McFarlane Digital Red Tornado & Blackfire review

It's that time of the year again, when we have two McFarlane DC Multiverse figures paired together! This time, we have my least favorite section to revisit, that being the Digital subline, where accessories are usually sacrificed in favor of a redemption code for a CAD file of its associated action figure. I have bought a few figures from the waves, don't get me wrong, but it's always going to be in favor of the action figure rather than some redemption code for a program I'm not even going to use. It's something that I won't miss from the McFarlane era of DC figures, especially if it wasn't advertised as the company saying, "hey, you can use these to customize your own versions of the characters if you have the tech," with how overly niche the Digital side of things can be. Anyways, we have the possible last few stretches of characters to look forward to with the likes of Red Tornado and Blackfire as our review focus, so let's see if these two are worth getting despite the slight price hikes.

Here we have Red Tornado in-hand, which is a retool of the Rebirth era version of the character we got early on in the line, to my understanding. Being closer to the Bronze Age of comic books that many people would rather have, we get simpler comic details rather than having ones raised in relief, or at least ditching the belt in favor of a cross in the midriff. We also have no deco on the sides of the legs, but we have it remaining on the arms. What was once gold is now yellow (ironic because the gold is on a release that is called "Gold Label", but there may be a version of this with the mark as well, so who knows what is going on). I don't have much else to say with a simple character in solid red with yellow here and there, but apparently, the legs are supposed to have yellow stripes down the middle. I mean, some comic art has them but others don't, so either the promo art is inconsistent or the toy designers went the easy route. Whatever it's supposed to be, people need to make up their mind.

Head sculpt is possibly the same as the original, with not much else to talk about with the sculptwork when it is a blank bald man head with a yellow arrow pointing at the bridge of his nose, and some eyes with eyeliner around them to make them stand out. It's one of those head designs that is summed up with "does the job fine". His articulation is the standard affair for the DC Multiverse line, as everyone has 22 points of articulation. Same range, same blank bodies, you know the drill.

His sole accessories are the alternate hands that are gesturing at what may be yet another huge problem with this figure: the lack of bendy wires! It's already bad enough that New 52 Superman doesn't have this issue, and it's also no better when No Man's Land Batman has no wire implementation, but HOW MANY MORE FIGURES ARE GOING TO HAVE THEIR CAPES WITHOUT BENDY WIRES?! If you're not going to add one, then don't sew small spaces meant for them to go through! And don't use a ribbon material where it won't flex that easily for a vanilla pose! AND DON'T USE A FUCKING WIRE FOR THE COLLAR AND NOT ADD ONE FOR THE CAPE YOU CHEAP ASSHOLES!!!!! I wouldn't even mind them not adding a bendy wire if they went with including the tornado stand that fits the character, but nope! Minimum effort.

As for Blackfire, this figure is a reuse of the Collector Edition Starfire, which is a retool of, you guessed it, Knightfall Catwoman! While the sleeves and boots at least made sense for the younger sister, not removing the ridges for the boots and gloves results in the discrepancies in what should be a spandex suit. Another issue I have with the figure would be the lack of stability when standing her without the base. Her heels are a pain in the ass to keep her from falling over, and with the shape of her shoes, she ends up being a bitch to stand up. Not helping is the hair on the figure, nice as it may be, has a bit of weight that contributes to her toppling over at times. As for positives, the metallic paint job is beautiful, from the shiny, chrome-like silver to the colorful, petroleum-esque blue that has a slight rainbow effect under the light. And while the lack of retooling to remove the glove and boot ridges may be annoying, the proportions of the build fit the slightly older Blackfire than her sister.

Head sculpt is more or less similar to Starfire, what with both of them being sisters and all that. I like that the orange paint on the skin tone pops along with the red used for the lips and eyebrows in addition to the green eyes. I also like that the silver on her head set is picked out without any skimped areas, even with the luscious hair. Her articulation being similar to everyone else means we can go straight to her accessories: two effect parts she dubbed blackbolts, not to be confused with the Marvel Inhuman. They merely rest over the fists and don't have spaces tight enough to stay in place. You'll have to figure that out. Honestly, while not as frustrating as Red Tornado's cost cutting, Blackfire's balancing issues and retool incapabilities still hold her back. The metallic deco is nice, but you may be want to get Starfire since she has a flight stand (even if the other accessories are more or less the same).

On a side note, we have a Platinum chase variant of Starfire in sci-fi gothic colors that may be intended for Blackfire. Both are based on DC Rebirth.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Red Tornado)

⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Blackfire)

Transformers Age of the Primes Brawl review

We already know a fair bit about Bayverse Brawl in spite of his short screentime in the 2007 movie, but what can be said about G1 Brawl beyond his role as a component of Bruticus? He's loud, but how loud depends on which fiction takes his tech spec bio to heart. I guess the appeal for seeing him in later iterations is the hulking tank appeal that his design has, and it's also why he was either loosely homaged in Energon with green tank component Kickback or had a RID 2001 Armorhide, who is a mostly unrelated character, show up with a more toy-accurate design compared to the made up nature of the Sunbow Combaticons. Regardless, I am excited to bring in yet another review as we get another fairly quick step towards completing AOTP Bruticus. Let's see how Brawl turned out. 

Here we have Brawl in his tank mode, which is not exactly close to the Leopard 1A3 main battle tank of his old toy. While being a tank is standard for the character, I can't help but wonder if this one specifically is supposed to look gappy in certain areas. While a hole under the main barrel is standard for most other tank models, I don't know if most tanks are supposed to have that uneven front end where the area that will be the chest is different from the rest of the corners. I also find the back section raised up higher than the front section to be unusual. I can't say if this tank mode is faithful to whatever source it's using or not because it's more made up than the old toy and possibly Combiner Wars version. At least the turret rotates and the barrel moves up and down. The tiny wheels at the bottom are about as effective as in any other tank former.

For a vehicle mode size comparison, you may think this figure is the same class as his limbs, but no, he is in fact a Voyager. Apparently, that is because Hasbro wanted to make him more substantial for the leg mode than what the Aerialbots and Stunticon legs could offer. Neat idea, but we'll see if he's anywhere near as 'successful' at that compared to Scrapper and Mixmaster.

Transformation is fairly involved than prior versions of Brawl, no doubt as a commitment towards using that "budget" to make justify making him a Voyager. Each portion of the tank compacts itself better with additional hinges and panels to fill out a substantial robot. Granted, I wish the back panels could be flush with the rest of the legs while the barrel on his back is not hollowed out (even if this is done for structural reasons), but an attempt was made. The resulting robot mode is closer to the Sunbow design, which is the result of the character models deviating themselves from the toys substantially. Granted, the combiner toys that weren't limbs or the two torso components of Devastator suffer from having very basic and poorly defined bot modes, but in Brawl's case, they had to reduce his chest side and redesign the arms so he doesn't have alt mode chunks with holes for fist openings. One thing I like is that the Decepticon insignia has no misalignments on the forearm given one part of it is on a hinge to conceal the hand. A larger complaint I have would be the mismatching light gray treads and the gunmetal used on the thighs and forearms. Granted, it's possible parts of the toy are cast in unpaintable plastic, but surely it would be easy to cast those in a darker color, right? And a bit of a nitpick, but those arms stick out a bit more, huh? 

His head sculpt is about as boxy as the Combaticon heads usually are, but at least he has some extra paintwork to make the gunmetal broken up with orange and magenta. The latter being used on the red is a bit out of place on a militaristic robot, accurate or not. Anyways, Brawl's articulation consists of a ball jointed neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, butterfly joints, bicep rotation, hinged elbows, waist rotation, universal hips, thigh rotation, hinged knees, and ankle rockers.

The weapon storage is at least able to give Brawl some additional firepower, but that puny pistol makes me wish he had a larger gun or more guns like on Bayverse Brawl. As for the leg mode, I can't wait to put him in the Bruticus frame, especially with how beefy it looks than the Combiner Wars version. That being said, remember when I said he is supposed to be a Voyager to have more in his engineering than Vortex and Blast Off? Where's? All? The god? Damned? Ratcheting?!

And here we have him with the other Combaticons so-far with the same photo I used last time I reviewed Blast Off. Despite being a Voyager, Brawl is the height of a Deluxe to better scale with the other characters as the cartoon depicted them. I guess there is a height advantage with the cannon that is on his back, but then again, so does the propellor blades on Vortex. I feel like I'm in the same position with SS86 Windcharger where I find the budget used on the figure ill-fitting for the price; granted, Brawl has a bit more to him than WC does, what with being a combiner, but we have to consider not only the lack of a ratchet joint compared to Mixmaster and Scrapper, but the price for Voyagers increased nearly TEN FUCKING DOLLARS!!! Once again, we can bring up the mention of the economy (despite prices going up for years) and the mention of tariffs, but when Voyagers get the highest price increase compared to Deluxes and Leaders, what in God's name is Hasbro smoking? Are they the safe-bet purchases for the current TF market these days? That can't even help them out because they got a worse price hike than anyone else. Overall, he is a decent figure, yet his weird altmode design elements and the lack of a ratchet joint knock points off of him. That even hurts with the price increase. God, he is so close to inching a 50% or less score...I need to retire collecting...

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Studio Series Airachnid review

Airachnid feels like the kind of character who comes across more like an anomaly amongst her fellow cast members. The main quartet of characters we focus on are part of the usual Hasbro mandate, Alpha Trion and Sentinel Prime made sense to showcase some history for the title one earned and the other stole, and the setting felt closer to the G1 aesthetic with very few nods to other lore here and there. Our spy cam spider woman feels so out of place amongst the other characters, no doubt due to her alt mode choice and almost appearing like a Decepticon rather than anyone else. That's even ignoring the likes of Darkwing and the High Guard! It's easy to attribute this to her design, being based on the Prime series, is much sleeker and unique amongst the more traditional robot designs everyone has, but what about in-universe? Could she have been a normal fembot who was corrupted by the Quintessons into her current state? Did she willingly change into this design? Was she always like this since the day she was forged? For any questions we have about her, I doubt anyone would answer them since the movie flopped anyhow. So let's set aside her true purpose of key dangling for any non-G1 fan service and see how she turned out for her review!

Here we have Airachnid in her VTOL drone mode. This works best as not just a nod to her helicopter altmode in Prime, but also as a surveillance drone going around Cybertron. The design works perfectly for the aesthetics of the planet's inhabitants, and I love that there is a trio of propellors to make her more alien and aerodynamic. The back one rotates freely, but the others are merely sculpted in place. The little guns around the front could pass off as additional cameras, though it makes me wonder if she is meant to use range weapons if anyone attacked Sentinel. The only weird thing would be the front section being somewhat hollow, but that may be accurate.

For a vehicle mode size comparison, she has a fair bit of competition next to Sentinel Prime's nonexistent-in-the-movie alt mode. Granted, her slender design means she can take spread what mass she has into the same drone mode she is in, but in her defense, Sentinel Prime is a small Voyager.

Transformation is surprisingly involved for a TF One figure. Unlike the others who feel predictable or have issues with certain engineering choices, the design let's people figure out where they should twist or rotate certain parts before they either go in the right direction or are tabbed in place properly. The legs, both her normal ones and the spider ones on the back, feel like the right kind of puzzles that the One designs sorely needed, and it can all be thanks to her not being based on the G1 series. As for the robot mode, it's almost like the Maleficent-esque attributes were removed in favor of making her appear more like military hardware between the simple red markings on a solid grey body, the digitigrade legs (with added heels for stability reasons), built in arm cannons, and overall appearing more like an endoskeleton, she feels truly comparable to a mass-produced robot that tech corporations test with the army before making consumer-friendly versions for the showroom-type of audiences. She isn't entirely devoid of any identity, though, as she still has the fembot build with thiccer thighs that would make Elita-1 envious if she wasn't busy acting like the Corporate-Hollywood-Approved-Girlboss trope towards Orion. The spider legs are able to be positioned however you like, though I don't think you can give her a spider mode that easily without any mods that go beyond the usual fan modes one can accomplish with an unaltered toy. All in all, she wins the bot mode creativity department compared to her cast mates.

Her head sculpt is both reminiscent of a Xenomorph for the side profile, no doubt to make room for the eyes, but the face oddly seems close to how the TFP robots appeared, and it almost feels like Prime Arcee than it does Airachnid. I like that the eyes are painted lavender, but what is new for her is that the pupils are sculpted rather than leaving her with the more traditional blank optics we saw with other characters. Her articulation consists of ball joints at the neck, shoulders, and hips, swivels at the biceps and above the knees, and hinges at the elbows and knees proper. Though she can't move her hips out because of the limited space from her thighs, slightly separating the thigh plating can help remedy that.

For a robot mode size comparison, here she is next to Sentinel Prime. The movie has her slightly taller than him, but not only does the discrepancy seem negligible for the most part, but you can use the Prime Changers Sentinel for better scale (I won't because I don't care about that line). Honestly, as someone who was increasingly disappointed with every subsequent TFOne release, this manages to be the very best figure representing that movie we have ever gotten. Not only is the design one-of-a-kind, but she is also complex in her engineering and has no glaring issues we saw with other characters, from lousy cop outs to poor quality control. I recommend you get her, even if the movie sucks in your eyes.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Age of the Primes Blast Off review

The Combaticon hype continues as we take a look at our second member, that being Blast Off. He's an interesting choice given how the history representing the character (or at least the general design) feels all over the place. This self-absorbed dude could rival the majesty that is Sky Lynx in G1, then the design was briefly stolen by RID 2001's Movor, who was more of a dopey space case in comparison to the Combaticon we're reviewing today. Energon had the Japanese version of Blackout renamed as Blast Off for Superlink, and inexplicably had the tank mold used for the ROTF/Universe Bruticus repaint set. Fall of Cybertron had him back as a space shuttle, albeit one that makes sense for his home planet, and then the G1 version of the character briefly had a fighter jet mode instead for a while (Unite Warriors and later Hasbro's Prime Wars exclusive subline restored him as a shuttle). We're now in the Age of the Primes, but what better time than now to be stoked that another gestalt is getting the spotlight even after we just got Superion and Devastator? Let's see how Blast Off turned out.

Here we have Blast Off in his shuttle mode. While brown and purple may not be the most practical color scheme for this kind of altmode, it is at least fitting for the character and the design. Granted, I always felt that making it somewhat more cohesive would help it somewhat. Regardless, that is what it looked like in the cartoon, though being a Deluxe shuttle, there isn't much for us to do without any landing gear or whatever else other shuttleformers got. You can place the guns under the wings like a Seeker, but for the most part, he just "be's" shuttle. The sculpted details are nice, but that is about what we have. I should mention that the tailfin is disassembled out of the box, so keep that in mind.

For a vehicle mode size comparison, here we have him with fellow arm, Vortex.as we know, the scale between a military helicopter and a space shuttle is never going to make any sense, so the only way this could somehow work is if Blast Off was reimagined as a drone that resembled a shuttle. Hey, it beats the cartoon logic!

Transformation is pretty close to what I expected with this character design, with the front section becoming the arms, the back becoming the legs, and the fuselage becoming the torso. I always thought that the transformation scheme made him come across like he was about to dive in the water, but that suits a hypothetical submarine retool. Anyways, Blast Off is about as accurate as one would expect from the Sunbow cartoon, with the design likely being the least deviated from the toy it was originally based on. The same thruster toes we got originally with Combiner Wars/Unite Warriors is carried over for this toy, which is how the cartoon came up with feet that were previously nonexistent. The forearms do have a bit of a Popeye look to them, but at least his hands aren't entirely stuck under two obnoxiously featureless nosecone halves like on the old toy. Also, is it me, or does he have a chest similar to Cerebros?

His head sculpt is an example of.how weird animation accuracy can get. The shape of it is blocky like the old toy, but the eyes are left as silver while the forehead has pink painted as if it's meant to be the visor. Why?! I almost want to tweak that so badly because I hate how the animators colored the face that way. Articulation is standard for the line, with the ball jointed neck, swivels for the shoulders, biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs, hinges for the outward arm joints, elbows, knees, and ankles, and universal joints at the hips. One thing I appreciate is that the guns have silver paint inside the crevices where the hollow areas are.

And why not, just to tease the next Combaticon soon to be reviewed, here we have three of the members together as we wait for the rest of the characters. I remember when Combiner Wars' reliance on retools left us with a Blast Off that initially was a brown Quickslinger and Vortex was yet another Alpha Bravo repaint. I'll go over Brawl soon, but in spite of how basic Blast Off is, at least he is making things work so well.

Like Vortex and half of the limbs for the Aerialbots and Stunticons, he splits in half and can attach to the arm frames.

The compatibility continues to surprise me, though I should mention that Hasbro deliberately has Blast Off's bottom side attach rather than the roof due to the use of the frame rather than a peg that would be found on the back of the roof on the old toy. This also was a deviation we sort of had with Vortex where the front section pointed downwards than upwards. Regardless, Blast Off manages to be fine in spite of the small things that bother me. I guess I don't feel as annoyed by him compared to Windcharger because this guy not only is released closer to his teammates, but he also has a more reasonable height and contributes to a combiner. I prefer Vortex more, but Blast Off is still fine as it stands. We'll see if he'll remain at the bottom when we take a look st the remaining 3 members, though.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Studio Series 86 Windcharger review

We already took a look at Windcharger as he appeared in the Reveal the Shield line. Specifically, the Takara United version that only replaced his rubsign with an Autobot insignia. For it's day, it was a decent version of the characters but I know that the change in aesthetics for CHUG toys means he would not fit in with the current display we got since Siege (where even most figures got phased out with retools and more accurate replacements). Not much else can be said about the least-adapted Season 1 minibot with as few variations and toys like with Gears, other than he has magnetic powers and died in battle alongside Wheeljack. Many joked that he was going to come with a dead pretool like we saw with the four Autobots who died in the Autobot shuttle, but he is pristine and probably should have been kept in Age of the Primes so we can get a more meaningful character in the Studio Series line (ROTF Twins, anyone?). Let's see how Windcharger turned out!

Here we have Windcharger in his vehicle mode, which is an unlicensed approximation of a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. It does the job of looking like how it should in the cartoon, from the proportions to the simpler details that have become more of a thing for the G1 characters of late. This means the Autobot insignia is now drawn in the white outline without having the eyes filled in. While that's mostly fine, and I appreciate that the rims and grille are painted silver, I question why the windows have to be translucent. Yeah, they're separate pieces, but you can see the pegs inside, and while it's not the biggest concern I have with the use of clear plastic on the toy (that will be brought up later), I wonder how much money could be saved by making them opaque and using the same baby blue used on the other Autobots from the Legacy United 5-pack, Bumblebee, Brawn, or Gears. On a side note, the gun should face backwards to simulate a tailpipe but it Isn't possible due to peg/tab placements. I also find it a bit annoying that when they tried recreating the misaligned back section on Windcharger because the cartoon recreated that design flaw, it makes it look like you haven't transformed him right when you have. Certified Geewun accuracy moment.

The one feature this figure has in vehicle mode is using his magnetic powers, though it looks more like he spooged out some lubricant to prank some poor suckers.

For a vehicle mode size comparison, here he is with his Reveal the Shield/United counterpart. There was a Power of the Primes figure released in-between them, but I don't have it. Obviously, one is more classic than the other, and I like that SS86 rolls better, but it blows my mind that a Deluxe that costs $27 in 2026 is around the same size as a Scout Class toy presumably around $10 or less. You can bring up the argument on inflation and tariffs all you want, but Glenn Webb (RIP king) once mentioned how the dark ages of Marvel Legends was a case of giving less but charging more. While it may not be entirely easy to compare two differently functional lines, they both are aimed at collectors, and while some companies try to make up for their own price increases as time goes by, Hasbro remains a worse offender thanks to their business practices under Chris Cucks and the common knowledge on how many fanboys simp for them no matter what they do. 

Transformation is fairly involved for a Minibot, and by that I mean having most of the altmode folded away within the legs. To give this toy some credit in maintaining a clean silhouette, they at least had the grille, hood, front windshield, and roof concealed inside what are now the front legs, and they also made sure that the tires were on a hinge assembly to be kept out of sight while the front tires now face backwards a la Hot Rod. The resulting robot mode is undoubtedly cartoon accurate, and we can easily talk about how the smoother details make him less impressive than his prior WFC trilogy and early Legacy brethren, he at least fits in with what we have gotten of late. Besides, it's not like we have MP-44 Optimus next to the original Hasbro MP Starscream exclusive to Walmart. I wish the back section would have the kibble collapse better so he could appear less gappy from the sides, but hey, he has no backpack! I am still concerned on the use of clear plastic, this time because of the tight hinge used to shift the piece up or down. I don't want this to be as fragile as SS86 Jazz was. 

Head sculpt is a face underneath a box, but is it me or does he look more like Shattered Glass Megatron than most heads representing Shattered Glass Megatron? Anyways, gun in hand, his articulation includes swivels at the neck, shoulders, biceps, waist, and thighs, hinges at the outward arm movement, elbows, knees, and ankles (which are much higher and therefore his shins), universal hip joints, and ball jointed wrists. The decision to have the ankle pivots much higher up than normal is due to the way his transformation works, but it makes me think of how Kingdom Paleotrex had that quirk, for better or worse.

His magnetic effect piece can tab in the chest, which makes him look more like he's deploying piss from a box strapped in his chest like some nasty flower in a shirt. On a positive note, he has a way to look up with a lever behind his head. Reminds me of how hoodies work. For anyone wondering, the wheels on the shoulders can face forward, and the ones in the legs can be kept on display, but the latter means the vehicle kibble doesn't fold away properly due to the tire hinges clashing with the mirrors.

For a robot mode size comparison, here he is next to Reveal the Shield Windcharger. Yes, I am happy to own a version of the character that was meant to fit in with my other CHUG figures, but once again, it's crazy seeing how some Deluxes we got today are closer to the size of the Scouts we used to get, only more than twice the price they used to go for. I remember when people were furious over Movie Jazz getting a much smaller figure than the already small Classic Camaro Bumblebee, but now it seems there isn't as much outrage over this, either because of people growing more accustomed to the trend of Hasbro shrinkflation or fanboys reeeeing far less because it's a G1 character and therefore it's okay.

And here we have him with the rest of the 1984 Minibots. It's crazy how almost yearly it took to complete this line-up, even if we ignore the Netflix Bumblebee and the original Earthrise Cliffjumper. At least I don't have to spend more money than I need on a stupidly expensive Deluxe Minibot anymore for these characters. Overall, the more I think about completing this set, the more I feel like I did it just to get it over with than because it's exciting now that I get the entire cast from Season 1 together. I'm sure I'll feel like I accomplished something when I bring these guys with Optimus, the Autobot Cars, Jetfire, and the Dinobots for a Season 1 group shot, but the long time it took to get them together being longer than what any 80s baby took with their allowances, birthdays, and Christmases almost makes the journey for new fans who weren't around since at least Siege feel daunting. Then there's the price increase over the years. In 2019, a Deluxe went for $20, which is not great but somewhat acceptable. Fast forward to the current year, and it's nearly an extra $10! That takes us back to our review subject: Windcharger might have been acceptable back in 2019 as he is, and I say that because he's about as comparable as Cliffjumper in terms of engineering. Granted, one is slightly shorter and has a whooping cannon instead of a punt gun, but I don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth. Honestly, the later down we go with the Minibots, the more I start feeling they have more issues with value for money. I don't think Windcharger sucks 100%, BUT he sure as hell ain't worth the full price!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐