About the character/toy
Wheeljack in Transformers: Prime is the fifth (sixth, if you count Energon Downshift, who was called Wheeljack in Super Link) Transformers character to have that name. Unlike the original Wheeljack, who was an inventor who's inventions often blew up in his own face, Prime Wheeljack is a member of the Wreckers who loves slicing Decepticons and inventing gadgets to blow them up, as well as hanging out with his former Wrecker friend Bulkhead.
Wheeljack's toy was released as part of the first wave of Transformers: Prime Robots in Disguise Deluxe-class figures in 2012 and later re-released in the sixth wave, now packaged with a DVD with the episode Loose Cannons.
Wheeljack's toy was released as part of the first wave of Transformers: Prime Robots in Disguise Deluxe-class figures in 2012 and later re-released in the sixth wave, now packaged with a DVD with the episode Loose Cannons.
Vehicle mode
Wheeljack's vehicle mode is, according to TFWiki, a modified 2011 Lancia New Stratos Concept, a very fitting robot mode, since his Generation 1 progenitor transformed into a Lancia Stratos Turbo.
In keeping with being a vehicle mode homage to the original Wheeljack, Prime Wheeljack is predominantly white, with red and green detailing on his hood, roof, and sides. Said detailing doesn't mirror that on G1 Wheeljack, but it certainly does call back to him.
His vehicle mode looks excellent, with my only real complaint being that the spoiler seems a little small, but making it bigger would have probably messed up his transformation, so I can see why it's that size.
For accessories, Wheeljack includes two swords which can either peg underneath his vehicle mode (as depicted in the photographs) or underneath his bumper as an attack mode. The attack mode looks very silly and makes me think of a car with tusks, so I tend to not use it.
For show accuracy, it's actually very hard to find screenshots of Wheeljack's vehicle mode in the show (I wasn't able to find any clear screenshots), but even using the blurry screenshot I have, he still looks very show-accurate.
Wheeljack's vehicle mode measures about 4.75 inches long.
In keeping with being a vehicle mode homage to the original Wheeljack, Prime Wheeljack is predominantly white, with red and green detailing on his hood, roof, and sides. Said detailing doesn't mirror that on G1 Wheeljack, but it certainly does call back to him.
His vehicle mode looks excellent, with my only real complaint being that the spoiler seems a little small, but making it bigger would have probably messed up his transformation, so I can see why it's that size.
For accessories, Wheeljack includes two swords which can either peg underneath his vehicle mode (as depicted in the photographs) or underneath his bumper as an attack mode. The attack mode looks very silly and makes me think of a car with tusks, so I tend to not use it.
For show accuracy, it's actually very hard to find screenshots of Wheeljack's vehicle mode in the show (I wasn't able to find any clear screenshots), but even using the blurry screenshot I have, he still looks very show-accurate.
Wheeljack's vehicle mode measures about 4.75 inches long.
Robot mode
Unlike my previous reviews, I'm not going to detail how to transform Wheeljack, just due to being more complex than a G1 figure.
Wheeljack's robot mode is, like his vehicle mode, an homage to the original Wheeljack. He has a head design very reminiscent of the original, "wings" behind the head, lower legs formed from the hood of the car, and his chest is meant to look like his vehicle mode roof.
One thing I find really neat about Wheeljack is how his legs are formed, while his lower legs are his car hood, it's not simply just "flip the feet down". You have to rotate the center portion of the hood around, slide up the two sides that were left, rotate them to the sides, rotate his legs forward, and then flip up his feet. It's just a neat little touch that I think makes this toy very interesting.
Much like his vehicle mode, his robot mode looks excellent, with two flaws that I must point out. The first flaw is that the halves of his windshield just hang off his arms. While it doesn't impede articulation in any form, I really wish they could have maybe just had them fold down against his arms. The second flaw is that, due to his leg transformation, when looking at him from the side, he has chunks on the back of his legs that his feet are attached to. Again, this flaw doesn't impede the toy in any form, but I still feel the need to mention it.
Articulation-wise, Wheeljack is very poseable. His head is on a balljoint; his shoulders can rotate around, swing out a little bit, and bend forward and back; he has double hinged elbows, one below the wheel and one below that piece; his wrists are both hinged and on a balljoint; he doesn't have any waist articulation due to his transformation, but he has balljointed hips, a rotating joint at the hip, hinge knees, and and his feet are on balljoints, albeit limited when moving them forward.
In addition to his articulation, Wheeljack can wield his swords in his hands, store them in slots next to his wings (with the curves of his body matching the curves of the swords), or peg them into 5mm posts on his shoulders. He also features blue lightpiped eyes.
As far as show accuracy goes, Wheeljack is very accurate to the show model. The only differences between the two are that the show model's wings and feet are larger, the lack of windshield kibble on the arms, and the show model's mouthplate can retract revealing a normal mouth underneath.
Wheeljack's robot mode measures about 5.5 inches tall.
Wheeljack's robot mode is, like his vehicle mode, an homage to the original Wheeljack. He has a head design very reminiscent of the original, "wings" behind the head, lower legs formed from the hood of the car, and his chest is meant to look like his vehicle mode roof.
One thing I find really neat about Wheeljack is how his legs are formed, while his lower legs are his car hood, it's not simply just "flip the feet down". You have to rotate the center portion of the hood around, slide up the two sides that were left, rotate them to the sides, rotate his legs forward, and then flip up his feet. It's just a neat little touch that I think makes this toy very interesting.
Much like his vehicle mode, his robot mode looks excellent, with two flaws that I must point out. The first flaw is that the halves of his windshield just hang off his arms. While it doesn't impede articulation in any form, I really wish they could have maybe just had them fold down against his arms. The second flaw is that, due to his leg transformation, when looking at him from the side, he has chunks on the back of his legs that his feet are attached to. Again, this flaw doesn't impede the toy in any form, but I still feel the need to mention it.
Articulation-wise, Wheeljack is very poseable. His head is on a balljoint; his shoulders can rotate around, swing out a little bit, and bend forward and back; he has double hinged elbows, one below the wheel and one below that piece; his wrists are both hinged and on a balljoint; he doesn't have any waist articulation due to his transformation, but he has balljointed hips, a rotating joint at the hip, hinge knees, and and his feet are on balljoints, albeit limited when moving them forward.
In addition to his articulation, Wheeljack can wield his swords in his hands, store them in slots next to his wings (with the curves of his body matching the curves of the swords), or peg them into 5mm posts on his shoulders. He also features blue lightpiped eyes.
As far as show accuracy goes, Wheeljack is very accurate to the show model. The only differences between the two are that the show model's wings and feet are larger, the lack of windshield kibble on the arms, and the show model's mouthplate can retract revealing a normal mouth underneath.
Wheeljack's robot mode measures about 5.5 inches tall.
Final thoughts
I have no real attachment to the character of Wheeljack, despite being a fan of Transformers: Prime, so there's no real inherent 'bias' that I must admit.
That being said, I feel that Wheeljack is a toy with an excellent vehicle mode, an excellent (but with two minor flaws mentioned above) robot mode, a unique transformation, and great articulation. He is definitely one to pick up and since he only came out a couple years ago, he's not particularly rare or anything.
Viola rates Wheeljack:
9/10
That being said, I feel that Wheeljack is a toy with an excellent vehicle mode, an excellent (but with two minor flaws mentioned above) robot mode, a unique transformation, and great articulation. He is definitely one to pick up and since he only came out a couple years ago, he's not particularly rare or anything.
Viola rates Wheeljack:
9/10