Apologies if a thread exists, I did a search but nothing showed up.

Gigawatt arrived yesterday and he is fantastic. Small, but fantastic. The silver deco is beautiful and there are plenty of paint apps. The Time Machine looks great. There's a rough texture to the surface of what would be the aluminium parts that looks incredible. Seriously, this is one of the best alt modes Hasbro has done in quite some time.

Mr Fusion just friction holds onto the back, and the connection isn't the best. It pops off quite easily. But, it looks great when it does stay on. It also plugs onto the back of the blaster, but makes it difficult to plug into the hand properly. Without Mr Fusion, the blaster bears a striking resemblance to Optimus' ion blaster, but with quite a bit of hollowness. The hook from the first movie feels like it might be rubber and sags under its own weight.

Transformation is simple, but satisfying. The way the exhausts tuck into the legs while pushing out the feet is neat. Also, opening the gull wings to start off the transformation was cool. Dunno why, just got a kick out of it. If you don't like having the flux capacitor showing in bot mode, you don't have to flip it out.

Bot mode is a wee bit stumpy looking, but still nice. Lots of molded details. The articulation isn't bad, but could be better. Wrist swivels would have been really nice.

All in all, I really like the figure. Ectotron left a bad taste in my mouth for the crossover stuff, but Gigawatt is a solid win.

 

Great review, nice pics, thanks! Do you have Siege Sideswipe/Red Alert for comparison? Any comparison shots with WFC figs or even Ectotron would be much appreciated.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have many Siege figures. Would Optimus do? Or Earthrise Arcee? And I sold Ectotron. Was really disappointed with that one.

 

Sure, whatever you've got!

 

Nice review.

I like getting an in-hand look at the vehicle mode finish, as well as getting honest feedback on things like the softer-than-ideal hook piece.

You're not alone in getting a little thrill over opening the gull-wing doors to start the transformation, I think that's great!

I can't wait for EB Games to get mine in stock!


One thing, for the upgrade junkies among us, because Gigawatt shares thighs with Siege Sideswipe, he has a big gap in each thigh, just above the knee.
Fortunately, there are filler panels available from Shockwave Lab to fit into that gap.



They're made for Sideswipe's white legs, but a lick of black paint will make them perfect for completing Gigawatt.

I bought mine from TFSafari.com, but other retailers who carry upgrade kits probably also have these in stock.

~L~

 

Alrighty. I'm out for the weekend, but I'll put up some comparisons when I get home.

 

Great review!

I always thought Siege Sideswipe looked like crap: stumpy proportions, flat feet, low shoulders, big head/weird face.

Maybe because Gigawatt is not based on a preexisting character, the similar aesthetics (in some instances, even worse) don't bother me as much.

I don't think I've ever preordered anything before...

...glad I preordered two.

 

I can help with that

 

Not my figure/photo, but this looks a lot better than the official configuration to me. Don’t know if it requires mods or if it’s just a fan mode.

 

"What's with the life preserver? The dork thinks he's gonna drown!"

~L~

 

I believe it's modded as the flux capacitor is on a hinge attached to the hood of the delorean.

 

Gigawatt arrived early here, so I though I'd add some supplemental feedback too. He seems a bit smaller in person than I hoped, though I did not have Siege Sideswipe to compare with in advance. Added some other comparisons that might be helpful later.

Box pictures (Front, back, top with Start-Change-Finish of old):



Back to the future 1 look, with power cable catcher pole attached:



Back to the future 2 look, with Mr. Fusion and hover-mode engaged:



Gigawatt himself (Front, Side, Back view):



Since so many have mentioned it, "Backwards" leg view with waist turned around. You probably need some heavy customization to make this work, the legs are really not transformable in any other way out of the box. And the knees bend the wrong way, but stop after a few degrees because of the shin armour. And one must also swith the legs around to avoid him having a hole in his waist. Oh, and you can also leave the flux capacitor hidden away if you like:



Great details on the Flux capacitor:



Robot mode comparison shots (Siege Optimus, Siege Ironhide, Siege Hound):



Vehicle mode comparison shots (Ectotron, Masterpiece Smokescreen, Siege Ratchet):



Pole, Gun and Mr Fusion: You can attach Mr. Fusion on top of the gun or at the back, I prefer the first since it makes his arm more posable in robot mode. If you want to store the rifle on his back, you need to attach it at the end though for it to fit. You can store both the gun and the pole on his back in robot mode if you wish. The gun stores under the hood in vehicle mode, Mr. Fusion stores in his spot at the back in vehicle mode. You can attach all accessories at the same time in vehicle mode, but that is canonically wrong  




In conclusion, I like him, even though the chest feels a bit oversized for him, but that's more due to the Delorean shape than any other factor. I wish his head pulled up a bit, it feels a bit too low. I could not find a Earthrise Cliffjumper-like extra neck to pull up either, seems like Sideswipe did not have one of those either. Mostly internal parts, upper legs and arms are reused from Sideswipe, the rest seems new.

He can also open the doors in Delorean style, though there's not much of an interior...and he makes a mean fisherman, too:



And for those asking, the alternate transformation a few posts above are totally impossible without a lot of modification as far as I can see...

 

With the flux capacitor tucked away in robot mode he really looks slansided in pictures, with the Delorean hood way larger than the Lambo like one on Sideswipe.
Personally I don’t get why people want to turn the legs around, they look way too busy that way, and probably looks awkward since the foot tilt would be hidden in the back doing that way.

 

I guess its because they want more of the Alt mode to show in bot mode?

Personally I think he looks great as is. I love the Flux capacitors on the shins so I dig the whole look.

 

I picked this guy up at Thinkgeek earlier today and as much as I like Ectotron this guy is definitely better. A lot of great detail (love the readout under the Flux Capacitor) and it's based on a great mold that works really well for it. I think my only real complaint is that, thanks to some plastic on the back, the gun can't be pressed fully into his hand. This is made even worse by attaching the Mr. Fusion to it, but thankfully that can be put on top of the gun as well.

... Wait, what?

Pulls on Cliffjumper's head

Wait, WHAT!!??

 

Came for the review, stayed for the transformation tips. Guess that’s what I get for not using instructions. Always fun to find something I just totally missed

 

Back to the Future nerd here... Based on the time circuits, This Delorean/Gigawatt came from BTTF part 2, right after Biff returned to 2015 after giving himself the Almanac.

From top to bottom:
Doc: “This one tells you where you’re going. This one tells you where you are. This one tells you where you were.”

Bottom: Delorean came from 1955,
Middle: Delorean is currently in 2015
Top: Time circuits set to 1985.

The only time the Delorean went straight to 2015 from 1955 was when Biff returned to the Future, right before Doc and Marty returned to 1985A. (Doc and Marty had originally come from 1985 after the events of the first movie).

Not that anyone asked, but that was fun to deduce. Wonder why Hasbro chose those dates for the time circuits. Maybe it’ll be revealed in the comic.

 

Presumably because that fit the aesthetic of the depicted time machine, with Mr Fusion and the hover conversion functional. Maybe the comic deviates from that timeline.

 

Windshield on mine wasn't quite set right. I didn't notice it until I felt it with my finger, but keep an eye out.

Other than (and despite) that, I love this guy. The hook on mine isn't saggy. Also, you can put the Mr. Fusion on top of the gun instead of the back, which I think makes more sense because then it's like you just dump garbage into the gun to make ammo. I do wish it stayed on the back of the car a little better. Definitely way better than Ectotron.

As for comparison pics with sideswipe

 

Got mine in from Gamestop today. Literally my only complaint is that Mr Fusion doesn't want to stay on the back of the car, but I honestly couldn't be happier with him.