Wing Saber's alternate mode is a futuristic aircraft, albeit not nearly as futuristic as his Energon version-- it still bears the same general features of modern aircraft, only with a LOT more weaponry. And therein lies one of Wing Saber's chief draws-- he's got LOADS of weapons. He's got one firing missile launcher on the end of each wing, and two non-firing missile launchers on each wing with four missiles molded into each. He's got machine guns on the bottom of the inner wings. He's got two more molded-in, non-firing guns on the bottom side of each wing. He's got two machine guns on the underside of the cockpit. AND, if you insert his Cyber Key into the slot behind the cockpit, the entire nosecone splits open to reveal a HUGE (non-firing) gun! Press the button on the top of the assembly to have part of the gun light up red while a rapid-firing noise is emitted. He's also got four Powerlinx ports if you want to add Minicons for even more power-- two are on the sides of the nosecone, while two more are on the undersides of the wings (though they're more accessible in robot mode than vehicle mode). Wing Saber's color scheme of white, dark gray, and a bit of red and yellow isn't exactly the more eye-catching combination, but it's a very Autobot-y combination, and the colors certainly don't clash with each other, so it's servicable. Wing Saber's mold and paint detailing are also pretty qdequate, though a little more mold detailing near the back end of the vehicle mode would have been appreciated. In vehicle mode, however, is where Wing Saber's main flaw shows through-- it's pretty obvious where most of his robot parts are, as he's got quite a bit of undercarriage junk. The robot chest plate is the most obvious, as it's only the teeniest bit off the ground, though the wing machine guns also stick out a bit too low, and it's pretty obvious where the upper legs of the robot mode are, in front of the rear engines. (Another, more minor, quibble is that the small tabs that are supposed to keep the rear engine turbines attached to the rear end of the plane don't work very well-- however, even if they do come undone, the joints are sturdy enough to hold the engine turbines up easily by themselves.) And, though I realize it's partially due to the rather cool Cyber Key gimmick, the nosecone of the plane is also a bit oversized.
    Wing Saber's robot mode is pretty nice, but because of the Sonic Wing Mode, it does suffer from a few problems as well. For one, the gap between the robot head and the chestplate is just a bit too big for my liking. The arms also can't move forward at the shoulders unless you partially unhinge them from the wings, and that just looks a little weird, given that they're not visibly attached to Wing Saber's main robot body in the first place (they're attached to the wings instead). However, those two quibbles aside, this is a nice robot mode. Wing Saber's still got all the weaponry from his vehicle mode (his nosecone-gun can be folded over his head into a firing position if so desired, but is otherwise on his back), and then some. The back end of the wings can be detached and plugged into two of his guns, which in turn can be detached and attached to the sides of Wing Saber's arms-- so now, in addition to all that firepower, Wing Saber now lives up to his name as well with some slashin' swords! His hands are actually gun-fingers in this mode like Armada Demolishor, which is cool-- and it's even cooler when you find that there's tabs on the insides of the arms that pull some of the gun nozzles part or all the way into the lower arms so that Wing Saber's hands look more like... well, hands. Other nice design touches are his head, which looks an awful lot like a young Cybertron Prime's (which is certainly appropriate, given his main gimmick), and that his wings can fold out to almost twice their original wingspan to look more impressive. The engine turbines also make nice kneecaps, and it was pretty creative on how the designers turned the rear wings into feet. Wing Saber's articulation is also pretty good, with articulation at the head, hips (at three points), waist, knees, shoulders (at two points), and elbows (at two points). However, it should be noted that with his large nosecone-gun on his back, Wing Saber is slightly backheavy, so even though he has large, flat feet, you have to lean him forward a bit if you want to get him to stand by himself easily.

    Wing Saber can combine with the core robot Optimus Prime + Prime's leg add-ons to form the awesome Sonic Wing Mode. And boy, I tell ya, this is definitely the highlight of Wing Saber, and what edges him into the "must-buy" category. Leobreaker's Savage Claw Mode is NOTHING compared to this. There is a bit of Wing Saber's robot leg baggage in the back of this mode, but it stays out of the way, and that's the ONLY thing wrong with this otherwise flawless combination. Prime is now super-pumped and ready for battle-- he's got Wing Saber's arm-guns over his shoulders, wings off to the sides with Wing Saber's missile launchers, firing missile launchers attached to his feet, dual swords to wield (and yes, they fit into his fists very well), Wing Saber's nifty-looking chest plate to fit over his own, and last but not least, Wing Saber's big cockpit-gun that can swing up over his head. So yeah, Prime can DEFINITELY take out anything short of Unicron that comes his way. Everything fits together very well in this form, so no worries about parts falling off at the drop of a hat, and he doesn't have any balance issues either. Excellente!
    Wing Saber's vehicle mode may have a bit too much baggage on the underside, but he more than makes up for this flaw with lots of weaponry, a cool Cyber Key gimmick, a pretty nice robot mode, and an absolutely AMAZING Sonic Wing Mode. Highly recommended, and worth every penny, especially if you buy him in the upcoming bargain Optimus Prime/Wing Saber 2-pack Costco exclusive for $35. (Both toys are unchanged from their mass releases.)

Review by Beastbot

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