Cliffbee.com Generations G2 Dreadwing Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Dreadwing
Series: Generations
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Stealth Bomber



BOMBER MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 9cm Width: 18cm

   A royal blue stealth bomber with a silver leading wing edge and some gunmetal vents on top. The small canopy windows in the centre just behind the nose are painted fluorescent red and on either side of the canopy Dreadwing sports red stamped G2 Decepticon logos. He's a revisiting of G2 Dreadwing (without Smokescreen). The colours are very close to the G2 era toy, although the teal on that toy is replaced by a lighter ceramic blue (which is just visible poking out on his undercarriage here). It's a more muted colour scheme than seen on the original toy but still fits the character quite well.

   This is a pretty realistic looking stealth bomber, although I doubt it's an actual plane (Generations tends to skirt around being too accurate for licensing reasons). There are vents on either wing & various seams on top. It's a fairly simple looking thing, but then stealth bombers usually are. On my copy at least the silver edge on the port side wing doesn't quite line up across a seam, but otherwise this is a pretty convincing (well as convincing as he can be in blue) & well put together vehicle mode.

   There's minimal play value here, but then there's not much this vehicle could really do. There's a fold down (false) wheel under the nose and that's all we get. There are matching bumps under the wings, but no actual wheels. Unlike his G2 version, there are no bombs underwing.

   While it's a very static vehicle mode, Dreading's vehicle mode is a pretty good stealth bomber. Perhaps the most notable aspect is what he doesn't have - significant kibble. While the underside has various robot mode stuff folded up, it all hugs the vehicle closely, which is unusual for a Transformer plane toy. The colours work & the G2 toy tribute is obvious & well executed.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Split off the wingtips and set aside. Pull out the vents on his wings to form his arms, pull back the fuselage flanks to form his legs, rotate & then flip out his feet. The nose section opens out & folds down to become his torso, which also reveals his head. The torso is actually quite complex to form, and the back ends up at a slight angle, but the end result is satisfying. Rotate the arms, fold out his fists. Fold out the handle on one wingtip, clip them together & extend to form his weapon. Attach to the outside of either forearm or place in either hand and you're done.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 14cm Width: 11cm

   A royal blue, ceramic blue and black robot with some red aspects. Dreadwing is still primarily royal blue, although the teal-esque ceramic blue is prominent on his chest, elbows and arms. His feet and head are black while the red canopy windows are on his chest. The eyestrip is transparent red with a light pipe that only works if there's a light source above his head (due to a panel behind his head). There's some silver on his chest and the weapon, which is royal blue and transparent red otherwise. It's a good colour scheme that evokes the G2 toy quite well, albeit with the more muted lighter blue.

   The G2 Dreadwing toy was a stocky, potbellied sort of guy. He's much leaner now, with wide shoulders on an otherwise slender robot mode. The head is less bulbous but still looks similar. The weapon looks like a railgun, so works best on the outside of his forearm in my opinion. The Decepticon logos sit on his chest, looking out to either side. The folded up nose on his torso has a distinctly G1 feel about how well it has become a coherent

   Dreadwing's play value here is essentially just his poseability. The head is on a ball joint although it's somewhat tricky to move thanks to the plate behind his head. His shoulders and hips are also ball jointed while the elbows and knees are hinged with rotators. His knees and heelspurs are also on hinges, giving Dreading great poseability. We do also get the option of placing the gun in hand or on the forearm, as mentioned.

   A great robot mode with good colours, an excellent tribute that actually improves on the original look, nice plane elements on his torso & a great visual impact. The poseability is great although the gun is only so-so, and this is the only really downside here.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of. He's a retool of Megatron.

OVERALL

   Another strong Generations toy, Dreading not only tributes his original G2 toy, he improves on it with a better robot mode, more muted colours that still retain a G2 feel & two strong modes. There's an amazing lack of undercarriage junk in the bomber mode & a good robot mode with great poseability. Recommended if you like Generations or G2 - 9/10

"Transformers" and other indica trademarks of Hasbro and/or Takara.