Warbotron WB-03A [Not] Afterburner - Pictorial Review

This review is courtesy of 1Toy. Preorder yours today!

First and foremost! I"M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! Kind on busy lately with work and the baby, tried my best to complete this as soon as I can. Sorry guys.

It's combiner after combiner nowadays! After Toyworld Roar and Unique Toys Troll, I present to you, Warbotron's rendition of Abominus's rival, Afterburner of Technobots!

Pic Credit : TFWiki

Afterburner is a member of the Technobots that was created by Grimlock in the episode Grimlock's New Brain to rival Abominus, that also made his debut in the same episode. Personally, the Technobots has the best origin of all the G1 combiners, watched the episode over and over again when I was a kid. 

G1 Afterburner
Pic Credit : TFWiki

Unlike the toy, Afterburner was portrayed in the cartoon as mostly red, the same as the rest of the Technobots.

In Package

Again, this copy is a sample and came in loose without box nor instruction. I'm not sure how far away this version is going to be from the final product. This release also haven't had his '3rd Party name' yet aside from the code WB03-A.

Alt Mode

Afterburner comes with 2 guns which almost look like the G1 version albeit they are black/grey rather than orange (and for G1, it's 2 different guns/blasters).

One thing I love about Warbotron is how their releases homage the G1 version of the characters. And Afterburner is not an exception. 

While Maketoys revamped their version of Afterburner for their Quantron set into something resembling a Tron bike, Warbotron follows the design of G1 Afterburner. Despite the look this Afterburner is quite big in hand which kind of surprised me. And I'm fairly sure that for some people, it'll be a bit too big

Unlike some other Warbotron previous releases, Afterburner comes with a little bit more detailing. The paint app is quite clean and nicely done.

The part that worries me is the front portion of the bike is made out of clear plastics. Albeit it's quite thick, it rotates on a ball joint which I see have a risk of cracking. I would prefer this part to be solid plastic as there's nothing inside it to warrant the use of clear plastic.

One other thing is the the taillight portion at the back.

This part doesn't pegged securely enough and easily detachable.

Reminds me of something......

Comparison Shots

Afterburner is just slightly bigger than TFC Warning Line but I think almost in the same scale.

Robot Mode

Transformation to robot mode is quite easy and straight forward, just like previous Warbotron's offerings.

Side View

Back View

Design wise, Afterburner is quite clean with compulsory kibbles. LOL. The tires on the back a homage to G1 Afterburner.

Head sculpt is nicely done with the exception of the long chin that restrict the movement of the head just a bit.

The middle part of the chest can be opened revealing the combiner port,

I received question whether or not Afterburner's tire (the top one) can be configured like his G1 version. Yes he can!

With this configuration, there are more clearance for the shoulder movement however he becomes more back heavy.

This might just be because my Afterburner is a sample but the swivel joint that holds the split-tire on the left is a bit loose.

I do feel the body is quite plain though. It's not that there's not enough detailing, it's just that there's no detailing that really pops out.

The tail light part from before is connected to these heels in alt mode. They should've been attached together and not removable so that there's no feeling of part forming. The heels are also quite loose and tend to swivel to the side under the weight of Afterburner.

One thing that disappoint me is the shoulder articulation. Not learning from the mistake of Heavy Noisy, Afterburner also comes with limited shoulder articulation which is worst due to the back kibble, restricting him even more.

Despite being back heavy, he is really a stable figure with the help of the solid and tight joints.

Afterburner comes with ball jointed head, hinges and swivels on the shoulders, ratchet joints on the elbows, wrists swivels, waist swivel, ratcheting universal joints on the hips, ratchet joints and the knees and also ankle tilts.

In addition, due the transformation, the body can also be tilted forward.

Aesthetic wise, he's a great figure but I also find that limitation of articulation will effect the overall feel of this figure. Still, Warbotron seems to be able to maintain their quality without any major flaw.

Comparison Shots

I knew that Afterburner is going to be big but didn't know he's even bigger than Airburst.

I couldn't help but think that Unique Toys decision of releasing Abominus is somehow related to Warbotron release of Computron.

Remember when TFC Combiner team is considered big?

Combiner Mode

Same as Air Burst, I feel like the limb mode is quite weak where some parts doesn't even lock anywhere, relying mostly on the strength of the joints.



Once I speculated that Warbotron will compliment TFC Combiner releases but seeing Warbotron's releases and Unique Toys sudden change of direction and quality, maybe I was wrong. 

If Afterburner is a testament of WB-03 quaility, I think we'll have a great Computron next year. Will it be better than Maketoys' Quantron? We shall see