I never liked the toy of the original Blitzwing character from the original Transformers line in the 80's.  He is short, looks pretty bad in jet mode and even worse in robot mode, and was prone to losing his tank turret.  The character, as portrayed in the cartoon back in the day, was very cool though and back then that counted towards making the toy more enjoyable for me as a 13-year-old boy who probably should have moved on from toys and towards becoming a more normal young lad, but I digress.  23 years later, a new Blitzwing has arrived on the scene in the Transformers Animated line and it blows the original way, both in character and design.

This time around, the character of Blitzwing is still a triple-changer (jet, tank, robot) but he also has a triple-personality and three different faces to go with each one.  This has made watching his antics on the new cartoon very enjoyable as his multiple personalities have both helped him in battle and been used against him.  I'll talk more about that later on though.  This past Wednesday night,  I saw a post on the sightings forum I use that his toy was in a near-by Wal-Mart.  After talking it over with my wife (to get her okay to buy it), I jumped into the car with Dragonforce's new CD, Ultra Beatdown, and zipped down to buy him (and a case of Coca Cola).  I also found the Legacy of Bumblebee 3-pack which I picked up as well (after a call to my misses).

Blitzwing comes packaged in his jet mode, such as it is.  Actually, it's not that bad looking of a jet.  If you look closely, you can see that his tank treads aren't disguised well at all.  I'm kidding.  They're pretty farking obvious.  Also, if you pick him up and examine him closely in this form, you can see his robot hands, legs, and feet.  So, it's not a perfect disguise, but Decepticons, especially Blitzwing, aren't known for subtlety in their alternate modes.

As a tank, Blitzwing folds into himself even more.  The cockpit folds underneath and the wings form the front of the tank.  The jet engine assembly becomes the turret, which rotates, something not all tank transformers can say.  The engine exhaust can launch at the press of a button in lieu of his incendiary attack.  He's known for his cryogenic abilities in the cartoon, so I was a little disappointed at not getting at least one clear blue "missile," but thems the breaks.

Considering how small the tank mode is, it's surprising how tall his robot mode becomes.  Blitzwing stands taller than the Beast Wars Megatron I reviewed earlier in the week, which is pretty darned tall considering some of his contemporaries.  As with most of the toys in Transformers Animated, Blitzwing translates well from cartoon to toy.  He has a full range of articulation, but lacks something the cartoon version has; the ability to bring that cannons on his back to his shoulders for use in robot mode.  As he is, Blitzwing has no usable weapons as a robot unless he bends forward at the waist.  He can't even borrow any weapons from his fellow Decepticons as his hands are open and unable to hold anything.  I suppose it's a minor complaint considering how neat the rest of the toy is.

My main reason for wanting Blitzwing is his character, or rather characters, from the cartoon.  He has three distinct personalities that I've tried to illustrate in the pictures I took (with my broken camera since I haven't been able to figure out how to take pictures with the new one that don't suck).  The first personality has a cool and calculating demeanor (and a German accent) about it and is depicted by the face with a monocle-like left eye and blue "skin."  This personality is the one that comes up with good plans and makes intelligent verbal jabs at friends and foes alike.

The second personality is an angrier one, when things don't go his way, Blitzwing turn his head to his red-faced, big-chinned face.  Lovingly called the "Ahnold" personality be some fans online, this version of the character sound a lot like the Governor or California when he's angry about some terrorist trying to blow up Mars or a mailman trying to steal a doll from his son.  This one is also the personality that usually gets Blitzwing into trouble because he's not thinking rationally at this point.  Fun times.

Finally, we come to the crazy personality as depicted by a black face and red eyes and a squiggly mouth.  This version comes about at the most random times and is responsible for Blitzwing scanning both a tank and a jet when he trying to pick a disguise after arriving on Earth.  He likes to sing, make jokes, and say things inappropriate to the situation (nothing dirty, mind you).  The mechanism to change the face is a turn-wheel on the back of his head.  It doesn't work too well and I find myself using the face itself to change from one to the other.

If you like the character and are a fan of Transformers toys that aren't too difficult to transform, Blitzwing is the right toy for any collector or child.  All three modes are fun to play with and except for a lack of usable weapons in robot mode and a face gimmick that works 65% of the time, I have no real complaints.

Transformers Animated: Transform & Roll Out chronicles the first few episodes of the current Transformers Animated series airing on Cartoon Network. Initial reactions to the series based on a lone piece of art featuring Optimus Prime was almost as negative as the initial reaction to the recent movie Optimus Prime's flame deco on his truck mode. However, like the movie, the animated series has proven itself to be more than meets the eye.

The show opens up with footage from the original Transformers series in a newsreel type setting, being watched by the current Optimus Prime who leads a small space bridge repair crew of Autobots. Through some mishap, the come across the Allspark, the device that gives all Cybertronians life. It was lost to the space bridge network years ago to keep it out of Decepticon hands. Unfortunately, the Decepticons find them and through deceit and treachery, the Transformers once again find themselves crash-landing on Earth, this time it's modern day Earth. The Autobots awaken 50 years later in a futuristic Detroit and find themselves cast in the role of heroes against human enemies and Decepticons alike.

The animation used for this series is nothing like anything seen in Transformers before. It is an anime-like style, reminiscent of the Teen Titan series. Speed lines and transformation shortcuts are used. As an example, Prowl does more of a morph than a transform in a couple scenes. This can take a little getting used to, but a speedier transform does get one into and out of battle quicker.

As usual, the voice work is top-notch. David Kaye voices Optimus Prime this time around where he usually gets cast in the role of Megatron and has been for most of the series between Beast Wars and Cybertron. Corey Burton, the voice of the original Grimlock is back, this time as Megatron and Ratchet. Tom Kenny, voice of Spongebob Squarepants, does a remarkable job as the voice of the ever-treacherous Starscream. There are more, but to name them all would make this a longer and probably a more boring review.

In conclusion, Transformers Animated: Transform & Roll Out is a good introduction to this great series. Fans of the original series will appreciate all the homages to that show and fans for the Beast-era series will appreciate the smaller cast with it's more defined characters. If you do decided to pick this up, do so at Target. They include a bonus disc with another episode you won't get on DVD anywhere else, yet.