If not comics, I won’t know this character much. But even with comics, I still don’t know him much because he didn’t appear in many. So why did I pursue this figure as an almost must buy in the DOTM toy line that I’m so not interested in? It’s like Backfire with only single purpose.

 

Whirl’s alternate mode is what he always is, a helicopter. Only this time is much smaller and comes with a human figure. I really don’t know what this helicopter is and also don’t think this helicopter exists. First he has open cockpit. Any slight shake will shake the pilot out. Second his hood does not have windows but only a tiny hole. So if the pilot wants to see the front, he has to stick his head to the side to look out, then he will fall off. Okay, let’s ignore the humans for now, this is a robot and he can fly by himself. This helicopter has what a small helicopter should have. The two rotors spin well and he is well armed with a missile and a chain gun on each side. Color is majority brown which is not what Whirl should have but I don’t mind. Overall, he is a nice small helicopter but please don’t try to put the human in.

 

After a first confusing but then pretty straight forward transformation, Whirl turns into a robot wearing skis. It is funny looking but I won’t argue because that’s what he has in the comics as well. But because of this, he is nearly impossible to fall down and also this is his only G1 homage. His has two eyes instead of a single one, he has hands instead of claws, and his color is brown and black instead of blue and white. The big main rotor is hanging on this back and still rotatable. He has a beer tummy but at least he is quite poseable comparing to Backfire thanks to very few kibbles and the ski feet. The chain guns can now clipped on his arms or shoulder and overall he looks okay with some fine play value.

 

Now to the highlight, third mode. From the product image and instruction, Whirl can transform into a weapon, more likely similar to a rail gun. But it is rather lame despite if sitting with the pointless human or not. But unlike Backfire, his weapon mode is very customizable. After few tweaks, he looks so much better and so much like a cool rail gun. He can adjust the shape based on the figures who are holding him and fit pretty much on everybody. While Backfire is impossible for deluxe class figures, Whirl can be held by them even a small guy like Classics Bumblebee. The trick is using two hands. When you connect Whirl’s two arms, there is a handle bar which can fit into any of the standard size fist hole. Still quite heavy for them though, especially if they have not very tight joints, but still doable on many of them. And then he is perfect for any voyager size or larger and he can adjust his shape accordingly. This Targetmaster feature is the best highlight so far for this HAB line IMO and so far I bought two of these figures because of this reason in this decide-to-pass-majority DOTM line.

 

Human figure Sparkplug. Ignore him.

 

Transformation: 8 – A much more smooth transformation comparing to Backfire and the three modes are all quite nice.
Fun: 10 – Despite helicopter and robot mode, he is a great fun as a weapon. Can’t ask for more.
Display: 8 – Helicopter mode is okay. Robot mode looks kind of funny with big stomach and huge rotor blades on the back. But the weapon mode, totally sweet.
Value: 8 – If Hasbro removed the human figure and brought the price down, this would be a solid 10. But $9.99 for a scout class triple changer and a meaningless human figure, affordable but still a little high.
Overall: 8 – Another single purpose purchase but he is even better than Backfire. Again, human figure is totally pointless. They are shorter than ROTF version humans which make them harder to sit, reach, and interact with the robots. Everything here would be taking out one point if adding the human figure in.