Power of the Primes Tailgate

Repaint or no, I’ve been looking forward to Tailgate and now he’s here!

The Card

My version of Tailgate came with a card for the Solus Prime combination – Solus Tailgate which, ironically, seems to give him Windcharger‘s special magnetic power.

The Car

The black and white is very striking on this mold and the large Autobot symbol gives it a G1 Sideswipe feel.

Unfortunately, the color-matching (or at least gloss level) between the painted parts and the white plastic is very poor giving the car a bright white stripe across the middle.

The Robot

I really like how the painted chest details makes this figure look  dramatically different from Windcharger. I also like how the new head has the little panel on the back to invoke the feel of the G1 toy.

Fortunately, the color-matching issue that is so obvious in vehicle mode is barely noticeable in robot mode.

Prime Master Integration

Of course there’s a Prime Master inside, can’t you see the empty armor?

As I mentioned in my Windcharger review, getting a Prime Master into the cockpit is a very awkward process which requires you to transform the entire back half of the car. The Prime Master fits in well but the windows are so dark that you cannot tell that it’s there.

The Comparisons

The only physical difference between the two is the head but, as mentioned above, the deco on Tailgate does a great job of differentiating the two.

Although the Thrilling 30 version captures the IDW look extremely well, it looks spindly next to this one which is equally good at capturing the G1 feel. PotP Tailgate will definitely replace the T30 version on my display.

It’s more of a draw when it comes to vehicle mode. The T30 version, despite the busy hood deco (which was omitted in the Legends release), is a good looking muscle car and holds up well with the PotP version.