Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Deluxe Class Decepticon Blast Off

As the first addition to my now-spiralling-out-of-control Transformers collection, I think that as random a character to begin with Blast Off was a very good start. He's a redeco of the Quickslinger mold - itself an exclusive new-head retool from the mass-retail Firefly - so if you have either of those you essentially know what you're getting into, but this does of course create a few issues with the more dedicated fans - unlike his original form back in G1 and a few other toylines, Blast Off now turns into a jet instead of a shuttle and lacks a mouthplate (especially grating for fans as the original version of this mold, Firefly, had a mouthplate). I don't mind these too much as the jet form allows him to fit in better with the rest of the combaticons - so I actually prefer it, though it's funny that his bio mentions he himself is annoyed at having to change from his shuttle mode to his new jet mode - and the mouthplate isn't exactly as iconic to him as it is to, say, Optimus or Soundwave. Besides, it also lets him get the visor he had in the cartoon, so... yay?But regardless, onto the actual toy - it's fantastic, even if I don't have a Combiner Wars Voyager to try out the actual combining with. The jet mode looks stunning... granted you have to annoy the pretty obvious hands and feet if viewing from the back, but from the front and at a 90 degree angle he still looks great. For display features you have landing gear at the front as with just about every jet mode these days, and yhere's pegholes underneath each wing for the rifle and hand-foot gun Blast Off came with - but I'll admit I wish he came with two of his black rifles instead of one so he could complete that fighter jet look. Having just one gun there or one rifle plus the hand-foot gun just looks awkward.The Robot Mode makes for a fantastic silhouette. The proportions are just spot-on and accurate; the shapes of the robot mode taking cues both from G1's blocky style and a more modern, anime-esque angular edge to him which makes for a perfect combination; I admit I especially like the two little wrist-guns molded in for some extra artillery. If I had any real problem with how it is, I wish the tailfin of the plane split into two so each leg had a heel spur made out of it. It doesn't exactly have problems functionally standing without it; it's just a little asymmetrical irritance that to be honest you'll barely even notice. For articulation the hips, shoulders and heads are all attached via universal balljoints, with the forearms on a rotating ratchet and the knees having your standard inward-outward motion with a swivel at the hips - and, due to transformation, a waist joint. This allows for an incredibly range of dynamic poses for a deluxe-scaled transformer, allowing you to emote so much character that I can't quite capture purely in text form. As a few extra notes, the waist joint is only minimally useful due to it rotating right at the back of the figure; meaning it can only really work well it you swivel it a little. Also of note is that the wings are on a joint, and while the instructions say to angle them back all the way, it can be nice to fiddle with them at different angles for a different silhouette. I suppose this is as good a place as any to talk about the weapons - the rifle just looks beautiful; combining the same G1 and angular aspects I talked about before to look pretty damn menacing in the combaticon's hands. It also weirdly reminds me of Optimus Prime's Ion Blaster. The hand-foot gun also surprised me - I thought I'd toss it aside and only use it for the limb modes, but honestly; while it's not amazing or anything it does look just good enough for me to have Blast Off dual-wield it with his rifle.Arm mode is simply spectacular. Again, I don't have a Combiner Wars Voyager figure to test this out with fully so I can't exactly give full thoughts on it... but just fiddling around with the mode it feels great. There's so much articulation that comes purely from the connector's ratchets and Blast Off's leg joints that for lack of a better term give it some really organic movement. The hand also looks great in this mode, and as my first Combiner Wars figure I simply adore the molded-on guns to make the eventual Bruticus seem even more threatening. The lack of finger articulation does leave you a bit wanting, but I think the swivel the fingers are on and the full thumb articulation are enough to get some nice little punching poses out of it. Also kind of nice is that you can store the rifle on one of the wings here; neatly tucking the weapon to the back of the combiner.Leg mode... unfortunately I'm not a fan of. It's basically just the jet mode with the cockpit and wings folded back and the connector point out, and... it just doesn't feel that great; just some big block which could be done better by some land-based vehicles. In addition, while this is not a problem unique to Blast Off and really it extends to every other figure, the hand-foot gun is just way too small to really make a good foot and having seen pictures online there's few ways in which it can really look good on a combiner. I'm glad Blast Off is canonically Bruticus' right arm because that's definitely the limb mode he looks best in.I guess I should also mention transformation. It's pretty fun and slick though there are some annoying little bits about folding the legs out and especially back in which is kind of hard to explain in text. They split into two for transformation and fit back together via a peg; and when you're trying to align them back up with their ports in jet and leg mode it can be pretty irritating in a way that reminds me of the Movie toyline's paneling. It's nothing awful and it doesn't hamper articulation but it is just enough to make the transformation not an entirely fun experience imo. The cockpit also seems to be reluctant to go into it's ports in jet mode. Maybe it's just mine but it seems that whenever I try to push it into it's ports it's always a lucky draw whether it'll stay in or not. Still, I'll usually have this guy in arm and robot mode and it goes in eventually so whatever.Since it's a redeco I suppose I should definetely comment on the colour scheme. I love it, and it's very evocative of Blast Off's original colour scheme - the same purple and brown that persists here in pretty much the same places, with a few differences being the legs are now brown in lieu of the original toy's legs being black (a change for the better, in all honesty), and a rather new and unexpected detailing of yellow on his knees and one shoulder. It's odd and new but I think it works. In general Blast Off's colour scheme is also so incredibly different from the Aerialbots that it allows the guy to really stand out and distinguish himself from his mold-mates, even if he does share the exact same head mold as Quickslinger!All in all Blast Off is an excellent toy which to me exemplifies the best parts of Scramble City/Combiner Wars - they make a great limb to put anywhere on a combiner - even if the leg mode's a bit lackluster - but even if you don't have any others the jet and robot modes are still incredible, sporting many different play options and points of articulation. I would warn potential buyers to wait for a bit if buying off amazon, though - right now all the combaticons are a tad pricier than their RRP and I'd wait for them to go down to the normal Deluxe - and in Onslaught's case - Voyager price. As of the time of this writing, I got Blast Off for £23 (the price of a Voyager!!!), he's currently sitting at £20 and he really should be £16. But hey, if you can get him for a good price? Fantastic toy, even if a simple redeco.

Cool figure for a cool character.

Happy birthday boy

nice quality toy