Reveal the Shield Windcharger

Robot Mode: Let us begin with the similarity to the original G1 Windcharger. The basic design of the figure is almost the same, meaning that the largest part of the robot is sculpted into the underside of the vehicle mode, while the legs flip out from the rear of the car. The only design-difference to the original is that the hood of the car flips down to form Windcharger’s chest, making him a more-or-less basic car-former. He retains Windcharger’s characteristic black shins and his head is a dead ringer for the cartoon character’s noggin’.

The figure’s posability has, naturally, vastly improved when compared to the original. Windcharger has the full range of movement one expects from a present-day scout-class figure, so no complaints on that front. In terms of detailing he is good, though somewhat short of spectacular. I do like his feet, which are both highly detailed and fully posable. Not sure about his all-red hands, but the sculpt is nice here, too.

Speaking of hands, Windcharger can flip his hands around to exchange them for gun barrels. Now you can imagine those as either generic blasters or his magnetic powers from the G1 cartoon and comic, whatever strikes your fancy. One of the nicest implementations of the old “hand retracts and gadget comes out” gimmick from the G1 cartoon I’ve seen so far. The guns have a place for clip-on weapons on the side, which is also present and workable when the hands are in place of the guns. Nicely done.

All in all this is as nice a Windcharger robot mode as I could have wished for considering the size class. Not a knock-out, but good and solid.

Vehicle Mode: Windcharger transforms into a generic red muscle car, somewhat similar to a Ford Mustang and with the characteristic black louver-covered rear window that G1 Windcharger had in vehicle mode. The detailing on the car is decent for a scout-sized vehicle, so no complaints here. Not much more I can write here. No visible robot bits, realistic look, decent detailing. So overall, no complaints.

Remarks: Windcharger was among the original crew of the Ark who crashed to Earth and awoke in 1984. He was the only Autobot not mentioned by name in the original pilot three-parter, never did take center stage in any episode the cartoon, and was killed without much fanfare in the 1986 Transformers movie (he wasn’t even granted a proper death scene, you only saw his corpse on the floor). Which is strange since his special power, magnetism, would seem to make him an especially effective warrior against the Decepticons, who are made of metal, after all. He did partake in a semi-memorable brawl alongside Brawn, though, facing off against Megatron and Soundwave.

The name Windcharger hasn’t really been used since the G1 days. There is an Alternators Windcharger (originally intended to be a homage to G1 Overdrive), but that’s it. So it’s kind of nice to see a new version of this old character again, especially as it brings us one step closer to completing the original crew of Ark in CHUG-style (Classics, Henkei, Universe, Generations). Windcharger is certainly not a must-have, but he’s a great little Scout figure and with some G1 homage bonus thrown in, he’s easily recommended.

Rating: B+

---

Update 2011-04-15:
The awesome piece of Windcharger fanart (last picture in the gallery) was created and kindly lent to Transformers Universe by artist CypherCrowley from the NTF-boards, who also designed the Perceptor image I am using for my Toy Database link.