Thunderwing's alt mode is a futuristic-looking jet, or "space jet", as I like to call it. It should be noted that this isn't meant to be a DIRECT "upgrade" of the G1 Thunderwing character, as that was a Pretender-- rather, this is more of the IDW-verse Thunderwing, who is a monster in his own right with a somewhat similar alt mode and a bio that matches this toy's quite closely. It's honestly a bit disappointing to see such a huge character given a mere deluxe-sized toy, but ignoring that, this alt mode suits him quite well, with the long nosecone and forward-bending wings. The proportions of the "core" jet are fairly good-- with the exception of the aforementioned wings, which are honestly laughably small. He has three retractable landing gear in this mode, and the front of the nosecone can detach to form a little "drone" hovercraft. It's only a little thing with no articulation of its own, but it's still a nice little touch. The most obvious downside to this mode is, well, the robot mode tucked up underneath the plane-- it MOSTLY says under the wings, but it's still fairly obvious and ruins a bit the whole aerodynamic look Thunderwing's got going on his jet parts. The robot arms are the biggest offenders, being the most obvious, but at least they have little guns facing forward from them to at least partially mitigate this downside. The robot feet also stick out the back end a bit obviously. The color scheme is honestly a bit blah-- the tannish off-white color isn't particularly appetizing-- but the dark blue and purple help to contrast against it a bit. The translucent orange plastic also looks nice against the base color, but there really needed to be another paint app or two on the main body of the jet to help bring out all that nice mold detailing on him. Thunderwing has two spring-loaded missile launchers that fit under each of his wings in this mode for weaponry.
    Thunderwing's robot mode is made to resemble his pretender shell "monster-like" appearance a bit, and it's definitely the mode that took priority in his design. First, let's get the downsides out of the way-- his transformation is very straightforward and a little boring, being little more than a "stand me up on my rear end and pull out my limbs" kinda transformation. He's short, even for a deluxe, which runs at complete odds with his character traditionally. His nosecone also just sits on his upper back, though at least it doesn't get in the way of movement. That said, particularly when compared with his jet mode, most of what I have to say about this mode is pretty positive. The pseudo-organic look of his robot mode is carried out marvelously, with golden "tubes" highlighted on his dull green arms and uper legs, a detailed (both in terms of mold detailing and paint detailing) chest that's fairly accurate to his G1 toy, and a fierce-looking face with "light piping" for the eyes that works very well even in fairly low light. The increased amount of colors-- and considerably increased number of paint apps-- help to make this mode look a lot more eye-catching than his vehicle mode, though I'm still not a fan of that ugly tannish off-white. I also love the unique way his wings fan out next to his shoulders-- it enhances his silouhette considerably, almost like a cape. He can hold his two detachable missile launchers in his hands in this mode, though they look a little big compared to him. As for articulation, Thunderwing can move at hte neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows, wrists, hips (at two points), knees, and a little bit at the ankles. The flaps on his "skirt" can move from side-to-side, as well. His wings can get in the way of shoulder movement, and his back-heavyness can be a tad bit of a posing problem, but generally his articulation gets the job done, even if it's not extraordinary (too much of it is concentrated around the shoulders and hips, and not enough at the elbows & knees).
    If you're a fan of the character, Generations Thunderwing is a fairly easy recommendation. If you don't have any particular connection to him, however, there's oodles of Generations toys that, frankly, are better-engineered with more interesting transformations. His robot mode detailing is quite unique, but his overly simplistic transformation, small size, ugly tannish-white plastic, and mediocre jet mode tend to cancel that out and then some.

Review by Beastbot

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