Oh I'd "figuratively" kill for a Legacy TFA Blitzwing too. He's one of my favourite TFs of all time

The original toys engineering is really cool. The tank treads are just a little large. And I don't like TFA Robot mode. Just doesn't have the same energy as the cartoon with those strange legs. I don't even mind the wings on the shoulders, but the shoulder articulation is quite bad..

 

World needs more fun loonies like him.

 

This guy looks great folks. He’s not perfect - I suppose I would have liked the altmodes to tidy up just a bit more (instead of 'favoring' the robot mode) - but I like all three modes. And I think I’m gonna enjoy the gauntlets.

Yay for the small ‘n compact Leader class!

 

The decision to include the cockpit in tank mode is pretty strange. They didn't try as hard to emulate the cartoon with the other figures, and the cockpit isn't even in accurate colours. Why? Was this to add more value to being leader class? "Nice" value, if so. Not to mention imo the execution is ugly. The cockpit juts out too far. The whole thing feels like a forced gimmick to be honest.

 

That is one of my custom projects.
I'm using the Megatron version of the TR Blitzwing mold as the base and removing all the tank bits.

I also have a second one that I'm removing all the jet bits from to make a custom Kiloton.

I feel that this design may have originally been created for WFC to go along with Astrotrain, but ended up getting pushed back and tweaked for Legacy.

 

My 2c.
Overall I'm rather disappointed.

The Robot mode is best out of the three modes.It's obvious that this were most of the design priority was placed.
It certainly *looks* good. It'ts well proportioned, has nice detailing, and I like how all of the weapons can be easily stored on the back when not eing used.
The limited articulation for the legs and arms brings it down, though.

The sword and guns are quite good looking, and i like how there are two guns to be used on the jet mode for symmetry.
I'm ambivalent about, the 'hulk' hands. They're ok looking on the bot mode, but don't seem to fit in properly on the other modes. The equivalent accessory on Siege Astrotrain, at least, fit in neatly in all modes ( a tender in train mode, launch pad in Shuttle mode, and a backpack and 'boots' in bot mode).

Both alt modes, IMHO, seem to have been sacrificed for the bot mode's G1 accuracy, though.

The tank mode is has obvious gaps when looked at above. The protruding faux jet cockpit looks bad from the front breaks up the silhouette of the tank, and in the end is really 'G1 accurate' as the jar cockpit in the G1 figure doesn't protrude at all.
It detracts more from the tank mode more the jet exhausts in the back.

The jet mode, to me, is the worse alt mode.
My main issue with it isn't that there is tank kibble on the jet. It's that the kibble is badly handled. There are chunky pods attached to a slab just hanging off the bottom of the jet, blatantly obvious from all angles of view.
Other mainline versions of Blitzwing handled theitrjet-mode tank kibble better.
G1 Blitzwing, for example, used its transformation to arrange its tank kibble neatly so it followed the line of the delta wing (ok, it actually formed most of the 'wing') sot the at least, while it didn't look much like are real world jet, it still looked rather streamlined from most angles. It even had defined intakes, which this version does not.
Titans return tried to minimize the kibble along the ides of the jet, to increase the visible wing area. It wasn't perfect, but I think that looked better.

In summary, I think It would make a good G1 animated display piece, but not much for those who want decent alt modes.

Again, my  

 

I was quite looking forward to this figure. It's one of those I liked the look of as a kid but never actually got.

My initial reaction on seeing it (aside from quite liking the robot mode) was some disappointment. The tanks is actually quite nice... aside from that protruding jet piece. I felt even worse hearing it was faux...then realised the faux and real cockpit are part of the same bit so... that lessened the feeling somewhat, in that even without the faux side, it sticks out regardless.

But that's the issue. I looked at pictures of G1 toy for comparison, and yes the cockpit is there, but it's in a recess and actually looks okay.

Jet mode... Hmm. I quite liked the chunky 4 wings look of the G1 version. It wasn't like a real world plane, like a kind of chunky jet-bi-lane hybrid, which would never be able to fly (without some kind of sci-fi anti-grav tech anyway) but I liked the look. It was unique.

This does capture some of that but it has just the two wings and the tank treads are too exposed. It looks basically top half plane, bottom tank. I'm sure I'm doing it a disservice and more went on in the transformation than that, (I am going by the photos. I haven't seen the video) but that's how it looks to me.

Jets on back of tank...I actually kinda like the idea of a sci-fi tank with jet booster propulsion/flame-throwers (depending on which you decide to be the front of the tank). Doesn't particularly bother me.

Extra large gloves? Not sure what they're for. I guess they can be rocket launchers or some other heavy artillery. Do the fingers move at all?

Seems an odd thing to give the figure, (unless they're part of some gestalt mode later but you'd think they'd give it to one of the combiners like Motormaster) but as he comes with other perfectly fine weapons (including his own built in tank turret lets not forget) they don't bother me. If they were instead of the proper weapons, like POTP Grimlock who came with two feet arm weapon things instead of his regular weapons, that would be another issue.

After my initial disappointment, it has grown on me. If this were a voyager, I'd say a definite buy. As a small Leader, they really should have made more effort with the alt-modes. When you consider that the G1 largely pulled them off better (albeit this robot mode is much better) well, it makes you think...

Will I get it? Undecided. It does have a certain charm. The robot figure does have a nice solid quality look to it.

I am slowing down my purchases of transformers as I'm largely happy with my collection now. The rest of the SS86 (or whatever the others are) dinobots are a must, possibly the Insecticons and stunticons too*, and I thought Blitzwing would be too. Not so sure now.

*Yeah, I know that's quite a lot still to get, but they'll likely be well spread out, and I'm not sure about the Insecticons and stunticons.

 

After checking out all the different versions of Blitzwing toys; I guess perhaps for those who would like to have the most accurate alt mode display (that resembles the most to the animation model) should just try to hunt down the original G1 toy.

 

Just throwing this out there, but the original Japanese G1 Astrotrain (the black & white version) would make an amazing complimentary character to go with Overcharge!

Throw in the original toy head with the visor (every comic / cartoon Astrotrain has been based on the original prototype Astrotrain toy seen in the Catalogs, which was never made), call him Spacewarp or the like and you’ve got a pair of Diaclone like new Decepticon characters! (especially since we don’t have an Astrotrain repaint / remold yet)

 

Good crits

I want an Astrotrain redo myself...I know it's unlikely.... Maybe white with a new Visor head might make me interested, but I have more trouble with Astrotrain's alt modes than Blitzwing's here.

 

There was a tab that I needed to shave on Springer which solved one of my main issues with him.

The other is that, in my opinion, the waist/torso moves in an unintuitive way. So if I’m away from him for any amount of time I find myself pulling against the way it’s supposed to move. Sometimes to the point that I feel I might break it until I pull just right and it moves correctly.

It’s a great figure IMHO but that can make it feel “wrong” for me sometimes.

 

That train mode pic highlights the craziness of us complaining about the new fig train mode wheel placement.

 

Fair enough. I think the only Astrotrain mode that bothered me was the spaceshuttle and that was just that gappiness near the tail-fin. I'm someone who rarely buys third party add-on gap fillers unless they happen to come with weapons I like. I made an exception for him.

If I get Blitzwing I might get a 3p add-on to cover the jet bit depending on cost and whether it requires partsforming. (Astrotrain's did, but that piece doubled as a missile launcher thing, so I didn't mind so much. Not that he needed an extra one, but options are good and some of his bits can be shared out to others.

Oddly I think Blitzwing's tank jet piece bothers me less than that shoddy finish to Astrotrain's shuttle.

 

This would actually be perfect, if they could retool him to lose the tank mode and refine the jet mode a bit. I don't even care about Gobots and I'd absolutely buy a two-pack with this and Junkheap as Cy-Kill.

 

We now have all the molds needed for Devastation...

I hope Hasbro remembers...

 

Not sure if it is the mental image I got of him, but doesn't he look quite a bit small?

 

Agree. Bot mode is beautiful, despite the limitations in articulation. Both alt modes suffer, and in an age where third party legends look better, this thing at leader price point should be at least as good. Despite my dislike of the Titan Master gimmick, overall, I think the TR toy was done better. The alt modes were handled better, especially jet mode, and despite the wonkiness of the shoulder joints, I prefer the ability to rotate the shoulder 360 instead of the limited shoulder articulation of Legacy. I was hoping for better, but much like Astrotrain, who also had a great looking bot mode and terrible alts, I'm disappointed in this and will likely hold out for a better fig down the line.

Really wish some of these 3P legends makers would upscale their figs to fit CHUG scale. If MFT upscaled their Blitzwing and Astrotrain, I'd buy them instantly.

 

My problem with this figure is each mode has that “one thing” that spoils it. Bot mode head, tank mode cockpit, jet mode underplank. I can accept certain things like a boxy jet, hinge-covered tank, or faux parts in robot mode, but when each form has a massive caveat they really shouldn’t have, shit gets tiresome.

I’d literally kill for a Legacy TFA Blitzwing. Question is which one of you fuckers wants to push me to my limit? >8U

 

Hopefully the Elite Seeker would be brighter than that - and includes Optimus Primal's swords.

 

I'd buy the $200 gift set right there