(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 Autobot Alliance Turbo Tracks. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Autobot Alliance Turbo Tracks here.)

    Wheeljack used the Turbo Tracks mold as a basis, but it's heavily modified-- which we'll get to shortly. Firstly, let's cover the colors-- white, gray, and black work as a basic color scheme, but what really catches the eye are Wheeljack's nifty red and green stripes on his car mode, which not only REALLY pop but-- even with so many TFs released since his original G1 toy-- is still a pretty unique color scheme. The green plastic visible in robot mode adds to his color scheme in a similar manner. Wheeljack also has a substantial number of silver paint apps (again, particularly prevalent in robot mode), which almost always makes for a nice accent color. The dark metallic gunmetal gray paint on some parts like his rear windshield works even better, though, in contrast against the white-- though the tradeoff for this is it's not as distinguishable against the black. One color change that I'm NOT fond of on this toy is the lightening up of the tinted clear plastic on the windshields, which makes the robot parts inside a bit more visible than on Turbo Tracks (especially since some of them are white).
    Wheeljack's mold changes are pretty prevalent, and were all built into the mold before it was even first manufactured as Tracks-- I LOVE it when Hasbro plans ahead like that. For one, there's been a spoiler added to the rear of his car mode, and the front bumper has been elongated a bit, helping the alt mode be a closer match to the original G1 toy's. Obviously, the head has also been remolded, and is a pretty faithful reproduction of Wheeljack's head-- no complaints here, except his light piping doesn't work quite as well as I'd like. The tips of the "wing" pieces have also been changed to a flatter, wider appearance, to better match G1 Wheeljack's robot mode and keep them from being so obviously wing tips like they were meant to be on Turbo Tracks. In addition, the two shoulder-mounted cannons have been changed to look more like exhaust pipes on vehicle mode-- but one of the best parts of this remolding is, they don't ONLY work as shoulder-mounted cannons in robot mode-- Wheeljack can hold them as wrenches, with the C-clips on the "weapons" serving as the wrench heads (which fits his engineer characterization)! That was simply an INGENIOUS piece of work there, especially considering that the handheld gun from Turbo Tracks is meant to be plugged behind one of Wheeljack's shoulders to imitate the way his weapons were located on his G1 toy. The remolding of the weapons, though one of the more minor changes, is definitely my favorite of the remolded pieces. Last but not least, a couple of minor pieces have been changed in the legs to make Wheeljack's transformation slightly different from Tracks'-- now the front of the car hood halves serve as the front of Wheeljack's feet, instead of the back like on Tracks. It's a small change, but it helps make them look even more different, and each more accurate to their relative G1 toys. That said, as part of this slight transformation mod, the legs don't extend outwards quite as much during transformation, which-- combined with the legs that appear bulkier-- makes Wheeljack look significantly more of a "chubster" than Tracks, given the mold's rather short, skinny arms. (This modification doesn't change Wheeljack's articulation compared to Tracks'.)
    Generations Wheeljack is a great, fitting update to the G1 character and an ingenious reuse of a mold that, with a few slight modifications, works well for BOTH characters it was originally meant for. The weapon "mods" are also simply ingenious. The color scheme is considerably more eye-catching than Tracks' overall, but on the other hand, the stubbier, chubbier-looking legs in robot mode are an additional tick against Wheeljack. Thus, overall I'd put both Wheeljack and Turbo Tracks on the same level as far as a recommendation-- that is, I highly recommend them both, but for slightly different reasons.

Review by Beastbot

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