The G1 figure review thread
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:34 pm
Since we're getting remakes of G1 these days in the form of Classics and now Universe, why not go back and review some of the originals? I've often got them out for comparison with the new figures anyway, and it'll be fun to go through the collection. Since I just got TFU Powerglide, I'll start the thread with this original mini-bot.
Powerglide
Vehicle mode: An A-10, though a very 'cutified' version. Solid red plastic with grey 'pontoon' looking pods under the wings. For details there are a few panel lines on the wings, and 3 stickers, an Autobot insignia, a detail strip, and the heat-sensitive rubsign. And that's about it. The cockpit is molded, but unpainted. There's a tiny little gun protruding from the front of the plane, off-center. Flip it over, and there's no kibble, but Powerglide's face is clearly visible at the front of the plane. Landing gear exists in the form of three struts, two on the back and one in the center front.
It's a very simple vehicle mode, as were most of the mini-bots, all of which had their origins as some sort of superdeformed penny racers, or something like that. It's honestly not a bad little airplane, and I remember having tremendous fun with it as a kid. The small size is a plus. It's not as tiny as a mini-con, but it's large enough to interact with the regular scale Autobot cars.
Transformation: a step above Spychangers in simplicity. The nose of the plane rotates to expose the face, and the rear of the plane pulls back to make the feet. The wings rotate and fold up on either side, and the pontoons fold out and down to make the arms.
Robot mode: as you can imagine, there's not a lot of articulation here, though the transformation scheme provides three points of motion in the arms. The overall red is broken up by the light grey of the arms, face and upper legs. The sticker with the tech details makes more sense now on PG's chest than it did on the airplane. The head can turn. On my 20+ year old original, the wing joints are loose, so the wings keep falling away from the sides of the bot, but that wasn't a problem when PG was new.
Overall: Powerglide stood out from the other mini-bots with his airplane alt mode. This was at a time when just about all the Autobots were land-based, with a few exceptions. Powerglide is a very simple and basic transformer, but a nice piece of work regardless.
Powerglide
Vehicle mode: An A-10, though a very 'cutified' version. Solid red plastic with grey 'pontoon' looking pods under the wings. For details there are a few panel lines on the wings, and 3 stickers, an Autobot insignia, a detail strip, and the heat-sensitive rubsign. And that's about it. The cockpit is molded, but unpainted. There's a tiny little gun protruding from the front of the plane, off-center. Flip it over, and there's no kibble, but Powerglide's face is clearly visible at the front of the plane. Landing gear exists in the form of three struts, two on the back and one in the center front.
It's a very simple vehicle mode, as were most of the mini-bots, all of which had their origins as some sort of superdeformed penny racers, or something like that. It's honestly not a bad little airplane, and I remember having tremendous fun with it as a kid. The small size is a plus. It's not as tiny as a mini-con, but it's large enough to interact with the regular scale Autobot cars.
Transformation: a step above Spychangers in simplicity. The nose of the plane rotates to expose the face, and the rear of the plane pulls back to make the feet. The wings rotate and fold up on either side, and the pontoons fold out and down to make the arms.
Robot mode: as you can imagine, there's not a lot of articulation here, though the transformation scheme provides three points of motion in the arms. The overall red is broken up by the light grey of the arms, face and upper legs. The sticker with the tech details makes more sense now on PG's chest than it did on the airplane. The head can turn. On my 20+ year old original, the wing joints are loose, so the wings keep falling away from the sides of the bot, but that wasn't a problem when PG was new.
Overall: Powerglide stood out from the other mini-bots with his airplane alt mode. This was at a time when just about all the Autobots were land-based, with a few exceptions. Powerglide is a very simple and basic transformer, but a nice piece of work regardless.