Pros: -One of the tallest figures, in recent years that's not a Commander Class. -Thick, dense, sturdy feeling plastic. -Paint apps are some of the best I've seen in recent times. -Articulation is surprisingly good. -Weapons are quite good and integrate well in both modes. Cons: -The instructions are terrible. (You can't figure out where things are supposed to connect.) -His shoulders don't seem to lock in place. (This looks to be intentional but is quite terrible in execution.) -The torso doesn't want to stay together. (You have to mistransform him or permanently modify him (requires cutting a very small amount of plastic, to make sure everything tabs together. I honestly recommend the modification.) Final thoughts: This is an appropriate homage to Prime Skyquake, but this is meant to be a pretool so the mold can be reused before it's turned into G1 Skyquake. (The original hails from the European and Japanese lines after G1 died here in the States.) And the inevitable Dreadwing repaint is waiting in the wings. I can now replace my originals as they're falling apart due to age and being made out of rubber. (Why rubber, Hasbro? No kid is poking their eyes out with an action figure's FACE. I mean, really? Missiles and swords, I get, but his face and head? Who on Earth is injuring themselves with the figure's head? Were we/are we this stupid as a species? Really?) Back to this figure... (sorry for the rant lol) I absolutely recommend it as-is, but it can be better! (*cue WW84's Maxwell Lord meme*) with a very simple modification. I saw a post on Reddit in which the guy swapped the arms at the biceps and rotated his head around to the back of the figure, while putting the wings back as if you were turning him into jet mode, and well... Nearly perfect Prime Skyquake. Such a simple trick to make such a drastic difference. (Stock look out of the box is for G1 Skyquake when it comes out.) You'll be able to do this simple mod with the Dreadwing repaint as well, once it's released. As for the permanent mod, the hinge that holds the nosecone section on the figure already has a notch in it, you just need to extend it a bit with a pair of nail clippers or an X-Acto knife (be super careful if you choose the knife, they're insanely sharp. Think scalpel... yikes.) and the front landing gear will rest in the new notch better, allowing the torso to snap together and secure properly. (This is more for leaving him in the stock, out-of-the-box look.) He's a pretty nice figure, I must say. The Evofusion gimmick with Needlenose (Deluxe Class, sold separately) is pretty neat. (Simple, too. He just slots onto the tabs sticking out of Skyquake's fuselage in jet mode.) I definitely recommend this and any and all repaints/remolds because it's one of the nicer figures they've released in recent years and is worth your money. I know everyone tries to wait for a sale on these figures, I get it, I do, but this one's actually worth the MSRP right now. (I only gave it 4 stars because it must be modified to work properly. Had it not been for the surgery, I'd have given him 5. It's simple, overlooked things like this that can cause a review to go one way or the other. Such a shame that they didn't catch this during the design phase. =\ ) All of my images are after the modifications. I've included a picture to see where the cut is made on the gray plastic.
