. My only complaints are the yellow forearm missiles and the grey gun. Alpha Bravo out of disquise.
As much as I didn't want to have another version of the CW helicopter mold I'm liking Vortex a lot. His colors are striking yet militaristic and his QC is actually much better than the other two copies I own (Alpha Bravo and Blades). His hips and waist swivel are nice and tight so he has a quality feel about him. Don't know if it's just my sample or if Hasbro has tuned up the mold, but I like it.
