(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Generations Firefly. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Generations Firefly here.)

    Blast Off is...a jet? Well, honestly, it makes a lot more sense than a space shuttle, given the whole "military" theme of the Combaticons. That said, it is ANOTHER redeco of a Combiner Wars jet mold, most of which transform pretty similarly. That said, applying Blast Off's traditional colors to the Firefly mold looks pretty good. Of course the main color is a drab olive brown, with a dark purple more visible in robot mode as its major "foil" color. However, both of these colors are pretty dark, and thus don't contrast all that well with each other. To compound this issue, another of Blast Off's colors is black-- but on the plus side, it's a rather nice-looking metallic shade of the color (except on the rubbery nosecone piece, of course). This black paint is used on the normal gun, as well as Blast Off's fists, face, the lower sides of his chest, his feet, and on the outer stripes of his wings and tailfin. Luckily, there's some light purple, silver, and yellow paint apps to the rescue to give Blast Off some contrast! The yellow definitely stands out the most, being used on the right side of the chest and on the knees, though I'm glad it isn't used any more than that-- it would clash if it was anything more than an accent color. The silver is used entirely on the borders of the stripes on Blast Off's wings, which really help bring out the purple stripes there and are much appreciated. The pastel purple is used for the cockpit and Blast Off's optics, and is a quite nice color, both contrasting against the olive brown and complementing the dark purple-- I wish it was used a tad more on the figure, honestly. Blast Off's hand/foot/gun accessory is unfortunately that blah light shade of milky gray, but that IS the color of all of these accessories for the Combaticons, so it fits.
    Blast Off has Quickslinger's headsculpt, but no mold changes unique to this release of the mold have been made-- a bummer for me. To me, this is a bigger issue than Blast Off being a jet, as at least that makes sense thematically-- but Blast Off is supposed to have a faceplate! I don't like the regular mouth, even if it's painted black.
    The mass release Combiner Wars Blast Off figure is a jet instead of a space shuttle, and although it does make sense, another CW jet redeco may not excite many fans, and I can't say I blame them, especially when he doesn't even have a new headsculpt. That said, his colors ARE applied quite well on the toy and he has a good amount of variation, though I wish he had a few more light color paint apps. If you only want to spend retail on Blast Off, this here's your Combaticon-- otherwise, you may want to get the shuttle version developed by TakaraTOMY and eventually released by Hasbro, albeit in a slightly more expensive/exclusive manner.

Decepticon Operational Status Update, reported by Soundwave:
During his first tour with the Combaticons, Blast Off altered his Cybertronian spaceship mode into an Earth-styled space shuttle. He took immense pleasure and satisfaction in delivering pinpoint laser shots from orbit, mastering the art of sending "pain from above". His capture and imprisonment on Cybertron crippled the Combaticons, leaving them unable to combine and form Bruticus. When Blast Off was finally reuinted with his comrades, Onslaught required him to change his vehicle mode once again. This time, he became a fighter jet in order to stay closer to the team. His X-ray cannons are fearsome weapons, and his ionic blaster works in close combat. With fellow Combaticons forms Bruticus.
CONCLUSION: Combat approved and endorsed.

HISTORY (extracted from compulsory biographical download):
Blast Off can find the cloud in any silver lining. His unhappiness with the loneliness of stellar orbit has been replaced with anger at having to change alternate modes from shuttle to jet. If it makes Blast Off a more focused soldier, Onslaught (his commanding officer) is all for it. Forms either an arm or leg of Bruticus, the combined form of the Combaticons.

Review by Beastbot

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