In vehicle mode, and I'm not getting specific because I don't know exactly what he is, I think the clear winner is UW Onslaught. The sheer amount of paint apps (even on the guns!) is tremendous. It almost makes Hasbro G1 CW Onslaught look like a prototype. The G2 'Slaught could have a little more bling camo, but he's pretty decent.
Robot modes are all pretty great, each faithful to what they're representing.
BUT.
I hate the purple lights on Hasbro's G1 CW knees, TakaraTomy's knee locking tabs (for combined mode) aren't solid, and G2's knees suffer the same problem as Victorion's Pyra Magna. Damn their collective knees! They all look great though.
This fella is a mixed bag. To me UW Vortex has the better copter mode, and CW G1 Vortex has the better robot mode. The wonderful bright colors on Hasbro's really pop, however those popping colors unfortunately detract from the alt mode. On the flip side, UW Vortex looks proper in chopper mode (see what I did there?) but kinda muted by being basically just two colors (although they do go so far as to make his combiner peg two colors which is a nice touch). And G2 Vex, well, he's my bro because I had him as a kid.
Brawl Brawl Brawl... we all know that the mold has drawbacks, but that's not news. Between UW and CW G1 Brawl, he remains the most unchanged member of the team. No one made their decision between the two Brutici based on Brawl. I will say, I appreciate the G2 version more though. The other two just look boring in comparison.
I wasn't sold on him using the Rook mold as I don't see Swindle as bruiser, and that's what that mold says to me. The head sculpt is great, but when I played with UW Swindle I fell in love. The purple paint they used is glorious, and the bits of silver painted details add a surprising amount to him. And he has another two-colored combiner peg as well! As for G2, I wish there was more camo present in bot mode. Otherwise he's represntin'.
There's a lot to say about these figu-
Alright alright, get back in line boys.
Anyways, many people were upset that Hasbro made him a jet, others argued a jet made more sense but wanted a new head. Regardless, most people have made their peace with him because he mans his post as an arm pretty well. G2-Off is alright, but the head is more glaringly out of place in white for some reason.
The from scratch UW Blast-Off... isn't all I expected. I was on his side until he was in hand, but he has some issues. The chest/beer gut isn't bad in hand, but I don't like how high his shoulders are. His neck piece pops off all the time on my copy, and in arm mode his legs just do not want to stay together. Overall, his QC issues bum me out but I do like him.
It's obvious that TakaraTomy was going for cartoon accuracy, but it appears that Hasbro was going for original G1 toy accuracy. Based on those merits, I feel that one is not superior to the other as they both represent something different.
Throw Generation 2 on top of it (with it's Takara United'esq shiny paint apps) and there's a flavor for everyone!
Final Thoughts:
Out of the three, the G2 set is my #1. As a whole, they're unified spectacularly with that shiny purple camo and the chest piece is simply stunning. But my favorite figures out of all three sets is tied between Hasbro CW G1 Vortex and UW Swindle. I honestly think whatever Bruticus you choose, you can't go wrong. The only Combiner I think that could upstage him is possibly UW Computron, but only time will tell on that! Shajaki out!
good stuff
Still, glad to hear you like him.
