Blastcharge
Vehicle mode is some
kind of Cybertronian six-wheeler. The vehicle mode is very neat, and loaded
with eye candy. The glossy and transmetal red look very, VERY nice, as
does the transmetal bronze on the front- although the bronze doesn't quite
fit in colorwise with the rest of the vehicle, which is kind of a letdown.
The whole look of the vehicle face is pretty menacing, especially with
the grill and bumper in front looking kind of like "teeth". Detailing is
also pretty good for a vehicle, with lines and panels in many different
places. A nice option for this mode is that you can "choose" whether this
mode has a vehicle head or not. If you want to have a vehicle head, push
the gray panel in the middle of the vehicle, ,and the front part of the
vehicle pops out a little, allowing for side-to-side "head" movement. If
you don't want a vehicle head, just don't press the button, it's that simple.
Articulation is limited mainly to the wheels, the vehicle head, and the
missle turret in this mode, but this is still pretty good articulation
for a vehicle mode. By turning the dial on the back of the vehicle mode,
you can rotate the turret around, which is cool. Considering that there
are three missiles loaded in the launcher, you'd think they'd all fire
at once, but alas, only one fires, and the other two are merely held in
place for storage. A neat detail to note is that on the underside of the
launcher, it's spraypainted black to simulate the "burnt paint job" from
the heat of the missles firing. Two robot parts, however, are easily visible
in this mode. The robot head is clearly visible on the back part of the
missle turret, and the robot hands are also visible from a back view- but
the last one isn't that big of a deal. Spark crystal is in a rather stupid
location- it's right under the grill at the front of the vehicle, but there's
no panel to open up the grill, so you can barely see it.
Robot mode looks really
dorky. For one, the arms are entirely too small and skinny for a 'bot of
Blastcharge's physique. The back also hangs out entirely too far in this
mode, making him look nothing short of pregnant on his backside. His feet
also look ridiculously dorky, as they are each formed by by two wheels
connected together with a foot sticking out from under them. His missiles
can become clubs in robot mode, but they look too skinny. Last, but certainly
not least, his missile launcher from vehicle mode sticks out from his chest,
and you can't collapse it down or anything. With the missiles added, Blastcharge
becomes nothing short of an eye-poking hazard. His missiles and their launcher
stick out 2-3 inches from the main body! Many Transfans have tried to rectify
this problem by taking the robot head off, rotating the turret back, and
putting the head back on. This just seems to wear the head joint, which
is already a bit loose as is- I don't think it's worth it, it doesn't make
him look that much better. I guess the only thing I have positive to say
about this mode is I like the look of the robot face- it's a bit uneven,
and very unemotional, which is what the whole gist of the Vehicons is in
the first place.
Wheeled mode carried
most of the robot mode downsides over with it, but adds something else-
it looks just wrong, kind of like Blastcharge is being wheeled around in
some kind of carriage. It also makes him look short in addition to being
fat. It's not worth the time to put the toy into this mode, trust me.
An excellent vehicle
mode, but a horrible robot mode and a weird wheeled mode. This is one of
the few Vehicons that disappoints me.
Review by Beastbot