The Toy Room - REDUX : Toy Reviews | Transformers : Alternators

Ahhh, one of my favorite toy lines since I was a kid, The Transformers. No longer simply vehicles that turn into robot statues, the Alternators line as of late has produced some true gems. With a solid start with Silverstreak and Smokescreen, to a little bump here and there with Hound and Swindle, the line finds its stride in Windcharger. Read on to see how much I like this little guy…

Windcharger comes to us from the Honda line of cars, specifically a Honda S2000. This sporty little red number has some highly detailed seats and interior, as well as an engine block that looks almost too real. What's a nice touch also is that you can remove the molded 'folded up' top and snap on a full version of the top, so that the car itself can go with a roof, or without. Look out Joe babes; I think 'Charger here may be looking for a hook-up. With a smooth design and sexy car body, it's hard to look at this car as anything but a nicely detailed model. But as in the world of Transformers, looks can be deceiving…

Windcharger does have an easy transformation process, easier in my opinion to the likes of Tracks or Sideswipe. It's complex enough to make it a small challenge, but not impossible enough to frustrate any Transformer fan, young or old. What I especially like is that each piece that moves makes sense, and you can almost get a sense that if this were built on a large scale mode, it might actually work in real life. Kudos to Hasbro for not dumbing down a line as cool as TF: Alternators.

Now lets look at the robot mode. In robot mode, its very hard to tell where most of the car is, which is a good thing. Most everything in the way of kibble parts is folded away nice and neatly, and this gives Windcharger a nice slimming down affect. While not super-poseable in the legs (something tough to do I am sure still), his arms remain very poseable, and his articulation does lend itself towards many cool poses. The engine block becomes his shield and/or gun, and the extra top you have from car mode can be snapped to a wrist to act as a shield. Very clever. The only drawback to robot mode is the one kibble bit that does kind of stick out, the windshield. Where is the windshield you ask? It's not on his back, not on his leg, not on his arms….its on his rear posterior. That's right boys and girls, Windcharger has a glass ass. Lets hope he sits away from you at the ball park ;) Still, this robot mode is 10 times better than others, and I look forward to more original and new releases like this soon from Hasbro.

Bottom Line

Bottom Line - As I have said with other Alternator reviews, if you are a fan of Transformers, you will want to pick up this robot for yourself. Heck, even those that collect small 1:24 scale model cars will want to take a look at this guy in car mode, it should fit in flawlessly with any of your car collections. This Transformer is a great looking bot, in vehicle or robot mode. Windcharger is hitting stores now, at what appears to be one per case…for now. Good luck in the hunt!