G2 Vortex is the recolour of Vortex from the Combaticons. He transformers into a Aerospatiale Dauphin helicopter, and becomes one of the arms of Bruticus, although you can use him to form any limb. He’s also a retool of Alpha Bravo. He’s in a cool blue shade with purple camouflage prints, that are pretty close to the purple of the Decepticon symbol. I actually like this redeco because it looks evil (generally this sort of blue along with purple looks evil) and is actually pretty OK, rather than being flamboyantly retro.
He’s available as part of the G2 Bruticus box set that retails for SGD$199.90, and he was launched on 15 June. G2 Bruticus is the last of the G2 combiner recolours, unless a G2 Defensor one appears! Thanks Hasbro for G2 Bruticus!
Alternate Mode
The purple and blue (I like blue OK) colours actually fit in even with modern aesthetics, unless you want super realistic vehicles, of which then you really should just be customising them yourselves. Maybe I’m biased. Anyway, the colours are pretty unified, since there are different shades of purple all over the vehicle. Not sure about the purple missiles, but then I’ve always had a thing about missiles that are anything but grey.
Not bad right? At least it’s not eye-piercingly neon. If it were some other colour base (yellow, for instance) I might be complaining, but the blue here works. And the purple. He could be the definitive Decepticon mascot, maybe after Soundwave. Or Darkwing/Dreadwind.
Robot Mode
The purple nicely highlights and accents his body, giving him a V-shaped look and a stronger, more masculine appearance. Normally helicopter bots, well, being helicopters I don’t suppose there are many ways you can look big and broad and V-shaped. Not that G2 Vortex actually has a V-shaped torso, but the purple on his body makes it seem that way.
The worry about the rotors is still there, but it blends in much better with the rest of his body now. His purple missiles kind of look like punching gloves on his fists now. Not sure if that was intentional, but it’s a good melee option should Vortex find himself in a brawl! No, not that kind of Brawl.
G2 Vortex’s weapon is pretty standard, so no surprises there. Then again, I would prefer that they focus on the actual robot itself, and not the weapon, unless the weapon is a key part of the robot. Your mileage may vary here.
Comparisons
I’d go for G2 here, simply because he leverages on the fact that he’s a toy and goes all out to embrace it, colour-wise. The original Vortex would look OK if not for the bright yellow missiles, which are rather conspicuous for a war helicopter.
So here’s my thoughts on G2 Vortex! Maybe I’ll swap out my original Bruticus’ arms for this G2 Vortex’s. It might end up looking better… but it is a different aesthetic, so we’ll see, we’ll see.
Check out my other reviews on G2 Bruticus here!
G2 Bruticus giftset
[Transformers] ‘G2 Bruticus’ looks surprisingly colour co-ordinated
[Transformers] ‘G2 Onslaught’ has a friendly disco feel
[Transformers] ‘G2 Brawl’ from the G2 Bruticus giftset has a sleepy vibe to him
[Transformers] ‘G2 Swindle’ looks like Targetmaster Scoop’s brother
[Transformers] ‘G2 Blast Off’ has a sweet robot mode
[Transformers] ‘G2 Vortex’ could be the new Decepticon mascot
[Transformers] ‘G2 Shockwave’ from the G2 Bruticus giftset looks cheerful
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