Review – MakeToys’ Bomber

Yesterday we took a look at Hover (review here), the unofficial Transformers Seaspray from MakeToys (website). A nice design with a few minor problems, as I mentioned in the review Hover was not my main reason for buying the boxed set of two minibots. Bomber, who we’re now going to examine, was my primary target and while not as nice as the X Transbots Glider toy (review here) it’s a decent little transforming robot toy.

There Are Knees Under That Jet!

Looking at Bomber in jet mode everything’s looking nice until you flip him over and realize that in addition to a robot face under the jet (which isn’t all that big a deal) he’s also got his knees and part of his legs hanging from the underside of the jet mode. Where the X Transbots Glider (review here) used an ingenius transformation to give the robot mode height MakeToys just didn’t bother with fully concealing the robot’s legs. That’s a pretty bad start to what will, as you’ll see, actually turn out to be a pretty neat toy.

A Simple Transformation

Whether we’re looking at this release from MakeToys, the X Transbots Glider, or the original 1985 Transformers Powerglide (see the Transformers Wiki) there’s one feature that stays the same in the toy’s transformation: The wings unfold from those bomb pods hanging under each wing. And the head rotates around, though you have to raise the canopy before twisting since the piece actually locks into a slot and holds the head in place in jet mode. Overall Bomber is easy to transform, even if I do keep trying to jam his knees all of the way into the body in jet mode.

Articulation

Like his companion, Hover (review here), Bomber has a lot more articulation than the original 1985 official toy. We’re again seeing ball-joints — shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and neck — as well as swivel joints at the ankles that are part of the transformation process but actually help with the toy’s poseability. The toy isn’t as poseable as the X Transbots Glider (review here), but considering that this set of two robots is cheaper than one Glider I think it’s likely just a little unfair of me to keep comparing the toys to each other.

Sculpt

Both Hover and Bomber look good, with sharp angles and clearly Transformers Generation One designs that make these, in my opinion, look a lot better than Hasbro’s official movie toys. Bomber’s face is excellent, and it wasn’t until looking at both of these toys at once that I realized just how close the Powerglide and Seaspray face designs look to each other. But that’s probably because Seaspray has never been one of the characters I’ve had much interest in.

Closing Thoughts

If it wasn’t for the fact that Bomber has knees under him in jet mode, and that this is only available in a two-pack, I’d be recommending that you run out today and buy this not-Powerglide toy if you have any interest at all in Generation One Transformers toy designs. The plastic feels good, the sculpt looks great, and the robot mode is fun if not quite as much fun as the X Transbots Glider (review here).

But rather than saying “go, order now!” I’m instead going to suggest that if you buy only one unofficial Powerglide that you go with Glider. He may cost more, but in the end I think Glider is a better value because the jet mode is a lot nicer and the toy’s plastic and design feels slightly more durable than Bomber.

If you’re able to then get both. As you can see in the above pic, the two look pretty sweet together.

Philip Reed does hope that MakeToys takes this mold and brings us their own version of Bad Boy (see the Transformers Wiki).