Autobot
Blades (Voyager) [Universe 2.0]
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Cybertron Voyager Evac. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Cybertron Voyager Evac here.)
Blades here is an homage
to the G1 Protectobot Blades, also a rescue helicopter who could combine
with the other Protectobots to form Defensor. Obviously since this is just
a repaint of a Cybertron toy, Universe 2.0 Blades can't combine, but he's
an homage nonetheless. However, he's a bit of a re-done homage-- in fact,
the only reason I'm sure he IS an homage to the G1 character and not just
a name re-use is because of the bio. Blades has the same general colors
as his G1 counterpart-- red, white, and black-- but they're in completely
different amounts. Red is now the dominant color on Universe 2.0 Blades,
as opposed to white, which is just an accent color. Black is also another
main color, even though it wasn't used all that much on G1 Blades. Still,
I think the changes are for the better-- the amounts of red and black go
together very nicely on this toy, and the white stripes and paint apps
work very well as accent colors, giving it a bit more of a "rescue" feel.
Transparent blue windows and optics are also a nice touch and provide some
great contrast against the red. There's also a nifty "Autobot Coastal Rescue"
logo on both sides of the tail, which is a pretty cool detail. About the
only real change I would've made is putting a bit more of the dark metallic
blue paint on the figure-- it's used very sparingly on the chest and tail,
but it's a really eye-catching color that should have been used in larger
amounts, particularly on the vehicle mode.
No mold changes have
been made to Universe 2.0 Voyager Blades.
Universe 2.0 Voyager
Blades is a very dynamic-looking repaint of one of the best helicopter
TF molds of all times, and even though it's not a slavish homage, it's
a fairly obscure G1 homage nonetheless. What's not to recommend?
Review by Beastbot