Review: #12
Name: Skyhammer
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Dark of the Moon
Year of Release: 2011
Size Class: Voyager (Wave 2)
Variations: None
ALTERNATE MODE:
Skyhammer transforms into a helicopter that is not based on a real vehicle (at least, not that I know of). One thing that you might find odd would be that he has no tail rotor, but he still looks really awesome. The main rotor spins freely, and he has three-point landing gear (sadly, only molded wheels).
The colours are drab, but suitable, and not too boring. Even without the MechTech weapon (which I will come back to later in it's own section) he is well armed, with a missile pod under each wing.
The missile pods are detachable and are able to be plugged into slots on the side, I do think it looks better under the wings, but whatever your preference I suppose, it's nice how the weapons are so versatile though.
From head on, the various air intakes makes Skyhammer look really good. However, the two air intakes on top of the cockpit just sit there and doesn't clip in, so it can be dislodged easily. Unfortunately, quality control on the the third movie toys seems a bit low, as half of the cockpit on my figure is is unpainted, nothing major, but it's a bit surprising (I'm just glad it wasn't a defect of the figure affecting transformation).
It's not all good news however, looking from the back, there's a bit of a gap in the fuselage, but everything is solid, and pegs together well (albeit too well, making it annoying to clip everything together perfectly when transforming). While he is clearly bigger than a Deluxe sized figure, he's also noticeably smaller than Voyagers of the past, I had expected it but it was still shocking.
Then there's the placement of the MechTech weapon, AKA the big-out-of-proportion-gun that-does-not-suit-the-figure, unlike Automorph and Mech Alive in the lines before, MechTech is something which I find very lame and impacted greatly upon the figure (mostly the obvious side reduction). Anyway, enough about those complaints, you can plug the MechTech weapon in three different configurations. The first one is plugging it into the side, which is my preferred way, and you'll see why later, it looks alright there, albeit the helicopter is now a bit unbalanced.
The second position is for it to be it right under the cockpit, it probably looks the best, but unless you have a stand, Skyhammer is going to lean back as the MechTech weapon causes the cockpit to be a lot higher than the rest of the helicopter, making the two rear landing gear redundant and causing a lean. The third way, which I didn't take a picture of, is putting it in under one of the wings. In total, there are seven MechTech slots here, which is quite a lot, making Skyhammer a fun toy to test out the possibilities.
MECHTECH WEAPON:
As much as I dislike the concept and execution, I figured the weapon deserved it's own section for being such a large part of the figure. In its normal configuration, it is a gun, with a really small and puny barrel, I do think it's one of the better MechTech weapons currently available, but still not that great in my opinion. It's also lacking in a lot of paint, making it boring. There are two slots on either side for you to plug in other MechTech weapons (or anything that has a 5mm post).
Pushing in the bronze button at the back and holding it in, you get a flip out knife, twisting it clockwise will lock the weapon (the first time I had to twist it REALLY hard and I heard a huge crack before I could lock it). Disappointingly, the spring on mine is too strong, so the weapon couldn't lock into it's knife configuration for more than a few seconds.
TRANSFORMATION:
Your standard affair, nothing ground breaking apart from the fact that the front rotor forms his chest and plugs in nicely, that was neat. Also, you can leave it up and it'll spin freely which is pretty awesome. It is a bit annoying tabbing everything together for helicopter mode, to the point where it is frustrating. The way his leg forms is ingeniously simple.
ROBOT MODE:
There was basically only one aspect of the robot mode that made me want this toy, and it is the way the rotor is handled. It forms his chest, and looks GREAT there, however, his legs look like they need more work as it looks incomplete and is a bit awkward.
Everything pegs in very nicely, and he has very limited kibble, they all fit perfectly and are catered for. In the photos above I have plugged the missile pods onto the outside of his arms and the MechTech in his hand, but you can interchange them, it depends on your preference. The missile pods can even be left attached onto the wings (which is now on his back).
Remember when I said that you can put two additional MechTech weapons onto the MechTech weapon? Well, you can substitute those for the missile pods and you get one mean looking gun, which suits Skyhammer very well...
He has huge hands, and the cockpit halves forming his shoulders make him look formidable, but he has a very narrow waist, which kinda ruins the look. The white also looks a bit forced, especially his head, really looks out of place there (with the random blue paint on it too).
Speaking of the head, the head sculpt is... unique... I can't discern whether that little slot is his mouth or if the blue paint signifies a face plate. Either way, it's not the best head sculpt ever, and his eyes aren't lightpiped. However, Skyhammer is probably one of the less "spindy alien" movie Transformers out there.
The weapon plugged onto his forearm looks good. Skyhammer actually has enough paint to bring out the details.
The knife configuration suits this mode a lot better, but man, I'm really tempted to pull out the spring as its annoying.
He has a C-joint clip on each foreman (which is also accessible in helicopter mode) which you can plug some weapons onto, not really something I'll do for him as he's got enough weapons already, but it's an option.
His pose-ability is the standard affair, but he does have waist rotation, which is surprisingly (as it's not needed for transformation). One thing to note is that his legs are jointed a bit weirdly, the rotation at the knees is not that great, as it doubles as a transformation joint. Thus, rotate it too much and it'll be a weird angle, and the bend in his knees is a bit higher than the norm (there's also another hinge there for transformation which you can accidentally use as well, causing a very awkward bend). While moving his forearms you might also accidentally start to transform them as they are not locked into place, but it is a very minor thing, he's generally very stable.
OVERALL:
Initially, I wanted him, so I got him (on sale), first time I played with him when I opened it, I was bitterly disappointed. I was probably hyped up too much (but then again, I also got him during exams so that might have affected my judgement), he was not as great as I was led to believe. He looked fairly ugly in robot mode and the helicopter mode is smaller (even though it did look good). However, he has started to grow on me, and is a very fun toy mostly due to the versatility of his weapons. The way his rotor forms his chest is very refreshing and I would dare say his posture makes him great for running poses, so he is still a worthy toy to get.
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More photos can be found in this site.
Credit: pictures and text is all mine, but I've linked a few pages to TFwiki.net as reference for some terms
So... I'm finding the time to do reviews more regularly, so check them out here. Thank you for reading my review!