I don’t know what 2015 is going to hold for my relationship with Hasbro’s Transformers. I’m not digging a lot of what I see of this whole Combiner Wars line, namely some really lazy transformations and what appear to be further cutbacks on paint apps. Chances are I will own a set of the Stunticons because, well they’re Stunticons and I love Decepticon cars, but right now my resolve is holding fast against purchasing the Aerialbots or that new Voyager Prime. The Legends Class figures, on the other hand, are an entirely different matter. I learned to love this line in 2014 and while these new figures are branded as Combiner Wars, they’re still just regular Generations Legends figures to me. The first wave of these guys looks to be pretty damn solid. Thundercraker and Bombshell are both another step forwad in completing the Insecticon and Seeker teams, plus you get what looks to be a wonderful G1 treatment of Powerglide. And Windcharger is in there too. Yup, he’s in there too. Meh… we’ll get to him eventually, but today I’m kicking off this wave with Bombshell…

AHHHH… NEW PACKAGE DESIGN SHOCK!!! I don’t know where to come down on this. On the one hand nothing about it really shouts Transformers to me, even though it’s emblazoned on vertically along the right side of the card.I guess it’s derivative of the Age of Extinction branding, but I skipped that line, so this packaging is really quite a departure for me. The character art at the top of the card is pretty cool and it still has a Generations tag on it, which I suppose is to separate it from the “Robots in Disguise” line, which will be sharing the pegs. I guess in my mind any departure from the lovely G1 grid of last year’s Generations package is a step in the wrong direction. Either way, I just toss the packaging so in the end I guess it shouldn’t matter.

Inside the package you get the usual folded instruction sheet, but you also get this nifty art card. I actually really dig these. I still have all the art cards that came with my Armada figures. What I don’t dig is the new way Hasbro is securing these figures to the packages. God, these little plastic straps are terrible. What was wrong with the elastic bands? Or the string? I mean they’re not as bad as the old wire twist-ties, but I don’t like them at all. Anyway, Bombshell comes packaged in his robot mode, so I’m going to go ahead and start with that.

And there he is and, holy shit it’s Bombshell! I mean really, really Bombshell!! I can’t say enough good things about this little guy’s robot mode. It’s so streamlined! Most of his bug legs tuck away on the back of his robot legs leaving just a single pair to flare up on his shoulders. They don’ look so much like bug kibble as they do stylish ornamentation. Ok, so Bombshell does have knee guns and that seems kind of out of character and unnecessary to the alt mode. But hey… KNEE GUNS! A few moments ago I didn’t even know knee guns were a thing and now I can’t stop thinking about how awesome it would be to have them. The only downer about this figure is that the cerebro shell cannon on the back of his head can’t be angled forward. It either points straight up or can be tucked away on his back.

I’m not a big fan of the bare grey plastic used for his crotchular region or his thighs, but the sumptuous metallic purple and goldish-yellow paint more than makes up for it. Throw in the black and some red painted panels on the sides of his legs and you have one striking Decepticon deco. Black and purple… you can’t go wrong with that if you’re a ‘Con.

Articulation? This little guy has it spades. You get ball joints in the shoulders, elbows, and hips and hinges in the knees and swivels just above the knees. He’s a fun little action figure through and through!

Bombshell features a pretty easy transformation, especially when compared to the figity conversion of his forerunner, Skrapnel. In fact, it’s pretty similar to the G1 toy’s transformation. The result is a beetle that is every bit as solid a G1 homage as the robot mode. I mean, damn Hasbro, I could buy figures like this all day long!

But wait… I put him next to Generations Skrapnel and… what’s this? ARGGHHHHH! Why does the paint scheme not match??? I can’t tell you how much this sort of thing ticks me off. On his own Bombshell is an absolutely splendid and gorgeous figure, but the goldish-yellow clashes with Skrapnel’s yelloe-yellow. WHY, PRIMUS? WHY??? Eh, I can get over it. Truth is these are both really great updates to my beloved Insecticons, but it’s still clear that there’s a little gap of engineering and design between the two releases.

For as big a fan of the G1 Insecticons as I am, this new version of Bombshell is like a gift from the Gods. It’s also just another reason as to why I love these modern Legends Class figures so damn much. Sure, I would have preferred to get Insecticons released in the Deluxe Class, but I’ll take what I can get. He’s actually a bit taller and beefier than Skrapnel and I can just about spin enough logic to convince me that Insecticons should be a little on the smaller size and so I’m perfectly fine displaying these guys alongside my War For Cybertron Megatron and Soundwave and the Fall of Cybertron Seekers. I really hope Kickback isn’t too far off.