TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' review of: Silverstreak

Name: Silverstreak
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Warrior
Sub-Group: NA

After scouring one of the largest metropolitan areas in my state, searching 5 Walmarts, 3 Targets, 3 Toys R Us', 2 KB Toystores, 2 Kmarts, and even a Sam's Club in the past week, Silverstreak was the only Transformer figure newer than Wave 2 of Energon that I found. Aside from Omega Supreme, who seems to be ubiquitous while it seems many parts of the country haven't seen Wave 3 of Energon or the newest wave containing Sharkticon and Shockblast among others. Ranting done with, I have to admit that Silverstreak was purchased out of desperation. I never really had any intention of purchasing this figure since I already had Smokescreen, but I had wished that this version of the mold (which isn't exactly the same mold) had come out first so Smokescreen could have been the figure I decided to pass over. The differences between the two figures are both obvious and subtle. One is clearly painted as a rally car while the other is something you'd actually see on the road somewhere. There are differences in the body-molding since Smokescreen is a WRC model and Silverstreak is a WRX. Silverstreak sports fog lights, a remolded hood, different rims, and a toned-down spoiler.

Vehicle Mode:
As I've implied above, I greatly prefer Silverstreak's vehicle mode to Smokescreen's. I just wasn't a big fan of Smokescreen's rally paintjob, despite it still being realistic. In addition to some of the changes I mentioned earlier, it seems to me that the shape of the roof is altered as well, but I'm not positive on that. Silverstreak's hood seems to be able to stay down, unlike Smokescreen's which seemed to have a universal problem in the driver's side not closing completely. Speaking of the driver's side, there are apparently two variations of the Silverstreak mold regarding which side the driver's seat is on. There is one with the driver's seat on the left, American side and one with it on the right, British side. The figure I picked up had the driver's seat on the right side. Not as realistic given my location, but it's nothing I'm going to cry about. The single biggest problem with this mode is that the paint seems to scratch and wear very easily. I've had mine for less than a day and it already has some nasty scratches. I don't play rough with my toys either.

Robot Mode:
Silverstreak's robot mode is almost completely identical to Smokescreen's apart from the differing paintjob and Silverstreak's remolded head. I think Silverstreak looks, moreso than the other two Alternators I've reviewed, like a G1 Transformer in the face. Smokescreen and Sideswipe's head sculpting didn't strike me as either as detailed or lively as Silverstreak's. There's just something brilliant about the sculpting that gives it this appearance where you could believe it was a living robot. One thing I can't stand about this robot mode is that someone saw fit to paint Silverstreak's gun red. Yeah, it kind of matches Smokescreen since his gun matched the color of his limbs, but then Smokescreen's limbs are gray, not bright red. What worked on Silverstreak's arms just doesn't on his gun. Also on the subject of the gun, I find it kind of annoying that they didn't modify that at all. I realize that the guns are supposed to be replicas of parts of the engines in these cars, but would it have been so hard to change the barrel at least? Finally, the robot mode has the same flaws that Smokescreen has. The feet are kind of awkward and the shoulders seem to slouch.

Transformation: 10 - The same score I gave Smokescreen because the transformation is exactly the same. Again, the instructions are utter crap without access to an electron microscope.
Durability: 5 - Here we see some potential problems with this line. Unlike Smokescreen and Sideswipe, Silverstreak's primary color is painted on rather than being a color of plastic. The problem is that this paint scratches insanely easily. I had only transformed mine three or four times (carefully) before there were some scratches.
Fun: 9 - Pretty much as fun as Smokescreen. The feet can cause some awkward poses.
Price: 8 - Still a good deal for $20 really, but I still felt ripped off buying what was essentially the same mold after an inferior version was released first.
Summary: 8 - Except for the shoddy paintjob, it's really not a bad toy and if you don't already have a Smokescreen, I'd highly recommend getting it. If you do have a Smokescreen, I'd really only recommend it if you have $20 worth of disposable income that you don't have anything better to do with.