Customer Reviews

Transformers Universe Ultra Powerglide

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Overall, this is a pretty cool update for the original Powerglide, which was a tiny red plane from the original Transformers line. The way the wings fold up, as well as the shape of the head, are reminiscent of the original design. There's even a nod to a particular episode of the original series.. but I won't give away the surprise.

There are some weaknesses in the design, though. The biggest one is the joints that the wings rotate on during transformation. The plastic is just too soft and gets mushed in the process because of the teeth designed to lock it in one of two positions. I had to consult the instructions to make sure I was doing it right. They just needed some tougher plastic for those particular parts.

Another is an annoyance. In addition to the obvious button for electronic lights and sounds, there is another button that gets pushed during transformation to make the standard transforming sound from the cartoon. This is cute and all, but in practice the button tends to get pushed and released several times when you transform it, and it gets old fast.

Finally there is the missile launcher. It has a respectable spring, but you can't aim it straight with the plane's landing gear down, and there's nowhere else to put it. And, unsurprisingly, it doesn't have anything of the paint job shown on the box.

All in all, a pretty good concept with some execution flaws.

i just got powerglide i have to say this is a good figure but the same problems still exists like the repaint his arm are tough to lock in place in robot mode but in alt/plane mode his great easy to get into and i love his sounds features plus his transforming sounds are a plus make this a better figures there are 3 version of this figure us powerglide us/jap storm cloud(Powerglide repaint) then there's Henkei Version aka G1 Accurate Repaint of powerglide G1 colors it also worth picking up but for any true g1 fan i recommend all 3 paint job/ versions of this transformer.

The first thing I noticed is that the figure is unnaturally short... then I remembered that the legs extend. Then he went from a decent figure to a great figure. Having passed on it while still in widespread retail, I decided to pick him up. It was twenty dollars well spent, as he turned out to be a great figure. His alternate mode is based on an A-10 Warthog , and is actually fairly faithful to it's real-life counterpart right down to the nose-mounted rotary cannon. Everything is very sturdy and solid in this mode - nothing feels fragile, although a way to more securely attach the wings would be nice. One of my only real gripes would be the arms poking out of the front, although this could certainly have turned out worse, as the fists are at least hidden... which brings me to my worst gripe about this particular copy of the figure: it came with two left fists. At first I thought the fists had been switched (oh screwdriver...) but I looked and the right fist was correct (sorry screwdriver...). Interesting, but novel.
Robot mode is very nice in my opinion. I tend to think of the translucent orange pieces as large cannons. The wings on mine tab in fairly tight, but I must echo the complaint from one reviewer about the rotational joint for the wing transformation. The pressure from the teeth causes the somewhat weak plastic to stress... something that could turn into a problem. What paint there is is placed well. The figure is altogether quite nice, with a good design and several homages to the original G1 figure, and even a nice episode-specific reference. And for the price, he really is a good buy.

Finaly , another Renegade Gobot turned Decepdicon has been updated into a brand new toy , now all I have to do is paint his few remaining red parts purple, his blue eyes red and replace his autobot symbol with a decepticon one and I will have turned another transformers toy into a gobot like I did transformers animated activators black and white police patrol car Bumblebee ( Bugbite ) .

The figure is accurate as to how the original G1, but the color is wrong. In his alternately looked very good.

Indeed it would not buy it, but they offer and I could not resist.

There is a version of Takara Tomy which is much better, but its price is double that of Hasbro.

La figura es fiel en cuanto a la forma al original g1, pero el color esta mal. En su forma alterna se mira muy bien.

En verdad no iba a comprarla, pero la pusieron en oferta y no pude resistirme.

Hay una version de Takara Tomy que es mucho mejor, pero su precio es el doble que la de Hasbro.

This toy was a good buy for my 4 year old son, he was very happy to get it and played with it for quite some time when we initially opened it. It is probably for a child of at least 6 therefore I have to do the difficult "transformations" for him. Also, it is sturdy and well constructed, thus it should be around for a while. I am considering buying the other figures for him.

poor power glide was so tiny back in the 80s. he kinda looks like a tool, the way he is displayed in the pics, but the accually toy looks great. i am not really sure about durablity.

I've always liked the little mini-bot G1 powerglide (who is still on display in my den), and when I saw this larger version, I had to snatch him up at once.
The first time transforming him, the transformation sound effect button got hit a few too many times, but it was not long before I had the transformation down well.
Though another reviewer had a complaint about weak joints, mine holds together well on sturdy joints and the shoulder wings snap into place very nicely.
The only complaint I had was the rocket launcher, easily fixed by tossing the missle and keeping the gattling gun end facing forward in both modes.
Overall, a great Transformer for the collector.

The look for Powerglide is pretty cool, but it has two serious design flaws in robot mode:
1) The arms are affixed to the wings. Wings which don't want to fasten securely to the torso in robot mode. Result? Gimpy arms.
2) The thighs have a 360 degree rotation (basically the "kung fu grip" feature but on thighs instead of upper arms). The swivel joint tends to turn when you try to stand him up.

Basically, this Powerglide is great if you want to pretend that one of your Autobots got totally falling-down drunk and then smashed his shoulders up in a bad skiing accident.

I was surprised to find this nice-sized toy for such a low price. My son has had about 8 Transformers and he clearly likes this one the most. I'm surprised that he's able to transform it as well as he is. Bumblebee is much harder for him. It makes three different shooting sounds plus that great transforming sounds we big kids grew up on. I recommend this one.