Wingfinger

Wingfinger is a Maximal Fossilizer from the Kingdom portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Wiiiiingfinger
He's the bot, the bot with the finger wings

Wingfinger rocks the Maximal ninja look.^[1]

Toys

War for Cybertron: Kingdom

Nobody lays a finger on my Wingfinger.

• Wingfinger (Deluxe Fossilizer, 2021)
  • Hasbro ID number: WFC-K25
  • TakaraTomy ID number: KD EX-08
  • TakaraTomy release date: November 27, 2021
  • Accessories: two wingtips/swords, Pteranodon skull, crest/Combiner head

• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)

Part of the third wave of War for Cybertron: Kingdom Deluxe Class figures, Wingfinger "transforms" into a skeletal Pteranodon^[2] via disassembly and reassembly in 14 steps. His shoulder, hip, and both knee joints, as well as the inner parts of his upper arms are reused parts from Paleotrex from the same line; the shoulder joint was originally Paleotrex's hip, and the inner arm was Paleotrex's inner thigh, although the ribcage pieces around them have been retooled and the tabs are longer. Wingfinger's two beast mode wingtips can become robot mode swords or be wielded in one hand as a bow (sans arrows). Each sword can also store on the back of his upper arms; this is why the tabs on the rear of his arms were lengthened. He can also use the Pteranodon skull on his back as a weapon.

As a Fossilizer, Wingfinger can split into weapons and armor compatible with the C.O.M.B.A.T. System for use by other War for Cybertron Trilogy figures (or any figure with 5 mm post compatibility). The instructions use wave-mate Wheeljack to demonstrate a crossbow or a set of shoulder armor, scythe, and wings using the entire toy. The back of the box uses Tracks instead, though with a slightly different arrangement. Oddly enough, the box art also seems to depict the figure without the beast mode's skull attached to his back.

Notably, Wingfinger's beast mode crest is a Combiner head for Fossilizer combinations, such as Mark Maher's Fossilizer Combiner consisting of Wingfinger, Paleotrex, and Ractonite.

Much like most of the toyline, Wingfinger comes with one of four possible holographic Golden Disk cards for his wave, which reveals a possible destiny of a key character.

Wingfinger suffers a common misassembly, with the feet having been pinned backwards to the wrong shins; this means his knees can't bend back very far. In the intended configuration (seen in the instructions), armor detailing matches up between the thighs and the shins. The toy comes packaged with the thighs backwards (a configuration also seen in the package art and stock render), so it's possible an error occurred in the manufacturing process, with the reversed upper legs leading to the feet being installed on the wrong ankles. As correcting this requires removing the substantial metal pin at the ankle, any attempt at correcting this unfortunately risks damaging the joint. Thankfully, the joint can be forced, achieving a much deeper bend, without any apparent damage.

Notes

• Crest size was a sexual dimorphism indicator in Pteranodon, with females having much shorter crests than males. However, Wingfinger has a short crest despite being referred to with masculine pronouns by Mark Maher at Hasbro Pulse Fan Fest 2021.
• As demonstrated by the beast mode, "Wingfinger" is a literal translation of the scientific Greek term "pterodactyl" (πτερόν + δάκτυλος pterón + dáktulos).

Foreign names

• Japanese: Wingfinger (ウイングフィンガー Uingufingā)
• Mandarin: Wèiyìlóng (China, 卫翼龙, "Guard Pteranodon")

References