Blastwave Autobot Tank Transformers Robots in Disguise Warrior Class Item No.: Asst. B0070 No. C0930 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: Rifle, sword Action Feature: Transforms from Tank to Robot Retail: $14.99 Availability: January 2017 Other: Bludgeon Premold Prepaint
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Here's an interesting one. When we first saw Blastwave sans name, everybody said "Autobot Bludgeon - what?" On the packaging, you'll see modified Megatronus art with a new head for some reason. He's also an extensive retool of Megatronus. For this reason, any Transformers fan who vaguely remembers 1989 assumed that this toy would probably be recolored in orange and maroon. We just don't have a release date yet. This isn't Bludgeon, this is a new guy named Blastwave - you'll have to wait for Bludgeon.

With 16 points of articulation, you have a decent robot mode. The skull-faced samurai-helmeted green and blue character has 5mm fists and a gun backpack that can be removed and held as a blaster. The fists have no problems holding the sword, which can stored on the figure's knee as well. You've got options. The big robot feet give this one excellent stability, meaning he can do those very popular comic poses which can best be described as virtually sitting while standing up. All of the joints are nice and stiff, allowing you to display him proudly or engage in combat poses. He's fun to futz with, and has a one of the evilest heads you've ever seen on an Autobot. Fangs aren't something you get every day, nor is a skull.

The colors are nice, although seeing as how multiple toys using this engineering exist, you may decide you don't need them all. I didn't pick up Megatronus figures (not for any particular reason), so I snagged this and I like it. The bright yellow eyes on his chest are neat, as are the blue splashes and red highlights. It's charming. It could also be a Decepticon if you made the blue a little paler and changed up the sticker on the arm.

Transformation is easy - the legs become the treads, the arms become the turret, and everything else basically becomes the bit that holds it all together.

The tank has rolling wheels and doesn't do much. You can slap a sword above the turrets, and as weird futuristic sci-fi tanks go (or kibble tanks) it's perfectly nice. Jets and cars are harder to fudge than a tank, and we've seen so many variations on the armored vehicles over the years that it never really gets boring. I wouldn't say it's exciting, but it's sturdy and it looks different enough in terms of shape and color that unless you're a completist, you probably don't have another tank like this. I pick and choose.

I'll be buying Bludgeon, and I was too excited not to get this one. A new Autobot? That looks like a Decepticon? With a skull head? That's a winning combination. It's a satisfying, chunky toy and Hasbro was wise to release Blastwave first - it's exciting and fun and new now, but once you got Bludgeon you probably wouldn't want to give this one a try. The silver gun barrels with yellow highlights and nifty silver sword are worthwhile elements, but you can't compete with nostalgia. Even if it's not exactly what was in the original Transformers comic book and toy line, it's pretty close. It's a good toy, as long as you can accept the fact that it may not be the precise toy in the exact deco that you would have preferred.

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