Nightbird's appearance in the movie was pretty cool, getting a few lines and having the ability to fly. I was half-expecting her to just rinse and repeat what Shatter did in the Bumblebee movie, especially when Travis basically said that she was designed after the one-time ninja drone; this time, the female villain gets a more sinister role as a servant of Unicron rather than be a Decepticon, and after her subpar mainline Deluxe counterpart, do we have a version of her worth getting? Find out in today's review!
Here is Nightbird in her vehicle mode, an officially licensed Nissan GT-R R33. Already starting off strong with this figure when it comes to comparing it to the mainline version; apart from the licensed vehicle mode, this toy features a more cohesive color scheme that doesn't make it feel haphazard, and I especially like that the spoiler is now a proper design rather than utilizing weapons that, while clever, were a bit on the asymmetrical side. I also appreciate how the bronze that is present is a metallic shade, complimenting the rims and the gunmetal gray perfectly. This is how you do a car like this justice. Honestly, I could imagine her in Fast & Furious along with Mirage, especially the way they raced briefly in Kuzco. And if you look closely, there is a Terrorcon insignia on the grille instead of a Nissan logo. Nice touch!
The painted parts of the vehicle cast in clear plastic do have a bit of a mismatch, and the rims, while painted beautifully, also have a bit of a mismatch for the pins (the front wheels having a pin and the back section not having a pin visible). Despite those issues, the car mode is a beautiful model that makes me nostalgic for mid-to-late 90s cars.
Weapon storage is on the bottom for the sword, which is different from the old toy's spoiler being made from the sword. This one already has a spoiler so under the car it goes.
For a vehicle mode comparison, here she is with her mainline counterpart, which looks a lot more incomplete in terms of coloring and inaccurate to the actual car used in the movie. The inaccuracies were fine, it was just the coloring that was bad with the bronze breaking things up without even being metallic. But this new one is much more cohesive overall, and it is also more proportionate to the actual vehicle as well.
And here we have her with the ROTB Terrorcons in Studio Series form. They may have lasted in a single movie and were not Decepticons, but they were great to watch on screen the same way Megs and Starscream were in ROTF and DOTM (as well as Lockdown in AOE and Shatter & Dropkick in Bumblebee).
Transformation is the same as with the mainline version, but different in a few areas. For example, the backpack rotates around so the wings can be oriented properly. Meanwhile, the torso can be broken up to look more compact like in the movie, and the feet aren't little black pieces of plastic. The resulting robot mode manages to be a little more intricate compared to the mainline version, being closer to the CG model as well as having a more cohesive paint job. .However, you still have some of the same issues fans had with the prior version, such as the kibble likely getting in the way of articulation as well as a new flaw in the form of how ridiculously small the wings are. Yes, they are present on a toy for once, but it feels so undersized. On the bright side, they are removable, so you could swap them out with longer wings if we get third-party upgrade kits, either from DNA Design or a smaller group. The same could be said for those claws on the forearms because despite being sculpted they are barely visible.
Head sculpt is much closer to the movie this time, with a clear purple headpiece that is much more prominent in addition to better resembling not just the design in the movie but the Gatchaman homage implemented, since Nightbird is a space ninja of sorts much like those characters are. If you don't know what Gatchaman is, ask your parents. Or rather, ask your grandparents if they were around back when it was dubbed in the US as Battle of the Planets to mimic the success of Star Wars. Her articulation is more or less similar to the mainline figure, only the head has a bit more range, while the shoulders don't move up as high on the hinge used for transformation. Waist swivel and hip movement are better, and the knees are a bit easier to use here since the upper thighs lock in place. She comes with one sword only, which is closer to the CG model mostly, apart from the lack of a Terrorcon insignia on the hilt. It can be stored on the hip kibble like a traditional sword.
For a robot mode size comparison, the Studio Series Nightbird is surprisingly much shorter than the original mainline version by a head. While it might seem like a negative on the new version, the height is explained by the wonkier proportions of the mainline version, with how wide the torso is as well as how long the torso and legs are. If we were to align them by where the hips move, the feet of the Studio Series figure go slightly past where the feet pivot on the mainline figure. On the bright side, the colors are much more cohesive on the mainline version, while the chest doesn't look like a big block of a front-end.
And here we have her with the other Terrorcons, with Scourge standing tall and proud (maybe a little too tall with his neck) as well as Battletrap utilizing a special accessory from another figure we have yet to cover. Stay tuned. Oh, and we also have both Sweeps with Freezer and the recently reviewed Novakane. Overall, Nightbird is one of the weakest figures in the ROTB lineup with how the kibble management could be handled a bit better for the backpack, and the wings are as minuscule as the ones that Heimlich has from A Bug's Life. I still recommend her because she is closer to the CG model and is very cohesive in coloring, but she is still a flawed figure.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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