Find the YouTube version of this video HERE.

(Hasbro just released a Studio Series Thundercracker that is Voyager Class. No one out there reading this should get confused…the one I am reviewing is an old toy from 2015). Link to Hasbro Pulse …like they need it.

This is an old toy. By my calculation, maybe 11 years old? But I have seen a few of them on shelves at different toy stores, with different asking prices. I picked up mine at Toy Federation in Greer for $50. I always preferred him to Star Scream simply because Star Scream kind of got on my nerves trying to overthrow Megatron. And kind of a whiny voice and all of that. Yes…eventually I realized it was the same voice as Cobra Commander. Just the same, Thundercracker was a more likable guy to me. And I also preferred the blue color scheme.

As a kid I didn’t have Thundercracker…in fact we had no large Transformers that were popular characters. So why Thundercracker, why now? He is on my mind because of the Energon Universe. He is making himself a main character in that story, switching sides (link to Reddit) realizing most of the Decepticons are really in it just to enjoy the violence. Thundercracker has some respect for human lives, and that makes him different than say … Star Scream, who calls us humans “squishes.” Or Shockwave who really doesn’t respect anyone.

Also, though I have a desire to collect these Leader Class size modern Transformers, and the Combiner Wars is apparently the line where they began making in the way they make them now. So how does he hold up?

PACKAGING

Thundercracker came in this nice window box packaging, where you can see everything in the box very well. One thing of note, there are Autobot symbols all around this box, and this might have dissuaded someone like the SpartanNerd from looking at it, knowing I was looking for a Deception. (My preference, all but a few exceptions…Optimus Prime…etc 🙂 )

The back shows us an illustration, and tells us pretty much what we already know about Thundercracker being a Transformer who thrives on fear. And then we have the same “17 steps” kind of graphic that Hasbro still uses to tell us how difficult of a transformer this is.

FIGURE REVIEW

What do you get in the box?

Well…the thing is he comes with a ton of guns! Most of them are attached to him. But there is one spring-loaded missile launcher. Otherwise you have the impressive and tall Thundercracker in his Leader Class glory. OK. An instruction book also that isn’t that great.

So what about it? Well he stands very well. There are some parts that seem looser than I am used to seeing on new toys. For instance he has a bit of a bobble head. On the subject of his head, the face sculpt looks like Thundercracker, and he has light-piping to make his eyes glow, though it is sadly ineffective. (I would prefer battery powered lights, which the Heatboys Donatello proves can be done).

But his main joints are clicky and work very well. This Transformer hasn’t fallen down on me yet, and I have had him for about three weeks. I especially like the ratchet joints in his knees and in his upper leg area, and he also has clicky shoulders and elbows. There is no wrist articulation, and actually very little you can do with the feet. But they hold the figure up very well. The waist area ties The whole thing together and is an unchanging point for the transformation.

He looks good from behind too, with only the front end of the jet with the cockpit and nosecone visible as a backpack, which s what he is supposed to look like in the first place.

One thing I don’t like, though is that there is no way to attach the guns to his upper arms, which would be accurate to the G1 cartoon. And why not? Hasbro missed an opportunity there…speaking of…

ACCESSORIES

Thundercracker has SEVEN guns. That’s a bunch! The two big and obvious blue cannons, the two machine gun types, the missile launcher that he can hold in his hand, and there are two undocumented removable guns on his legs! (It is said that if you remove these you can get more of a show-accurate look)

Now with these you can arrange them in all kinds of ways. You can place them under the wings of the jet however you like. You can combine them into one big weapon sort of like the Power Rangers like to do (the only actual “combiner” kind of feature to this Transformer.) You can attach them to his arms, to his legs, to his wings so many ways.

TRANSFORMATION

It isn’t that difficult, but it does have a quirk. (So far every one I have has such a “quirk.”) Basically you get the arms up and out of the way, pull down the torso, and wrap the legs up behind where his head was. Then you extend the cockpit forward and the wings out. The aforementioned quirk is where the torso connects back to the bottom of the jet. This has to be lined up perfectly or it won’t go.

But to transform him back from his F-15 Eagle Fighter Jet mode, that quirk is the easiest part. There are these tabs that you lift up, and then just press behind in the recess with your fingers. After that this Transformer almost transforms itself.

(I explained everything without tiny details like the feet. You will have to go watch my YouTube video if you want to see how the transformation really works)

The accessories integrate right in to the transformation, and you can place the guns however you want. I prefer to have the big blue cannons on the inside and the machine guns on the outside. The instruction indicate putting the missile launcher under the nosecone, something I dislike very much.

FUN WITH THUNDERCRACKER

THE SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF COMBINER WARS THUNDERCRACKER

It is pretty good for a 10 or 11 year old toy. I understand that this is a re-use of Jetfire’s mold, which is also used for a Skywarp and a Starscream release from the same time period. (There are vestigial slots on his back where Jetfire had some boosters). This means that some of the loose parts are construction related and not only an artifact of sitting in a box for all this time. (You can tell from my pictures that box has been through it.) I think it is pretty dumb that they didn’t give us a better way to deal with the missile launcher in the F-15 jet mode. Placing it on the front is pretty stupid…but you could consider it like another 1980’s nostalgia piece- Galaxian, Galaga, etc. Video games where large guns seem to attach to the front of a jet-like vehicle.

Still, he has no stupid problems. I got him because I wanted a Leader Class Thundercracker…the right Transformer for NOW. I like the paint pretty good…the only paint here is a splash of orange for the “fake” cockpit on his belly and the red on his wings. The accessories are great even if the missile launcher is a miss of the big-stupid type. The only thing I dislike about the sculpt besides the lack of a way to attach the guns to the upper arms, is that recess in his shoulder area where the “quirk” of this toy is. I wish there was some way to cover those little holes is all.

But I don’t have enough complaints to subtract any points. The SpartanNerd rates the Combiner Wars Thundercracker a 5/5. He checks all of my boxes, and is exactly what I wanted…a Leader Class Thundercracker. Do you agree or disagree, Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

By the way, the Blog and the YouTube Channel are doing very well compared to all the years prior. Thanks for reading and watching!