TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' review of: Skyfall

Name: Skyfall
Allegiance: Speed Planet Scout/Adventurer
Function: Pilot of the Flash Frenzy/Deep Space Explorer
Sub-Group: NA
"If you can't help me, why am I talking to you?"

Dogged for as long as he can remember by the sense that he had lost something vitally important - that he's supposed to be part of something great - Skyfall has spent most of the last few thousand vorns charting an exploring barren star systems.

All too aware of his difference from the other natives of Speed, he has chosen the life of a lone explorer, piloting his ship the Flash Frenzy to deep space destinations. He's certain he's one of the oldest Tranformers on Speed, and yet he continues to function without the quirks or stalls the other old-timers seem to develop. Now he has embarked on his latest solo mission to a long forgotten planet called Cybertron where he hopes the solution to the riddle of his past will be found.

In battle Skyfall wields a formidable 30mm cannon, double-barreled lasers and his impressive ability to shape Energon into a plasma pulse weapon. When under extreme duress, Skyfall can generate an apparently impenetrable force field made of an unidentified form of energy. He is largely unable to control this ability, but it has saved his life on more than one occasion.

Skyfall is the first Transformers Collectors Club exclusive released in the summer of 2005 as one of five gestalt pieces. The figure is a repaint of an Energon Aerialbot mold using transparent plastic and a red and blue color scheme. Fan reaction to the figure is mixed. It doesn't look bad, but it's a repaint of a mold that was released very recently and only of a Basic sized figure. I think it's neat, but I doubt I'll remain in the club solely for the exclusive figures like this and right now they need to improve the selection in the club store or cut prices if they expect people to stay for that, but that's not really relevant to this review. I will say right now that past this point the review really just notes the differences in this version. If you want a more in-depth look at the vehicle or robot modes, check out my reviews of Energon Terradive and Sky Shadow.

Vehicle Mode:
This mode looks ok, but the transparent plastic lets you see the pins holding the wings in and makes the plane look a lot smaller or thinner than it actually is. The lack of detail (due to the nature of the plastic) actually kind of hurts this mode and I find myself liking it less than the solid versions.

Robot Mode:
This is pretty cool and I don't mind displaying the figure in this mode. I wish the hands could have been painted a solid color, but I suppose that would have shown through the transparent plastic from the other side. It's kind of a pity since the hands were lost in the solid versions and they're lost even more in the transparent incarnation. The painting on the head seems a lot more detailed, but it also kind of looks like a kitbash attempt. I like Terradive the best out of the three versions of this mold, but Skyfall's robot mode is pretty decent.

Transformation: 9 - Still a good transformation even if the material doesn't do much to hide the robot mode as well.
Durability: 10 - Really solid, nothing's come loose, and not a whole lot to lose.
Fun: 9 - The vehicle mode seems a little weak, but the robot mode is still fun and it still works as a gestalt limb.
Price: 5 - It wouldn't be so bad if the Transformers Collectors Club actually had some benefits worth $40 a year, but I ultimately feel like this is a $40 Basic figure.
Summary: 7 - It's an average toy and wouldn't be so bad as an exclusive if we'd seen it coming before joining the club. I'm not impressed with a repaint of a very recently released gestalt as the exclusive set. What about that awesome Seacons set you guys dumped from Universe?