General Information:
Release Date: November 2022
Price Point: $41.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: Hasbro Pulse Exclusive
Accessories: Motorcycle wheel/weapon, Motorcycle Windshield, Energon wheel (splits into two weapons)
Thanks to my friends at Hasbro for providing me this first look at Shattered Glass Flamewar! Be sure to tune in September 30th for the Transformers panel during Hasbro PulseCon 2022 for the final Shattered Glass reveal of the year. He’s gonna be pretty rad and you don’t want to miss it!
Official images and text below in italics are from Hasbro Pulse:
Flamewar wholeheartedly believes in the Decepticon cause and the leadership of Megatron, so much so that she’s willing to lay everything on the line for it. This Decepticon Flamewar figure converts from robot to motorcycle mode in 20 steps. Deco is inspired by the Shattered Glass universe, complete with a red Decepticon logo. Comes with Fireglide figure that converts from to battle axe mode in 5 steps. Includes 2 Energon blades and dual-bladed wheel accessory.
Look for other Shattered Glass figures to build the ultimate alternate universe collection (each sold separately, subject to availability).
Includes 2 figures, 4 accessories, and instructions.
- SHATTERED GLASS COLLECTION: The Shattered Glass Collection shatters everything you know about Transformers figures. Inspired by an alternate universe where the heroic Decepticons battle the evil Autobots
- HEROIC...DECEPTICONS?: Flamewar wholeheartedly believes in the Decepticon cause and the leadership of Megatron, so much so that she’s willing to lay everything on the line for it
- CLASSIC CONVERSION: Decepticon Flamewar figure converts from robot to motorcycle mode in 20 steps. Comes with Fireglide Battlemaster figure that converts from pterodactyl to battle axe mode in 5 steps
- ALTERNATE UNIVERSE-INSPIRED DECO: This Decepticon Flamewar figure's deco is inspired by the Shattered Glass universe, complete with a red Decepticon logo. Comes with 2 Energon blades and dual-bladed wheel accessory
- COLLECT OTHER SHATTERED GLASS FIGURES: Look for other Shattered Glass figures to build the ultimate alternate universe collection (each sold separately, subject to availability)
- Figure scale: 5.5 inches
Background:
In 2005, Fun Publications held the Botcon convention where they would release a set of action figures exclusive to the event. Among these figures was Flamewar. This character was wholly dedicated to the Decepticon cause and Megatron. At the time, she was also a rarity: a female Decepticon character. Hasbro and Fun Publications gave me the chance to write the personality for this character (and recommend the use of the Energon Arcee sculpt to create the figure) and I am grateful to this day for the opportunity. At the time, I thought Flamewar would be a one off release, never to be heard from again. Boy was I wrong! Following her release at Botcon 2005, another Flamewar figure would be released at mass retail as part of Transformers Prime. Two years later Flamewar would appear again as a Botcon exclusive. Following that, she went into other media including appearances in the now defunct Transformers Legends mobile CCG, the Earth Wars mobile game, the Angry Birds game and IDW Publishing's comic books.
In July 2022, it was revealed that Hasbro would be releasing an alt-universe version of Flamewar as a part of the Shattered Glass toy line. This figure is a redeco of Legacy Arcee so you'll definitely want to check out that review. My friends at Hasbro Pulse were nice enough to provide me this early sample of Flamewar for review. Be sure to tune into PulseCon and see the final reveal of the Shattered Glass items for 2022 on September 30th!
Packaging:
The Shattered Glass packaging is similar in shape to the Legacy boxes, starting with a rectangular shape but then adding angles and what look like broken edges of glass on the top part of the window. The Transformers logo is set vertically to the right side featuring a purple to pink gradient unique to this sub-line. The sub-line "Shattered Glass" is called out on the bottom with an Decepticon symbol that looks fractured. The front also features the character's artwork in one of the angled sections while the right and left sides both feature more of the character art. Shattered Glass is established as a sub-line of Generations via the Generations logo on the left side panel. The back of the box features Flamewar and Fireglide in both modes calling out a 20 step transformation for Flamewar and 5 step for Fireglide. Behind them is a beautiful pink and purple pattern against a black background.
Unlike previous Shattered Glass releases, Flamewar does not feature a plastic sheet over the window in the front of the box. Instead, the window is open with Flamewar sitting in a cardboard tray inside. When it comes to mass retail releases, this open window can be a bit worrisome for fans who fear figures being stolen or damaged. However, given that Flamewar is pretty much coming exclusively shipped from Hasbro Pulse, this is less of a concern.
Note: Flamewar will include an exclusive comic book (the cover art is in the gallery below) but this was not included with this preview sample.
Accessories:
Flamewar includes the same accessories as Legacy Arcee and Road Rocket plus a Battle Master: Fireglide!
- Vehicle Mode Front End The front end of the motorcycle comes detached from the figure. It attaches to the section with the handlebars using a tab in a slot. This piece is made up of black and translucent blue plastic, featurin red flame details on the "wing" portions.
- Wheel/Weapon Intended to attach to the front of the vehicle is a wheel accessory. This piece is black plastic with red on the middle of the wheel and a yellow trim on the edge. The red is a callback to the wheels on the first Flamewar figure. This piece can still be used as a hand held "blade" weapon of sorts in robot mode.
- Arm Blades: The translucent dark blue disc can split into two blade weapons, each with a 5mm port and peg on them. These can attach to the sides of Flamewar's forearms (or she can hold them in her hands of course).
- Fireglide: Fireglide is a redeco of Siege Pteraxadon. Instead of green and black, Fireglide is red and black, calling back to the bow weapon included with Botcon 2014 Flamewar. Fireglide can transform from a robotic Pteranodon to an axe weapon. You can also kind of fake a crossbow style weapon by collapsing the handle in axe mode, spreading out the wings a bit and attaching this figure to the Energon weapon (you can see this in the gallery below). I love the inclusion of this figure. It adds value to the set and calls back to both the Botcon 2005 and 2014 versions of Flamewar, both of whom had bow-style weapons.
Robot Mode:
Flamewar is a straight up redeco of Legacy Arcee. This is appropriate as Botcon 2005 Flamewar was a redeco of Energon Arcee while Botcon 2014 Flamewar was a redeco of Beast Hunters Arcee. This continues that tradition. In an odd way, this sculpt somehow works better as Flamewar than Arcee. Many fans had an issue with the use of G1 aesthetics on Transformers Prime Arcee for her Legacy appearance. However, since Flamewar was always a G1-esque design, this works just fine for her.
No obvious tooling changes were made for this release but much like Road Rocket, her mid-body/waist section does not quite lock into place as tightly as Arcee does. You can pose her out just fine and she transforms without a problem, but while handling her it is very easy for the top half of the body to go flopping backwards. To me this was not a huge deal for Road Rocket so I don't see it as a big deal here but it is important to note before buying this figure.
Flamewar is made up of black and gunmetal grey plastic. The deco on her is gorgeous and takes inspiration from previous versions of the character. Red, silver, yellow and purple all come together to form details on her head, chest, waist, arms and legs. Black can really drown out detailing on a figure, so the designers made sure to paint various sections to break up the potential monotony. Among my favorite details are the yellow and red trim on the "helmet" section, the yellow on the forearms and the purple trim over the robot feet. There is a red Decepticon symbol on the collar section of the figure, a reminder that this is meant to be an alt-universe Shattered Glass version of the character. You'll notice an alpha-numeric code on the mid-body of the figure in my photos. This is a special code used for early production samples and should not appear on the mass release figure shipping in November 2022.
There has been much justified curiosity online about why an alt-universe version of Flamewar would have a color scheme that is so close to the one from the "primary" G1 based universe. I personally am not sure but I speculate that either the comic book may comment on this or it may have purely been an aesthetic choice made because her deco is so iconic. A friend of mine suggested Flamewar is kind of a visual "singularity" across the multiverse and that she looks similar in every timeline. Frankly, I'm not really stuck on this as I'm thrilled to see this deco on a "mainline" toy release (read: not exclusive to any convention or event).
All of Flamewar's joints are just as tight as those on my Arcee and Road Rocket figures. Her arm can even hold up both her Energon blade and Fireglide weapons combined so no worries from me about the joints on my copy of this figure.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Detach all the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Slide the blue forearm panels over the fists.
- Extend the section with the handlebars out, then rotate it around and push it over the top of the robot head.
- Reattach the windshield piece to the handlebar piece. Technically you don't have to do it this way, but the piece tended to fall off during transform so I thought it best to move the handlebar section into place, then reattach this piece.
- Rotate the waist around.
- Rotate the forearms around so the ports on them face back.
- Swing the legs and waist area up.
- Swing each robot arm down, then connect the forearms.
- Push the front of each foot against the heel pieces.
- Swing each lower leg out, then connect the tabs on the feet to the slot on the bar that forms inner part of the lower legs.
- Swing each wheel half out and forward.
- Swing the legs out to the sides, then rotate the legs forward, then swing the waist piece they are attached to forward.
- Swing the legs forward, tucking them over the robot shoulders.
- Connect the two halves of the rear wheel.
- Attach the front wheel to the handlebar section in front.
- The Energon blade weapons can be attached to the 5mm ports on the sides or back of the vehicle.
Vehicle Mode:
Black and gunmetal grey plastic make up most of the vehicle mode, but the headlights and windshield are translucent blue plastic. Red paint does a bulk of the work in offering some really nice color contrast. Perhaps the most dramatic detail are red flames painted on the sides of the vehicle with some red on the seat area and the back. The yellow details on the wheels and towards the middle really pop here and the purple from the robot mode peeks out a bit at the bottom. This vehicle mode deco is beautiful and I like it a lot. Perhaps the only change I would have made would be to add some yellow to the flames, but that's it.
You'll notice an alpha numeric code on my copy of this figure in the photos. These are likely due to this being an early sample. I trust mass release copies will not have this code on them.
The blade weapons can be split and connected to the back or sides of the motorcycle. Fireglide can connect to the ports on the back of the vehicle.
Final Thoughts:
Even after typing this review and taking photos and video of this figure I still kind of can't believe it exists. Aside from the Legion Class Prime Flamewar, this is the most widely released version of the character (alt universe or no) and I am absolutely thrilled. The figure is not perfect. As mentioned, there is a bit of an issue with the waist locking in, but other than that the figure is aces in my book. Recommended!
Pros:
- This sculpt somehow works better as Flamewar than Arcee.
- Beautiful deco in both modes.
- Fireglide offers added play value and a wonderful homage to both the Botcon 2005 and 2014 Flamewar figures.
Cons:
- Some fans are going to wonder why this deco was chosen for an alt-universe version of the character. I'm personally fine with it but I can see how it will bother some fans.
- The waist not "locking in" as well as it does on Arcee is unfortunate.
