DX9 Richthofen - Powerglide

Powerglide is a figure I have fond memories of. It was yet another flea market find with my father back when I was a child so it was probably a knockoff. I enjoyed that thing more for the jet mode than the robot due to many hours playing A-10 Tank Killer. While my contemporaries loved the Tomcat, Falcon, and Eagle, my favorite was the Warthog. DX9 Richthofen is another delightful upgrade to that beloved childhood toy.

Jet mode is serviceable. No one's going to mistake it for a model, but it does resemble the awesome A-10 Thunderbolt II, albeit a chubby one. In a rare example, he does not look like a robot with a jet on his back. He's mostly red plastic with some metallic trim on the engines. He has four retractable landing gears. Although they all have wheels, he doesn't really roll. Extending or stowing the front landing gear requires you to open his chest panel. The rear landing gear also serves as the attachment point for the flight stand. His rifle can peg to the underside of the nosecone. Unfortunately, the rifle doesn't also transform to more resemble the A-10's iconic Avenger cannon.

Transformation is pretty simplistic. I do not like how his feet are formed. The stabilizer wings wrap around the front of his feet, but are not long enough to run the entire length of his feet. This causes him to lean backward, but can be offset if you angle his heel spurs. It's a bit kibbly, but you could also fold up the wings and place them in front of his shins. Too bad there's no way to fold them into that space in his calves. Going back to jet mode, I do not like having to put pressure on the metallic finish of his face to rotate it away.

Robot mode looks wonderful. His chest has a panel that opens to reveal some circuitry and a heart. The paint applications there and on his crotch are cleanly applied. The metallic finish of his face highlights the beautiful sculpt. His wings could be more flush against his torso. Overall, he does not have that slightly off G1 look that is typical of most other DX9 offerings.

His head is on a hinge and swivel. I like the noticeable hard stop for when his head is pointing straight forward. His shoulders are on hinges and swivels. They can raise out and up a bit past 90 degrees if you move his shoulder pauldrons out of the way. He swivels at his biceps, wrists, waist, thighs, and knees. He can perform full curls with his double-jointed elbows. His thumbs are fixed and his fingers are single-pinned. His pointing fingers articulate separately from the rest. His hips are on universal joints with ratchets along the front-to-back axis. He can perform a decent front and side splits. He has single-jointed knees that can only curl to 90 degrees. His feet are on rockers and tilts.

His accessories include a rifle, a mask, a flight stand, and a mini Astoria. The rifle has a metallic finish and resembles a larger version of Masterpiece Bumblebee's rifle. It fits securely in his hands and doesn't use a Masterpiece-styled tab nor a standard peg. The mask is an off-white plastic, with painted eyes and teeth. It pegs onto his face while it is rotated away. The flight stand is clear plastic and requires some assembly. It works well enough holding his jet mode in place. I find it annoying that you have to disassemble the armature in order to reposition it. Astoria isn't very detailed. Her face just has a flat skin tone and her hair isn't even painted completely on the underside. Like all the other miniature people from previous figures, she will stay in the box.

I'll keep Richthofen on my DX9 shelf and use him as a Masterpiece stand-in until something better comes along. Unlike my original G1 toy, he will definitely be displayed in robot mode. He has just enough design choices that prevent me from liking him wholeheartedly. It's a fun figure though and definitely has a place in my collection.

DX9 Hanzo - Sixshot

DX9 Hanzo - Sixshot

The idea of Sixshot is awesome - six toys in one. Unfortunately, I only enjoyed DX9 Hanzo in one mode.

The transformation process, while not overly difficult, can get quite fiddly at a few places. Some ports and pegs need to be forced together with a lot pressure. Some swivels are extremely tight, making it very difficult to flip over some parts.

Car mode is not that great looking. It's vaguely shaped like one I suppose. Depending on how well you align the arms, it may or may not roll well on its rubber tires. I couldn't find any more ports so all four swords and kunai can't be mounted simultaneously. I'm not sure the rifles are even meant to be mounted where I mounted them. None of the weapons mount securely and all are prone to falling off.

Jet mode looks a little better than car mode. I'm not sure I care for the tires on top. I didn't technically complete the transformation since the tires on his shoulders won't peg in where they are supposed to. To my kids' relief, I'm not inspired to fly him through the air while making wooshing sounds.

Tank mode is a hot mess. It just looks like a robot in a Yoga pose gone wrong. There are two more cannons in his feet, but I simply was not able to get them to flip out. The treads are merely decorative and there are no tiny wheels underneath so he doesn't roll at all.

Gun mode is laughable. It's just a robot laid out without a head. You can hold it by the upper grip, but holding it by the wings will cause it to flop over.

I'm not really sold on wolf mode either. The front paws required the use of a spludger to fold out. There is some inexplicable stray paint on the back of the neck and on one of the rear legs. The wolf head sculpt is alright. His jaw can open a fair amount. He has no neck swivel, but there is a hinge at the base of the head. It does affect how far his jaws can open though. The front legs have the same articulation as his arms. The rear legs swivel at the upper thigh and have double-jointed ratcheted knees. All four feet have tilts but no rockers. Not that it would have saved this mode, but there is no tail.

Except for the proportions of his lower legs, I actually like his robot mode. The head sculpt manages to look menacing. There is some line work on his chest. His coloration is more blue than green. One shoulder keeps sagging on its hinge. The panels on both forearms keep untabbing themselves. There isn't that much paint application on this figure.

His head is on a ball joint, but you don't get much in the way of vertical articulation. His shoulders are on double hinges with ratcheted swivels. He can't raise his arms out and upward to 90 degrees and he does not have any butterfly action. He swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, thighs, and just above the knees. His thumbs are on ball jointed hinges while his fingers are single-pinned and articulate individually. They also hinge at the first and second knuckles. His double-jointed elbows can do a full curl. He has ratcheted, single-jointed knees that can only get to 90 degrees. His hips are on ratcheted universals. He can do a full side splits, but not a full front splits. You have to be mindful of his front and side hip skirts. His feet are on ratcheted, triple hinges for quite a bit of tilt action. They also have some rocking motion.

His accessories include two rifles, two swords, and two kunai. There are also shurikens hidden under the small tires on his arms. The rifles and swords are chrome with some line work. There is quite a bit of flashing on both sets of weapons. The rifles have a hinge to switch between mounting pegs or handles that mount onto tabs in his palms. I found them to be quite fiddly and his left hand keeps dropping the rifles. The kunai and shurikens are pretty plain black plastic. These weapons and the swords are simply gripped in his posable hands so your mileage may vary depending on your patience. They can also be mounted to pegs on his hip skirt and shins.

I'll be displaying Hanzo on my Toyworld/Unique Toys/DX9 shelf. The not-quite-Masterpiece styling of these figures sets them apart from my other Masterpiece shelves. I doubt I will ever bother with any of the other alternate modes ever again. Maybe it's a consequence of being a six-changer that a majority of the modes would be lackluster. At least the robot mode looks decent. Hopefully FansToys Hydra will do better.

DX9 Mightron - Megatron

For those who missed out on Masterpiece Megatron and X-Transbots Apollyon, Maketoys Despotron and now DX9 Mightron are both good options for a Masterpiece-style Megatron. None of these figures are without flaws, but I think they can mostly be overlooked or dealt with easily. It's great to have so many options.

Instead of a stupid orange plug, Mightron comes with orange tape over a transparent purple plug that simply falls off once the tape is removed.

I like Mightron's gun mode a lot. It is remarkably clean and free of holes. If only I could get that barrel connected. The stock is much cleaner than Despotron, with far fewer panel lines. The hammer and safety switch are merely decorative. The trigger has a nice spring mechanism, but it doesn't give a clicking response at the end of the pull. Whoever next gives us a Megatron should consider making it a functional cap gun. The scope functions as a very wide laser sight so don't forget to remove the batteries at some point. Fortunately, they are easy to access. The scope itself does not easily detach from the gun because of a tab right in front of the sliding mechanism. The stock feels to be a better fit for my hands than Despotron, but of course your mileage may vary. Although the robot parts are mostly well-hidden, you can still see his feet at the bottom of the stock. There seems to be a spot for a shoulder stock attachment, but one is not included in the box.

The overall transformation to gun mode is not any easier or harder than Despotron, but I couldn't figure out how to get the arms to connect with the chest to form the barrel. They kept popping out of place. I do love the transformation mechanic of the arms and legs; how they change shape with a squeeze. The process of transforming reveals some internal Die-cast parts. Make sure to attach the scope before squeezing the two halves of the arms together; I don't think you can attach it later because of that ill-placed tab. Mightron is a rare example where going back to robot mode seems to be more difficult because all the ports are held together very tightly. The gun barrel, in particular, was a bear to untab. I also had trouble extending his arms and could not pull down his side abs.

I like his head sculpt quite a bit more than Despotron, but not as much as Apollyon. Mightron's legs are much cleaner than Apollyon's, but his thighs don't transition smoothly to his lower legs. Strangely, he actually has a backpack, but his gun barrel stays in place and upright far better than the barrels on the other figures. The right side of his back is simply missing. I suppose the barrel is supposed to hide that hole. He also has no lats. At least he doesn't suffer from Despotron's loose knee or Apollyon's constant dismemberment syndrome. He has additional panels that slide down to give more bulk to his waist, but I had trouble pulling them back out. The paint application and line work are done well. He doesn't have that not-quite-Masterpiece look of the other DX9 figures like Carry, Chigurh, and Gewalt. In that respect, he's closer to their own Tyrant in styling but seems to lack Tyrant's polish.

His head is on a hinge and swivel. His shoulders are on hinges with ratcheted swivels. He swivels at the elbows, wrists, waist, and thighs. He has double-jointed elbows and single-jointed, ratcheted knees. Except for his thumbs, his fingers are single-pinned. All his fingers have a second, pinned knuckle. His thumbs and pointing fingers articulate separately from the remaining three. His hips are on ratcheted universals. The ratchets on his thighs are spaced far apart so his first A-stance is spread pretty wide. It can be difficult to stand him straight at attention. He tends to fall to his right because the die-cast barrel of his gun is not balanced by anything on his left side. His feet are on rockers and tilts. 

His accessories include a sword, a handle, a morning star, and an extra face. The sword has a transparent plastic blade with metallic silver paint. It uses a Masterpiece-style tab that works very well. The sword can join with the extra handle to form a pole arm. The blade can also split apart to make some sort of scythe-like weapon. I don't remember any version of this blade from the series. It doesn't look like the one from The Movie either. I think I'm going to give it to FansProject Sigma L; save me a purchase of Dr Wu's Soul Eater scythe. The morning star is also transparent plastic. Its size and length is more modest than the one found with Despotron. It tabs into a slot revealed when you fold away his right hand. The extra face is an angry face.

Apollyon is still safe on my Masterpiece shelf. I just need him to stand there and look like Megatron, which he accomplishes quite well. His face sculpt is my favorite amongst the three options and I can tolerate the kibble on his legs. My favorite as a toy would be Despotron, mainly because Apollyon's arms are always falling off and a little due to new toy syndrome. Mightron will occupy the shelf where I've started keeping DX9, Unique Toys, and Toyworld figures for being Masterpiece scaled, but not quite Masterpiece styled. Mightron is a fun figure, as most DX9 figures are. I'm still looking forward to whatever they put out next.

DX9 Gewalt - Blitzwing

Carry and Tyrant are two of my favorite figures from 2015. I also enjoyed Chigurh a lot. I looked forward to Gewalt (German for violence, I guess?). I like DX9's aesthetic. I wouldn't call it Masterpiece style; it's something a little different.

Gewalt comes boxed in tank mode. It's not really that successful looking. It's large, but the proportions seem kind of off. The turret is really flat and the the cannon is really short. The jet cockpit and his robot head are visible from the front. The jet wings are noticeable from the top and back. Although it's a different kind of tank and not a triple changer, Badcube Wardog looks much more successful. The turret only swivels from about 11 o'clock through about 1 o'clock. The cannon can hinge up about 45 degrees. The treads are merely decorative; he rolls on tiny wheels. The sword can store on the back of the tank, but I couldn't find a place to store his rifle. There is a pair of die-cast plates on which the turret sits.

Transformation to jet mode involves some parts-forming. The process is not difficult at all; much easier than I remember Chigurh being. Unfortunately, there are some transparent plastic hinges where the tank treads fold in half to form thrusters or missile pods under the wings.

Jet mode is somewhat better looking than tank mode, but the proportions are still odd. It is even larger than the tank and somewhat larger than Masterpiece jets. I've never been near a fighter jet, but the fuselage behind the cockpit seems overly long. The cockpit is blue transparent plastic, and has a World War II vibe. It does not open. The wheels of the landing gears allow him to roll forward. Pushing him backward causes the front landing gear to collapse. The front landing gear on mine won't stay retracted; it keeps swinging out. The canon barrel and sword can peg under each wing. There doesn't seem to be a port for his rifle. The main wings feature working flaps. The rear stabilizer wings are on ball joints. I like how the purple and tan colors reverse their proportions between the two vehicle modes.

Transformation to robot mode is also pretty simple. I don't like how his chest and flanks are just loose panels. His torso doesn't seem to collapse down, leaving an unsightly gap at the waist. His cannon pegs onto his back. Although it does not seem very secure, I've yet to have it fall off. Another piece of die-cast can be found joining the upper and lower halves of the figure.

I like his head sculpt. It certainly reminds me of the character. He has red light-piping. He's much more of a hulking beast of a figure than Chigurh is. Perhaps not canonically the correct height, but I don't mind the triple changers being larger than a standard Decepticon soldier.

His head is on a swivel and hinge, but vertical articulation is pretty limited. You can use the transformation hinge to tilt his head to his left. His shoulders are on ratcheted swivels and hinges, but you have to fiddle with the covers. They do fold flush against his biceps, but that leaves a gap at the top of each shoulder..He swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs. It's difficult to find a spot to hold him to rotate his waist because of the loose panels of his chest and flanks. His thumbs are on ball joints and articulated at the knuckles. The rest of his fingers are single-pinned and articulate individually. He is double-jointed at the elbows and knees. His knees are ratcheted. His elbows should have been, too. On my figure, the right elbow could not support the weight of the sword or rifle. I tightened a screw right next to the joint, but the threads feel like they are stripping. His hips are on universal joints. They are ratcheted. His surprisingly effective heel spurs are not meant to move, but you can swivel and hinge them around. His toes are also on swivels and hinges.

His accessories include two rifles, a sword, an alternate angry face, and replacement hips for Chigurh. His main rifle is purple plastic with decent line work, but no paint applications. It uses a Masterpiece-style tab. The sword pommel and crossguard are purple plastic, but the blade is purple transparent plastic. The shape is very stylized, with line work for added detail. It also uses a Masterpiece-style tab. I do not like Masterpiece-style tabs because they simply do not work very well. His sword and rifle keep falling off whenever I manipulate his arms. Chigurh's replacement hips are ratcheted only for the side-to-side motion. I'm not sure where the extra rifle goes. It is grey plastic, with 'DX9' embossed on the sides. I can't figure out where to peg it in any mode.

I won't be using any DX9 figures in my Masterpiece collection. Chigurh, Tyrant, and Carry are great figures, but aesthetically I'm not satisfied with them on my Masterpiece shelf. I'll be starting another group consisting mostly of UniqueToys, Toyworld, and DX9 figures, anchored by Reximus Prime and the upcoming Toyworld Optimus Prime. Just like Chigurh, it's a good effort and a fun toy, but the door is wide open for FansToys and KFC to blow us away with their Blitzwing figures.

DX9 Tyrant - Galvatron

I love the look of the cannon. Unfortunately, there is no vertical articulation. The treads are functional, but he doesn't roll. Whenever I try to push him along, he ends up tipping over because the treads are stiff and the stands are on loose swivels for transformation. The line work is accented with metallic paint.

Transformation is difficult, but mostly because the manual leaves out steps or has you do stuff too early. Joints are stiff, clearances can be tricky if you're trying to avoid scratching paint, and there is a lot of moving parts. Things did not get off to a good start because the wrist panels are difficult to open and fingers kept popping off. When folding the head into the body cavity, remember to bend him at the waist joint and to flip the the abdomen panels completely. There is plenty of room for the horns to clear if done right. Fold the head flush against the panels; don't leave it in the cavity or you won't get the arms in. Don't peg in the rear kickstand just yet; save that for last. The legs are tricky, but manageable. After transforming the cannon, clip it to the top chrome flap before folding it down. The cannon does not shove straight into the port. I wasn't able to peg the scope to the the tabs on the feet. Despite that, the canon holds together well and is very solid.

Tyrant is tall. He towers over most of the other figures in my collection. His face sculpt is appropriately menacing and is locked in a perpetual scowl. The paint application is fairly clean, but does have minor blemishes in some places. Between cannon and robot mode, the primary color switches from gray to purple. It's a neat effect. He has diecast in his feet.

His head is on a swivel and hinge. Hs shoulders are on double hinges with ratcheted swivels. The upper hinges have limited range of motion and are not strong enough to hold the weight of both an arm and his cannon. He has swivels right at the elbows. Although his elbows are double-jointed, the upper part of the joint only hinges along the frontal plane, parallel with the front of his body. His wrists and all his fingers are on ball joints. Except for his thumbs, his fingers are tabbed in at the second knuckles with tiny nubs. He swivels at the waist. His hips are on universal joints with longitudinal ratchets. He also swivels at the upper thighs and has single-jointed ratcheted knees and double-hinged feet with ankle rockers and toe tilts. His ankle tilts are a little wonky on mine, but he hasn't toppled over yet.

His accessories include an alternate clear cannon and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The matrix looks really good. It's not as hefty as the one that comes with Masterpiece Optimus Prime, but it's larger. The outer layer can slide outwards but not apart, as if he were trying to open it. I wish it clicks closed because it is always sliding apart. The clear canon is reminiscent of the original G1 toy and also works with the light-up feature. The LED stick is quite visible within that barrel though. Batteries are included.

For now, Tyrant stands on my Masterpiece shelf. I'll reassess once I get X-Transbots' and Fans Toys' figures in hand. It'll most likely go with DX9 Carry onto a shelf with the upcoming Spark Toys figures.