Transformers Platinum Reissue Triple Changers Astrotrain and Blitzwing

So Christmas recently happened, which means I got a bunch of toys. Oh, how childhood fancy never ends, even when you’re 37. One gift I received was the reissue set of wildly colored because why not Astrotrain and Blitzwing.

When the photos of this set first began appearing online, much of the fan reaction was of disgust and puzzlement at the color choices. Neither of these figures look anything, colorwise, like their original incarnations, or even other reissues, such as the eHobby cartoon accurate Astrotrain or Overcharge. A hundred pejoratives were hurled at these figures, but I never cared. I like their wild looks, and something that strikes me a bit odd is that given the ever so slight resurgence of interest in the similarly idiotic color schemes of G2 figures, mostly astroturfed onto the fandom by the Transformers Collectors Club and some of the less inspired Botcon offerings of the last six years, these toys were never really embraced as being the G2 versions of the two characters. Instead, Blitzwing was supposedly a callback to the Duocon Flywheels and Astrotrain a reference to some crazy obscure Japan-only character who consisted of both a shuttle and a jeep or something, something that was not at all a train. I guess so, if all that self-reassuring is really worth the effort, when the easiest and, let’s be honest, most fan gratifying answer is “G2 Blitzwing lol.” But, we all know the Transformers fandom. Some people actually believe that people would be impressed by recognizing the slightest similarities between this toy and an obscure character that never appeared in any form of not-Japanese fiction, let alone the idea that the Stockholm mantra of Transformers fans is always that the toys are made for children, and the company has no cares for us as fans whatsoever. All the more evidence that these are toys purposely made to reference incredibly obscure other toys, that children and a very large number of the adult collector populous will have no concept of or connection to whatsoever. 

Anyway, as is the case with reissues, the figures themselves are unchanged and appear in their original forms. Blitzwing is a very nice maroon and brown, while Astrotrain is a perplexing white, orange and metallic blue. All the accessories are present, including the ever-baffling trio of Blitzwing missiles. I suppose if you’re not familiar with G1 Blitzwing, he has two missile launchers in jet mode, but three missiles, with no place to store a third one at all. 

Blitzwing looks nice in jet mode and great in tank mode, due to the vast majority of the tank being that brown color. It gives a very solid and unified look to the tank color wise, which is something that is always a gamble with a figure that changes into multiple vehicles essentially by rotating parts or turning things over. Again, for those unfamiliar, Blitzwing’s transformation from plane to tank is accomplished basically by flipping two thirds of the plane over and then closing what were a moment ago the wings, somewhat similar to moving around whole sides of a Rubix Cube. 

 

Astrotrain is more of a folding transformation, as the shuttle wings and train wheels basically just fold over differently to realize either mode. The issue in both vehicle modes is the orange. It comprises some pretty visible and vital parts in both forms, and it looks silly in space shuttle mode because of its placement. We can talk all day about the visual issues of having shuttle engines just sticking out of the back of a train engine, but with regular versions of the figure, they aren’t that bad or garish. 

Pretty standard packaging. 

The package for this set isn’t as nice as most other G1 reissue packaging. Most of the other post-2000 Hasbro reissues have come in that super nice bookbox packaging. Recent reissues like the Insections and Trypticon have come with some really nice boxart. Astrotrain and Blitzwing come in a standard window box, without any frills. I would have liked it if the packaging was a little more top shelf on this release. The stickers come pre-applied, which is great, because applying G1 stickers always, always sucked.

Again, it’s kind of difficult to say a whole lot about the actual figures, given that they are over thirty years old and all. All the joints and moving parts on Blitzwing are nice and solid; the legs on Astrotrain are weak, and he requires a bit of balancing the get him to stand as a result. I can’t say why the legs are loose like this. I can squash him down just a little, and the issue is solved, but he is a little shorter for it. 

A final thought on the bizarre coloring: I can understand people who think this set is a wasted opportunity to put out a legit, accurate G1 set of these two. I completely understand the strangeness of this set in its entirety, since reissues in general and the Platinum series in specific, at least as pertains to G1 toys, are “supposed” to be rereleases of the original toys, and so this crazy color palate prevents these two from fulfilling that requirement. But, we have gotten reissues of both of these figures within the last ten years, and while those may be pricey or difficult to track down, they do exist, and can be gotten. That’s all a part of the hunt, of collecting. No one ever said that this hobby would be easy, if I may get on my toy collecting high horse for a moment; no one ever said that a reissue G1 Astrotrain had to be released because you were looking for it now and the one from 2005 is too expensive or rare. If these were just straight up G1 reissues, I would have had zero interest in them. As it is, they are strange and interesting. There is something about this set that scratches my ol’ eHobby itches, those desires for ‘new’ G1 characters that aren’t just some dumb upgrade: a new character who transforms into the truck that Optimus does but looks and is different, not “Jungle Camo Aerobics Strike Optimus Prime.” In the instance of my previously mentioned G2-ification, these figures would be the first time G2 Astrotrain and Blitzwing were ever released, truly making them new toys. It just seems like a bit of a waste to put them out without any context. I understand people’s befuddlement, and even disappointment. Overall this seems like a release that is missing something, most likely in the fiction/background stage, that would offer some real sense of cohesiveness. Nonetheless, I am happy with them, and I like them a lot.