Review: #803
Name: Sandstorm
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Legacy: United
Year of Release: 2024
Size Class: Leader (Wave 2)
Mold Status: new
HELICOPTER MODE:
Sandstorm, based on his G1 design, transforms into an orange and black helicopter.
This is a really good helicopter mode, especially when you consider that he is a triple-changer. There is basically no vehicular elements present, it's really impressive.
While sold as a Leader classed figure, he is only slightly larger than a Voyager figure. He makes it for it with some added complexity to his transformation scheme, so he feels more dense.
It's only when you look underneath that you can see elements that betray he is a triple-changer.
His main gimmick is having three modes, but there are small plastic wheels that allow him to roll on a flat surface (kinda as the "front" wheels are the vehicle's wheels which doesn't quite work in this mode) and the rotors which rotate.
The two robot weapons can peg to either side for storage.
The figure comes with a cage, complete with a working winch. This can be plugged underneath the helicopter mode, and if you have a Transformers stand (like from the Masterpiece figures), then he features a slot for that too.
An excellent helicopter mode, and it is surprising at how good it is.
TRANSFORMATION (TO VEHICLE MODE):
This part is where you realise how they were able to manage to get such a good helicopter mode, basically because he is a shellformer. The helicopter is mostly panels that will fold away. The majority of the back folds on top of the front, and then you flip the figure upside down. Unfold the wheels to the sides and then realign a few other panels, such as the windshield and roof, and you're done.
VEHICLE MODE:
Sandstorm second alternate mode is an off-road buggy, and... it's definitely not as good as the helicopter mode. This mode suffers the most and has the most compromises.
The back isn't that much better either, given you can see halves of the helicopter's cockpit, as well as the tail rotor, which tries to pass itself off (unconvincingly) as a spoiler.
Size-wise, he stretches out a bit here and is bigger than a Voyager, but there are more hollow areas compared to the helicopter mode, which was very compact.
In terms of where some of the robot accessories go, part of the cage (the part with the bars) is removable from his back, but the buggy looks better with it. The grey plastic piece can peg onto the bottom of the vehicle.
From the side, you can tell how heavily compromised this mode is. The vehicle looks like a mess, and doesn't gel together properly.
The gun can peg on top of the cage for storage. Of note, while the wheels aren't quite rubberized plastic, they are close as they are softer than normal plastic.
This is not a good mode, but you will give it a bit of leeway given it is a triple changer, and usually, one mode has to suffer.
TRANSFORMATION (TO ROBOT MODE):
Considering he's a triple changer, he isn't actually that hard. The front splits into two, and extends to form his legs. The sides are his arms, and then you just flip the head up from beneath the windshield. Most of the complexity is going from buggy to helicopter, as most of the helicopter is already folded away in buggy mode, ready for robot mode.
ROBOT MODE:
Sandstorm's robot mode is another mode where it is compromised for the sake of bring a triple changer. At first glance, he isn't too bad and to be fair, it is fairly decent.
However, he has pretty much all of the helicopter mode folded up on his back, creating a very decently sized backpack, which is as awkward as it looks.
The head sculpt feels very G1, it's big and blocky.
He isn't very tall in robot mode, in fact, he's shorter (when you compare to the height up to his head) than a typical Voyager.
Articulation is okay, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles.
He comes with a fair few accessories, including two guns, and a cage.
The grey gun can peg onto the outside of either forearm, which looks pretty good there.
While the bigger black gun can be held in either hand.
There is a design flaw with the figure that should be noticed, and that is his chest assembly, which includes the shoulders, does not stay pegged well, so it will constantly come loose and detach. This is quite annoying since it'll detach whenever you want to move his arms.
Finally, the cage can be held in his hand, it looks okay, and you can kind of store it on his back if you don't want to use it via the 5mm peg.
A decent robot mode, but one that can definitely be improved upon, at the very least, fixing the loose torso assembly.
OVERALL:
Sandstorm is a nice figure. He has a lot of flaws, particularly surrounding his buggy mode and robot mode. The helicopter mode is frankly, amazing, while the buggy is heavily compromised, and the robot mode is passable. There's just a bit too much kibble on his backpack for it to be good though.
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