So, quite unexpectedly I was able to find one of these figures at my local Toys R Us while searching for other hard to find figures (namely the unmasked Casey Jones and April O'Neil figures from the Out of the Shadows line) and decided to pick her up. I love Windblade but, despite all I do to try and love the Generations figure, it is just too fiddly and fragile to make it a fun figure. So, how does this figure stack up compared to that?

Robot Mode

The first thing you notice is that she is missing some paint apps. Her head is VERY red, missing all the blue paint and most of the black paint that is visible on the card imagine. The second thing you notice is holy friggin crap can she stand balanced now! Windblade comes with VERY solid feet that make balancing her very easy to do now. Not fiddly at all. And that is needed because she has a big backpack... there is no denying that. The wings, tail, and nose of the plane hang off her shoulders, and the way the sheathe for her sword is angled that sticks out far too. Thank god the feet are the way they are so I can easily balance her. I can just transform her, set her down, and instantly she is perfectly standing.

The sword, as others have noted, is unpainted, which is a shame as the energy blade is her thing. I do wish that was painted as right now it looks VERY plain.

The sheathe pegs in VERY snuggly into either side of her hip, so no need to worry about it falling out like in the Generations figure. Overall this is a MASSIVE improvement.

I do have a slight issue with the sword liking to pop out of her hand when I am posing but little can be fixed there... that was a similar problem with the Generations Figure and will be a problem for all open-handed figures.

Also, I will say that wrist swivels would have been MUCH welcomed. At least she has elbow swivels.

Painting/Detailing Suggestions: I plan to paint the sides of her head black and, if I am brave enough, add the blue to finish up her makeup. She is insanely close to the true design but these omissions can be glaring. No idea if a Headswap would work.

Vehicle Mode

This is your standard jet transformer... basically she lies on her belly and things unfold to hide things. If you are used to the Combiner Wars Aerielbots you are used to this. The head is completely hidden, the legs have the most transformation, but the hands are completely visible. That said, it is a solid jet and doesn't feel like it will become a mess like Generations Windblade.

The only issue I do have is, again, the sword... unlike with the Generations figure it doesn't integrate well with the vehicle form at all. It is basically a slender base the figure rides on, which is a same as the Generations Figure did that so well with her sword.

Paint/Detailing Suggestions: Paint the wings. I plan to add some black, just to make them pop a bit more. Even if it is just the tips.


Overall this is a superior Windblade. Even unpainted as she is she has quickly grown on me. She can easily fit with your Generations Figures as nothing about her is so RID exclusive (like, say, Bee or Sideswipe) that she'd feel out of place. While the transformation is simplistic sometimes less is more. A definite buy if you love the character. And if you do detail work then you can truly make this figure shine. Or spend extra for the TT version.

 

Excellent review. I found one this morning, and have only a few more things to add:

-The paint is severely lacking, as stated, and it really is a shame. There is a lot of detail in the sculpt, but it is hardly visible. Much of the figure is cast in color, but they couldn't even match the colors ups, so she ends up a hodgepodge of mostly one shade of cast red with much darker red on the lower legs and several shades of cast black/extremely dark grey that do not match up at all. Still, as Mr. Chaos said, I think the worst crime was skipping the blue on her tiara (or whatever it is) and the pink of her sword.

-The build is mostly solid, but her bicep swivels literally terrify me. They are extremely tight, so much so I am convinced I am going to snap her skinny little arms.

-Her fan is actually packaged separate from her, in its own cavity in the packing bubble, but behind her insert. For a few brief moments after getting her home and taking a gander at her in package, I thought it was missing entirely and that I would have to return her, but you can barely see it down inside the package from the top.

-Not to be entirely negative, I actually like her plane mode, even with he scabbard's wonky storage. At least this version holds together well, and does not have a giant hole in the middle of it or robot feet sticking out the top of it!

In any event, despite how the above might read, I personally like her. I just want everyone to be aware of what they are getting into.

 

Still prefer gen windblade in every way beyond stability



Also really wish they bothered to paint the sword

 

This figure versus the Generations Windblade is kinda like the RiD-Prime Arcee versus the First Edition version - in that it's a 'cleaner', simpler design, with the exception of a chunkier backpack, (and fewer paint apps)

Aside from the sword and scabbard not storing too cleanly, the jet mode is much nicer than Generations. While there are still really obvious robot arms (a bit more obvious than Generations), the tail end of the plane is a nice contiguous chunk, without feet sticking up. One small pet peeve is that the thruster fans on the wings are mostly solid underneath. Physics says fans/turbines with no outlet don't work.  

Robot mode is nice, but way too much of it is red. The big 'scan sticker' kinda spoils the lines and makes the center chest too big-looking (wish they'd dumped it on the wing somewhere.) It's strangely tempting to remake that spot into a Power Girl-esque 'cleavage window'. A wrist swivel would've been nice for a sword-wielding 'bot.

About the only non-nitpicky things about this Windblade I don't like better than the Generations toy are the jet mode sword storage, the face sculpt, and the paint job. Looking forward to the Takara version addressing the last point at least.

 

It does store cleanly, I just hope you like the jet modes tilted

 

damn, it actually looks pretty good with chug figures. maybe needs a new head and the forearms from the generations version but not too shabby.

also some fuckin paint, jesus christ, lol

 

Intentional, yes. Cleanly? Not quite so much

 

What Feralstorm said. Does it store? Yes. But cleanly like with the Generations figure? Heck no.

 

need some pics of jet mode please!

 

Not mine:

 

I wonder if you can switch the heads between the Generations one and this one? Its really the only thing I like more on the Generations mold.

 

You can do it, but it looks a little weird IMO, and it's so loose as to be a bobble head, also getting gen WBs head off is a pain



As to the weapon storage in alt mode, to each his own I suppose, but I think the only thing gen WB does any better in that regard is having useful landing gear, it still sticks out the back allowing her to be used as a paddle of some sort

 

jet mode looks decent in that pic. Thanks dude.

 

For those complaining about the look of the figure... oh, what a bit of paint can do for her!

Yeah, she is replacing my Generations Windblade, 100%.

 

Nicely done! Planning on painting mine up soon, too. I really like the figure.

 

Dull colours, maybe.
Dull toy in terms of playability, no way!






p.s. you made me start taking photos of my toys again lol

 

Not quite sure what you mean by proportions. Set her up next to Arcee and Chromia and she fits in perfectly with them.