Size: Ultra
MSRP: $24.99
OUT NOW
AAAAAAAAAAAAAND A HAAAAAAAAPPY NEW YEAAAAAAAAAAAAR! Buon anno a tutti! Here we are, my fellow TFans, 2007 arrived and “movie” toys are approaching fast, and the impact could suddenly force you to rip open all of your MIB, AFA graded BTR sets and Playskool Gobots! I guess that by July 2007 their prices online will reach 4 digits. LOL. Please note that if I am using the expression “Movie” toys it is not to be sarcastic about the new line, it’s just some after-trailer pessimism, also called “realism.” Just joking. Maybe.
Transforms from plastic brick in plastic toy in 12 moves, err months.
This time we are looking at Wing Saber, and let me spoil it to you right now, my friends: Hasbro made it.
Wing Sabers’ primary point of interest is its ability to combine with Optimus Prime, and much of this toy has been built around this feature; differently from Armada Overload, Armada Jetfire or its previous Energon version, this time Wing Saber is a toy by itself, not just an add-on sacrificed on the altar of its gimmicks.
Hasbro’s new designers (the old ones are lost forever: McDonalds gave them a second chance to shine) succeeded in making it a TRANSFORMABLE ROBOT, it has an Alternate Mode AND a Robot Mode! Guys, this is better than Classics! Err… maybe not. Energon Wing Saber was designed to be a homage, to split into 4 parts and, eventually, to pretend to be a TF toy. We all know what we got in 2004: a plastic, static, statue. To refresh your memories:
Energon Wing Saber Capsule Review:
Esthetics 10, Playability: -273.14°K, Sadness: 20(…USD)
This time, history didn’t repeat itself: Cybertron Wing Saber is a TF toy that stands on its own. Let’s see why.
I am the guy that does his job right: you must be the other one.
Maybe just a few Autobots are able to fly, but if all of them were like Wing Saber, no Decepticon would be seen flying anymore. This guy is a FLYING BEAST. Its scary, see how smaller its cockpit is small in comparison with all the other parts! Its Alternate Mode is the same type of airplane as Energon Skyshadow and Terradive, but on steroids. Really. Clearly visible on its wing is the same symbol for the Cybertron Defense Team and, seeing the results, I guess it actually means “Anonymous Robots On Steroids”, or some support group like that. Anyway, whatever they gave him, it worked. In Alt Mode, Wing Saber can scrap almost any Decepti-butt available, having at his disposal: a double gun in the front part of the airplane, 5 missiles, and 4 rockets (what’s the difference, anyway? Dunno, never ate one), and a 6-barrelled gatling gun it’s a homage to FF7’s Barret character, which used to have a similar weapon. The homage doesn’t end here placing its Autobot Cyber Key behind the cockpit causes it to split open, revealing a nasty cannon; with batteries, you would also get some red light and some random sound. The second homage is that, if you listen to this sound in reverse, a secret cheat to revive Aeris is revealed. Really. If you’re still not running to buy it after reading this, let me introduce you to some more coolness.
Wing Saber, MAXIMIZE!
When I told you this guy is flying beast, I wasn’t joking. Its transformation sequence is: straighten legs, straighten arms, rotate waist, move the “beast’s” head on the back and flip out robot head. No jokes: Wing Saber is actually a Beast Wars toy in disguise, maybe because of the 10th anniversary? Dunno. Moreover, in Alt mode you can flip out the weapons to the sides, just as you’d flip boosters out for Transmetal Cheetor. Ain’t that cool? No? Ok, but I like this unintentional (?) homage a lot.
In robot mode Wing Saber is a great, highly articulated figure; legs, hips, waist, elbows, shoulders, head, it just lacks ankle articulation, as most Tfs. Its shoulders actually could bend out to the sides, but you’d need to flip out the weapons to give it the necessary space.
Its hands, through a well thought gimmick, are made from the 6-barrelled guns, making 1 barrel disappear and shortening another one to form a thumb. Great touch, if you ask me. As for weapons, there are two missile launchers and two swords, which can’t be held directly but have to be connected on Wing Saber’s forearms.
The front part of the airplane becomes a giant cannon by connecting it to the back of Wing Sabers neck with a small, fragile clip and activating the Cyber Key gimmick.
It’s too ridiculous to be functional, but I am happy that designers used every single part of this toy for some gimmick. This is where your $25 goes, it’s not about making a big, heavy toy and hoping somebody will buy it just because it’s big (Energon megas, Supreme Screamer) but to really make the difference be felt. If only for this, you should stop reading now and go buying this toy. Now. Still not sold? Ok, let’s try harder…
Sometimes even upgrades get upgraded
Once we had several robots that could combine because they were built to do it. Other robots were modified to be able to combine with each other. Wing Saber scores a new record in the cartoon: he’s able to combine with Prime BECAUSE HE REALLY THINKS IT SHOULD BE LIKE THAT. Will is Power, or Willpower, or whatever. This teaches us all that in life it’s much more important to believe in something we think is right, rather than respecting actual reality at all costs. Because of this educational feature, I’ll consider raising Wing Saber’s points before the end of the review. Remember children, “to want” is much more important than “to know.” For example, for me it is much more important to want more and more Armada variants than to know how much money I have left in my bank account. Err… Let’s get back to business.
Wing Saber is able to combine with Optimus Prime to create the “Optimus Prime Sonic Wing Mode”, also called “Prime with his new backpack” or “Wing Saber Eastsaberpak Mode”. To do this, you first have to transform Prime from his super mode to his secret mode called “Super Mode Without The Very Cool Wings” and to attach Saber’s 2 missile launchers onto Prime’s heels. I am not sure if it’s right, but I also connect Prime’s leg cannons to the 2 add-ons; even if you can’t have everything perfectly straight to do this.
What I know is that it seems more stable, and this connection provides Hasbro with a very good excuse for those 2 non-firing missile launchers. Bah.
Next move is to put Wing Saber’s swords, whose handles are stored in the airplanes’ rear part and whose blades are actually the 2 gray flaps, in Prime’s hands. It’s a little tricky to do, but it’s very stable. Then comes the innovative part: Overload was a pair of shoulder cannons, Jetfire used to become a pair of legs, Omega Supreme was used as a power suit, even Energon Wing Saber’s “Upgrade mode” was cool. Here we get something radically new; a backpack.
To prepare Wing Saber for combining, starting from robot mode: straighten arms above the shoulders, hide robot head, transform the rear half of the robot as for the alt mode, swing out the “hidden” wings, lift the chest plate, then connect everything to Prime AS SHOWN IN THE ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS (Bothered? you wouldn’t be, if you’d have stopped buying TFs not in their original package!). Wing Saber fully succeeds to become an effective, stable, cool and fun upgrade for Optimus Prime.
*Applause*
Sonic Wing Optimus Prime has a real arsenal at its disposal: two missile launchers and 2 cannons on its legs, 2 swords, 2 six-barreled guns on its shoulders, a giant cannon above its head (just as you did for Wing Saber, it’s the cockpit section) and…2 heavily armed, awfully tiny wings. Maybe KFC sponsored this mode somehow, because if Super Mode Prime’s wings are as mighty and royal as a Hawk’s, Sonic Wing Prime really has chicken wings. Luckily, it’s this mode’s only negative side; articulation is fully retained, weapon amount is ridiculous, presence is great and it tastes like chicken, yum! It’s hard for me to say it, but I like Sonic Wing Mode even more than Magna Jet Convoy.
Colors could have matched better, but I expect Galaxy Force Optimus Prime to solve this problem; here we have blue, red, gray and black paired with white, black, gray and black. Blue and white really clash in this combination, in my opinion. Black and Red should match Wing Saber’s colors a little better, I think. No, I am not going to buy a Leader class repaint just because Armada Supercon Prime’s repaint in Cybertron has the same colors, no. Or maybe… D’oh!
Together we are much more than the sum of our individual smells.
All in all, I say that if there has to be an example of how many improvements TFs made in these 20+ years of toy design, Wing Saber is the answer. He has a cool color scheme, a fun vehicle mode, a good transformation sequence, and fun yet simple gimmicks that are well implemented. Not to mention a combined mode with Optimus Prime that, instead of taking something away from the figure, adds some value. I am not ashamed at all to declare Wing Saber the best Ultra in the whole Cybertron toy line. Just because you don’t care, my picks for Energon and Armada would be Quickstrike and Tidal Wave. On Elohim’s Energon scale, I give Wing Saber 9 out of 10 cubes.
Take care,
Rikkomba
The Bottom Line
Charles Emanuele- I have to agree with Rikkomba, Wing Saber is a damn good figure. Not nearly as blocky as his Energon incarnation Cybertron Wing Saber adds something that was missing from his Energon counterpart; swords! You can probably find him now on sale or as part of some bonus pack deal so there is no reason to not pick him up.
