"Run it's Dreadwing!"
"And Dreadwing's twice as deadly!"
New DreadWING is punishING/ His Gatling gun is illIN'!/ This Decepticon bomber's a Transformer-rama/, A three-in-one villain that's chillIN'!
Combat tank and sonic jet Transform into double-trouble robots/ Their missiles go boom/ Spelling certain doom/ As they take apart the awesome Autobots!
"Autobots! HALP!"
"No one can save you... from triple-changing Dreadwing!"
Transformers: Generation 2. Dreadwing is all you see here, other figures sold separately.
Here we have Dreadwing and Smokescreen in their vehicle modes. Dreadwing is the one on the right who resembles a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit while Smokescreen instead looks either like a modified F-22 Raptor or a made-up vehicle. I say that because the shape is vaguely there yet the wings pale in comparison to Dreadwing's. I guess the missile launchers can make it more imposing, and yes, the two missiles on the launchers, the pair of three missiles on each of Dreadwing's wings serving as BOMBS, and the extra six in his illin' gatling gun means FOURTEEN MISSILES!!!!!! Speaking of, the illin' gatling gun normally stays underslung in Dreadwing, but I store it in the back to somewhat fill in the gap while Smokescreen is elsewhere. Dreadwing's vehicle mode is the main attraction, being large, dense, and satisfying to play with. The size of the wingspan, combined with the boomerang-like shape, makes it intimidating as all hell, even with the two-tone blue color scheme. The red cockpit on him and even the one on Smokescreen adds a sense of aggression that makes sense for a pair of deadly Decepticon fliers not seen in the average Seeker.
For a vehicle mode size comparison, here is Smokescreen next to a modern Voyager in the form of Ferak, a retool of Kingdom Cyclonus. While the modern mold manages to put Smokescreen in a small Deluxe size and Dreadwing in a Voyager-ish scale, you can imagine how Dreadwing would defy Hasbro's ways of trying to fudge a figure into a size class with either justifying engineering and accessory count or by using the size of a toy and nothing else with the Generations line. It'll make me wonder how they would make a new Dreadwing and Smokescreen set in the Generations line if we get one.
Having the illin' gatling gun underslung and facing forward means you can insert Smokescreen in the back, completing the stealth bomber look even further. Smokescreen really comes off like a recon drone that'd go scouting around at times, something reminiscent of Soundwave and Laserbeak in TFP. The gun now being underslung means you can deploy landing gear to make it stable for a vehicle mode display. Having a knob on the back to rotate the illin' gatling gun chamber and pressing the buttons on the wings means destruction for the Autobots far greater than anything in G1...though I should stress that nothing really locks them in place. See, the bombs on the wings are held in there by friction rather than being latched into a spring-loaded mechanism that'd correlate with the small buttons; meanwhile, the missiles in the gun, while firing at great distances, don't really lock in anywhere and can easily fall out during play, which is why they're held together with a rubber band.
After removing Smokescreen, this begins Dreadwing's transformation into his tank mode, with the wings folded up, the illin' gatling gun on the back, and tank treads deployed with the push of a button. It does come off as a bit impractical, both in shape and how you can only access this mode by removing Smokescreen rather than having the option to access the mode without him, but if slightly changing up G1 Springer's car mode into a helicopter justifies making him a triple changer, then the same should go for Dreadwing here. At least here, it comes off more like "I can make myself into a Triple Changer, too!" as the Decepticon bomber surprises his Autobot foes.
Transforming Dreadwing into his robot mode requires folding the treads back in place while having the cannon stay on his right side, straightening the legs, bringing the chest and arms down (whole moving the head in place midway through), and pulling out the arm guards till they lock in place. The resulting robot mode is stocky and portly, but it weirdly befits a bruiser like Dreadwing in addition to contrasting his sleek alternate mode. He looks like he's proud of being able to push down any Autobots as well as a few Decepticons he doesn't like just because he is so prideful of himself. He's basically like Soundwave if he was less of a Megatron loyalist and more like a bully to the Seekers. The arm guards add to the shape, though I will admit the way they're engineered does make them precarious, especially given how they slightly rattle within the forearms. Not to mention how some people broke theirs off or outright don't have them at all. Being a stocky character, he does have a few issues standing upright on some surfaces, but I'm sure it's manageable. No matter what, this robot mode screams impenetrable, especially since he'll let his illin' gatling gun take down the awesome Autobots.
Pardon the dust, but his head sculpt does look different from the usual Transformers flare, being a lot rounder in shape and having more in-common with 90s action figures where characters would have gas masks or breathing apparatuses that were hardcore in design. I mean, he has a bit of a mohawk! And yes, he has light-piping. His articulation consists of a neck swivel, shoulders on ratchet joints moving front and back with hinges moving in and out, bicep rotation, hinges at the elbows, ball-jointed hips, and knees that bend 90 degrees. Not bad for an early 90s toy, especially given the advancements present in toy engineering with some companies vs others (for example, compare the 8-inch Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to the usual 5 POA Kenner lines).
As for Smokescreen, his transformation is a little more common with the standard Seeker affair, though the arms come from the back of the jet, and the legs only need to be strengthened out. The way the fuselage rotates before collapsing into place with the multi-hinged back section is pretty cool, though the connection could be a little more solid. The robot mode does look good, even if his forearms are disassembled. Being leaner than Dreadwing does make him feel more like the recon drone of the set, which is fitting for him if you're not a fan of the fan theory Japan has where this guy is the same as G1 Smokescreen (still better than people thinking ROTB Scourge was once Optimus). As part of a set labeled a "three-in-one villain that's chillin'", Smokescreen manages to feel less like a bonus and more like a figure that can stand on his own, especially with how involved his transformation is combined wit the robot design that doesn't feel held back by a smaller budget. Good work, 90s Hasbro!
His head sculpt is more traditional when it comes to Transformers standards at the time, being more in common with the European G1 Decepticons yet still being a better toy than all of them. His articulation consists of the same points that we saw with Dreadwing, only the arms are on swivel joints. His guns are blocky yet the missiles go boom as they spell certain doom
As far as reuses are concerned, this is the ATB Megatron & Starscream set, which looks too much like prototype yet the missiles were to glow in the dark. This was available in very limited quantities so don't expect to find it easily.
Now for releases that may be easier to get than the Megatron and Starscream set. BB and Starscream (no relation to the G1 guy) have silvery gray plastic, with the latter having a black head this time around. The deco changes make them vaguely like Skywarp in some respects if you think of the original set as Thundercracker-esque. Every subsequent reuse has retooled missiles to make them stay better, meaning they won't be backwards AND forwards compatible even with the color changes.
Up next, we have the Hasbro Dreadwind and Smokejumper set exclusive to Target. They feel even more like prototypes with the greens and grays and greeny grays, though the altmodes look fine enough. Their combined form gets to be called Dreadwing, though it makes you wonder if Smokejumper was going to be called Darkwing.
Robotmasters gave us Gigant Bomb and Smokesniper, who oddly look heroic with the brighter colors and yellow accents. They each came with clear plastic guns not unlike what you'd find in Energon or Legacy, and they were each sold separately. These two were some of the G2-era molds we got in the line along with a few Beast and Machine Wars guys as well as new figures for the Autobot leaders, BW Megs, and Starscream.
For a size comparison, here they are next to Ferak once more. While Dreadwing is of average Voyager height, and Smokescreen in the current Deluxe height, I have to wonder what methods Hasbro would take towards remaking this set with modern engineering. Would it involve selling the duo at Commander Class price point, or would one be a Leader and the other a Deluxe to hide the fact that they'd make people feel less ripped off? Not to mention that Hasbro would want to make repaints to save money as expected.
Overall, DreadWING is punishING. One of the best sets of figures you could get in Generation 2 along with Laser Prime and the Cyberjets, there no argument that this is one Transformerama. Because, and I cannot stress this enough, FOURTEEN MISSILES!!!! (proceeds to shoot missiles a la Thew Adams in his review)
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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