There were a couple of Decepticons with an additional feature, though - Dreadwind and Darkwing transformed into individual robots, but could combine their jet modes into the super-jet, Dreadwing. Given that gestalts were nothing new to TransFormers, the idea of combining vehicle modes was only slightly novel, and the results were as clumsy as one might expect from late-G1 toys. Nevertheless, I do somewhat regret not picking the both of them up.
Thankfully, then, Hasbro decided to resurrect this concept in Power of the Primes, recreating both Dreadwind and Darkwing as Deluxe class figures (released in separate waves, just to make things interesting). The gestalt jet feature has been included... but is it an improvement on the original?
Vehicle Mode:
So let's get the disappointing stuff out of the way first: yes, this is a retooling of a Combiner Wars figure. Much of the Deluxe class range in Power of the Primes is Combiner Wars compatible as the whole gimmick of the line is a combination (ahem) of the two preceding toylines. The 'Prime Armour' is a thinly disguised hand for a gestalt though, rather than doubling as a foot, they act only as heel support of unique - and articulated - foot parts supplied with the Voyager class figures.
Dreadwind is based largely on the Skydive mold, but with several alterations made both in service of making a better Dreadwind and to ensure the eventual Dreadwing super-jet is as G1-accurate as it can be. In jet mode, the former is evident in the new, circular, tube-like teal plastic intakes protruding from below the wings. The latter has led to an increased wingspan due to the inclusion of an extra part which hinges each wing onto the rear of the jet. This extra part also features a Titan/Prime Master peg, for a little additional interaction.
This toy is largely molded in pale grey plastic, with paintwork bringing the colourscheme and distribution of colour more in line with the G1 toy. Thus, the wings feature a heavy coating of teal paint and linework (represeting the G1 toy's stickers) in silver and a tampographed Decepticon insignia. The additional piece features a red panel on the front, and the rear end of the jet has been painted grey. The fins are molded in dark grey rubber with silver lines painted on, while the stabilisers are molded in solid purple plastic, much the same as the fronts of the robot's legs and his forearms, both clearly visible on the underside. The nose is molded in dark grey rubber, and the canopy is painted the same teal as the wings.
He looks pretty good, but the fact that this is just a retool of a mold which is now at least three years old is disappointing enough, without any real integration of the core PotP gimmick. On the upside, the 'Prime Armour' does look a bit like an additional booster when folded up and pegged into the top of the jet. On the downside, his head is barely disguised within the cavity on the underside of the nose section, and the reworked chest/combiner peg protrudes more than that of the original... and I think they missed a trick with the flap covering the Prime Armour socket, in that they could have sculpted a small landing wheel onto the inside... Granted, it would actually have looked daft, and meant that he'd be tilted upwards because there are no landing wheels, or even nubs representing wheels, at the back.
Major disappointment number two comes in the form of his armaments. Ignoring the weird 'gun' thing that sits in the Prime Master socket in the Prime Armour, Dreadwind is only supplied with one handgun... and, like all the Combiner Wars Aerialbots, this leaves his jet mode a little lopsided. On the upside, Skydive was the one and only CW Aerialbot to have missles actually sculpted onto the undersides of his wings, so he's never unarmed... But the G1 toy came with two handguns, so this one should have as well. Weirdly, Dreadwind's gun is a lot more solidly-built than those supplied with the CW Aerialbots, so there's one improvement...
Robot Mode:
I have to give Hasbro some credit here: despite re-using most of the body parts from an existing figure, they really tried to make Dreadwind look unique. Along with a wholly new combiner peg in the middle of his chest, the entirely chest plate has been resculpted. It doesn't really resemble the G1 toy because that had the jet's nose for a torso, and this one has it sticking up behind his head like all the Aerialbots, but he's different enough from Skydive that it takes more than a quick glance to see the common parts.
The colourscheme and distribution of colour are almost painfully G1 - pale grey is still the dominant colour, the extremities are purple with dark grey paint on the hands and feet. The shoulders and 'belt' area feature blocks of teal, the former feature convenient flat-headed metal pins, while the latter having its circular details highlighted in silver paint to match. This paint appears to represent larger, more intricate sticker detail on the G1 toy, as do the silver panels on the knees.
It's the level of sculpted detail that really elevates this toy above his G1 ancestor as, while most of it was sculpted for Skydive, the unique parts to a good job of making the whole figure look unique, as opposed to being a tired Aerialbot retool. I do feel they missed a trick with the chest - the flap could have been molded with a replica of G1 Dreadwind's jet canopy on the inside, making him look a lot more like his ancestor when it's open and ready for the Prime Armour to be pegged in. Sadly, all we get is a strange silver trapezoid on the front of the flap, and some red paint details either side as reference to the stickers on the G1 toy. It's sad to see how many sacrifices have been made due to the decision to bring back the gestalt elements of Combiner Wars for a second take on combiners in this final chapter of the Prime Wars trilogy.
Where the G1 toy could dual-wield its handguns, the PotP version only has one, unless you count the weedy thing that plugs into the Prime Armour. To be honest, though, I think that one looks too much like a serving tray when it's in his hands, and I keep wanting to put miniature glasses onto it. The dedicated handgun looks a little too large, proportionally, but doesn't hinder his elbow articulation, at least. Another fun thing is that the circular intakes on the shoulders are also 5mm sockets, so his handgun - or the Prime Master slot cover/handgun - can be pegged into either to keep his hands free for other things.
The Prime Armour is an... interesting... addition to the toyline. It's blatantly obvious what it really is, but the attempt to integrate it into the Deluxe class range in a different way is appreciated, even if it is a little underdeveloped. Open up a flap on Dreadwind's chest, and a 5mm port is revealed. The wrist peg on the Prime Armour attaches here, then the two thumbs swing back slightly to rest against the edges of the torso. From the front, it actually looks pretty good, though the particular choice of colours - matching Dreadwind, sure, but still a little garish - make it look a little strange. From any other angle, it just looks like a massive brick of tech detailing, or some sort of Cybertronian 'empathy belly'. Replacing the secondary handgun with a Prime Master doesn't activate any new features, but it does make the larger robot look pregnant... Probably best not to use a Titan Master in this context, as it would just look too creepy...
Dreadwind's head sculpt is very true to the idea of the G1 original, though I have to say I prefer the head sculpt created for the BotCon/Timelines version from the Games of Deception set. This one is far simpler, both in terms of sculpt and paintwork, and actually looks a little unfinished. For some reason, I feel there's also a sort of 'bondage mask' feel to it, and it almost looks like two different head sculpts merged into one - like the top, 'helmet' part and the bottom, with its plain white battlemask, don't quite go together. Perhaps a bit more paintwork, not least silver for the battlemask rather than white, would have improved it.
Unsurprisingly, Dreadwind's transformation is virtually identical to Skydive's, the only difference being that the wings unpeg from the central mass and swing to the back of the jet so they end up hanging off Dreadwind's calves rather than on his back, making him appear a little more streamlined in robot mode... From some angles, at least.
Similarly, his articulation is much the same. None of the new parts, or the relocated wings, have any negative impact on his range of movement, so the only problems occur when the Prime Armour is attached, as its thumbs end up right in front of his shoulders. These can be unplugged, of course, since it's not as if they add a particularly useful level of stability to the Prime Armour once pegged into the robot's chest, but they do make this additional chunk of plastic on the front of the robot look a little bit less like just a chunk of plastic pegged into the robot...
Despite this being a fairly minimal retool of a Combiner Wars figure, I was quite pleased with Dreadwind when I first picked him up. My feelings have cooled somewhat since acquiring PotP Darkwing (aka Blackwing), however. There's definitely a sense of missed opportunities with this figure alone, but they are multiplied with both figures in hand.
That said, I'm in two minds about their appearance in the Power of the Primes line at all. On the one hand, it's great that such comparatively fringe characters (while they had a decent run in the Powermasters phase of the Marvel comics, they seem to have had only one appearance in the TV show) have been reimagined for the ongoing Generations line... However, since the Powermaster gimmick hasn't been replicated in any functional form in either Titans Return or Power of the Primes, and they've been brought back only as gestalt limbs for the Voyager class figures, and largely using existing Combiner Wars molds, they come across as cheap knockoffs of the original characters. It's not as if the franchise is short of Decepticon jets - with Starscream reimagined as the torso component of a PotP gestalt, why not remake Skywarp and Thundercracker (preferably with new F-15 wings on the Air Raid mold) as his lieutenants and limbs? There may even be those clamouring for PotP Coneheads, usings the head sculpt from Unite Warriors Curse Armada Thrust and variant wings for Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet on either the Skydive or Air Raid molds.
Dreadwind - and Darkwing, who I'll try to get to sooner rather than later - are (ahem) prime examples of reimagined characters suffering by being shoehorned into the wrong toyline. Had they been random Deluxe class figures under the older, somewhat scattershot Generations banner - with or without a Powermaster gimmick, but still made with the intention of combining into the Dreadwing super-jet - they probably would have ended up far better. As they are, they're definitely sub-par... but that could honestly be said about so much of Hasbro's output in all three chapters of Prime Wars. He's a competent reworking of an existing mold, and works fairly successfully as a homage to the original character and the original toy, but he could have been so much more than that.
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