This guy has a bit of a name issue. In the movie itself-- as well as on the Japanese packaging that he's released in-- he's referred to by the un-Transformer-y name of Que-- a nod to 007's scientist helper, but a bit too obvious of one. In the comics and in most other references to him (like in video games), he's referred to by the name Wheeljack, which certainly fits with his overall personality and is more "trademark-friendly" for Hasbro. Anyways, in vehicle mode Wheeljack is a Mercedes-Benz E550 sportscar. The dark blue plastic in this mode is pretty much his only major color, but it looks quite similar to a car finish in terms of the semi-metallic nature of it, so I don't mind it that much, even if another decoative paint app or two would be appreciated. The silver trim on his wheels, as well as the paint on his front bumper, door handles, and silver-and-red paint on his taillights remain his only main paint apps in this mode. The mold detailing is also sparse here, but accurate. The proportions are pretty spot-on perfect, as you'd expect from a licensed alt mode. The only "robot extra" is a very minor one-- when looked at the side from a level position, you can see his robot chest jutting just a little below the bottom rim of the car-- but again, this is really being nitpicky. Even his tinted windows are dark enough where you can't see the robot parts inside. Wheeljack has two Mechtech ports on his roof in this mode. He comes with a plethora of weapons-- a long spear, a small gun that looks like a nail gun, another small gun that looks like a saudering gun, and a Mechtech weapon that looks like a workbench in its default mode. Unfortunately, only the latter can plug into either of his Mechtech ports, and it looks rather odd doing so-- his other three weapons can only be held or attached via C-clips, and can't be stored in this mode, which bugs me a fair bit and is definitely the weak point of this mode. Accessories that can't store= accessories that are easier to lose. His Mechtech "workbench"-- when you press forward on the little gray slider on it-- extends a sawblade to turn it into a weapon. Like most Mechtech weapons, however, it can't lock in this mode, and defaults to the "workbench mode" when you're not pressing on the slider.
    Wheeljack's transformation to robot mode can be a bit tight in terms of unplugging/tabbing in everything without accidentally popping anything off, but other than that it's not overly complicated like some other movieverse toys. The result is a robot mode that looks considerably more interesting than his rather vanilla "another sportscar" vehicle mode. Proportions-wise, he's quite good-- his arms are a tad on the overly lanky side, but other than he's great in this department, with a solid-looking chest and legs. There is a bit of kibble, however. Some of it folds out of the way well-- like that on the back of his legs and his backpack, which is a bit noticeable but doesn't get in the way of movement much-- but the odd straps formed between his shoulders and his chest don't peg together anywhere and look a bit odd. The car panels on the sides of his hips also are rather obtrusive when it comes to moving him around in that area. The color scheme is broken up considerably more in this mode. The good news is that the addition of a light milky aquamarine complements his dark blue very well, and the bronze and silver paint apps on his face, chest, and upper legs look great and help to add at least a little more color there. However, the bad news is that the VERY over-used color gray is also apparent in this mode, between the blah light milky gray and the slightly-less-blah darker brownish shade of the color. The dark gray serves as a decent enough color, but I really wish that light milky gray had been replaced with another color, like some more aquamarine or something. The mold detailing is incredibly well-done in this mode, with all the relevant details on his chest, arms, and the like. His head detailing is remarkably intricate and movie-accurate-- however, I don't like the headsculpt at all, and here's why-- it's very obviously just a robotic take on Albert Einstein's face. Yes, it gets across his personality quickly, but the more "human" features on TFs tend to be a bit more vague or taken from general stereotypes and not an actual historical person. Here, it's just not inspiring at all and I have difficulty seeing it as a Wheeljack/Que head and not an Einstein mecha. Wheeljack has four Mechtech ports in this mode-- two on his upper back, and one on the back side of each of his forearms, so can pump him up with weapons pretty nicely. He also has two C-clip points on the sides of his chest which-- when you attach his little weapons to it-- makes for a fairly convincing "toolbelt" look. His hands can also hold all his weapons, so everything's storable in THIS mode, at least. For articulation Wheeljack can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at three points), waist, hips (at two points), knees, and slightly at the ankles. Thus, he's got a pretty decent range, though the kibble on his shoulders and hips restricts a lot of the movement range at those points.
    Dark of the Moon Que/Wheeljack is one of the better deluxe molds from the line. His vehicle mode is admittedly rather boring and too "same-ish" among the various other movieverse Autobots, but it's a very accurate mode. As a robot, Wheeljack suffers from a few minor kibble issues and a headsculpt that-- though accurate-- I do not like at all, but he's got good proportions and articulation and a host of accessories that really increase his play value. Unfortunately, this toy was only released by TakaraTOMY for Japan and some of the Asian market-- his Hasbro release was cancelled due to flagging sales for the DotM line, so you'll have to spend more than usual to pick up this guy. If the price doesn't automatically disqualify him for you, though, I consider him worth it.

Review by Beastbot

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