Transformers Cybertron Skywarp review

While the Unicron Trilogy did represent other Seekers past Starscream, it was mostly in ways different from other media like we saw with G1, Animated, Cyberverse, etc. Armada had Thundercracker "represented" as a recolor Starscream received in a few episodes before his death, though the English dub had him name-drop his ally while Japan never mentioned the character. Skywarp and Ramjet were repainted from the Starscream mold but never appeared or were alluded to in the show; meanwhile, Thrust was a separate design from Screamer yet had two different Powerlinx repaints: a Dirge recolor Hasbro sold and a running change version that was barely sold in US stores with a proper G1 color scheme. There was even a version of Sunstorm on that mold! Energon had no such luck for anyone past Starscream, but Cybertron did bring in Thundercracker as a smaller character with a cannon for an arm. The paint jobs of Thrust, Dirge, and Sunstorm were homaged for the Cybertron and Universe 2008 lines, but it all depends on either having the proper name or the scale they were made for. Skywarp, amusingly, had a more faithful color scheme with the Legends of Cybertron toy sold at SDCC, but the mainline got a recolor of Thundercracker! He may be more purple, but will that stop him from being recommended? Let's find out.

Here we have Skywarp in his jet mode, which is based on a Sukhoi Su-37 fighter jet. While not exactly made by the same manufacturer that gave us the classic F-14 or the badass F-22, it still feels appropriate for a Seeker-type design. We have a shape similar to the former, in addition to the stabilizer fins that are undoubtedly shaped similarly to the G1 jets. While null rays aren't present under the wings, we do have a few missiles or bombs that come with most military jets. What deviates this from the classics, however, is the addition of vertical fins near the cockpit as well as a nosecone pointing downwards. Whether this is due to Hasbro adhering to safety standards like with their version of Armada Starscream or just how they designed the jet is unknown. You do have some robot kibble underneath, but this is still a pretty decent jet in spite of its sort of gaudy color scheme. Honestly, purple would be fine if this was mixed with teal (Slipstream) or black (a generic Seeker).

His Cyber Key gimmick, which includes one of the Earth variety, has the fuselage pop up to reveal a cannon, complete with launching missile via two gray tabs on the sides. Reminds me a bit of Reveal the Shield Lugnut's attack feature, only spring loaded and not phallic.

For a size comparison, here he is next to the Legacy United version of Cybertron Starscream. I'm not sure how much bigger the original version of the larger get is compared to its 2024 counterpart (probably by 25%), but at least the mindset that Starscream turning into a gunship-type of jet isn't entirely lost with this comparison.

For a look at a jet mode somewhat similar to Skywarp's, here is the SS86 version of G1 Thundercracker. Obviously, they have their own differences that make these far less 1:1 with each other, but you can tell HasTak designers wanted to find something fairly close to what Seekers used to turn into before going even further with the Classics Deluxe Starscream. Funny enough, I bet the Legends version of Thundercracker was repainted into a few G1 Seekers, so maybe they weren't far off. As for Thundercracker, I have things to say about him, don't you worry.

His transformation is pretty similar to how the average Seeker design works. The cockpit area folds down, the legs are straightened, the arms are brought out, though this time, they are in different positions throughout the jet mode. The spine of the jet mode becomes the left arm, meaning we have asymmetry rarely seen on a design like this. The downside is that while the robot mode itself is fairly close to what we normally expect with a generic Seeker design, the left arm ends up being much longer and unwieldy than the right arm since it's all cannon. A similar trait was seen with Nitro Zeus from The Last Knight, yet somehow he has better proportions than what we have here with his arms not being as unbalanced despite one of them being the entire front section of his jet mode. This design always came across like a clumsier take on the Seeker design, but maybe that's the point if we consider Thundercracker's role in the series. Cybertron depicted him as a dimwitted goofball with firepower potential, hence the left arm being intentionally clumsy design work. Other things like the upside down wings and his hips being so far apart add to that awkwardness, though I should mention that the left arm should be watched out for if it starts sagging.

His head sculpt is yet another take on the G1 design, though it feels like a mix between the shape of the Armada and Energon versions of Starscream. It's appropriately blocky and has the vague shape carried over, though with unique details of its own that make him less 1:1. While light piping is included, it doesn't always work the best. As for the articulation, the neck, shoulders, biceps, and thighs are in swivels, while the in and out arm movement, elbows, and knees are on hinges; the left arm has a double joint rather than a single joint. Finally, the hips are on ball joints. And yes, the missile can still be fired without the need of a Cyber Key.

As far as repaints are concerned, this is actually the original use of the mold. Thundercracker was also deviated heavily from the classic color scheme yet felt more faithful in bot mode with a mix of blue and grey compared to Skywarp depending on just purple and white. I wouldn't mind getting this so there can be two Seekers that are like a weak yet funny duo that follow Starscream. The Hasbro version has more paint apps than the Takara version.

The last version of the mold we got was for the 2007 movie line in the form of a Walmart exclusive named Divebomb. This was one of the more bizarre attempts at trying to repaint a Unicron Trilogy mold and putting it next to the realistic bots from that film. The lemony yellow mixed with brown just feels out of place, and it feels more like a Shattered Glassc version of Thundercracker 

For a size comparison, here he is next to the same Starscream from earlier. Once again, the new Voyager is smaller than what we had before, but the scale should still be accurate. Honestly, Skywarp feels like one of the weakest molds from the line. I like the idea of having some asymmetry, but the left arm is ridiculously impractical with how it's designed. I also wish more tabs were used on the torso so it wouldn't depend on friction to keep everything in place, especially the left arm. He is a fairly inexpensive figure in the aftermarket, but I still find Skywarp a bit mediocre as a repaint. Just stick with Thundercracker and skip this or Divebomb. Only reason why I own this version of the mold was because I usually review figures right after they arrive from eBay.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Animated Soundwave review

It's that time again for another Transformers Animated review, this time for a Deception with unique origins amongst his kind. Rather than be a normal member of the faction, Soundwave vegan life as a Trojan horse of sorts: a gift made by Megatron intended for Sari's birthday. Knowing she would use the Allspark Key to upgrade this seemingly innocent toy, what Megatron expected was to use Soundwave as a new body before it ended up gaining sentience and turning against humans for technological superiority. While initially unwilling to attack the Autobots from refusal to harm other machines, he was tricked into believing they were traitors for serving the humans he despised. Soundwave didn't make that many appearances in the show, yet he still felt like he was a pretty prominent dude overall. Makes me wonder what he'd be like if he fully joined the Decepticons. Anyways, the revolution is now, because he now takes the review spotlight!

Here we have Soundwave in his vehicle mode. A stylized Scion XB with music elements, this alt mode further solidifies my belief that it was always meant to be a jukebox on wheels. I mean, if you remember the first Cars movie where one of the prankster cars, DJ, was a tuned out Scion with a jukebox in the trunk as well as tons of equalizers to make the altmode all about music. It has a Hot Wheels vibe with the angular profile, stylized rims, and thinner windows than normally possible on the real car, and the Allspark Blue accents actually compliment the toy rather than make it gaudy like in many Allspark Power figures (mainly the Target exclusive versions of Bee, Barry, Brawl, and Jazz). I also like the gold for the logo and the custom bumper made to resemble the tape deck buttons. I hope whoever came up with these design elements got a raise because they know how to make kickass cars I want to see in real life.

Laserbeak can tab on the top, which adds for some funky storage considering how much he comes off like a promotional tour car more than anything this time.

One thing that does suck is that the equalizer on the back is not painted, which was probably neglected because of the bot mode deco, but I would like to see some extra details on the back.

For an alt mode size comparison, here he is next to Earthrise Trailbreaker (the Legacy United Autobots Stand United version, specifically). While the scale has changed between figures from 2008 to 2020, these two seem fairly reasonable if we consider Trailbreaker is a pretty small pickup truck only bulked up with a camper on the back. Thankfully, Animated Soundwave feels nicer to hold and mess around with than Trailbreaker when it comes to plastic quality.

Before we go further in the robot mode, I need to point out a minor yet glaring design flaw: the knees are misassembled in a way that makes him bowlegged. It seems that only my copy was affected, yet this never happened for other people compared to the widespread issue that plagued many Electrostatic Soundwaves. The transformation isn't affected, but he's stuck in that cowboy stance.

First, you need to unscrew the shins from the inside of the lower legs. Be sure not to lose the screws and have them organized properly so they don't get assembled all wrong!

Then you must slide the joints from the swivel pegs before swapping them at the ball joints used for the knees. That way, the sides that are going inwards face each other while the flatter sides are flush with the thighs.

Once completed, you now have this look for the knees. Properly straightened and healthy for fighting against the humans oppressing the machines. On a side note, his beef with organic lifeforms could make him and Beast Era Megatron buddies while they teach the average Japanese Tokusatsu villain how to better hate the human race than just "erm they're heckin' bad ☝️🤓". That being said, that serial number on the shin looks rough...

Anyways, the transformation is pretty fun to go back and forth, mostly with the legs just doing all this twisting and turning to go from the front of the car to the lower legs, not to mention the way the tires face forward on the shoulders or the chest and head snapping in place feeling more satisfying than on other toys. It's this mix of nice plastic quality and addictive engineering that makes you want to pick up an Animated Transformer and play with it. The resulting robot mode is a great reimagining of the classic design Soundwave had in G1, but heavily creating an identity of its own unlike most past versions of Soundwave we had since 2018 that used the evergreen design. He's got shoulder speakers to amplify his audio, dynamic proportions rather than generic blocky ones, and an even stronger music influence than the G1 version's tape deck altmode. This dude could easily infiltrate a DJ booth and blend in fine enough if he doesn't want to attack the humans partying! You'd think the purists would be on board with this look, though I bet even a stylized remaining of the G1 design would be seen as an unholy insult that would trigger them as much as whenever Soundwave has a drastically different design like in the films or Prime.

His head sculpt is meant to be based on the way some characters from 2000 AD's ABC Warriors had their eyes shaped, but it's kind of vague in terms of how the homage turned out. Still, I love the badass shape of the visor contrasted by the bigger cheek guards and mouthplate, making him still look awesome in spite of being cartoony. He looks like he could play Fat Joe's album in the series and get away with licensing fees! How articulation consists of swivels at the neck and waist, ball joints at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, as well as hinges at the ankles. Using the knobs on the guitar as pegs for the screw holes means he can be posed rocking it out with Laserbeak!

As for Laserbeak's bird mode, spite it in half to form the wings, slide the top part down to form a more feather-like tail, and shorten the guitar neck to complete the look. I wish the eyes were painted but this is still one of the best ways to integrate Laserbeak without making him a tape.

As far as reuses are concerned, the Takara version of Soundwave has a metallic coat of paint while the Decepticon insignias are fully colored. I may add some Reprolabels to complete the purple look on the logos for the Hasbro copy...

We later got Electrostatic Shockwave that casts him in grey with red and lavender accents. Instead of Laserbeak, he comes with Ratbat the keytar. I almost want to get this just for Ratbat, but the deco looks cool on Soundwave.

The Takara version manages to be even better, replacing the grey with black, lavender with silver, and adding some gold on Ratbat. If there was ever a Takara Animated repaint to get, make this one of them!

For anyone wondering how well he would look with a modern Animated toy, or at least one set ing as a retool, here he is next to the recent Age of the Primes version of Animated Wreck-Gar. Though clearly a retool of a spiky Junkion and not really matching the source material anywhere near as well as the other Animated characters we got in the series (other than the Autotrooper), these two Allspark Key creations (Allsparkeyrations?) don't look too different from each other when it comes to the overall aesthetics. Overall, Animated Soundwave is a great figure to have from the Deluxe Class cast of characters, especially with that rockstar vibe that makes him want to rock the face off any unsuspecting Autobot. Even if he wasn't part of the main group of Animated Decepticons, I recommend you get him ASAP. 

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

McFarlane DC Multiverse Wally West Flash & Dark Flash review

It's that time of the year where we take a look at a DC superhero known to not only run fast as hell, but to also affect continuity wherever he goes. Ignoring the Golden Age, everyone immediately thinks of Barry Allen as THE main Flash, but there is always a second best when it comes to Wally West. Whereas the former was more serious and intelligent, no doubt thanks to his scientific experience, while the latter tends to be witty and often times seen as "relatable" before millennial writers ruined that kind of character trait. Despite Wally being a successor to Barry, he is somehow better tapped into the Speed Force, no doubt likely a trait we see whenever the new guy surpasses the original in feats (such as Gohan surpassing his dad, Goku). As for Dark Flash, he represents the Lightning Knights and one of the many minions under the Darkest Knight, aka The Batman Who Laughs. Without further ado, let's see if these speedsters are worth picking up or leaving behind in the dust.

Here we have Dark Flash in-hand, who represents a twisted version of Flash as he appeared in the Rebirth era. As far as I can tell, this is either a new mold inspired by the costume that was modded for this character specifically, or it is a retool of an existing Rebirth Flash. That being said, it is unique for having the sleeves torn off while the shoulders and wrists remain covered up. I really want to like the entire look of the figure, but I'm not entirely sold on the use of yellow when mixed with the charcoal black and the very pale and chalky lavender skin. A wash or some dry-brushing would help blend in with the darker color scheme, especially with the yellow given how that fits a traditionally vibrant Flash costume. We'll get into a prior version of the character in a moment, but as far as aesthetics go, the lavender and yellow hold the rest of the otherwise solid, corrupted design back.

His head sculpt is appropriately zombified, all stemming from the Lightning Knights being evil and twisted from the traditional heroism found in most Speedsters. I bet he looks like MCU Thanos under that mask, albeit with a double chin.

Since we already know the standards of McFarlane DC Multiverse articulation, his sole accessories are two alternate heads that feature slightly different snarling expressions, which makes perfect sense if you want to army build duplicates of them into a fairly frightening (speed) force. However, the original Dark Flash, originally a Gold Label release, had lightning effect parts that went on his limbs while the costume had black boots, gold on the logo, waist, thighs, ear pieces, and wrist guards, and black within the chest logo. I wish those paint apps that were removed on the Red Platinum version were kept so as to make the costume more complete, though I guess that can be justified with the yellow now being relocated to the boots. It's a weird trade off, especially with how much I get reminded of when Hasbro does this with slightly altered versions of their figures whenever they come with a new accessory or two. If you really want a version of him to go with the rogues gallery of everyone's favorite scarlet speedster, who am I to judge you?

As for Wally West, he is a reuse of the Flashpoint version of Barry Allen, which is the Blue Beetle body to my recollection. New to this figure is a diaper piece with the symmetrical lightning bolt and more generic boot tops. What I like best about the figure is the use of gold to distinguish him further from Barry. Unlike Barry, his eyes are whited out, and the chest logo has a black outline on the circle and lightning bolt. This isn't the first time we had a Wally Flash; the Task Force wave featuring Darkseid as the BAF had this as sort of a pretool with pixelated paint apps to simulate the video game artstyle. I skipped the entire wave but own the Darkseid BAF as someone who prefers my New God villain in titular, darker colors. Instead of an alternate head or BAF parts, this new Wally West Flash has alternate hands in the form of a pair of fists and splayed open hands, as well as a right pointing hand and a left flat open hand.

Let's bring em together and see how well either of them fit well with Dark Flash. Neither have the sculpted details that DF had, but the yellow on the figure matches Barry fine enough. If I had the regular Gold Label version, it would probably fit with Wally a tiny bit more. Just remember neither matches the more modern design of the Lightning Knight.

Overall, I would have to give Wally West the advantage because not only are the alternate hands more versatile than two barely different snarling heads, but you're more likely going to want to complete the 90s JLA group than you are the more recent run of DC. Hell, between this, and both Page Punchers for Barry Allen with the same hands and Jay Garrick means we have more options to complete a more classic (or at least pre-2000s/pre-New 52 Justice League). Wally wins, and Lightning loses.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Dark Flash)

⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Wally West)

Marvel Legends Retro Spider-Man Villains Electro & Mysterio review

Two foes we've seen regularly in Spider-Man mythos often continue the trend of wearing green and having their own unique abilities that briefly put our hero in a pickle before he outsmarts them as per usual. Electro, aka Max Dillon, gained his abilities after being struck by lightning, while Mysterio used visual effects as his abilities to throw people off. They continue the trend of being green along with most of the Spider-Man villains, but they at least have slightly different shades in addition to  being the focus of today's review. Let's see how well these two retro carded figures turned out!

Here we have Electro in-hand. Using the Spider-UK body, which is familiar to me with the Gamerverse PS4 version from years ago, this is a fairly appropriate mold choice for a character like him. It's neither too skinny as with the Pizza Spidey body he once had in the Space Venom wave, nor is it too bulky while maintaining a fairly close approximation of the comic physique. However, being a comic figure, his costume details are tampographed with yellow paint that thankfully isn't too inconsistent with the parts molded in yellow plastic. The same can be said with the yellow parts with any green paint, though the boots have the green spikes match the legs slightly less. While the costume was fairly simple, we at least have the forearms with the spikes that add to the electric theme.

His head sculpt adds to the comic factor with an absurd star-like mask that is very jagged and radical, no doubt fitting someone who's value is pure shock from everything he conducts towards Spider-Man. As for his articulation, the head is on a ball and disk hinge combo, the shoulders move front and back as well as in and out, the biceps swivel, double-joints for the elbows, and both fisted and electric hands can swivel on their pegs as well as hinge in and out. The torso uses an ab crunch as well as a waist swivel, while the hips can move front and back as well as in and out. The thighs swivel, knees are double-jointed, boots swivel, and the feet are able to hinge and rock side to side.

As for Mysterio, this is not our first stab at the character; the Retro version had a suit filled with rich textures and the like, which originated from the 2017 Lizard BAF line around the time Homecoming came out. This version, based on the 90s animated series, uses the Vulcan body with character-appropriate gloves and boots. However, as is the case of Hasbro's own beliefs and approaches to homaging the series they either use poorly applied shading like on the VHS sets or leaving them with saturated plastic colors that may be too shiny to some. This is more matte than other Legends of late, and thankfully the color discrepancy between the limbs and the pinless joints is far less noticeable here. The cape is the typical sculpted het fairly regal trope seen on many Hasbro Legends with capes, though this one has trouble staying in place without the help of some additional tabs. It stays in fine with the dome weighing it down in place somewhat. While the color break up does its job fine, deco is mostly reserved for the belt buckle, the boots, and maybe the diamond-shaped fasteners on the cape?

While the articulation is mostly the same as Electro, Mysterio has accessories unique to him. These translucent tentacles and head are neat even if they lack deco, and while the former can snap onto the legs, the latter can be held in either open hand or used on the empty neck. He does, however, come with the alternate head for his alias, Quinton Beck. Being a new sculpt compared to Electro being a reissue, he has a more realistic aesthetic compared to older Legends figures, and that generally clashes with the animated aesthetics. Word of advice: be ready to deal with the cape not wanting to stay in place without the dome.

Here we have them alongside Renew Your Vows Spider-Man, aka the one who has been my classic Spidey for a few years (still not interested in Maximum, sorry). Honestly, both figures do just fine enough jobs at what they are supposed to represent. Electro being a reissue is okay, though be ready to pay slightly more than what he cost in 2020. Meanwhile, Mysterio suffers from the cape not staying in place and having few paint apps, but the accessory count does him some favors. Electro should be at shops like BigBadToyStore while Mysterio stays a Walmart exclusive.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (both)