Windblade (Legion) [RID 2015]
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Legion
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Milky red, black, and some metallic black, silver, moderately dark pale blue, yellow, and off-white
Rating: 6.3

    Windblade's original design is carried over to her RID2015 version with fairly minimal changes-- in jet mode, she's still a red VTOL jet with wind turbines on the wings. In this mode, she looks pretty good, like an ever-so-slightly "cartoonized" version of her original Generations design. The proportions are pretty solid overall, with long, wide wings with nice long angular ends that help put the "blade" in "Windblade". The tailfin is pretty long, as is the nosecone; this is a pretty "lanky" jet, but it works for her. There is one obvious extra, unfortunately, and that's the lower arms and fists, which are blatantly obvious sticking up behind the main body of the jet. On the back end you can see the little bits that become her feet in robot mode, but especially at a Legion-class size that's being pretty picky. The mold detailing is pretty minimal, though some vents on the sides of the main body look pretty good, as do her fragmented cockpit windows; otherwise it's "just the basics" and a few minor details on the ends of the wings. Her color scheme is almost all red in this mode, with a bit of metallic black on the turbines, cockpit, and exposed robot hands. There's also just a bit of silver on the nosecone, but that's it; adding a bit more color to the wings or tailfin in particular would've been appreciated.
    The transformation to Windblade's robot mode is really easy, even for a Legion-class toy-- basically you just stand her up, separate her legs, fold back the nosecone behind her head, and then fold up the wings slightly to become her shoulders. The end result is... less than impressive. On the positive side, the body proportions are pretty good, with the chest, abs, and waist mold details all in there. The legs are a bit too long and stiff-looking on the lower sections, but they're not too bad, especially for a Legion-class toy. The top of the tailfins serve as excellent "heels", and keep Windblade nice and sturdy in this mode. The arms are pretty bad, though. It was not a good decision to make the wings PART of the upper arms instead of hanging behind the shoulders like they should be, as they look INCREDIBLY awkward this way. Her shoulders are basically very small 2-D little black hinges, with her wings splaying out from the upper arms, and then her overly long lower arm pieces coming out near the bottom of said wings. It's such a bad look. The nosecone hangs behind her back, but it stays in place and it doesn't get in the way of articulation, so I don't mind it. The headsculpt is also... really unfortunate. It's just badly sculpted, I have to be honest. The eyes are too small-- they're little dots-- and her little smile is too small, as well. The "hair" and yellow helmet are sculpted alright, but that face, especially with the little blue dot-eyes and off-white paint on the rest... it looks like some 5-year-old drew the face, honestly. I really don't know how a facesculpt this bad got onto an official mainline product. Beyond the paint on the face, there's also some blue on the knees and chest and metallic black on the chest, feet, and turbines-- so she's a bit better broken-up in terms of colors. Also on the plus side, for articulation Windblade can move at the shoulders (at two points), elbows, hips, and knees-- definitely above-average for a Legion-class toy, though the shoulders can only move up-and-down, they cannot pivot forward or backward, which is a shame.
    The RID2015 legion class version of Windblade has an excellent jet mode (though a bit more paint would've been appreciated), but in robot mode she's a mixed bag. She has some great sculpting on the body and legs, but her arms and head are just HORRIBLY done. Get the Warrior class version if you want a version of this design; only get this if you're insistent on getting her in scale with other Legion-class toys.
 

Review by Beastbot

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