Highbrow review

it's been a while since I properly reviewed something for this blog. to be honest, it was mostly because I was lazy, but in my personal say, I find very few things I really like that would be worth writing more than just "it's cool" or "totally awesome", hardly anything makes me want to expound on the reason I like something nowadays. but this figure I recently got myself (thanks to some side money), and have been eyeing for a while now is really something that impresses me both on the theme of it and the overall look. so here's my review of the Transformers: Hunt for the Decepticons Voyager class Highbrow-

I love planes. not as much as tanks but I have a soft spot for old school propeller types. that said, seeing more of prop planes getting made in transformers is something I really appreciate. 

of course, Highbrow's model is a fictional fighter but it looks plausible enough, despite being armed with rather contemporary looking payload under each wing, and twin engine planes back then really had a better appeal personally. this is close to a P-38 Lightning and can be considered as a homage, due to the designation as a P+10. detailed sculpt with rivets and panel lines, well detailed cockpit interior and transparent canopy really solid mode for me.

it also has spinning rotors at the front so the playability is pretty neat!

here's a front shot, and let me tell you, he's pretty damn sexy looking from this view and the landing gear placement and orientation tips the entire body up while stationary so it's always elevated slightly which works well for it.

Obligatory gerwalk mode!

here he is in robot mode, i like about 90% of him, and that remaining 10% of disliking comes from the weird positioning of the hands. its understandable for being located where the rotor spinning motor is and not having enough space for proper deployment, but I prefer to set it at an angle so it's roughly in-line with the forearm. i really love the torso design and the legs, mostly because they have a solid, classic feel to them unlike the greeble-addled chicken-footed fare of the other recent plane types. i'm glad the movie influence on him is balanced out. partly due to the fact that the planes of the time were cigar shaped and smooth-ish, it transitioned well for the robot mode. and as noted by people before me he lacks a faction symbol. but i like him that way and i have no plans of adding one myself. he's a real robot in disguise.

of course the spin-rotor gimmick is present in both modes.

and here's the other thing that is generally like about the figure, his "aviator cap" flips down over his eyes and sits over them with transparent "goggles" absolutely genius work on the designer's part! 

  i was just wowed by how much he looks like a robotic, WW-II air jockey. like a dude wearing a green pilot's jacket over a sky-blue uniform with a silver/gray scarf, and wearing an aviator cap + goggles. and two guns holstered by his waist.

his articulation is fairly decent too, but i think he really would have benefited from a ball-jointed neck. but the poseability of the legs alone is impressive.

so yeah, Voyager Highbrow gets a 9/10 from me, and i am glad to have written a bit on him. he's just a very cool and unique looking robot that i'd highly recommend to plane buffs.