Generations IDW Deluxe Windblade - Pictorial Review

Now for the release that lots of fans have been looking forward to. Back in 2013, Hasbro started an initiative for fans to be involved in creating a whole new character, the "Fan-Built Bot".

There were 2 polls conducted, the first one commenced from April 18th 2013 to May 5th 2013 for fans to decide her faction, alternate mode, weapon, color scheme, and also personality; while the poll from May 10th 2013 to May 17th 2013 was conducted to select her name, gender, origin, and specialty. And all of that gave birth to Windblade.

Art By Sarah Stone
Pic Credit : TFWiki

Windblade has a four-issue miniseries, published by IDW from April to July 2014 while a second miniseries was planned under the title "Windblade Returns" which was changed back to "Transformers : Windblade"

Windblade comes from Caminus, a place whose inhabitants were cut off from Cybertron for millions of years. This change when Thunderclash came to seek help from Cityspeaker in order to aid Metroplex.



In Package

Windblade is release under the Generations banner which make her the 2nd [significant] new character after Generations Drift. And coincidentally, both sporting japanese-aesthetic [but more obvious on Windblade].

Back View

Finally now I understand where Hasbro is going with the <Number> of 30 on their past releases, counting up to 30 of 30 for this Fan-Built character.

Alt Mode

Windblade transform into a black and red VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) jet with the fans one on each wing. Transformation is quite easy as it's mostly quite obvious where the parts go in jet mode.

There are quite a few robot parts visible on the underside especially the hands which are put in the same way as Generations Thunderwing.

The fans spin and also can be rotated more than 90o to the front, adding a bit detailing on the jet mode.

Detailing aside, it's quite annoying that the alt mode have a hard time staying togather with few pegs doesn't lock tightly.

Size Comparison

With IDW Armada Starscream

Windblade is roughly the same size as Generations IDW Armada Starscream which frankly is quite small.

Robot Mode


Now, for the best part!

Honestly, I love Windblade's design. From the VTOL jet, Windblade transform into a heavily Japanese-aesthetic female robot with Kabuki-theatre-style makeup. Transformation to robot mode is quite straight forward with most transformation on the legs.

Side View

Windblade is basically kibble-free aside from the wings on her side and the nosecone, giving the same basic design as most jet/plane-alt mode robots.

I'm sure the design was intended that way but I couldn't help but think was there any ties between the design of her face and of Nijika's?

The Face of the Nijika

The marking around Windblade's eyes is actually the mark of Caminus, one of the first Titan created by the Knights Of Cybertron. Caminus, who was the closest friend of Metroplex, left Cybertron to colonize new world and landed on small world soon to be named Caminus.

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Windblade comes with a sword, named Stormfall, and a scabbard. The fact that she can hold the scabbard on its side really-really surprised me. I was a fan of Hongkong comic books, those with the warriors, superpower, kungfu etc and this way of holding the sword is wicked cool!

What's better than a figure having a good weapon? A figure that can hold the weapon properly.

I can't find it on the instruction (or maybe I missed it) but the scabbard can be attached on her back rather than what people proposed online for the scabbard to be attached on the side (fairly loose, easy to fall off).

One thing that I never knew about her is that the yellow part at the back of her head is not merely a head-piece.

It is actuallty a hand-held fan that can be detached. For few this might not be something big but I applaud Hasbro for the detailing they put on her design and aesthetic which really suits her personality.

Now, for the not so good part of the figure. The design of the legs causes Windblade to be a bit unstable and hard to stand in different poses [no issue when standing still or stances where the legs are not far apart]. Also, the shoulder pieces that are suppose to connect to the body doesn't really sits there securely and easy to detach [especially on the left shoulders on mine]

Aside from those issues, she is GORGEOUS! Get yourself a Stage Act or any kind of stand and you'll see how great her design is. Windblade's head is one a swivel and a hinge (from transformation) allowing her to turn her head to the side and also upward/[a bit of]downward movement. However, the collar does interfere with her articulation and limiting her head's side-to-side turn. The shoulders are on ball joints while there are swivel joints on he biceps. The elbows are on hinges that allow 90o bend to the front while her wrists are on swivel joints.

Windblade also comes with a waist swivel, universal joints on her thigh [which are a bit limited due to design issue] and also hinges on her knees,

Holding with 2 hands

Size Comparison

With IDW Armada Starscream

Windblade is the same as IDW Armada Starscream which I can totally tolerate considering she's a fembot and that's how tall I imagined she'd be.

With Generations Drift

Great scale! With Windblade's aesthetic, she fits really with Drift. This is acceptable if somehow Hasbro decided, like I did, that she's a fembot and should be a bit smaller. If not, the size is just another example of Hasbro cost-cutting way doing stuff nowadays.

I wonder will Windblade team-up with Drift in the future...

Now, her role as the Cityspeaker...

The Cityspeaker

Welcome to Transformers, Windblade!