BEAST MACHINES: TOY REVIEW

Name: JETSTORM
Allegiance: Vehicon
Function: Aerodrone General
Machine Mode: Jet Fighter
Average Price: 23 AUD


 

MACHINE MODE

This toy is actually packaged with the wings backwards. Oh, and there's NO twist ties!! Woo-hoo! I hate twist-ties! Instead, there's two soft elastic bands that hold the toy securely in transit, but they can be easily removed -- they're no way near as annoying as removing a twist-tie. Measuring at about 17.5 centimetres in length with a wingspan of 13.5 cm, Jetstorm is primarily dark metallic blue with yellow and silver accents throughout. It is a very sleek looking jet. The sculpting simply bristles with a plethora of excellent mechanical features, far too numerous to mention here. There's almost no robot kibble visible in this mode either. Even from the underside, the robot legs blend in very well (whereas the original Decepticon jets looked very unauthentic from underneath). The overall look of the jet reminds me of the YF-21 from Shouji Kawamori's Macross Plus. The missiles are transparent red and look more like plasma energy bolts, rather than conventional ballistic missiles. The only whacky thing about the missiles is that due to their length (75mm), the back end sticks out rather awkwardly. Other than that, this mode's perfect. The underside of the plane also has three landing gears which tuck away rather nicely. A yellow trigger just behind the cockpit shoots the cockpit out, revealing a special "neck," allowing Jetstorm to scout for Maximals (so it says in the instructions). Also, there's a weird symbol on the nosecone which kinda looks like a silhouette of a Jolly Roger. I wonder if this is what the designers had in mind.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

The instructions on the back of the card are one of the worst drawn and written pieces I've ever seen. Pull the wings out to the sides, forming robot arms. Swing robot legs down and 180 degrees out to the sides. Swing the hips down and lock them into the hooks on either side of the cockpit. Fold the jet body in half and swing the head/arms section forward. Bring the robot head down to rest on the shoulders... close the chest panels (this is a little bit tricky, but not too hard). Fold the front panels of each arm out to the sides, to reveal robot hands. Unfold robot feet.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 13cm
Points of Articulation: 21
The robot mode looks every bit as cool and sleek as the jet mode. The fins protruding from the top of the head give Jetstorm a bit of a "bunny" look, but you get used to it pretty quickly. The colour scheme is pretty much the same as the jet mode, although a lot more yellow and silver is more visible now. The robot eyes are transparent red and glow under light. The face kinda resembles a fighter pilot's breathing apparatus... just as Silverbolt's face resembled his beast mode (wink wink). Before opening the toy, I was worried that the ball joints on the hips would be loose, causing the legs to fall off easily (as with Starscream), fortunately they have proven to be a lot more durable than that.

TRANSFORMATION TO HOVER MODE

Join both legs together by the calves. Bingo.

HOVER MODE

This is obviously nothing more than a modification of the robot mode. However, it is a cool modification which reflects Jetstorm's arrogance and dislike for firma terra... or should that be firma Cybertronia? ;p

SPARK CRYSTAL LOCATION

A silver compartment on the centre of the jet reveals the spark crystal.

OVERALL

A very, very nice toy. Strongly recommended.

E-mail
Back
1