Transformers Review – Generations Wheeljack

Intro:

Wheeljack – a name quite synonymous with the term “Mad Scientist” has been one of the most popular characters from G1. Back in the era, Wheeljack was professionally listed as an engineer. He created some of the wildest and weirdest gizmos in G1. But amongst all of his inventions, the most one that left the most legacy was undoubtedly – the Dinobots, although he did that with the help of Ratchet. Since G1, the name Wheeljack had been reused several times throughout the history of the franchise. 

The first reincarnation of the name appeared in Armada, in which his character was that of an Autobot who had defected to the Decepticons’ fold. Then, in the events of Energon/Superlink, a car named Wheeljack (Downshift in America) also appeared, whose designs were heavily influenced by his G1 self. The name again appeared in the Cybertron/ Galaxy Force line, as a robot that transformed into a Plymouth Barracuda-esque car, although he was never portrayed in the animated series. The last time the name appeared again was in the Animated series.

So yeah, the name Wheeljack has appeared repeatedly in the franchise, but none of them had any similarities in term of character and background.

Clockwise from Top: Alternators Wheeljack, Cybertron Downshift, Generations Wheeljack & Energon Wheeljack

So, after appearing in various lines, including Binaltechs/Alternators, the character finally reappeared in the highly touted Generations line.

Car mode:

 

 

            This time around, Wheeljack takes the form of a retooled Tracks mould, which is heavily influenced by the G1’s Lancia Stratos form. Although a retooled figure, I pretty much love this version of the alternate mode compared to that of Tracks. Although I’m pretty sure that this alternate mode too can transform into that flying car mode, just like Tracks, the instruction manual doesn’t state anything about it. Even if it can, I just really don’t bother about transforming him to that mode. Just for the record, I just love the front spoilers.

 

Robot mode:

 

            The robot mode is a dead ringer for its G1 counterpart. The original G1 figure was known to be one heck of a beefed-up robot. This time, he doesn’t look too bad either. Apart from the head sculpt and the paint job, Wheeljack is virtually identical to Tracks in every sense of the word. The main difference between the two, however, is the way you transform the lower body part of the figure. In Wheeljack’s case, you’d just turn the lower part of the body around, and have the duck feet as his heels instead, and its front bumpers as his feet, which is another huge nod to his G1 counterpart. 

            Articulation-wise: head and shoulders are on ball joints. The elbows have a two-point bending axle. The wrists can only turn. The waist rotates and the hips are on ball joints. The knees bend and there is a hint of ankle articulations.

            Although I prefer to have 2 shoulder canons, the instructions actually say that he should have 1 shoulder canons and two wrenches instead. Well, I’d say you can have any other way you like.

Generations Wheeljack vs Reveal the Shield Autobot Tracks

Overall:

            Overall, I love Wheeljack, to an extent, much better than Tracks, despite him being a retooled figure. I really like the paint designs that really harkens back to the original G1 figure. G1 Wheeljack is a definitely one of those characters that I can really relate to because both of us have the same profession, although err… I don’t create that many whacky gizmos like he did… heheh… Anyways, I think Hasbro did another good job with the Generations line. Keep it up guys…

Final verdict, 8.5/10.