Combiner Wars Powerglide Review

Powerglide-107Combiner Wars legends-class Powerglide is a classic G1 character that’s only recently been inducted into the ranks of the Aerialbots, transforming from A-10 Thunderbolt II (aka the Warthog) jet to robot and now to Superion’s rifle, essentially making him a triple-changer and a Targetmaster. This is the second Generations-line new mold for Powerglide, the previous coming in 2008 in the Universe line as a much larger ultra-class figure. Read on for the full review and photos.

Packaged: Powerglide comes on the new, narrower Combiner Wars legends-class card that has a very character-centric style. The cardback features 4-language text. The package includes a collector card with character art on it.

Vehicle Mode: Powerglide is designed similarly to an A-10 Warthog attack jet, just like the G1 figure. A fold-down landing gear is hidden in the front, on my sample there is a tiny clearance issue requiring the top of the fuselage to be lifted up slightly so the gear can be folded down. While the sculpt on the plane is pretty nice, the robot fists are very visible from above, and the robot thighs equally obvious from below. Vehicle mode mostly holds together well, but the robot knees allow a bit of bending and twisting to the rear portion of the plane which can affect alignment, and the rear tails don’t like to stay in position too well due to a simple friction joint.

Robot Mode: Transformation is fairly satisfying for a smaller figure, with the upper middle of the fuselage folding down and the nosecone spinning around. The final result is a very classic interpretation of Powerglide compared to the ’08 figure, though this new figure is a bit broader than the G1 character.  The cleaner sculpting scales well to that minibot feel, not too much detail to overwhelm but not blank either, similar to last year’s Swerve and Cosmos. Articulation is pretty good, although a lack of bicep swivels means Powerglide can’t be posed akimbo with his hands by his hips.

Combiner Component: Powerglide transforms into a big ol’ rifle weapon with 3 barrels and a bank of 10 rockets on either side. As this transformation is essentially vehicle mode with the wings folded back and the engines slid out, it is a pretty long weapon that’s too heavy for many other figures, but scales well to Superion who can hold it well (some limb-bots are stronger than others tho, Firefly can’t hold Powerglide up but his mold-mate Quickslinger can). The landing gear folded down makes a decent 5-mm grip. The back panel folded up is a scope that helps the rifle look, but without that panel holding the robot thighs in place the rifle can be easily nudged out of alignment.

Overall: Powerglide is already a fun figure even if he weren’t a big ol’ gun as well. The robot mode looks great with a classic feel, and has decent articulation. The vehicle mode does have those fists showing, but otherwise is satisfying. The combiner element is really just a gun that any figure who could hold 5mm pegs would look good holding, but it does make sense that one of the few Autobot planes that wasn’t already an Aerialbot is now part of that team; and Powerglide: the gun itself is kinda fun, even if it’s not entirely stable.

Packaged review sample supplied by Hasbro, loose was purchased independently at Target