Generations Wheelie (GDO)

Remarks: Wheelie is a repaint with a new head of Special Ops Jazz, so this review here will focus on the changes. Wheelie is, of course, a homage to G1 Wheelie and has gotten an appropriate orange paint job. He has also gotten a new head, which is pretty much a dead ringer for the head of the TV version of Wheelie (which the G1 toy didn’t really resemble much). Finally, Jazz’ gun was replaced by a blue slingshot, loosely resembling the weapon Wheelie wielded in the 1986 Transformers movie (though he also used a gun later on). The slingshot can also function as a kind-of gun, though it looks better in its “primary” mode.

Wheelie retains the speakers Jazz had hidden inside his car doors and can unfold them in robot and car mode. The speakers can also link with his weapon… somewhat. Doesn’t look great, though. Anyway, the mold makes a pretty good Wheelie, the only problem being that Wheelie was always the smallest of the Autobots (not counting cassettes) and Jazz is among the tallest Deluxe figures in recent years. That can be fixed, though, by not unfolding his legs all the way , making him a good deal shorter than other Deluxe-class Season 3 characters in the Generations line-up.

In the third season of the G1 cartoon Wheelie took Bumblebee’s place as the kid-appeal character and ended up almost universally hated. His main (or I should say, only) characteristic was his rhyming speech, which is why I briefly considered writing this review in verse. Too much trouble, though, especially in two different languages. So bottom line: Wheelie might not be the most beloved character ever, but he works great as a Jazz repaint and is worth getting for all fans of G1 Season 3.

Rating: B