At some point retailers were all, yeah, okay, we get it, there’s lots of Transformers toys. Turns out we like them, we just don’t like-like them. And so Wheeljack/Que‘s wave never came out in the United States. And a bunch of other stuff. But Asia got them! And so, after the fact, I got a Wheeljack/Que sent from Asia for myself and Graham, doubled up to save on shipping.
(Man, how bad is “Que” as a name? It’s like Michael Bay just flat-out plagiarizes a James Bond character, but then they realize, uh, I don’t think we can call him that, for real, so why don’t we… spell it badly…?)
Wheeljack is your typical movie-style Transformer. He’s all panels and greebles. He’s not too counter-intuitive to transform, though, and the only thing that bugs me about him is how the bright blue parts on the front of his shins like to pop off at a moment’s notice. Also, his legs are shades of TFPrime Vehicon, since they’re formed from the entire roof. (But not the hood.) I was afraid he was gonna be a monster to get back into car mode, but he wasn’t too bad.
He comes with a MechTech weapon, same as the other DOTM Deluxes. It’s a saw! A saw with a bipid, and he can carry it like a Ghostbuster containment unit. Kinda sweet. He also comes with three clip-on weapons. These do not store in vehicle mode. They do clip onto him kind of awkwardly in robot mode, like he’s got extra limbs on his ribcage which happen to be blowtorches. But Wheeljack’s supposed to be a gadgety guy, so it makes sense. (I have to say, a spear is pretty much the least Wheeljack-esque weapon ever.)
SPOILERS: He’s dead. And so it feels weird to buy a guy who’s already offed. But then I catch myself, and realize, hey, that’s the situation with everyone in that movie. And the new guy who lived, Mirage, doesn’t get a toy, ‘cuz Ferrari hates you.
The “ripoff James Bond” idea is fine until you realize that “Q” is for “Quartermaster” who is the person in an army who supplies the troops, making it 100% appropriate for the James Bond character and Wheeljack.
As I remember it, Mirage got a name change for DOTM as well, due to copyright issues: “Dino”. Because, hey, that sounds Italian…right?
Well, not so much copyright issues as “that’s what they called him on the set,” and “Ferrari didn’t want Hasbro to put one of their names on him, because Ferrari is crazy.”
So is that the real reason there’s no Mirage figure? Because of all the DOTM characters, Mirage would have been the only one I would buy. But Ferrari poo-poo’d it? *Sigh*….lamesauce.
Ferarri has an exclusive contract with Mattel apparently.
…then why did they put a Fearri in their 200 million dollar commercial?
I still don’t know if “Que” or “Dino” is the worse name for a transformer, neither really makes much sense or sounds appealing.
I keep pronouncing “Que” as though it were French. Wheeljack? What? &c.
Looking closely, Que/Wheeljack’s mustache and round glasses make sense, but to me, a quick glance of the toy’s face gives me somewhat of a Jigsaw vibe…
“Oh…hey Wheelj…I mean, Que, how are OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE??”
2011 was the year of action figure blue balls.
The lack of Wheeljack and Mirage really put a damper on my toy buying for the third movie… I don’t need another six Bumblebees (the two I have from the first movie still work perfectly well), so really all I ended up buying was Leader Ironhide. And sadness. I got plenty of sadness.
Dumb question, but where’d you manage to score him? I’ve been trying to find one myself for ages.
He got it from Asia, natch.
(It was probably BBTS or some such)
That head looks a little bit like a skull.
Dino Ferrari anybody?
While I feel for those that will miss out on HA Soundwave, Deluxe Leadfoot, Wheeljack, and Soundwave, I don’t really give a crap. I was over the movie toys when the end credits rolled for ROTF. If this means our shelves will be full of Generations instead, I welcome the news.