Review: #93
Name: Sky Shadow
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations
Year of Release: 2011
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 9)
Variations: a retool of Generations Thunderwing
JET MODE:
A predominantly black and red (with silver highlights) jet that homages the character of Black Shadow (don't know why they didn't use that name here). Just first off, this jet looks GREAT, the black, red and silver matches perfectly, and the shade of red is really rich, I cannot express how slim and slick Sky Shadow looks here.
However, there are some flaws in this mode, mainly just the robot kibble that's visible. The thrusters at the back are the robot mode feet, folded up, but does a half-decent job of looking like thrusters.
The trouble starts when you look underneath. Yes, that's right, the arms are just there... with no attempt to integrate it into the jet (and no, I have not mistransformed it). You can tell that it's basically a robot with a jet shell on top, slightly disappointing.
However, the missile launchers underneath the wings hide the thick undercarriage kibble fairly well, and, something we don't see often, is that Sky Shadow has three point landing gear that features actual rolling wheels.
Sky Shadow stays at a decent size, not like those almost-Scout-sized Deluxes of newer lines. Sky Shadow has the bulk and the mass, to feel sturdy in your hands, and the plastic used is nice and solid.
Peering through the cockpit, you can see a seat there, perhaps most surprisingly, it's painted silver too.
In addition to the missile launcher gimmick, there's one more gimmick here, the nose of the plan can detach into a flying drone.
There's not much detail in the drone, there's a piece of translucent plastic near the nose (hard to see but). However, it has an aerodynamic shape, so it seems plausible of flight.
There's a single thruster molded at the back, not too bad in the end.
Without the drone, however, the plane looks noticeably worse, since there's a huge chunk of plastic missing for the nose, so I wouldn't recommend displaying him this way...
There's a lot of good molding throughout the whole plane, and they didn't skimp of paint applications.
An excellent jet mode, and one that's a lot of fun to play with.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation is really simple, as you would have expected from just one look at the underside of the jet. However, it's effective, and this just means that Sky Shadow is fun to go between modes, and you can do it within five minutes. The whole jet sits on his back, and his legs unfold from within his torso, you can't get any less involved or uninspiring than this. Clearly, this is one aspect where Sky Shadow does not shine.
ROBOT MODE:
I can't decide which mode I love more, the jet or the robot mode, both are visually striking. Personally, I just love the configuration of the wings.
The most obvious thing while looking at Sky Shadow is the nose of the plane just sitting there.
The backpack is pretty bad, but it's mainly the nose that's causing the problem.
So you can just detach the drone if you wish to reduce the bulk, but now you have the problem of deciding where to put the drone...
Let's have a closer look at the weapons. They each fire a translucent red missile, and there are clip joints so you can attach other weapons on it. It's fairly detailed and looks good.
What makes it even better is that you can combine the guns together to form one huge one.
Sky Shadow can hold the two guns in his hands, but there's just one tiny bit of a problem, they look somewhat big and unwieldy.
Or, if you don't want him to hold it, you can leave it attached on his back, and add it to his backpack (there's so much there, that two more missile launchers won't make much of a difference).
The head sculpt is one of the retoolings done on this mold. It has a really good lightpipe, and has a lot of details sculpted on. However, it looks a bit grumpy, and his neck is thick (noticeable only in some angles).
The second piece of retooling is the chest, where it's more mechanical now. I prefer this much more than the organic look of Thunderwing.
Again, he has normal height for a Deluxe, maybe a bit shorter, but bulkier.
Poseability is excellent, but still feels somewhat limited for a reason I can't put my finger on. He features all the expected joints, he's missing a waist joint (but it's not really missed). His feet aren't open flat, they're at an angle, but this doesn't hinder his balance too much.
The missiles fire a tad too easily, which is annoying when you're trying to put them in his hands, and the missile just goes off. It was a problem in jet mode as well, when you're settling him down on a table, there's a chance that the missile will fly off.
Some may be put off by his proportions, the bulky torso coupled with thin thighs and arms. The great sculpting seen in jet mode carries on here.
A great robot mode, that you'll have fun posing and fiddling around with.
OVERALL:
Black and red usually goes well together, and the silver on Sky Shadow just further enhances this. As a toy, he has two great modes, a solid and simple but well put jet, an evil looking robot mode, and a fun transformation. There's really nothing to hate here. Generations goes out with a bang.
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