The Siege Prowl mold was pretty decent for a while, though he felt a little too sleek than he really should be. The thighs and waist were too small, but the toy was pretty good for what it is. That being said, I was at first annoyed that we'd have to continue buying remakes of some Siege guys, though the reviews made me interested in seeing how he'd turn out as a new version of the guy. The design looked nicer than the Siege one, so let's see how much more fulfilling it would be.
Here we have Smokescreen in vehicle mode, which is reminiscent of the Nissan Fairlady Z he took the form of in G1. The deco is quite accurate to how it looked in the original design, though the red is a little darker and almost crimson by comparison at least on my pics. The car mode otherwise looks the part sans a few specific details, like what the G1 toy actually took the form of or the 80 instead of the 38. What I don't like are the snap-on wheel pegs; I plan to paint them silver to go along with the rest of the toy.
The weapons are able to be stored on the top of the car while the cannons can be placed on the sides of the car. A complaint that I do have is that I wish the car roof actually fits in place better than it currently is. Otherwise, there are no real discrepancies with the car.
Here is a vehicle mode comparison between him and Siege Prowl. While Siege Prowl certainly looked alien in comparison, I don't think he was too far off from the standards of the car design he and Smokescreen are based on. Smokescreen's obviously more Earthy with him being close to an actual car, so it is nice that Hasbro didn't just tweak the Siege figure to make it more Earthy, which is a similar type of praise I gave to Earthrise Optimus Prime.
Transformation is similar to the Siege version, but with a few differences of its own; mainly the torso doesn't use as many hinges as the Siege version. The legs have panels that go around the ankles to cover up the gap to an extent, and the shoulders don't work as separate pieces compared to the rest of the arms. One thing I should mention is that the piece in the middle of the windshield should NOT be moved around because it will break your toy. I'm lucky to be aware of that before owning this guy. The robot mode itself is pretty much a shrunken down MP without the licensing details added. There's not much else to say about the design in particular, though he's certainly got better-designed legs than Siege Prowl did.
Head sculpt is undoubtedly Smokescreen when it comes to the head crescent, white face, and chin guard. It gives him an inflated sense for both the design and his ego. The articulation is standard of the Siege line, similar to Arcee as mentioned previously, though he has wrist articulation. The cannons can be placed over the shoulders while
Let's go over the mold's reuses. First up, we have another Barricade to go over! This guy looks good with the mold, and while the lavender still clashes with the black, I love the gun despite its post clashing with its coloring as mentioned previously. Still, he could go for a "To Punish and Enslave" decal to further distinguish himself from Prowl, who's the good cop in contrast to the bad cop persona of Barricade. This version of the mold is included with a brighter version of Power of the Primes (Counter)Punch and is part of an Amazon 2-pack.
Now here we have Bluestreak, who also looks quite good with the mold and even has painted rims! This guy initially had the same bumper and head as Smokescreen, but that is not the case with this figure. I think he looks quite good overall, though his head was kept intact with the release of Prowl. It's not a bad thing, but it is worth mentioning. This figure was only available at Walgreens.
And finally, we have Prowl! Funny enough, this is likely one of the rare times a Prowl toy gets used from a Smokescreen (the last time that was a thing was from TFP Smokescreen having Prowl repaints). That means Earthrise Prowl is the reuse of this guy, a reverse of what happened in Siege. He's got a new bumper and head to make him better fit how he looks, which is nice given the nature of the Siege line, but I still wish the mushroom pegs would be painted black. He is included with a retooled Ironhide in an Amazon 2-pack.
We finally get an accessible Blue Bluestreak that is ironically called Silverstreak...and Hasbro Pulse said he was in the cartoon...this guy uses the Smokescreen front section but with a Bluestreak/Prowl head and was a Target-exclusive based on the packaging art of G1 Bluestreak's toy that was inaccurate to the box art for not being blue and the cartoon for missing the black on the top since that guy was basically all silver before being called Silverstreak...
And for proof that Hasbro is willing to milk anything G1 related, here is Prowl just as he dies in the 1986 movie. He has fewer paint apps, opaque windows, battle damage, and a distressed face because he died in the movie. At least he has painted rims with more gray.
Now for a robot mode comparison with Siege Prowl; I wish I could compare him to the Selects version, but I couldn't. Maybe one day. You can tell just how the design choices for each mold contrast one another, but it's mainly the legs, chest, and abdomen that stand out to me the most. Siege Prowl felt weirdly thin around the torso, especially with the thighs being so small compared to Smokescreen's. The guns are also different from one another, which is a plus on Hasbro's part.
Overall, I have been pretty content with this version of Smokescreen. The only issues I have with him are the roof tolerances and the shade of red. Beyond that, he is my favorite Deluxe in the line so far. Definitely get him if he's either Smokescreen, Barricade, Prowl, or Bluestreak.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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