Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Legends
Item No.: Asst. B0971 No. B1179 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Trading Card, 2 cannons Action Feature:Transforms from Jet to Car Retail:$9.99 Availability: December 2014 Other: Another Modern Upgrade
While somewhat mistransfomed in the box, Thundercracker is almost obligatory any time we get a new Starscream. This mold came out as Screamer in 2013, in green as Acid Storm in 2014, and followed as Thuckercracker in 2015 (but actually surfaced late late in 2014.) This kind of repaint is not only a proud tradition, but almost demanded by fans - not repainting the Seekers is almost an offense to our sensibilities.
The deco is very similar to Starscream and Acid Storm with a few minor tweaks. The black kneepads of Acid Storm are unpainted, as are the intake fans. Other than the red stripe becoming purple on his wings and the gold cockpit, he's pretty much using the same paint masks as Acid Storm. The only genuinely significant mold change was the loss of the mini/micromaster/Mini-Con sidekick - previously the mold came with .shtmlinator or Venin, now Thundercracker only has a trading card. A super-thick, waste of material trading card.
Robot mode is what it is - pretty good. Each limb has 2 joints, the feet can move a bit for the transformation, and no neck or waist joint seems to be present. At about 3 1/2-inches tall he's similar to many other figures at this price point and scaled more or less adequately for being around some of the other, larger toys. He's also a nice desk toy. Paint is applied evenly and the silver looks great against the dark blue plastic. His two guns are molded in black, unpainted, unlike Starscream's cannons.
Transformation is the same as the other guys - as such, there's really not much to say other than it's intuitive and your fingers won't hurt when it's all done. It shouldn't take more than a few seconds - the toughest part on my sample were that the shoulders were a little tight.
As always, the jet is nice and fairly colorful. The nosecone is a flexible black plastic that's hard to keep straight and upright, plus we've got retractable landing gear just in case we need it under the nosecone. The rockets plug in to the robot's shoulder pieces, and it looks nice sitting around. A 5mm port remains in the back, and that's where the hypothetical insect buddy could go. Instead, you'll need to plug it with BMOG parts or spare Mini-Cons. There aren't a lot of moving parts of merit here, nor should there be, so it was an easy win for Hasbro.
It seems Hasbro loves this mold in the USA and will never stop at a chance to make an Acid Storm whenever they get a chance - I assume Skywarp and/or Sunstorm are coming soon. Minus the mini companion this particular mold has taken a nosedive as far as value goes, but it's still perfectly good and fans of Thundercracker and the adventures of Susan Journeyer and Josh Boyfriend should get one. Keep waiting if you want something bigger and better, because a Leader-class retool of Jetfire as Thundercracker will be coming your way in a few months.
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