“(Insert name here) is one of my favorite Transformers” is a phrase you’ll hear from me a lot, because I love so many of those robots in disguise, and today, you can insert Wheeljack’s name into those parentheses.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Wheeljack. He created the Dinobots! Creating the Dinobots is all I need to see on his resume to make me a fan for life, but beyond that Wheeljack was always super cool with me. So when it was announced Wheeljack was going to be represented in the Earthrise line of Transformers from Hasbro I could barely contain my excitement, and when this deluxe class figure of Wheeljack was delivered to my door the excitement and enthusiasm just intensified more.

This Earthrise rendition of Wheeljack for my sensibilities is a gorgeous hybrid of an MP figure with a G1 aesthetic. The head sculpt, the paint and the engineering are simply sublime. He has a great chunky design in robot mode with a smooth, sleek design as a counterpart in vehicle mode, and as a deluxe figure scales perfectly with the deluxe figures from the previous Siege line and looks absolutely stellar next to his lab partner Ratchet.

Transformation can get a little involved when converting him from robot to vehicle mode, notably in his legs and trying to line everything up precisely especially in the windshield. Lining up his shoulders to make the rear of the car had its challenges, at least for my copy due to the mushroom pegs in his elbow joints being extremely loose and thus his arms would pop off and/or fall out.

Luckily, this was an easy fix as they popped right back in and I was able to secure them to the point where they haven’t been an issue since. This seems to have been an obvious QC issue with mine, that hopefully doesn’t befall anyone else who picks up Wheeljack.

There’s plenty of fun detailing along the sides and on the spoiler in vehicle mode with the inclusion of several Cybertronian sponsorship decals painted along the chassis. Wheeljack’s vehicle mode is second only to Siege Sideswipe for me when it comes to being an absolutely beautiful design.

My only (minor) gripe with the figure is his shoulder cannon is a little too stumpy for my liking, but thankfully Hasbro included it unlike Siege Red Alert when he was released. I really would have liked to see Wheeljack packaged with his Immobilizer that his MP-20 version came with as well for an added accessory, but again this is a minor gripe at best.

As was previously said, when I heard that Wheeljack was going to be included in the Earthrise line I was immediately geeked and couldn’t wait to get him in hand and having him in hand and on my shelf has made for a happy day indeed. Even better is the knowledge that Wheeljack’s mold is giving way for us to get a deluxe Sunstreaker later this year and the whole (insert name here) is my favorite Transformer will return when Sideswipe’s Lambo brother makes its way to my collection. I truly do love Sunstreaker like few others, and will be on pins and needles waiting for his arrival.

Earthrise deluxe class Wheeljack is a great toy to add to any War for Cybertron and Transformers fans collection and is priced just right at $21.99 and available for you at bigbadtoystore.com for pre-order now.

I give Earthrise deluxe class Wheeljack 4.5/5 Wizard stars.

Product Features

• 5.50 inch (14cm) scale
• Made of plastic
• This ecosystem of collectible figures allows fans to build out epic space battle scenes
• Converts into classic G1 car mode in 18 steps
• Figures can connect to expand the battlefield
• Wheeljack does not include Soundbarrier figure
• Instructions may or may not include English translation

Box Contents

• Wheeljack figure
• Weapon accessory
• Piece of the Transformers Universe map
• Red decoder to unlock the map’s hidden paths

 

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