Skyblast - Energon - Figure

I was going to use the "Tired of losing battle after..." spiel from the G1 Jetfire commercial, but I've done that to death in previous reviews. Anyway, as one of the Autobot's two initial Omnicons, Skyblast bears some physical resemblance to G1 Skyfire, which I understand was supposed to be his name at one point. So, with a low retail price, $6.99 at Toys R Us, and a number of accessories, let's get to the review, shall we?

Review

Set Includes

Skyblast is some form of flying craft. As the media for Energon is limited at the moment, it's unknown if he's capable of space flight, though I suspect he is, or is relegated to atmospheric flight only. That aside, Skyblast is one of the most heavily-armed jets around. There are two cannons in front of his canopy, two more barrels on either side of his fuselage, just behind the canopy, and a cannon or missile on the tip of each wing. Here's hoping he's not a pacifist. Skyblast is mostly white with maroon trim and black, gray, and gold highlights with a splash of blue hear the vents. On his underside are gripper claws that can grab a Mini-Con.

Included with Skyblast are five maroon Energon parts: a chip that attaches to the peg housing the Autobot logo in the rear center of the ship, a lance and double-barreled gun which can be combined and attached under the cockpit to give him even more firepower, and two blade halves, each of which can be placed on either wing tip.

Start-Change-Finish

To transform into robot mode, flip the claws out and swing the wings forward. Bring the lower legs down, rotate the claws to the outside of the legs, and fold the gray section up to form the feet. Rotate the chest plate 180 degrees. This will turn the cockpit around to reveal the robot head. Also, the instructions make no mention of it, but the cockpit can be folded back and then up again to allow Skyblast to turn his head. Finally, rotate the wings around 180 degrees. The newly exposed side, unfortunately, has no paint applications and looks rather bland as a result.

Robot Mode

At 4 1/2" tall to the top of his cockpit (when lowered), Skyblast is now ready to absorb Energon for use on the side of good. He features a fair amount of articulation for a toy his size: neck, ball-socket hips, bending elbows, and his shoulders rotate around and bend outward. As mentioned above, his wings in this mode lack paint applications and makes him looks a little plain, especially considering his Autobot insignias weren't painted either. You may want to leave the wings in their original position if you prefer.

Energon

The Energon parts can be arranged in a number of ways. The lance can be held like a cane or sword or attach to the gun to form a rifle. It also has a Mini-Con port making it able to attach to other Autobots or Decepticons. The blade halves can attach to the wing tips or combine and attach to the rifle to form a spear. The chip can only be attached to same location mentioned before.

Overall

Skyblast is damn nifty. He has a neat vehicle mode and a good robot form and his accessories make for a wide variety of uses. He could use a few more paint applications, but otherwise he's a good toy.

Final Grade: B+

Reviewer	Richard C. Mistron
Date	December 2nd 2003
Score	(8 out of 10)
Reads	7014

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