Windcharger's vehicle mode is a Honda S2000 convertible. In most respects, this car mode is pretty typical for an Alternator-- no robot extras whatsoever, realistic headlights, adjustable seats, openable doors, rubber tires, and all that good stuff. He's even got a little rubber antennae behind the seats! Windcharger is also one of the few Alternators that has an fully openable rear compartment in addition to his front hood opening. One thing I have to say I'm a little dissapointed in when it comes to Windcharger, however, is that I was under the impression that he had a fully collapsible hood-- like a little miniature rubber cover that you could fold up over the seats. That would have been very cool-- but instead, there are two seperate plastic parts that can go behind the seats; a "hood down" piece and a "hood up" piece. And whichever one you're not using at the time... well, you can't store it anywhere else on him, so you're stuck with an extra part. And the "hood down" piece isn't used on Windcharger's robot mode at all. I thought all this "extra parts" business was supposed to end with G1-- it's rather annoying. Also, Windcharger is a rather small Alternator. I mean, I know Hasbro wants to create all of the Alternators to scale with each other, but still... you can't help but feel that you're being ripped off a tad. But still, overall an excellent vehicle mode.
    Windcharger's overall transformation has some definite similarities with Alternator Sideswipe's, so his robot mode has some of the same structural look to it. But Windcharger improves on some of Sideswipe's main problems. For one thing, Windcharger has almost no vehicle kibble-- a few pieces on the sides of his legs are really about it. His front hood and windshield piece rotates up onto his upper back, so it doesn't get in the way of much movement there and stays out of the way. And, as you can see, the rear half of the car splits and forms his arms. Windcharger still has the same oddly-proportioned legs that Sideswipe does, however, which is a sizable drawback. They're also pretty skinny when compared to his more solid upper body. But one small improvement has been made in the legs-- they can now bend forward and back a bit more at the knees, which was a definite problem with the Sideswipe mold. As for his overall articulation, besides the aforementioned point, he can move at the waist, head, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), wrists, his index finger on each hand, his other four fingers (as one piece), side-to-side at the kn ees, and inwards at the ankles. But, unfortunately, Windcharger's feet aren't quite large enough to keep him really stable-- it's not that hard to get him in a standing-up-straight position, but if you shift any of his weight to one side, he'll topple over. It's kind of a shame, given his great articulation. Another downside is Windcharger's gun, which I suppose needs a bit of explaining. Hasbro originally was going to make it a long-barreled rifle, but Honda, after already AGREEING to have a Transformer made of one of its cars, stepped in very late in the design process and got all antsy about a Honda TF having a gun (Primus forbid!). So Hasbro really couldn't do anything else except get rid of the rifle barrel. So now Windcharger is stuck holding an engine in his hands. It's pretty lame... stupid Honda... But on the plus side, I really like the mold and paint detailing on Windcharger's chest-- it almost looks like he has a set of abs, given the lines on his lower stomach and all-- some really nice detailing, there. I also like the design of his head, even given the fact that it looks nothing like G1 Windcharger's-- it's kinda like a nice Starscream head with a red stripe down the middle and a blue see-through visor. It's gives Windcharger a very "professional" feel to him.
    Windcharger is still a very nice toy, even if he's not one of the best Alternators. A few problems-- such as his legs in robot mode, as well as his neutered gun-- keep him from entering the must-buy category, but he's still worth picking up if you've already bought all of the A+ Alternators.

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Review by Beastbot

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