Cliffbee.com Wingspan Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Wingspan
Series: Generation 1
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Data Processor
Alternate Mode: Hawk



HAWK MODE
Height: 11cm Width: 13cm

   An indigo, off-white and light blue robotic hawk with magenta wings on his back. There's a rather kibbly indigo backpack-tail, while most of his back and his legs are indigo. The breast is light blue and his feet and head off-white. Wingspan has orange eyes and some silver stickers on his legs, which add some colour without muddling up the colour scheme. Wingspan's breast sports two rubsigns but they're not really visible since both face the floor. His colour scheme is fairly unimaginative, the dominance of indigo suggest we're meant to view this toy from the front. His colour scheme here easily beats that of his clone, Pounce.

   The clones were quite obviously designed as robots first and alt mode second, and this is evident in Wingspan, since the robot arms just sort of sit on either side of the breast, which is quite obviously the robot mode torso. Despite this, the bird shape is believable despite being far from perfect. The robot form is not terribly well hidden on this square bird but he does a much better job of being a hawk than his brother does of being a puma.

   There's not a lot of play value here, but he's no worse than most G1 beast toys. The wings can swing back and forth, which is part of his transformation but still allows meaningful movement. There are holes on the back of his wings specifically designed for mounting his indigo guns - which look reasonably good there. The legs and tail can lift up and down allowing for some posing.

   While it's a fairly lacklustre mode, Wingspan's beats mode is a lot better than Pounce's. The wings and guns work well, the transformation is both inventive and simple but this is still an uninspiring hawk.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Straigten the legs and fold down the tail to form the outsides of his boots. Pull the torso up, fold down the central chest panel to reveal his robot head, fold away the bird head and swing the robot head up into place. Flip out the fists and fold the wings up on his back.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 11.5cm Width: 7cm

   Essentially this mode looks the same as Pounce's robot mode - they are clones, after all. The torso is light blue, the boots indigo and the head, arms, thighs and feet are off-white. His eyes are again orange, set deep in a face that's otherwise white. There are two rubsigns on the torso - a round one on the chest which reveals a stylised hawk and a standard Decepticon rubsign on his groin - Wingspan's only allegiance symbol. The colour scheme is more or less the same as that of the hawk mode, minus the magenta.

   Other than some magenta hints on the back of the arms and boots, this robot mode is pretty much identical to that of Pounce - the guns are the only notable difference. Wingspan's guns are rifles with big fins on the stock, not as cool as those of his brother and not as distinct.

   The poseability is limited to swinging shoulders - the arms rotate 360° and that's it. There is no leg movement, so the shoulders represent the only play value here. You can open his wings if you like, but you're not really meant to.

   While the robot mode looks fairly generic, it's a perfect match to Pounce which is really the whole point. While this mode is technically better, the bird mode is slightly more interesting despite it's quirks.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of.

OVERALL

   The bird mode is kinda limited but is no worse than most G1 avian alt modes. The robot mode is decent but awfully generic - boring without Pounce around. While he's a slightly better toy than his clone, Wingspan isn't really worth it unless you get both - 5/10

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