Universe Ultra-Class Powerglide Review with Images

Oh man, what a great day for mail today; Classics 2.0 Onslaught and Powerglide. Onslaught's already got his review up, so now it's the turn of everyone's favourite little red jet.
...hang on.
...He's not little. In fact, he's bigger than Classics Jetfire.
...He's not red either. Hmm.
OK. Let's take a look at this guy.
PART ONE - JET MODE


Powerglide's jet mode remains a stylised A-10 Warthog. VERY stylised, I have to say. He is predominantly light grey, with red details. I think he must have some kind of identity crisis; he's got 3 different sets of ID markings on him.
Powerglide's undercarriage folds out; a single nosewheel, and double wheels from each wing. However, I really hope I've got him somehow mistransformed; his nose points down at an alarming angle. In fact, when you put his nose-mounted chaingun on, the front wheel doesn't even touch the ground.

See what I mean? Oh dear.
The chaingun, incidentally, is really quite nice; it doubles as his robot mode's rifle (more on that later). However having the missile in it when it's attached to his jet mode means that the end of the missile hits a piece of underhanging robot mode kibble and either stops the gun pointing straight or bends the missile. Oh dear again.
Anyway. Moving on.
Detail-wise, Powerglide is exceptional. he is covered in panels and rivets and vents and such. I particularly like the nose section:

Really nice detailing, and the chaingun just enhances the look SO much.

The red button on top of the jet activates Powerglide's sound & light gimmicks (the batteries, 2 AAA ones, are stored in his engines. Very nice, I thought) - the orange rears of the engines light up, and he makes:
-a whooshing jet noise
-what sounds like a missile firing
-a rapid fire chaingun-like sound
Pretty sweet.
In conclusion, Powerglide's jet mode is a REALLY nice one, with a few unfortunate issues. To be honest, though, there's nothing that would have actively put me off getting him. If Onslaught's vehicle mode is a 9 (and he SO is), Powerglide's scrapes through with a 6.8.

Looks great - still not sure whether I prefer the Japanese version over this.
I have them both ordered tho

PART TWO - ROBOT MODE

...Dayum. Somewhere between G1 and now, powerglide pumped some iron. He's seriously bulked up. In fact, his proportions in general remind me of a body builder. Well, that or his legs are just too bloody small.
Yeah. As you can probably already tell, I'm not so fired up about this guy as I was about Onslaught. Still, he has some VERY nice redeeming features.
In fact, one of my favourites is related to his transformation (which, by the way, is fairly complex, but nothing mind-shatteringly hard). When you transform his chest, you hear the classic G1 transformation noise, as heard for vehicle->robot. When you transform him back to jet mode, you hear the classics G1 transformation noise again - but this time as heard for robot->alt mode! REALLY nice touch!
Anyway, Nerdgasm #1 over. Back to robot mode.

Powerglide's robot mode kibble doesn't really hurt him that badly; he's oddly proportioned, yes, but he absolutely oozes character. his head is a rather radical update on the original...

...but it's definitely still Powerglide. Right down to the gun barrel on one side of his head. Nice touch, that.
Sounds and light gimmicks are, as with Onslaught, carried over from alt mode to robot mode. However, the red button to activate them is now hidden beneath the jet's tail. no biggie; you just press down on the tail. As with Onslaught, Powerglide's eyes flash when you activate the sounds.
...And so do his manboobs. LOL.
And speaking of his chest:

He has a HEART. Nerdgasm #2. Although not for me; I hated that episode violently. Oh well.
Now. Articulation.
Powerglide has articulation in his head (no balljoint, 360 degree rotation), shoulders, above-elbow swivel, elbows, waist, hips, knees. Ankles due to his transformation. In all, not bad. The only problem is that he's not that stable. Because of his hip ratchets, he can either stand with his legs close together, or splayed apart just enough to stop him balancing properly on his pointy lil' feet. However when you do find a pose that works, he looks... pretty good.

Not brilliant, but... pretty good.
CONCLUSION
Powerglide is... flawed. Jet mode looks brilliant, except for the undercarriage (possibly/hopefully my fault, but I don't honestly think so). Gimmicks are pretty nice. Robot mode is oddly proportioned and difficult to pose, yet somehow endearing. He's not red, but the Henkei version probably will be ENTIRELY red.
He's nice, but nowhere near as good as Onslaught. I'd give him a 7/10, with a very large "try before you buy" attached to it.

I am defintly going to pick him up. I want some more flying Autobots for my team. I know Onslaught will give Powerglide some go.

I will be picking up both versions of this one in each mode. Hasbro's version looks the best in bot mode.

Darn, i expected the heart gimmick to somehow be more...light up?

Hmmm, I'm not so interested in him anymore. I was more interested in the Henkei version since it'll be red, but in this review he just looks...."meh" to me.

Well, I've sorted his leg issues out; I cut off the first notch on the bottom edge of each of the ratcheting pieces on his hip joints. He can stand a LOT better now. I'm revising my robot mode score to 8/10 when modified. Odd how such a tiny thing can make ALL the difference, isn't it?

I don't ever remember reading reviews of your's Draven, but this and the Onslaught review are excellent. You take good photos and I like your honest stance on both figures.

I'll pick this one up because I like most jet transformers.

Thanks for the review Draven, you've just made buying Powerglide so much easier. Despite the weird proportions and the update, Powerglide still very much looks like Powerglide of old.

Great review, but I think I'll be skipping this guy. Too much else to get at the same time. Nice to know what I'll be missing though!

Nice reviews, Draven (both this one and Onslaught)! I'm pretty excited about both of these figures. While it's a bit disappointing to hear some of Powerglide's flaws (since obviously I'm fond of the character) he still looks well worth a purchase. Or three purchases, really, since there's no way I'll let the Henkei and Decepticon repaints slip by me.

One thing I noticed, looking at your photos, is that he seems to have two shades of grey/white goin' on. It looks like one is a little more silvery, and the other a little more cream-colored. In person, does this stand out or bother you? It looks a little mis-matched in the photos.... like it should have been kept all one tone.

Another thing I notice.... that button on his plane mode's back. Holy cow, could they have been any less subtle? BIG RED BUTTON... PUSH ME! Feels like it could have been disguised as some airplane part or something.

Given the extreme whiteness of the Hasbro version and the extreme redness of the Henkei version, I'm thinking I'll be performing an arm-swap (and possibly a thigh-swap) between the two of them. I think it would break them up a little more, color-wise.

Anyway, thanks again! And thanks for the back photo of his robot mode.... that's the first I've seen from that angle, so it's good to see how the cockpit and tailfins stow back there.

Great review.

I like the sound and heart gimmicks. Powerglide's head and torso looks out of proportion though. Also, why grey...

Not the best Jet mode.

The flaws are easy enough to deal with; it's dead easy to shave one notch off the hip ratchets. And with the chaingun on, the jet mode sits pretty much level without the undercart anyway.
The grey is concentrated pretty well, actually; it is found on the lower thighs (below the mid-thigh swivel), groin/waist, midriff and chest. In other words, the middle of his body is grey, and the rest is the creme colour. it actually works really well when you see it in person.
I know, right? made me chuckle too.
I'm, tempted to do that too, I must admit. You could get him a LOT more "homage accurate" that way, for sure.
Glad you liked the reviews! (that goes for everyone; thanks guys ) The tailfins fold up pretty neatly, but the jet top just sort of hangs there. I'll try to get a set of transformation sequence pics up tomorrow.

Best reviews ive seen on this site, excellent job Draven keep it up. Also, thanks because this easily saves me 30.00. I think the heart's a nice touch but he looks just WEIRD> Onslaught I already paid for. Can't wait to get him. thanks man!

hey, do you have any comparison pictures with other classics figures? for onslaught and powerglide please, ooh, and can you compare them to each other?

Sure; I'll get some comparison pics taken. Give me a few minutes.

You can see the colour distribution pretty well here; the grey is on the middle of the body, and the creme is on the outsides. Also, you can see him standing a LOT better now, thanks to the hip ratchet joint mod I did.

sweeeeeeet!

OK Lumpy, here's some comparison shots for you

They don't quite look right together. Anyone think that his head is HUGE?

Thats exactly what i was thinking too, on every pic ive seen of him ive noticed his humongous noggin, its pretty much the only thing putting me off getting him.

Thanks for the great Draven

These ultras are big mother truckers. I remember seeing him next to some deluxes at Botcon and thinking, "damn he's big"
Can't remember where I saw that pic though. Would you mind throwing a pic up of him next to a classics deluxe please?
I think that would show how big he really is for other board members.

I'm gonna go for the henkei one and maybe do the arm swap if it looks good.

Thanks for the pics and review! Hope toe some more from you man!

I agree. Please show us how much he towers over deluxes. How ironic, from G1 scout to Universe Ultra. Anyway great review Draven! Will most definitely be getting him but not until the August release date. Oh well good things come to those who wait.

Heh. You asked for it:

I don't think the head is too big. the original had a huge head too. that just helps show his scale better. if you imagine his head is the same as the others, that'd make him a lot smaller guy.

Awesomesauce. Thanks!

His size gives me a reason to put Energon Beachcomber on my classics shelf. Took me a long time to find him so he can be another upgraded minibot!

Minibot, my ass

Great review again

I'm not entirely sold on this guy though. He's definitely not on my "must buy" list anymore, but he is still on the "will buy if I have some extra cash that doesn't need to go anywhere else" list though.

I think the thing that may be making the head look so huge is the concentrated amount of red in that one spot. It would probably help if the colors were spaced out in better relation to the way the colors are on the rest of the body.

I think you're right about the head; it doesn't look that overly large in the flesh - it just sits up pretty high, that's all. If anything, his arms seem way too small and his legs are a bit too short; but his head is in proportion to his body.

nice review! definitely gonna get him and Onslaught!

It maybe the color that is attracting so much attention to his head, it being the part that is mostly red compared to the rest of the toy.
I can definately see that it is in proportion with his body, it just seems to stand out more compared to the other classics figures, or maybe its just me, as Draven said, it may look better in actual person.

Quite an awesome review! Interesting on how Powerglide's evolved over the years!

I thought the heart was going to be a little more...acurate to the show, not just heart shape

great review

He looks decent. Not quite sold on him though. Maybe Takara's red one will excite me more. Who knows.

Also, Jetfire has a pinhead by comparison. Thanks again for the review!

wow talk about the lack of paint apps. lots of missed opporunities to give a little more detail, at least the heart could have been painted. this is just so blah, good think i will not be getting him.

I like it. Minus the heart, wtf is that for?

Thanks for all the pictures! I have a thing for jets so I'm definitely getting him, good stuff!

I think he'll look good with my Masterpiece seekers. >=]

Thanks for the great review Draven, but where are the LOOK! FIRST! EXCLUSIVE! OMIGAWDSSSS tags

Definitely has weird robot proportions. It's kinda like a Leader torso/head with voyager arms/legs eh? Still looks close enough to pure bad ass to warrant a purchase in my opinion though

Great review, Draven, really enjoyed reading it with the puurty pictures.

Powerglide seems solid. Doesn't seem as super awesome as Onslaught, which may actually tempt me to wait for the Henkei version...

Thanks for the review. As much as I'd like to I'm just not feeling ol' Powerglide.

Draven, amazing review and i will def be getting this when it comes out and i am going to be sooooo poor!!!

Thanks for the review. I thought this guy looked weird when I first saw it, now I got a confirmation. This thing looks terrible IMO.

The grey kills him for me, it just looks so bland. I like the mold though, so I'll hold out for the Henkei version.

Thanks for the review Draven, much appreciated.

I like it but head looks weird being red with so little red in robot mode

That looks stupid. It's like someone glude the head of another robot onto the figure.

i think the figure will greatly improve if the head is not so huge... it doesn't help also that the head is red compared to the over all white.

If I get him, it'll have to be the red version.

I like it. Do any of these have the rub signs on them?

autobot jet=win in my book. I'll buy one, though since their repainting this into stormcloud that decepticon will also have a heart.

Love the head and the ridiculous amount of sound effects.

I'll buy one only if they release a Jetfire repaint/remold (has to have a new Jetfire head sculpt). I just don't understand the logic behind making an Ultra Class version of a barely semi-popular character. Looks like a cool toy though. I just never cared much for Powerglide.