Wheeljack in his robot mode looks very promising. The first thing that caught my eye is the great proportions that he had. It is a very simple thing but most of the time, Hasbro got it wrong. In terms of his features, most of the distinct ones in G1 are there; like the unique head design, the wings on his back, the chest piece and shoulder cannon. Another thing I notice is that this time round, you can tell Hasbro paid extra effort to conceal most of the unwanted car parts when in robot mode. Most are nowhere in sight, well at least from the front.
Turn the figure around and you can see that the rear portion looks good as well. Too many times, a figure looks great from the front but flop badly at the back. For Wheeljack, the rear looks clean and compact as well. Nothing loose or extra. Maybe the back of his shoulders looks a bit bare but still, I can accept it.
Front and back:
The front and back view gives you a clear look at how well Wheeljack's proportions are designed. Whoever that design this deserves a promotion.
Headshot:
Wheeljack's head design reminds me of a mixture between a samurai and ninja. The three horns in the middle that fanned out evenly and the side wings looks straight out of a typical samurai helmet followed by the signature covered mouth feature of a ninja. Other than that, the area around the uncovered eye had some fine lining details. This includes a silver lining around the uncovered eye area that makes his features more stand out.
Wheeljack's shoulder cannon is mounted on his right shoulder similar to what we saw in the G1 version. The missile doesn't launch like what we normally had which to me is excellent. This way, I do not have to worry about misfired missile getting lost. On the other side of his shoulder, you can find a similar slot hole that allows the shoulder cannon to be attached. This means that you can either mount the cannon on the left or right side.
The chest area is one of the distinct feature of Wheeljack. This is nothing but the roof and the curved screens from his vehicle mode. In the middle of his chest is the one and only Autobot symbol found on him.
Another distinct feature of him is this pair of wings that is found on his back. They are made of transparent tinted sheets and I have to say that the patterns on it are pretty unique.
Wheeljack hands design are almost exactly the same as those you find on Alternator or Binaltech figures. The four fingers are rivet joints that allow open and close action as seen from the picture above.
The full black crouch area doesn't have any fancy details. However, I do find the rivet bit an eye sole. Turn around and you find some features on the rear that is different from the G1 version. On the back of his shoulders are the wings mentioned earlier. They are rivet joints and can be rotate or flip.
The lower limbs uses many double joints in order to fold each panels into place. You can tell that Hasbro takes effort to make everything compact and neat. Also, notice the heels are extended to improve his stability in standing position.
The hidden face:
The rumors of Wheeljack having a secret hidden face behind the covered mouth is true. To reveal it, simply remove the screw behind his head to dismantle the entire front section off his head.
The front consists of 2 parts. Separating them will reveal the hidden face of Wheeljack which shows a humanoid face with mustache. I'm not sure where this comes from, I certainly need some sort of enlightenment here. Anyone?
This face can be reattached back onto his head but not his forehead. Oh dear Hasbro, why can't you design a proper face piece that can reattached his forehead too.
Everything looks fine except for the missing forehead and the hole right in the middle.
Accessories:
Other than the shoulder cannon, Wheeljack also comes with a laser gun. The laser gun has a extruded tab that snaps to the slot hole found on both his palms. This allows him to hold the weapon tightly. It is similar concept to those found on the Alternators or Binaltechs.
A closer look at his silver metallic painted laser gun which has some sharp well defined details.
Articulation:
Masterpiece Wheeljack has a decent amount of joints to perform some standard pose as seen below. One thing special that I wanted to highlight is his head joint. His joint on the neck allows him to lift up his head almost 45 degrees upwards. I have never seen sure joint on Hasbro toys.
Wheeljack survey the surrounding for Decepticon activities.
Decepticons! Attack! (See how high his head is being lifted up)
Autobots are outnumbered, more firepower is required.
Time for some explosive actions!
Wheeljack taking aim with his shoulder canon.
He takes into position, ready to fire.
Thanks to Wheeljack, the Decepticons had retreat. Well done Doctor!
Final words:
This version of Wheeljack has surely caught my eye. You have to go back to the original G1 in the 80s to see how far the robot design hah improved. His head sculpt, the neat paint apps and the thoughtful considerations of his transformation sums up the great effort done. However, this figure isn't without any flaw. The rims and wheels look too plastic and also the unpainted white areas of his body should have been painted. It is only a matter of time before the white parts turn yellow.
Where had the Dinobots gone to?
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