TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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Alternate Mode:

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Box Art:

Blackjack's review: Blitzwing

Name: Blitzwing
Alligeance: Decepticons
Function: Beserker
Alt Mode 1: Fighter jet
Alt Mode 2: Double Barreled Tank

"Whooo! I'm freaking out!"

Even by Decepticon standards, Blitzwing is totally insane. He's got three personalities packed into his cyberium-steel chassis, and he argues with himself almost as often as he argues with other Decepticons. The only person he listens to without interrupting is Megatron, because all three of his personalities are terrified of the Decepticon commander. He carries a superheater cannon and a hyperfrost emitter to burn or freeze his enemies.


The long-awaited (by some of us at least) Triplechanger Animated Blitzwing has been released. He got a slightly earlier release, as expected. In the Animated show, Blitzwing has a Quintesson-like split personality represented by a spinning face. Ironic, as he was the sole Decepticon that distrusted the Quints in the original G1 TV series... Hasbro has a weird sense of humor.

Like most of (Ha!) my reviews, I am providing a history section. The first Blitzwing is the G1, wildly popular due to being the 'first' triple changer (Wheeljack, Tracks or the Omnibots are quasi-triple changers released earlier than him. Wikipedia has spoken), having the alt mode of a tank and a MiG Foxbat. The second is a repaint of Brawl in the Movie card game. There is hope yet for him in TF2!! The third Blitzwing is... Um, this one. Simple and quick history. Heheh. Blitzwing, with the bad ass name, has been a favourite for fans, including me. For G1 episodes that stars Blitz, watch 'Triple Takeover' and 'Five faces of Darkness pt 3 to 5'. For Animated episodes, consider 'Sari, No one's home.' Oh, and Blitz gets into Dreamwave (where he is blown up) and IDW (where he gets whipped by Megs. And repaired. Lucky guy.)

The reason why Blitzwing is a triple changer. See this quote from 'Lost and Found': Icy: "I will choose this fighter jet." Hothead: "No, the assault tank!" "Jet." ''Tank!" "the jet." "Tank!" "Jet." "Tank!" Crazy: "Oh, ooh-hoo, why not scan both?"

JET MODE
In the animated series, Blitz turns into a squat jet. Not the deadly MiG his G1 counterpart was, though there are homages in design. Not sure what jet it is supposed to be, but the rear of the jet resembles Cybertron Sky Shadow/Jetfire, and can assume an 'attack mode' similar to him. Just bend it like in tank mode.

Blitz's jet mode, when I first caught sight of it in this forum, everyone, myself included, griped about tank treads visible in jet mode. But the treads have nowhere else to go. G1 Blitz's tank treads had the excuse of being not too detailed. Here? The tank treads are as visible as the jet wings.

Actually, the tank treads aside, the jet is quite a formidable-looking one. There is a slight gap in depth at the folding point during transformation, but how else can they make it work? The exhausts (cannons in other modes) can fire 'flames'. Joy.

The general appearance, tank treads aside, is 'just like on tee-vee!' Overall, a not-so-solid 'jet with tank treads' mode. No wonder Blitzwing loves to suddenly transform to tank mode while airborne so much. His jet mode is a mixture of nicely crafted jet details (i.e. jet intake) and horrendous kibble.

TANK MODE
And the tank mode. Cue the drum rolls. Well, looking at pictures gave me a 'meh' when I saw the squat and smallish tank mode. This tank mode resembles nothing I have ever seen. Well, when you squint and look at it from the front it looks a bit like G1 Sixshot. Either that or a bunch o' twisted plastic.

Despite being a squat tank, Blitzwing can fly in tank mode. Serious. He just falls right back down to earth. The jet's wings slide forward like armor protecting the front part of the tank. Not a subtle disguise (for the wings, not the tank), but it does the impression of actually belonging to the tank mode instead of just hanging pointlessly like the jet. The jet wings also have tiny red visors. Colors are the same between all three modes: black, purple and creamy.

In my opinion, once in the flesh, the tank mode is quite good. When you get used to it, you will ignore the squatness. Not as good as some other tanks, but for a triple changer...

ROBOT MODE
And here's the robot mode. Cue the drum rolls and the trumpets. The robot mode is great compared to the alternate modes. The robot mode is exactly like on the tee-vee, just like most of the other Animated toys. I suppose Blitzwing is the second strongest Decepticon, taking down all five of the Autobots. Yeah! I have not watched the particular episode to vouch for this, but I believe Wikipedia.

The cannons, although removable, cannot fold over the shoulder, and is stuck in an Onslaught-esque position. Shame, because if the cannons could do that, Blitz will look really bad ass. There are purple spring buttons on the wrists, but I haven't figured out what these are for yet. Probably for speed dialing.

There are some mentionable details such as 'ammo packs' on the belt, and, well folks, that's my review. Thank you for bearing with me. What? What was that? I missed something? Oh right! I missed the Quitesson-ish face! How could I? Oh-kay... I will detail each face with dialog from his conversation with a certain female colleague in "Transform and Roll Out."

The face is styled like wearing a desert hat with goggles on top. The face changing is a spinning gimmick on the back that works quite well. Detailing each one, first is a blue, icy 'elite type' strategist. This face has a monocle. "As usual your demeanor is as repulsive as that accursed organic mode of yours, Blackarachnia." The next is the red, fiery tough-guy persona based on Arnold Schwarzenegger, I think. "The name is Blitzwing, insect! Remember it, cause it gonna be the last thing you hear before I..." The third is the mad, freaky, funny, black jack-o-lantern face. "Sing it in song! Itsy-bitchy spider, climbing up the spout..." The final face is by far my favorite, making Blitz a comic relief that doesn't get the crap beaten from him every time. Sorry Waspinator. Yet another quote from 'Lost and Found'...

Hothead Blitzwing: Careful, you copper-clad klutz! You stepped in something!
Crazy Blitzwing: But with a few dancing lessons, you'll be light on your stabilizing servos like me. Cha cha cha.
Lugnut: Silence, Blitzwing! I did not follow this beacon halfway across the galaxy for dancing lessons! This was Megatron's ship!
Crazy Blitzwing: Ahaha, Starscream never did have a knack for parking.

Overall, the robot mode is the best. It has been growing on me and I appreciate the overall toy. Could do better though, like fixing the gap in jet mode, the tank treads, and if the cannons can fold over the shoulders. Ah well.

DURABILITY 8/10 Mine survived a couple of crashes. When he transformed from jet to tank mid-air. Seriously now, watch out for broken Blitzwings. I have seen one with the head-cockpit ensemble dropped off. And it is still in the box.
TRANSFORMATION 3/10 Quite easy.
PRICE 6/10 When is a toy too cheap?
FUN 8/10 I must say, Blitzwing is a fantastic triple-changing toy. Although with inaccurate alternate modes, still, as a toy he is fun to play with.
OVERALL 8/10 Blitzwing is a fun toy and I doubt anyone will say 'no' to that. However, the two weak alternate modes may not be good for display. But then, Grimlock is worse than him. Try him out. I was pessimistic before and I was proven wrong.