The paint in bot mode is just as it should be, if not lacking JUST a tiny bit due to class size. He has all his grey and red bits and though a few places are left unpainted, none of them really NEED it in my opinion, and I can actually forgive this because they actually painted both top and bottom of his wings, so that was nice of them. The eyes are painted red, so no piping there, but the torso does have that translucent (not transclearant
) plastic that the other figures of this size have including the energon weapons he has, which take the form of two jet missiles that also look like the guns that his arms can change into on the show. They cover up just enough of the arm and hand to give that impression, too!
The detail of the figure is quite nice, and there are a few bits I didn't expect them to put in like tiny vents in the chest, or how the robot thumbs double as the strange nosecone 'fin' things in jet mode as he has in the show. Also, they give him individual fingers even though most of his hand is covered by jet-nose.
Articulation is great for this size, and it consists of these points: Swivel feet, fully rear bending knees, ball-joint hips, full bend elbows, an oddly placed bicep hinge used for conversion, ball joint elbows, connected to a hinge for conversion, vertical head movement, and the wings can be somewhat posed, I suppose.
Conversion (Robot to Jet) is simple, and very fun: fold down and rotate the rubber rear fin and pull down, pull down wings, collapse arm hinges, fold back head, then bring arms together and place on main body, move wings back up, then bend the knees and place the holes on the bottom of the feet to the red pegs near his waist, bring down rear fin, adjust wings, then compress to liking. Attach weapons if desired to the bottoms of the wings.
Jet mode is pretty great for a smaller figure, and though it lacks landing gear of any kind, his robot mode knee-spikes hold up the rear of the jet quite nicely. In this mode he retains the exact same colors as in robot mode, though the clear red 'energon' parts that were present in the torso are not stressed in this mode, for obvious reasons. Yes, he does have some bot parts visible from the bottom, and the feet can technically be seen from the top of the jet, but they don't stick out or get in the way, and if you angle them so the toes point inward rather than straight up like the packaging suggests, they look quite nice, really. The rear top fin is rubber, but not TOO soft, and the very tip of the nose of the jet is rubber, but it's solid enough to not bother.
Overall, this is a superb figure and a completely acceptable substitute for the First Edition (for now). The conversion is fun and intuitive, the robot mode is very fun and delightfully sinister, and the jet mode is almost cool enough to display on it's own or to even get a second figure to have them in both modes! I can definitely see this mold being repainted into his Seeker brethren, and I would be very disappointed if it weren't. Overall, I would recommend this with no reservations whatsoever, and I am quite picky about my figures. I even enjoy the weapons! I simply cannot compare him to any other figure of this caliber because as of yet, there have not been figures this small, simple, and honestly brilliant all at the same time.
11 out of 10. Get it if you see it.
