Wheelie, of all 'bots,
is back. One of the most annoying characters of all Transformersdom is
back for a new toy. Whoda thunk? Well, regardless, his vehicle mode looks
pretty spot-on to his G1 version, but "updated" a bit with slightly less
futuristic proportions so that it looks more like a genuine sportscar.
The front is less streamlined and more realistic-looking, and I do like
the little spoiler on the back end, it gives Wheelie some individuality
in this mode. It's still rather rounded, though, and the light orange/gray
color scheme is still there, for better or worse. (Worse, in my opinion--
those colors are both rather light and just don't contrast well with each
other at all.) The couple of accent colors-- like the dark orange and red--
work well against the main colors, though, and there's a fair amount of
accent colors on the toy-- the rear window isn't painted, though, which
is a bit of an oversight. There's no robot mode extras in this mode at
all, so no worries there.
Wheelie's robot mode
is surprisingly good, especially when compared to his hideous G1 toy's
robot mode. It's far more G1-cartoon-accurate than the actual G1 toy! His
proportions are pretty spot-on-- the only major caveat is that his arms
are merely molded onto the sides of the sides of the car mode, though this
is an unfortunate side effect of being in the Legends size class. Other
than that, there are no major extras in this mode that don't fit in with
the overall silouhette of the toy's look. His legs are quite well-done,
with little flip-out feet so he doesn't just have solid hunks of car for
feet. The face sculpt is particularly well-done, with Wheelie looking a
little sad, to be honest (because he's the whipping boy of the Transformers
brand?). Classic. And even though it's only a Legends class figure and
thus doesn't come with any weapons, the sculpters didn't forget Wheelie's
trademark slingshot-- it's molded into his right upper shoulder piece.
Wheelie's articulation is rather sub-par even for a Legends figure, though--
he can only move at the shoulders (at two points), the hips, and slightly
at the ankles due to the transformation. Unfortunately, his knees can't
bend backwards, which is a bit of an oversight.
Universe 2.0 Wheelie
is a pretty good toy for the size class, his only major downsides being
that he isn't very articulated and his color scheme is too loud. As a representation
of the character, though, and for the size class, he's quite excellent.
Mildly recommended.
Review by Beastbot