Not satisfied with simply a FoC Vortex remold for the Generations line, Autobot Whirl now has his own voyager-class mold, based heavily on his G1 toy. In helicopter mode, he looks pretty good for the most part, but there's one big issue here, and that's his robot legs. The hips and upper legs are just RIGHT THERE on the sides of the nosecone, and look pretty unsightly, making the front of the helicopter look much bulkier than it should be. Luckily, the lower legs "merge" with the middle section much more effectively, and although it's slightly obvious that his arms are folded up on the sides as well, they blend in with the overall silhouette of a helicopter quite well. His tail section, cockpit, propeller, and the rest are also quite well-done, proportional, and kibble-free, so I have no issues with the rest of this mode. Whirl has two little black "skis" for landing gear that call back to how his feet looked on his G1 toy, and help elevate this mode slightly above the ground. The mold detailing on Whirl is also very good, with rivets, paneling, and the like molded in everywhere that they should be (which is quite a few places). The color scheme matches Whirl's classic color scheme pretty well, being mostly a moderately light blue and a moderately dark blue, which both contrast and complement each other quite well. The black serves as a decent neutral color, but I wish there was his light accent colors were a bit more prevalent; sure, Whirl's got some yellow and light red, but it's mostly relegated to his tail and rotors. The transparent amber on his cockpit (which can open for you to view the little pilot seats molded inside) is also a good color, but again, it's only used in one spot. I wish at the very least Whirl had a bit more silver visible in this mode. On the plus side, Whirl actually comes with some stickers, some of which don't have "recommended" spots, and which you can put anywhere you wish; the pictures above show just one possible configuration among many. These stickers include not only his little bits of military cautionary warnings like "BATTERY inside CP Generator", but also his Autobot symbol and the red stripes on his propellers. Whirl also comes with an impressive array of weaponry-- five different pieces, in fact, ranging from (non-firing) missile packs to rotary guns. They primarily use clip points to attach to each other and the helicopter, but there's also a few pieces with 5mm handles so Whirl can mount them on his lower arms in robot mode.
    Whirl has a "gerwalk" mode, which is sort of a halfway point in between his helicopter and robot modes and simply involves folding out his robot legs and folding up his helicopter tail underneath his body. It's an homage to the original toy which also had this mode, but honestly beyond the novelty factor, I don't see much point in a walking helicopter when the helicopter can transform into a robot. Still, it doesn't compromise anything in either mode, so it's there if you want. I tend to ignore it, though.
    A few quick notes about Whirl's transformation-- for one, be careful to follow the directions when transforming his feet, they don't transform like you think they would. Also, make sure to push in his arms at the shoulders a bit, as it makes him look a bit more proportional there. Whirl's robot mode is-- again-- quite accurate to his G1 toy, but there's a couple of minor differences to call to his appearance in the "More Than Meets the Eye" comic series, which is a bit more alien. For one, his head design much more closely resembles that version, with a more curved, detailed headsculpt with a smaller eye. (The eye's light piping works wonderfully, by the by.) Additionally, although his legs aren't nearly as skinny as they are in that comic series, they're jointed so that they can be posed "backwards" in a "chicken walker"-like stance, like his legs are in MTMTE. Other than that, he's pretty G1-centric; he's got fairly rectangular arms (which honestly look a bit awkward and overly stiff, but hey, they're G1 accurate), bulkier legs, a downwards-facing cockpit for the chest, and the helicopter body folded in half against his back, which is where the "kibble" for this mode is. Said kibble isn't bad at all, and I love how the top section of his helicopter mode splits in half to allow part of the tail to nestle inside it so that his tail doesn't hang down too far below Whirl's legs, but the propeller doesn't "lock in" anywhere, which is annoying. (Having it fold in half also means it looks better in this mode, but the two rotor halves are on slightly different "planes" in vehicle mode, which can look a little off if you pay close attention.) Whirl has the same odd, non-grasping claws that he had on his G1 version so they can't hold his weapons, but you can plug in or clip his weapons to his lower arms or on the rails on the sides of his legs as well. For articulation, Whirl can move at the neck, side head antenna (!), shoulders (at three points), elbows (at three points), at the bottom of each claw-finger (with both claws on the same hand being connected by a gear so that they both move at one), and at the hips (at three points) and knees (at two points). His toe-heels can also move back a bit, but if you move them more than just a little Whirl will fall over, as he's back heavy. So, all in all, about average articulation for the size class.
    Generations voyager Whirl is a pretty nice update to the toy. He's got a few minor issues like overly stiff-looking arms and some VERY obvious upper robot legs in helicopter mode, but by-and-large I don't see how they could have done much better while keeping true to his G1 design; he's got pretty good proportions otherwise, lots of fun weaponry to mess around with, and the way certain parts collapse (like his back kibble) is especially appreciated. If you're looking for a Whirl that's more G1-esque, this here's your 'bot.

Review by Beastbot

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