Whirl (ROTF)

Whirl is an Autobot from the movie continuity family.

A winner, apparently.

Whirl is a practitioner of Metallikato who never plans out a strategy before first observing the situation thoroughly. He frequently clashes with his Decepticon rival Bludgeon, whom he doesn't consider a true martial arts master due to his use of dishonorable tactics.^[1] Each hopes to one day settle the question of which is the true master of the deadly martial art they practice.

A mutual respect based on observational skills and situational awareness is the basis for the bond between Whirl and his human partner, the infiltration specialist Major Sparkplug.

Fiction

Toy bios

During a battle between Whirl and Bludgeon on Earth, Whirl came out on top and defeated his dreaded rival, nearly destroying him in the process. Bludgeon (Voyager)

Ask Vector Prime

Major Sparkplug Witwicky's 10 years of intelligence work put him in good standing with Whirl. Ask Vector Prime, 5/9/2015

Toys

Revenge of the Fallen

Not a victim of Empurata... yet.

• Master of Metallikato (Multi-pack, 2009)

• Accessories: Raft/blaster

Revenge of the Fallen "Autobot Whirl" is a redeco of Evac, which is itself a retool of the Voyager Class Blackout, transforming into a Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low heavy-lift helicopter in rescue helicopter colors. An aft "cage" compartment can be opened to release a small rescue raft, which becomes a hand-held gun for robot mode. A button on the very end of his tail can be pressed in a geared action to rotate his rotor blades, but this feature really comes into play when the user attaches the Deluxe-class Scorponok figure to the bottom of Whirl's helicopter mode via two pegs. A geared shaft linked to the rotor mechanism connects to a geared peg on Scorponok's back. Thus, pressing the button on Whirl's tail not only rotates his blades, but also rotates Scorponok's pincers, though this gimmick is actually easier to activate by rotating the geared wheel on Scorponok's undercarriage.

During transformation, Whirl's Automorphing gimmick is activated when the user swings down his legs, which in turn flips the chest section his head is mounted upon up and into position. Another, less impressive Automorph is in his legs - If you pull his knees down, his shin armor pops out a bit. The figure's retooling involved a new head and new hands that can hold standard weapon pegs such as the raft which replaced the Scorponok miniature. To give Whirl his own swords, you can remove one (or two) of his rotors and fit them in his hand(s).

It is very easy for the gears in the cockpit/chest to become misaligned during transformation, enough so that the chest/head section refuses to align with the cockpit halves. Getting the gears back into alignment is a veritable nightmare, as so many other parts shift and move as you attempt to manipulate the respective pieces. Swinging the legs down locks the back assembly into place for robot mode, but simply swinging the legs back does not unlock it, with the user being required to actively separate the parts by hand. Failing to do so is sure to misalign your Whirl to bejeezus. Unfortunately, This mold's most major design flaw resides in the shoulders; there is not enough clearance for them to move past the cockpit assembly due to the tabs catching on the inner molded details. This means that the pieces have to be flexed past eachother, which can often result in the mushroom-pins/hinges to be stripped from their sockets, leading to incredibly loose shoulder joints or in the worst case, they'll be torn off completely.

Whirl was sold with the Decepticon Bludgeon as a two pack "Master of Metallikato". The set is sold as a two pack exclusive to Toys"R"Us, though it was later found in Winners stores in Canada.

The original tooling of this mold was also used to make Revenge of the Fallen Grindor.

• More information on Whirl at TFU.info

Dark of the Moon

I'll get you, Mega Man!

• Major Sparkplug / Whirl (Human Alliance Basic, 2011)

• TakaraTomy ID number: DA26
• Accessories: Two C joint mini-guns
• Known designers: Andrew Scribner (deco artist)

Part of the second wave of Basic-class Dark of the Moon MechTech Human Alliance Triple Changer figures, Whirl transforms from a robot with a big gut and ski-feet into a one-man attack helicopter with the (clear plastic) canopy painted over. He comes with two C joint mini-gun weapons which have two c-joint bars on their sides, and can be clipped onto either each other, the flip-out rockets on his hips/helicopter sides, the bars on his shoulders/tail base, or onto the posts sticking out of his arms/tail sides. He can also transform into his MechTech-compatible hand-held weapon mode, with the main rotor blades being folded into each other to form the long barrel of a gun and a 5mm post being revealed, among other changes. In an undocumented feature, the weapon can be wielded differently from what is shown in the instructions. Whirl's shoulders each have half of a 5mm peg, and if joined together with a closed hand in-between, will easily allow a figure to hold the weapon mode much like a mini-gun. This configuration, while being far more stable for a figure to handle, doesn't allow for the human ally component to be utilized.

There are a couple of differences between his various stock photos and the actual toy: the weapons below his canopy are shown to have painted orange details that the final toy lacks, while his airbrushed packaging photos additionally show him having clear yellow plastic instead of blue.

He also comes with his human partner Major Sparkplug.

• More information on Dark of the Moon Whirl at TFU.info

Notes

• Whirl's Revenge of the Fallen deco is actually an homage to his Generation 1 namesake's colors as the pre-Transformers "Ovelon Gazzette"^[2] [sic] (オベロンガゼット) toy from Dorvack. The tail's marking of "N073A0" flipped upside down is even the "leet speak" way of spelling "Ovelon".
• While Whirl's Dark of the Moon packaging bio offers no real hints that he's the same character as the Revenge of the Fallen toy, it's still made clear from his Tech Spec numbers, which are exactly the same.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Whirl (ホワール Howāru)

References