[Crazy Jetty]

Okay, I already have a small bit of history with these two toys, and characters.

When they were first announced and shown off, we were still hot into FoC, which as I've made well known do not impress me in any shape or form. These, especially springer were advertised as FoC (Which we now know are not. Blitz is obviously G1, while Springer is supposedly IDW)

On top of that... Springer just looked... weird. Add to that that Springer is a nobody to me. Never cared for his character or design, and I think he's only popular because he's the only Autobot triplechanger to get any meaningful fiction. I already had the target exclusive "War Within" Springer that was a repaint of Cyb Evac, love that mold, and that was fine with me. And the "Classics" Botcon Springer that was a repaint of Cyb Defense Hotshot didn't look remotely like him, and was just stupid. So... another weird looking Springer was a pass for me.

We got closer and better pictures surfaced... and he didn't look quite so weird.
However... since Generations 1.0, Reveal the Shield, and DotM ended, hasbro's record for toys has been exactly shit, with only two or three toys that were actually worth their price. Only one that's come close to impressing me was Thundertron (I think?), and I only have the Lioconvoy repaint of that. The rest have usually made me regret buying them, the much beloved Shockwave included.
So, while I liked the looks of Blitzwing, and Springer was borderline growing on me, I figured these were still going to be flimsy, poorly engineered, full of copouts, and made of cheap plastic.
So even though I was looking forward to Blitzwing, I didn't have high hopes. They weren't going to compare to the top of Hasbro's game.

I was right... and I was wrong, on all accounts.

I will begin with robot modes, as that's how they are packaged.

Springer
First impressions upon freeing him from his package were low. Springer has a lot to over come. A great character or a great design can overcome a mediocre mold. Springer didn't have any of these going for him, as I always found him extremely boring in both character and his G1 design. But I played with him for a day.
Robot Mode-
Grew on me. A lot. It doesn't com e across well in hasbro official photos, but he is 100% Nick Roche inspired, if not flat out Nick's design. He has Nick's trademark proportions (Which is why it looked so odd at first, before I could see the Nick influences), and his headsculpt is definitely Nick's style.
His sword, made from his chopper blades is actually impressive, which is rare for TF swords. And he has a neat gun. Pressure firing missiles that are in a very spring missile-like gun. I normally do not like firing missiles, but I prefer the pressure styled, so this makes me happy.
Kibble is used creatively and placed with artistic purpose, and the color breakdown is very artistic. After sitting on this for a day, it's very obvious now that an artistic mind, who's used to designing transformers is behind this toy. That's very rare now-a-days.
The only yellow seen on him is exclusively on his chest and behind his shoulders. The rest of his upper body is contrasted with dark, flat, warm gray. Green is added in his hips, thighs, lower arms, and head. A very flat and unremarkable green, of a shade I can't quite identify. I would normally say it's ugly, but here the subtlety works really well. Very pale cool gray is added to his scheme in his upper shins/knees... the only place this color exists on the toy.And finished off with dark warm gray on his lower shins/feet. I would be proud of this colorscheme if it were mine.

Transformation to either mode is pleasantly complex, without being difficult. Unlike most of Hasbro's recent offerings which can be transformed in a few steps, Springer feels closer to the previous Generations in terms of complexity. But this is where the toy also show's it's flaws. The tab system is horrible. Pieces do not line up well, and tabs and matching slots are extremely shallow, and barely fold, if they hold at all.The only tab that holds well is the shoulder clips in robot mode.
Also the head and chest during transformation are dangerously close to occupying negative space. Everything has to line up absolutely flawlessly in order to get it through.

Helicopter Mode-
Like the original springer, it does not represent any real helicopter, though it bares a strong resemblance to most traditional attack choppers. It has a very heavy hardcore Sci-fi feel to it, and would not look out of place in a James Cameron movie, such as ALIENS or Avatar.
The colorscheme is kinda all over the place in this mode and is a bit messy here, but still really strong and stays fairly balanced. Yellow becomes more prominent on the front and sides, but still does not overwhelm.
As I said earlier, this is where the tab system fails completely. Fortunately there's only one tab in this mode that won't hold at all, and it's not really a "load baring" tab.
Rotor blades are cleverly designed. Missile launcher is tricky to connect in this mode, and instructions do not explain how to do it at all. Kind of a dumb design choice how it clips in.

Car mode-
To be honest, my favorite mode, but the most structurally flawed.
The over all design is still extremely sci-fi, and still feels like it's fresh off the set of a Cameron movie. Again, it'd be right at home in ALIENS or Avatar.
I love a great fantasy vehicle that feels like it could work and be driven/flown in real life, and this one really hits home in a way the original Springer never did. The colorscheme is the most solid and well balanced in this mode over all others. Yellow is found exclusively on the grill and hood, while green is on the roof, and rims. dark gray makes up the rest. It sounds like a very ugly colorscheme but it works so well. Which is surprising because the yellow hood was one of the biggest turnoffs in early images. There is also absolutely no sign of there ever being a helicopter mode in this (or robot) form.
Unfortunately, this is the mode that the engineering fails the hardest. No tab at all connects and holds together in this mode, except the two that lock the shoulder joints in place to the pectoral pieces. Fortunately, the robot mode joints are pretty much solid enough to keep it almost completely stable. The only parts that really suffer from floppiness and instability are the tailfins.
Also, the way the sword/props stow under the car is dodgy at best, but still manages to be stable (at least on mine)

Fun thing to do- Connect the helicopter prop to the top of the car. It's hella funny.

Final Thoughts-
I came into Springer with extremely low expectations. And while he failed to impress me at first, over the course of constantly fiddling with him, my initial opinion has changed dramatically, and grown a lot. The mold is extremely enjoyable, despite it's sizable flaws (Engineering/tab issues, being Springer).
Something to note though... besides the head, it really does not scream "Springer." As an example, Generations Kup does not really look a whole lot like G1 Kup. Different alt mode, lots of different robot mode design elements, but it still screams "Kup" to me. Springer, for better or worse does not. Put a different head and colors, and never mention the helicopter mode (You wouldn't realize it exists without being told it does), and there's nothing about it at all that's remotely Springer-ish. Take that as you will. I've never been a Springer fan, so likeness is a non-issue for me, really.
But, I've come to love this toy. It's not as good as Generations 1.0, or RtS... plastic quality is modern Prime/FoC era, and his engineering is flawed (But at least attempted! Complex pieces are way too rare now!), but it reminds me strongly of some of Hasbro's best.
Highly Recommended.

Blitzwing's review to come in a bit (Tomorrow maybe). Took me a few hours to write this one.