Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Skystalker is Something That Exists

OK, funny story here. I finished this one up, did my (bad) photography, attempted proofreading, and put it in the publication buffer. Then a fairly compelling rumour materialised that the Core Class, a concept commented on a lot in this article, was being retired.  That may be very well have been confirmed by the time you are reading this. Hmm. That kinda puts a different filter on things. Please enjoy this belatedly re-edited article. Its been bumped up as its vaguely topical.

In Transformers collecting, there's certain subcategories I tend to fixate on. I think its the Autism. These are often small, toy first, curios. Something which I have not really seen before, and if its something I can easily acquire cheaply, good. You might think this would lead me to enjoy the modern Core class, but honestly no. I've picked up a few, but that slot has been middling as toys and too full of big names. We probably didn't need Optimus and the seekers in this size class when Siege and Earthrise already did them bigger. Twice. We probably didn't need a Dinobot combiner again either. That one left so little impact on me that I almost forgot about it. I've actually scrapped a Core class review because it was too negative, and while that Soundwave was pretty good, I've yet to find a core toy I can honestly say I'm a big fan of. Maybe that's why the class is supposedly being retired? It never really had a winner? But what I recommend is almost any toy from the time when this fixation started, the Revenge of the Fallen toyline, and its scout class. These, for better or worse, are what I consider measuring stick for smaller transformers that aren't also heads or guns. And our subject today will be a personal fave of myself and no-doubt many people, Skystalker. He’s a random guy whom is remembered solely for his toy, but his toy is rather a nice one.

 

 

Skystalker's alternate form is a fictionalised drone, with elements of the F22 and the BAE Corax according to the wiki. While pilotless vehicles and non-sentient robots were part of Transformers more or less from day one, the idea of a Cybertronian choosing human military one for a disguise was something new. Military drones in 2009ish certainly weren't well known, and while Soundwave would soon adopt such a form, Skystalker was ahead of the curve. Aircraft are always cool, but this one has the advantage of being novel, and fairly distinctive in shape. Plus its black with silver, which is always a winner. Gotta love the airforce style Decepticon markings, and the foldable landing gear has actual working wheels on it. These are all great until you look on the underside and see most of the robot mode like a horseshoe crab. And indeed realise that the sensor upfront is his face. There's significant overlap between the modes, which is an objective flaw, but I've seen people ignore that for much bigger, more modern, and more expensive toys. This was 8 dollars back in the day, wasn’t it? Something like $11.69 after inflation? We can make reasonable allowances for the pricepoint. Besides enabling jet-plane whoosh noises, Skystalker has two party pieces. The first, the best known, is a "plug on top" combination with the contemporary Mindwipe toy, evoking memories of the old G2 Dreadwing thing. I think people at the time overhyped this somewhat, combiners of any description being thin on the ground back then, but it was/is a modest positive. They do look good together, and you’ll often see them sold as a pair because of it. The other thing, a feature much less talked about, but far more involved, a third or intermediate "Battle Mode". A few of the scouts had this, although with Skystalker it was more deliberate in design. It was a classical plane with legs, or Gerwalk mode, allowing you full use of the leg articulation and actual avian poses if you try. What stops this from being incidental to the point of being a fan mode is the way the toes are spring-loaded to snap shut. Possibly on some kind of mecha-pigeon or unlucky skydiver. This further adds to the character of the toy, and why that Laserbeak repaint worked so well. Corax means raven BTW. I think that had an influence on the design team. So Skystalker is looking pretty decent on the altmode side of things, provided you don't flip him over. How does the robot mode do?

 

Also pretty decent. Actually pretty good, although in much the same manner/ratio/vibe as the drone form. The robot mode adds a lot of burgundy and beige to the colour mix, with a somewhat anonymous cyber cyclops look overall. He looks lanky and thin, with only three digits on each open hand, although the use of the engines give him powerful-looking legs.  Like a lot of toy-first ROTF toys, he's not strictly humanoid, but hes not a metal chandelier either. The word "avian" comes to mind again. The wings kinda just hang from the upper arms, but due to the transformation these are individually posable. This leads to Skystalker's generally good articulation, featuring a lot in the way of unrestricted balljoints and a thigh swivel that feels above and beyond the specification. He lacks a waist joint, and the toes take some getting used to, but you really don't feel the omissions. Again, there is character, and he doesn't feel limited by standards of a scout, or indeed a comparable modern robot form. But wait, there's more. If all Skystalker did was be posable, cheap, and attractive in robot form, that would have been fine, but he has two weapon accessories too. The typical number at the time was zero, and these are uniquely good ones. Two axes detach from the wings, and connect via a 3mm peg to the open palms. This allows you to change the angle of the weapon, which is good for posing, while a 3mm clip lets them connect to the forearms and other contemporary toys. The implementation of these is quite characterful and its not a matter of these simply stowed on the underside of the wings either. These are integrated with wings and sculpting thereof, each weapon stored into the wing opposite to the relevant hand. On the downside, loosing these accessories is bad for the altmode. On the upside, the geometric segments cut out of the wings add more visual flair. Oh, and these weapons feature two plastic colours and actual paint. How often do you see that?

A good toy is not always a perfect toy. What makes a transformers toy good is not merely matter of counting joints, considering accuracy, and checking how clean the underside is. Those are helpful metrics, true, but they aren’t everything. Skystalker has a messy underside, and no fictional presence, so two of those metrics aren't kind to him. But when I look at this chap, or a certain Cyberjet, I can’t help be disappointed with your average core class. There is a creativity here that more modern toys can lack. Is that why the core class disappointed me? Maybe its an unfair comparison to be making. The brand was flushed with money in 2009, and everything sold. Maybe another Optimus or seeker is just the safe bet, and those aren't actually bad toys, are they? Well, maybe that seeker. But if you think I’m wrong, try him yourself. He may not be easy or cheap to obtain, but there’s good reasons for that.

Blog Watch: Month 3

Well, I hope we all enjoyed the big Unicron uber review. It took a while, and hopefully excuses a lighter article today. Plus, its the end of the month, its time for another look back at the blog. The good news is that viewing figures continue to be on the upswing, crossing that all important 1000 page views milestone, although the rate of improvement is beginning to level off. Of course, I've only had about 2 and half months of data, so its not wise to put too much stock in the numbers. On the flip side, my surplus of articles has largely dried up, so I am devoting some of my time off to rebuilding that reserve. This is at least partially due to the good time I've been having with Transformers: Devastation, which is holding my attention rather well for such a short game. I also got these.

Yes, long term readers may recognise that as a Warhammer 40,000 product, a frequent topic of my old blog, and the first I've brought in about a year and a half. For newer readers: well, I liked that miniatures game a lot, but a succession of disappointing releases and PR disaster that was Age of Sigmar put me off Games Workshop as a company. Happily though, this is a Fantasy Flight game, and one extremely well received, so I took a chance on it. An article of some description is pencilled in, to be completed once I've played a few games.

On the subject of pending articles, here's a short list of what's on the chopping block, in no particular order. All of this is subject to change, as real life and new shiny things can get in the way.

Fall Of Cybertron Ultra Magnus.

Beast Machines Mirage.

The little fellow in the above picture.

A Transformers: Devastation review.

An editorial on Combiner Wars and its reception so far.

Energon Cruellock.

ROTF Depthcharge.

Hope to see you back soon.

A Concise Review of ROTF Breakdown In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Scout, 2009.

Modes: Robot and Sportscar.

Transformation Style: Shelformer, bonnet becomes legs.

Play Patterns: Robot and car.

Points Of Interest: A bayverse tribute to the G1 character of the same name.

The Good
Breakdown's altmode is in the top tier for ROTF scouts, mainly on looks. Its a fictionalised but undeniably attractive supercar, with plenty of paint, and it suits the name. The robot brings Breakdown's blue to the table, and has a quite comprehensive nineteen joints. This is partially due to the transformation, which is somewhat involved for the size, but quite intuitive. It's also an interesting inverse on the classical carformer style.

The Bad
Applying G1 elements to bayformer design aesthetics is like adding oil to water at the best of times, and Breakdown suffers badly for this. Not only does he have gorilla arms, he's got some massive and unsightly vehicle panels hanging off him. The backpack is the worst area, sticking out further than the torso is tall, but the arms are in your face. Ground clearance is car mode is minimal due to a transformation assembly. Like a majority of the ROTF/TF10 scouts, he lacks accessories and a means to use them, so play value is fairly low. Finally, perhaps as a result of me having a less than pristine example, the pelvis does not peg in properly for robot mode.

The Mediocre
It might just be me, but the car mode proportions have a slightly cutesy feel. Maybe its just the size. He also looks monstrous in robot mode, which is a either a good or bad thing depending on preferences.

The Alternatives
Breakdown recently got a toy in Combiner Wars, and while not without issue, its better than this one, and there's a few other homage recolours knocking about. There's no shortage of bayformer cars either, including a recolour, but the Stunticon-in-name-only Dead End comes to mind.

The Verdict
While not without merit, I don't like this toy that much. Judged on its own terms, the toy is an unremarkable example of the vintage, a decent attempt at a bayformer with a nice altmode, a monstrous robot mode, but undermined by shellformer engineering. The homage however is a burden the toy can't live up to, so what might have been OK, ends up as a disappointment. There's not much here, and he's been bettered since. If you like little cars, maybe consider him, but G1 fans should look towards Combiner Wars.

A Concise Review of ROTF Rollbar In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Scout/2009.

Modes: Robot and Delivery Truck.

Transformation Style: Shellforming with Automorph.

Play Patterns: Basic robot and car.

Points of interest: Very possibly based on an early Optimus Prime design. Reminiscent of the Machine Wars Hoist/Hubcap mould.

The Good

Resembling Optimus' illegitimate son in robot mode, Rollbar has a fairly heroic robot mode, and a somewhat novel altmode. The first delivery truck in the brand, he appears to toting off-brand energy drinks, and you have to give him points for style. There's also real distinction between each modes, the robot form being hyper detailed in comparison to the vehicle mode, which in itself has all the detailing it needs. He can even attempt an opening-chest-for-the-matrix pose, revealing otherwise hidden elements. The overall engineering meanwhile is extremely simple for its day, and does not share ROTF's reputation for overly complicated transformations. At this size, its a plus.

The Bad

While simple is good on a scout toy, Rollbar is a true shellformer with a spring-loaded chest plate, which is a nuisance to deal with sometimes, and can come off. The engineering results in some fairly big flaws in both modes, such as a big hollow in the robot mode, and many hinges in vehicle form. More pressingly, as with most ROTF scouts, Rollbar has no accessories, nor capability to wield them.

The Mediocre

Largely everything, taking into account his overall size and asking price. Rollbar doesn't do too much wrong, but outright successes are a bit thin on the ground. Articulation is decent at 11 points, although the overall design doesn't lend itself to dynamic poses. The delivery truck rolls well enough, but that's it. His overall appearance is nice on balance, especially if you aren't that fond on the bayformer style, but the shell kibble does annoy. 

The Alternatives:

Armorhide, available in the Cybertron line and as a 2007 exclusive version, has a comparable “tiny-not-optimus” vibe, and is a better toy overall. Also consider any similarly-sized version of Optimus Prime.

The Verdict

Rollbar is an inoffensive also-ran. There's almost nothing exciting about him, and there's certainly more interesting toys of similar vintage. But he's not terrible, and doesn't actually do anything bad on the grand scheme of things. Yes, he's a shellformer with no weapons, but these weren't uncommon problems back then, and he isn't the worst offender. If you see this fellow for a fiver, you'll get your money's worth, but if you don't like the look of him, save your cash.

A Concise Review of ROTF Reverb In 500 Words Or Less

Pricepoint/Vintage: Scout, 2009.

Modes: Robot and Racing Motorbike.

Transformation Style: Partial shellformer.
Play Pasterns: Robot and bike. Gunhand.
Points of Interest: A recolour of Knock Out into a toy homaging Beast Wars Inferno, the famously insane fire ant.

The Good
Reverb strikes a balance between bike and 'bot few Transformers do. The robot mode is nicely proportioned, and effectively articulated with 11 joints, almost entirely balljoints. His motor bike mode is nice looking, and does a good job of hiding robot bits. While he has no accessories or fist holes, he does have a gunhand, which lifts him above his kin. There's also some effective use of plastic colours, and the homage works very well given no actual remoulding was involved, and the altmode is a bike, rather than an insect.

The Bad
The motorbike mode is largely achieved by two leg panels which form the flanks, which sadly like to detach, while the tab meant to secure the waist is more a suggestion. Paint applications are also patchy, and regrettably absent in places. Engine bits and drive chain were crying out for gunmetal, and someone managed to spoil the homage by misspelling “colony”. My example also seems to be a bit loose in the joints, which is an occupational hazard in a redeco, but I got him cheap and he's six years old. So six of one, half a dozen of the other, I suppose.

The Mediocre
His robot form ends up with a lot of bike kibble on the back and shoulder, but its jointed so you can orientate it to your preference, and its not that obnoxious. I've seen much more kibbly bikeformers. There's no kickstand in bike mode, but it doesn't need one.

The Alternatives
This mould was recoloured 3 times, but there was also Brimstone of a year later. I don't own that, and its an odd design anyway, so I hesitate to comment. Alternatively, there's Animated Prowl, or if you just want another ROTF scout whom homages someone, look into Nightbeat and Breakdown.

The Verdict

There's a quality toy here, and unless its Bumblebee, Hasbro generally doesn't break out a mould four times without it having merit. That merit is a nicely articulated robot mode, a competent altmode, and a transformation that does harm either, which can be a big ask of a bikeformer. On the flipside, the leg panels are a sin, the deco needed a bit more work, and there's a general feeling its not as solid as it could be. Not fatal problems, but clearly deal-breakers for some. That said, if you like motorbikes and Beast Wars, or if you've not experienced this mould before, check him out.

Post-Auto Assembly Update

Well, Auto Assembly is over. Finished. I had a damn good time, as did everyone whom went. A thousand odd people. I also spent a lot of money on toys, here's an image of them. Consider it a preview of forthcoming review fodder.

As you can see, I went mainly for the small toys, filling in some gaps and omissions. There was a couple of holy grails, such as Meantime the Real Gear watch, and Death's Head, fulfilling a desire about as hold as my Transformers fixation. I don't actually collect action figures, so I probably won't review him.  And yes, that is a sushi roll.

Devastator, you say?

Well.

Yeah, he/they are on the review pile. And yes, he can hold that pose. The review is going to be longform, and probably will materialise in early September.