Review #93: Combiner Wars Wheeljack
-- Sky Reign Review Series #2 --
Unite Warriors Lightspeed
-- Computron Review Series #1 --
and Combiner Wars Exhaust
-- ???????? Review Series #1 --
Today we're looking at some more Combiner Wars style figures. These figures share a mold with one we already looked at, Ultra Prime's Sunstreaker, so is it one we are already familiar with and we will be mainly focusing on seeing how the same mold was used to represent different characters.
First, we're looking at Wheeljack and Lightspeed. Wheeljack comes to us courtesy of a wave of Combiner Wars that, similarly to Ultra Prime's wave, took pre-existing non-combining characters and made a brand new combiner team out of them. We've actually already looked at one member of this team, as Trailbreaker shares a mold with Ironhide. Thus, that review is retroactively being considered part one in the Sky Reign review series, which is why this one is labeled part two.
Wheeljack was made by taking the Breakdown/Sunstreaker mold and basically reshelling it, meaning that we have a figure with the same engineering and transformation, but who has almost a whole new look. He does, however, come with the same accessories that Sunstreaker did.
First, we're looking at Wheeljack and Lightspeed. Wheeljack comes to us courtesy of a wave of Combiner Wars that, similarly to Ultra Prime's wave, took pre-existing non-combining characters and made a brand new combiner team out of them. We've actually already looked at one member of this team, as Trailbreaker shares a mold with Ironhide. Thus, that review is retroactively being considered part one in the Sky Reign review series, which is why this one is labeled part two.
Wheeljack was made by taking the Breakdown/Sunstreaker mold and basically reshelling it, meaning that we have a figure with the same engineering and transformation, but who has almost a whole new look. He does, however, come with the same accessories that Sunstreaker did.
In vehicle mode, Lightspeed has no differences (color aside, obviously) from the Wheeljack version of the mold, but he did get some new accessories. Rather than the sword/gun that Wheeljack and Sunstreaker have, he gets a unique pair of matching guns. Like the sword/gun that his forebearers came with, Lightspeed's guns can tab into a slot on the mold's side for vehicle mode storage. The storage here actually matches well for how the G1 version of Lightspeed looked.
Technically, Lightspeed would also come with a hand-foot-gun thingy, his in a red coloring. I picked up a similar set of new hands and feet for the combiner as the set I have for Superion, however, and we'll take more of a look at those when we get to the combined mode.
In these photos, Sunstreaker (for comparison) is on the left, Wheeljack is in the middle, and Lightspeed is on the right.
Wheeljack, of course, had an earlier Generations style figure. This earlier figure was one we reviewed here quite a while ago. Here's some photos showing the newer Combiner Wars figure in comparison with the earlier version.
Comparing the two, the newer Wheeljack is a bit plain looking... but to be fair, the original one has some beautiful Reprolabels on it. Unstickered, the older Wheeljack's detailing wasn't that much more impressive. Combiner Wars Wheeljack inexplicably sports the wrong number -- 705 rather than 593 -- but that's better than the older Wheeljack who, pre-stickers, didn't even have a number on him!
So, if we ignore the stickers, the Combiner Wars Wheeljack might, in vehicle mode at least, slightly edge out its predecessor. But will that still be the case when we get to robot mode? Wait and see!
When we get to Lightspeed... Remember all of the differences between the Combiner Wars and Unite Warriors Aerialbots, and how we had to take a look at both versions and even compare those with the G1 versions? Yeah, time to break out those kinds of comparisons again!
The Technobots had a strange road to getting released in their modern updated versions. At first, there seemed to be no plans by Hasbro to do so! Then, for some reason, they released a version of the group's leader/torso-bot Scattershot as a somewhat lackluster Silverbolt remold who was a stand-alone figure. This figure was supposed to use whatever random limbs you wanted to form a new combiner named Betatron. More on this when we review Scattershot, except to say that it generated fan interest in getting a proper set of Technobots that Hasbro found difficult to ignore. And eventually Hasbro released the whole team in a gift set.
Meanwhile, Takara decided they needed to do a set of Technobots as well. I don't claim to have insider knowledge towards Hasbro's or Takara's design processes, but it seems very much like they took the existence of that stand-alone Scattershot as a starting point and separately went off in very different directions on how they wanted to fill out the rest of the team. And so, unlike with the Aerialbots where we were mainly comparing the very different design decos that Hasbro and Takara applied to the same toys, here we will be seeing the two completely different toys that Hasbro and Takara used to represent the same character!
Before looking at the new versions, here's some looks at G1 Lightspeed to see the character's origins:
When we get to Lightspeed... Remember all of the differences between the Combiner Wars and Unite Warriors Aerialbots, and how we had to take a look at both versions and even compare those with the G1 versions? Yeah, time to break out those kinds of comparisons again!
The Technobots had a strange road to getting released in their modern updated versions. At first, there seemed to be no plans by Hasbro to do so! Then, for some reason, they released a version of the group's leader/torso-bot Scattershot as a somewhat lackluster Silverbolt remold who was a stand-alone figure. This figure was supposed to use whatever random limbs you wanted to form a new combiner named Betatron. More on this when we review Scattershot, except to say that it generated fan interest in getting a proper set of Technobots that Hasbro found difficult to ignore. And eventually Hasbro released the whole team in a gift set.
Meanwhile, Takara decided they needed to do a set of Technobots as well. I don't claim to have insider knowledge towards Hasbro's or Takara's design processes, but it seems very much like they took the existence of that stand-alone Scattershot as a starting point and separately went off in very different directions on how they wanted to fill out the rest of the team. And so, unlike with the Aerialbots where we were mainly comparing the very different design decos that Hasbro and Takara applied to the same toys, here we will be seeing the two completely different toys that Hasbro and Takara used to represent the same character!
Before looking at the new versions, here's some looks at G1 Lightspeed to see the character's origins:
The character model and the toy are very similar. The main difference seems to be some extra white on the sides of the toy. So how did Hasbro interpret this as compared with Takara? By using Prowl rather than Wheeljack. Well, more properly, they used Protectobot Streetwise, but you won't see why this is so until we look at robot mode. For now, here's the vehicle comparison:
Unlike Takara's offering, which has a new head for robot mode and some new weapons, Hasbro's Lightspeed (renamed Lightsteed for some reason) is a straight repaint. It isn't shown in the above photo, but for an accessory Hasbro's version features the same triple barreled shotgun as we saw with Prowl. One difference in accessories is that Hasbro's didn't come with the standard hand-foot-gun thingy. As for what it did come with instead... Well, you'll see when we eventually get to the combined form's review.
As for Lightsteed... er, Lightspeed himself, the Hasbro version seems to take a bit more of its inspiration for the coloring from the toy, by having the white-ish stripe on the bottom of the sides. That by itself is a matter of preference, and I could have gone either way. But the Dead End / Prowl mold has always had that gash of unpaintable plastic on the side as well, which works on solid colored sides, but on striped sides always sticks out like a sore thumb. Then there's the roof on Hasbro's version... I get what they were going for, but it just doesn't work! Coloring the entire roof as if it was G1 Lightspeed's enormous canopy and ignoring the obvious molded detail of the windows just looks like utter crap.
Takara definitely wins out here where the Wheeljack mold's windows can be suggestive of Lightspeed's canopy in a way that works organically rather then looking like it is something forced onto an ill suited mold like Hasbro's. And then, just to rub salt in the wound, the Prowl mold is still sporting an emergency vehicle's lightbar which isn't really suited to Lightspeed.
So far it is looking like Takara is winning here. We'll see for sure how it pans out when as we get to robot mode!
As for Lightsteed... er, Lightspeed himself, the Hasbro version seems to take a bit more of its inspiration for the coloring from the toy, by having the white-ish stripe on the bottom of the sides. That by itself is a matter of preference, and I could have gone either way. But the Dead End / Prowl mold has always had that gash of unpaintable plastic on the side as well, which works on solid colored sides, but on striped sides always sticks out like a sore thumb. Then there's the roof on Hasbro's version... I get what they were going for, but it just doesn't work! Coloring the entire roof as if it was G1 Lightspeed's enormous canopy and ignoring the obvious molded detail of the windows just looks like utter crap.
Takara definitely wins out here where the Wheeljack mold's windows can be suggestive of Lightspeed's canopy in a way that works organically rather then looking like it is something forced onto an ill suited mold like Hasbro's. And then, just to rub salt in the wound, the Prowl mold is still sporting an emergency vehicle's lightbar which isn't really suited to Lightspeed.
So far it is looking like Takara is winning here. We'll see for sure how it pans out when as we get to robot mode!
Once again, Sunstreaker (for comparative purposes) is on the left, Wheeljack is in the middle, and Lightspeed is on the right.
Articulation is unchanged from the Sunstreaker version of the mold.
So now time to look at the details of each figure. Starting with Wheeljack, again we pull out the older Generations version for some Old & New comparisons.
Putting aside the finer details (because, again, many of those on the older toy came courtesy of Reprolabels), the older figure blows the newer one away in robot mode. It has all of the right parts, from the wings and shoulder missile, to the chest made from the roof, to the chunky legs made from the front of the car. And all of the various parts look good forming the robot.
The Combiner Wars version, meanwhile, has a new chest plate suggestive of the vehicle's roof, but the look of it is really marred by leaving the faux-windows unpainted. One place where the Combiner Wars version shines though is the head mold. It looks great and photographs even greater.
The hand-foot-gun thingy can still attach to the figure's back as it did on the Sunstreaker version of the mold, but attaching it via the peg hole tends to make the figure a bit back heavy, while attaching it via the little slots doesn't hold nearly as tight as it did on Sunstreaker.
So onto Lightspeed we go!
The Combiner Wars version, meanwhile, has a new chest plate suggestive of the vehicle's roof, but the look of it is really marred by leaving the faux-windows unpainted. One place where the Combiner Wars version shines though is the head mold. It looks great and photographs even greater.
The hand-foot-gun thingy can still attach to the figure's back as it did on the Sunstreaker version of the mold, but attaching it via the peg hole tends to make the figure a bit back heavy, while attaching it via the little slots doesn't hold nearly as tight as it did on Sunstreaker.
So onto Lightspeed we go!
Hasbro's Lightsteed gives us a sneak peak at a figure we haven't looked at yet, as his head mold is shared with Protectobot Streetwise. Beyond this interesting little tidbit, however, all I have to say about the Hasbro version is it ain't Lightspeed! Cool looking generic red and off-white robot, maybe. But Lightspeed, no. On the other hand, the Wheeljack mold, with the assist of a new head, almost looks like it was tailor made to pull double duty as Lightspeed. The above pictures really should speak for themselves here, and I don't feel I really need additional comment.
Time for a Wheeljack bonus round! The older Generations Wheeljack was festooned with Reprolabels. Shall we do the same to the Combiner Wars version, as well?
Time for a Wheeljack bonus round! The older Generations Wheeljack was festooned with Reprolabels. Shall we do the same to the Combiner Wars version, as well?
With the addition of the Reprolabels, the Combiner Wars version really goes up in quality significantly. And, hey! He gets the right numbers back! All stickered up, I dare say that it is a better update of the G1 vehicle than the older Generations toy. Hell, the Combiner Wars version is practically a dead ringer for the actual car that Wheeljack is based on.
I was originally a little iffy on the red stickers on the wheels, especially the circle in the middle which is a bit oversized for the piece of the wheel it gets applied to. But looking at the wheels on the actual car, the stickers have started to grow on me a bit.
Reprolabels added a bit more than just stickers to Wheeljack. You can optionally order some additional accessories for him as well to accentuate his robot mode.
Reprolabels added a bit more than just stickers to Wheeljack. You can optionally order some additional accessories for him as well to accentuate his robot mode.
Wheeljack gets his wings and a pair of shoulder missiles! (While he only had one in the show, his G1 toy had two.) As for the stickers themselves, just the ones for the faux-chest windows do wonders for how he looks. But he gets a ton of other nice new details as well.
The new accessories are a bit hit and miss. They look good. But the fit of the pieces is not that great. They fit very loosely into each other and onto Wheeljack. For these photos, I had to apply some clear nail polish to the pieces to tighten up their fit. The polish didn't adhere well to whatever kind of plastic Reprolabels used, though, and pealed right off shortly after I was done with my photography. I may try something else later, but while these parts definitely look nice in robot mode, they are overall a bit of a disappointment.
The new accessories are a bit hit and miss. They look good. But the fit of the pieces is not that great. They fit very loosely into each other and onto Wheeljack. For these photos, I had to apply some clear nail polish to the pieces to tighten up their fit. The polish didn't adhere well to whatever kind of plastic Reprolabels used, though, and pealed right off shortly after I was done with my photography. I may try something else later, but while these parts definitely look nice in robot mode, they are overall a bit of a disappointment.
The new stickers, though, are definitely nothing short of amazing, with just one small caveat. Remember how Wheeljack's sword stored in that mode? And did you notice how there is a sticker completely covering that area of the toy now? Well, goodbye sword storage! The only storage he has in his vehicle mode now is his on the roof storage. And with the added accessories, you have not two but three things competing for this space! Choices will have to be made.
With both Wheeljacks all stickered up, the question of which Wheeljack is a better one is really a matter of taste. In vehicle mode, I dare say that the Combiner Wars one is better! In robot mode, however, I like the older Generations one better. Overall, I would give it to the older one, but just by a hair. Really, if you are a newer collector looking for a Wheeljack for your collection, the Combiner Wars one (once stickered up) won't do you wrong. As for me, I'm happy to have both of them in my collection. The original is with my regular Classics Autobots, and the Combiner Wars version is on a shelf with a bunch of other Combiner Wars figures. And everybody's happy!
That's the end of the bonus round, and instead it is time for bonus round number two! Remember way back at the start of this review? Or even before that? Like, the title of the review? And how it mentioned three figures? Wheeljack, Lightspeed, and Exhaust?
Well, who is Exhaust, then? To answer that, we have to delve back into Transformers history. Transformers pre-history, even!
One of the toy lines that was used to make up the original Transformers was Diaclone. Wheeljack's toy originated from the Diaclone toy line. There were two versions of the toy available in Diaclone. One was based on the Lancia Stratos 539 which obviously became Wheeljack in Transformers. The other pre-Transformers version of the toy, however, was based on the Lancia Stratos 598, which had a distinctive deco, itself...
That's the end of the bonus round, and instead it is time for bonus round number two! Remember way back at the start of this review? Or even before that? Like, the title of the review? And how it mentioned three figures? Wheeljack, Lightspeed, and Exhaust?
Well, who is Exhaust, then? To answer that, we have to delve back into Transformers history. Transformers pre-history, even!
One of the toy lines that was used to make up the original Transformers was Diaclone. Wheeljack's toy originated from the Diaclone toy line. There were two versions of the toy available in Diaclone. One was based on the Lancia Stratos 539 which obviously became Wheeljack in Transformers. The other pre-Transformers version of the toy, however, was based on the Lancia Stratos 598, which had a distinctive deco, itself...
Yup! That's a Marlboro sponsored car! And while the actual sponsorship may not have officially carried over to the toy itself, the distinctive red and white pattern is a bit of a giveaway. Thus, this toy became unofficially known in fandom circles as Marlboro Wheeljack.
Eventually, a Wheeljack was released in the Masterpiece line. Takara likes to get at least a few uses out of a mold whenever possible, which makes sense. Especially Masterpiece molds must be expensive to produce! So, with the Wheeljack mold, Takara decided to homage his Diaclone mold mate, and branded this new character Exhaust.
Eventually, a Wheeljack was released in the Masterpiece line. Takara likes to get at least a few uses out of a mold whenever possible, which makes sense. Especially Masterpiece molds must be expensive to produce! So, with the Wheeljack mold, Takara decided to homage his Diaclone mold mate, and branded this new character Exhaust.
This toy was announced... and boy, did it cause a big problem! Phillip Morris's lawyers tried to get the toy canceled. Not much they could do in Japan, but they made it so the toy didn't get released in the rest of the world. And even in Japan, the deco got altered slightly from how it looks in the photo above. (And it was not unusual for the few companies that risked importing this toy to open them up and alter the deco even further. Rather hellish for Mint in Box collectors!)
When this Masterpiece version came out, of course people got curious what Reprolabels might do for it. Were they going to do their usual amazing job of filling in all of the missing details? Especially the obvious missing sponsorship details?
Nope! Reprolabels did nothing. They didn't want to do anything that would support smoking. (*cough*Mirage?*cough*) And so no labels were released for Masterpiece Exhaust.
So, how does that relate to Combiner Wars Wheeljack? Well, Reprolabels decided that they did want to make a set to convert this Wheeljack into Exhaust. But how would they do a set for a Marlboro sponsored character if they didn't want to be seen as promoting smoking? Simple.
When this Masterpiece version came out, of course people got curious what Reprolabels might do for it. Were they going to do their usual amazing job of filling in all of the missing details? Especially the obvious missing sponsorship details?
Nope! Reprolabels did nothing. They didn't want to do anything that would support smoking. (*cough*Mirage?*cough*) And so no labels were released for Masterpiece Exhaust.
So, how does that relate to Combiner Wars Wheeljack? Well, Reprolabels decided that they did want to make a set to convert this Wheeljack into Exhaust. But how would they do a set for a Marlboro sponsored character if they didn't want to be seen as promoting smoking? Simple.
They reimagined Exhaust as an anti-smoking PSA!
I've painstakingly removed all of the stickers from Wheeljack (or, rather, I took these photos before putting the stickers on Wheeljack) so you could see a good before & after.
I've painstakingly removed all of the stickers from Wheeljack (or, rather, I took these photos before putting the stickers on Wheeljack) so you could see a good before & after.
In addition to the anti-smoking sponsorship, Exhaust gets sponsorships from Spacebridge (a reference that should be obvious to anyone who watched the G1 cartoon), Blackrock Enterprises (a reference to Marvel Transformers comics) and Sumdac Systems (a reference to the show Transformers Animated).
Much like with Wheeljack, Exhaust's stickers unfortunately remove the intended vehicle mode storage for the sword/gun accessory.
Robot mode!
I didn't show this off with Wheeljack, as he was going to have the Reprolabels-provided wings to show off, but attaching the hand-foot-gun thingy on his back can kind of simulate the wings a bit. In the absence of the Reprolabels wings, the hand-foot-gun thingy can do the trick nicely.
Exhaust is supposed to have a different head from Wheeljack. As long as Reprolabels is starting to get into making plastic pieces, too, it would have been cool if they had made a new head for Exhaust. Alas, 'twas not to be! (There is an Exhaust head available on the 3D printing website Shapeways which I may check out someday...) But Reprolabels did do their best to make the head a bit different with some stickers. The red sticker for the eyes is a bit problematic, alas, as the adhesion didn't take that well and it curls up on the outside edges.
Exhaust is supposed to have a different head from Wheeljack. As long as Reprolabels is starting to get into making plastic pieces, too, it would have been cool if they had made a new head for Exhaust. Alas, 'twas not to be! (There is an Exhaust head available on the 3D printing website Shapeways which I may check out someday...) But Reprolabels did do their best to make the head a bit different with some stickers. The red sticker for the eyes is a bit problematic, alas, as the adhesion didn't take that well and it curls up on the outside edges.
Still, the eyes don't look bad if you don't look too closely.
Exhaust was one of five Combiner Wars figures that Reprolabels did conversion sets for, effectively making a whole new combiner in the process.
The other figures in this series? The limbs are cool, but I don't have extra copies of the needed figures. And while the middle figure looks kind of cool in torso mode, I really didn't care for what it looked like as an individual. So I'm not likely to complete this particular combiner any time soon. But I do hope to find a home for Exhaust eventually... Perhaps with combiners back in vogue with Power of the Primes, I'll find another team he can be a member of? Time will tell.
So, let's start wrapping things up! Here's a size comparison photo:
So, let's start wrapping things up! Here's a size comparison photo:
Here are the shelves that Wheeljack (left) and Lightspeed (right) reside on:
Exhaust doesn't really have a home at the moment... He just kind of floats around from place to place. Hopefully someday, when he gets a team to be a part of, it will come with a shelf to call home.
A lot of collectors started experiencing, for lack of a better term, mold fatigue in Combiner Wars. And, I will admit, many of the molds in that line did get reused time and time again. But, design-wise, Wheeljack is a really good representation of the character. It was seriously lacking in paint, but Reprolabels did a lovely job of making up for that.
Lightspeed is mostly the same mold as Wheeljack, just sporting a new head and guns. But the mold really works for his character, too! Definitely much better than the mold that Hasbro chose to represent the same character.
And finally, Exhaust. Literally the same toy as Wheeljack, but the stickers give him a unique look of his own.
Three toys I am happy to have in my collection.
Review added 19 February 2018 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed!
A lot of collectors started experiencing, for lack of a better term, mold fatigue in Combiner Wars. And, I will admit, many of the molds in that line did get reused time and time again. But, design-wise, Wheeljack is a really good representation of the character. It was seriously lacking in paint, but Reprolabels did a lovely job of making up for that.
Lightspeed is mostly the same mold as Wheeljack, just sporting a new head and guns. But the mold really works for his character, too! Definitely much better than the mold that Hasbro chose to represent the same character.
And finally, Exhaust. Literally the same toy as Wheeljack, but the stickers give him a unique look of his own.
Three toys I am happy to have in my collection.
Review added 19 February 2018 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed!