Yes, it’s Transformers Thursday Friday and UPS dropped off an awesome package of Masterpiece goodness yesterday so I decided to bump the weekly Transformers feature back one day so I could cover one of those figures instead of dumpster diving into the Unicron Trilogy totes for feature fodder.  If you’re new to the party, you should know that I was soured on the current crop of MP figures when my first Lambor arrived as a QC catastrophe. The paint was crap and I unloaded the figure and decided I was going to pass on this line. But when the Datsuns started shipping, I couldn’t resist and I noted a marked improvement in the paintwork and was instantly smitten. I quickly pre-ordered the second issues of Lambor and Red Alert. Lambor arrived a while back and he was damn good and now Red Alert is now here too!

While he may be the second issue of the figure, the package doesn’t seem to have changed. Red Alert comes in a box that should be readily familiar to anyone collecting the line. It’s completely enclosed and will suitably match the other recent Takara MP boxes on your shelf. While we know him as Red Alert, the box bears his Takara name as just Alert. As expected, much of the copy on the box is in Japanese, but the figure’s name and number are clearly readable to us Westerners and as with Lambor, this box also indicates that the product is licensed by Lamborghini. Red Alert comes packaged in his alt mode and nestled in a clear plastic tray with his accessories in the tray beside him.

You also get this collector coin that comes in a Matrix style cardboard sleeve. The two ends slide out to reveal the coin. It’s a nice collectors piece, I guess, and it does add value to the package, but these things are really lost on me and I don’t really see the point. Let’s go ahead and start with his alt mode.

Ah, the 80’s! It was an era when DeLoreans could travel in time and Fire Marshals patrolled the streets in their official Lamborghini Countaches. Seems legit. If you aren’t up to speed on your G1 Transformers, Red Alert was a repaint of Sideswipe back then and he still is today in the MP line. The Countache was easily my favorite car as a kid, and I’m pretty sure I owe that to its representation in the Transformers. This auto mode still looks fantastic, although I sometimes have difficulty lining up the seams on the sides, just like I do with Lambor. I don’t think it’s a problem with the figure, but rather that everything needs to be aligned perfectly and I’m not always hitting that perfection. Lambor’s aesthetics were a little more forgiving about the seams lining up as he was just solid red, whereas Red Alert has lettering and a symbol on his door that make any little misalignment more obvious.

The paint on my figure is excellent with crisp lettering and no real slop to speak of. It’s also worth noting that the white paint used on the clear plastic canopy matches the rest of the white body much better than the red paint does on Lambor. Some of the black paint apps look a little tacky, but they’re aren’t to the touch. The Autobot emblem and Fire Department deco on the hood looks amazing as does the teeny tiny lettering just above the rear bumper. Aside from the deco, the only other difference between the two cars is Red Alert’s light bar. It’s translucent red plastic with white paint. It also has the roof notch so you can plug in the missile launcher and rifle and weaponize his alt mode.

Despite a few minor tweaks to the mold, Red Alert transforms the same as Lambor. I hadn’t transformed Lambor back to auto mode since I reviewed him, so I was a little concerned to see how it was going to go with Red Alert, but it’s an intuitive transformation and I didn’t even have to consult the instructions once.

Man, do I love the way this mold looks in robot mode. It’s the little things like the way those plates from the rear of the car cover the ankle joints or the way the canopy collapses in on itself to keep his silhouette looking clean. The only difference in the body between Red Alert and Lambor is the addition of the vestigial wheels on the shoulders. I’m still not sure how I feel about these things. I think the fact that they’re smaller than they should be is a nice nod to the mass shifting that has been a part of the Transformers Universe since the beginning. I also dig the effort to give Red Alert something distinctive over Lambor, but to be honest, I don’t think I would have missed them if they were left off.

The deco in robot mode shows a lot less white and a lot more red and black. In a sense he looks a bit like Lambor’s color pallet reversed. It’s mostly all the same colors, they’re just all switched around. The sharp and gorgeous deco on the hood is just as great on Red Alert’s chest and the silver paint on his forearms looks really sharp. Lambor and Red Alert are both such amazing looking figures, I honestly don’t know that I could choose a favorite between them.

Red Alert features a new head sculpt, which looks right on target. It is fairly close to the Lambor face, but the “helmet” hits all the right points between these two characters. He also comes with an effects part that clips on to his “horns” to simulate his sparking, malfunctioning and paranoid brain. It’s a fun piece to include, but probably not something that I’ll get a lot of use out of.

You also get repaints of the same shoulder cannon and rifle that came with Lambor. The cannon is sculpted in red plastic and the back is painted in metallic silver, making it look more like a missile launcher than Lambor’s solid white weapon. As with Lambor, the piece can mount on either of Red Alert’s shoulders.

The rifle is sculpted in red plastic and left unpainted. I think a few paint hits would have went a long way on the gun, as it isn’t as impressive looking as Lambor’s silver rifle. I also have the same problem getting him to hold it snugly as I did with Lambor. The handle does tab into the hand, but when you close the fingers around it, it seems to knock it out of the slot. He can still hold it OK, but it’s not as solid as the Datsuns hold their guns.

I adored this mold the first time around and I haven’t lost any love for it. While I haven’t yet ponied up for the Tiger Tracks or G2 versions, I am very happy own the mold again as Red Alert. The figure is truly a work of art and also shows that Takara isn’t letting their QC slip back to the days of the original Lambor release. I’m really glad Takara reissued this guy as I’m not just about caught up on my MP Autobots. Yeah, there’s still one missing… the big guy himself, Optimus Prime, and thanks to another timely reissue I’ll check him out on the next Transformers Thursday.

It’s always a treat when I can grace Transformers Thursday with a Masterpiece Transformer and I hope to be doing it at least two more times before the end of the year! This time, however, we’re gathered around to look at everybody’s favorite eccentric scientist, Wheeljack. I loved Wheeljack in the Sunbow cartoon. He was clearly out of his mind, but that didn’t stop the Autobots from letting him have his run of their lab equipment. Let’s just say that if you were a captured Decepticon, you probably didn’t want to wake up strapped down to a table in his laboratory and hear Wheeljack utter the phrase, “I have this theory about making a Cybertronian Centipede!” It’s hard to believe that this release marks the 20th release already, but then I pretty much consider the line rebooted with MP-10, so it’s perhaps not as prolific as it seems. Nonetheless, as amazing as the Datsuns were, it’s pretty damn cool to be getting a brand new mold, especially one that doesn’t lend itself to so many different characters.

If you’ve been collecting the current MP line then you should know what to expect from the packaging. Wheeljack comes in a compact and enclosed box with a deco that matches the other Autobot releases. Inside, the figure comes in his alt mode in a clear plastic tray with his accessories (gun, missile launcher, and missile) laid out above him. You also get an instruction booklet, a profile card, and a baggie containing the mirrors.

I’ll be honest, my classic car knowledge doesn’t extend beyond American Muscle Cars and my weird fixation with Jaguars, so Wheeljack here is the only reason I know the name Lancia. Still, it was a drop dead sexy car back then and it still is today. Next to maybe the Lambor Brothers, Wheeljack was always my favorite alt mode among the Class of 84 Autobots. As one might expect, this Masterpiece version is a gorgeous recreation. Everything packs together tight and solid and one detail I love is the side view mirrors that come separate. You just twist them off the sprue and plug them in and you even get a second pair in case you lose or damage the first. Nice!

Even though the paint on my MP figures have been pretty good, I still haven’t shaken my anxiety over Takara’s QC after the horror show that was my first MP Sideswipe. I was terrified to see how the paint on this one was going to turn out. In the end I had nothing to worry about because the paintwork here is just about flawless. There are maybe one or two small areas where the lines could be a little sharper, but to find them I really had to scrutinize this guy closely. Takara defintiely seems to have gotten their act together to the point where I doubt I’ll be worried about it again. The white plastic used for the base color feels nice and looks good. The white paint used in some areas is a good match. I’ve got zero complaints about this alt mode… it’s damn near perfect!

When I looked at the promo shots of Wheeljack, I thought I had his transformation all figured out, but there are still some pleasant surprises to be had. It’s definitely based on the engineering of the original toy, particularly the way you pull out the front of the car and unfold the arms from the back. Still, there’s a lot of cool new stuff happening here to help along with the better proportions and articulation. He actually stumped me a few times on my first go through and getting him back into car mode the first couple of times took me a little time and patience. Thankfully, there’s no scary moves and once I saw what was happening, particuarly with the torso, I found it to be quite clever and intuitive.

And there’s Wheeljack in all his robot mode glory. Straightaway the most impressive thing about this guy for me is how clean his profile turned out. Everything packs away so neatly into his humanoid form leaving absolutely no car kibble, unless you want to count the tiny mirrors on his legs, but I don’t. Even his back only shows off the top back of the car neatly folded into his back, the two halves of his spoilers on the backs of his forearms, and the doors folded into the backs of his lower legs. It’s sheer poetry. In fact, if I were to level one complaint about this guy, and it’s such a tiny one, it would be that he packs away almost too well leaving him looking rather thin from the side. Wheeljack’s “wings” are integral to his transformation. They just unfold and angle into position. His missile launcher, on the other hand, is separate and just needs to be plugged into his shoulder and you can apply it on either side.

The deco is pretty much the same as what we saw in his auto mode with all his glorious racing colors still present on his chest and lower legs. The biggest change here is all the black showing up in his hips, thighs, and forearms. I particularly love how the lettering from his car mode winds up across each of his feet. The whole thing is topped off with a neatly printed Autobot emblem right on his chest.

The portrait is excellent, with his silver bands running across the lower half of his face and his narrow blue eyes. I’m on the fence over whether or not his “ears” would have looked better in transparent blue plastic. They look fine as they are, but going the other route may have added a little more something. Nevertheless, it’s a great headsculpt supported with an excellent paint job.

Wheeljack’s articulation hits all the right points. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, hinges in the elbows, swivels in the biceps and wrists, and his four fingers are hinged as one piece. The legs have universal movement in the hips, hinges in the knees, and swivels in the thighs. The ankles are hinged and feature some very generous lateral rockers to keep Wheeljack’s big feet planted firmly on the ground no matter how wide his stance. Lastly, you get a swivel in the waist and a ball joint in the neck.

In addition to Wheeljack’s missile launcher you also get his little pistol. I really like the sculpt on this little guy as it feels like the kind of last resort weapon that a scientist might carry. It has tabs that plug into the groove in either of his hands and he holds it very well.

Besides being just an all around excellent figure, I think what surprises me the most about MP-20 is all the work that Takara put into what is essentially a one-shot deal. Lambor was a quick turn around as Red Alert (not to mention Tiger Tracks and the G2 version) and the Datsun mold easily filled three slots with an additional repaint as Bluestreak. Wheeljack? Well, he’s just Wheeljack. Yeah, they’re repainting him, giving him a new head, and calling him Exhaust, but I have to imagine that release is going to have limited appeal. I certainly have no interest in it. And so it gives me added hope that no figure is truly off the table, even if they aren’t a mold that can be milked over and over again.

With Takara’s release schedule it’s tough to know which MP figure I’ll be checking out next. I do still have the second production run of Red Alert still on pre-order along with another run of Optimus Prime himself. After that, we’re looking at Bumblebee and the big guy, Ultra Magnus. It’s quite a fun (and expensive!) time to be a Transformers collector. Of course it helps that I saved some money by abstaining from the Age of Extinction line.