Blog #818: Toy Review: Transformers: Generations: Legends Wave 1 (Thundercracker, Windcharger, Powerglide, Bombshell)

Transformers: Generations: Legends Wave 1 (Thundercracker, Windcharger, Powerglide, Bombshell)

Please read my reviews of Starscream and Tailgate, I will only be talking about Thundercracker and Windcharger’s mold and color changes.

However, before I get started with the reviews, I need to point out that Hasbro has done something incredibly unique, even for them. They have improved products, and in doing so made them inferior. Confused? Let me explain.

The Legends no longer include the Targetmaster Partners. Consequently, new molds (Bombshell and Powerglide in this wave) are slightly larger. Being larger, they are also designed very differently. So, if you put Bombshell next to Shrapnel who is theoretically from the same line, Bombshell looks considerably better and also incredibly out of place. So, by giving us a better Bombshell, they made it so we have a Shrapnel with no Bombshell and Kickback, and a Bombshell and Kickback with no Shrapnel (assuming we are getting a Kickback, there is no guarantee since we did get a Deluxe one not all that long ago). I have to hand it to Hasbro. It’s pretty hard to pull off subtraction by addition, but Hasbro managed to do it. This also means we are paying more for the older molds and getting less, which really sucks. They could have at least included partner repaints with them. For the record, yes, I would have preferred a Bombshell that actually went with Shrapnel rather than a better looking one.

Thundercracker

Thundercracker looks pretty good, but there is a reason I’ve seen a bunch of these on pegs. He’s overpriced without the partner as I said above.

Windcharger

I really like Windcharger. He has a new head sculpt that looks great. He’s also had some mold changes to his hood. Too bad they didn’t remove the port when they did it since he has no partner like the toy was originally intended to have, or even a regular weapon. Of course, non of the new ones have weapons either.

Powerglide

Vehicle Mode: I really like Powerglide. What really hurts him more than anything is that he is completely inferior to the Transformers: Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Commander Powerglide. That toy is superior in almost every way. I do like the new vehicle mode, it’s just not as nice as the DotM version.

Weapon Mode: The weapon looks all right, but it’s not anything special. I don’t mind them including Legends as part of the combiner teams. It will work really well with Blackjack who will be the chest for Menasor, much like the G1 toy had. This just made what could have been a really good toy, a little less so, and wasn’t really necessary. I just think he would have come out better without the extra joints and parts to make him a gun.

Robot Mode: In robot mode, he probably looks even more like G1 Powerglide than the Dark of the Moon toy, but overall that one is still better. He does look amazing, no question. In fact, he is worth it just for the robot mode.

Bombshell

Insect Mode: Bombshell’s insect mode looks awesome. Really awesome. Just too bad we will never have Shrapnel looking like this.

Robot Mode: His robot mode looks even better than his insect mode. Bombshell is a truly perfect homage to G1, something we rarely get. As I said above, he’s too good, but this does give me a lot of hope for toys going forward.

Overall: Hard to argue against any of these, even with Hasbro’s bonehead moves. Bombshell is probably the best of the bunch…unfortunately.

Thanks for reading!