G1 Octane

Robot Mode: Octane is one of those figures from G1 that actually manages to look very much like his cartoon counterpart, both in face and in body. Posability is average for a G1 figure, meaning not so great, but he can move his arms at shoulders and elbow and bend his knees (together only), which puts him above a lot of other G1 figures. His wide-swept wings give him an enormous width in the upper body and the truck front on his chest only enhances his broadness. As a weapon he carries a rifle and the tailfin from the jet mode can be used as a kind of shield, though it doesn't look all that good in my opinion. Anyway, a pretty good robot mode.

Vehicle Modes: As a triple-changer Octane features two alternate modes. The first is a jet, though it looks more like a passenger or transport plane than the usual fighter jet we see in Transformers. The aircraft looks pretty good, though, and offers little to complain about. The only thing that bugs me a little is that Octane's arms stick out under the wings, but that's a minor thing.

His second alternate mode is a tanker truck. I'd call it slightly worse than the jet mode, if only because this mode depends on an additional part in the silver plate that makes up most of the tanker trailer. If you lose that one the mode is pretty much useless. Still, it looks pretty good and the stickers give some nice detailing. Octane is one of but very few triple changers featuring two pretty good alternate modes.

Remarks: One of the few memoriable Decepticons (character-wise) introduced in Season 3 of the cartoon was Octane, the third Decepticon triple-changer. A fun-loving rascal, Octane made friends with Trypticon to try and take over command of the Decepticons. After being exiled for his efforts, he joined up with the Autobots and made friends with Sandstorm, a fellow triple-changer. and then joined forces with Starscream's ghost to topple Galvatron. His fate afterwards was left up in the air, but by that point Octane was already established as one of the more rounded characters of the entire series. As a toy he might just be the best of the triple-changers (he's nose to nose with Astrotrain in my opinion), having three good modes and good looks on the side. Definitely worth getting for your G1 collection.

Rating: B+