Rounding out the infamous Seeker trio is Skywarp, a sneaky, sneering, teleporting warrior who was the first Decepticon to be revived by Teletran-1 back in 1984. Although he appeared to be reborn as a Cyclonus clone in 2005, Skywarp later returned with a new body and new allegiance to the Wreckers. As well, an upcoming remould of Armada Starscream is coloured and named after Skywarp.

Packaging: Skywarp's box is designed along the same lines as Thundercracker's: purple, black, and yellow and covered with a grid pattern. The box flap art is by acclaimed TF artist Don Figueroa, and is easily one of the neatest renditions of Skywarp to date. The inside of the flap shows the rest of Commemorative Series IV (Prowl and Red Alert) and Series III (Autobot Jazz, Silverstreak, and Thundercracker). The back of the box again features the very grainy Decepticon group portrait by Pat Lee and a rewritten tech spec:

Function: Warrior
"Strike when the enemy isn't looking."

SKYWARP is a sneak who enjoys playing cruel tricks on his comrades and appearing without warning to snipe at AUTOBOT forces. Cunning and powerful, he is the most deceitful of all DECEPTICONS, and he would be a misguided soldier without MEGATRON'S constant supervision. Carries heat-seeking missiles and variable-calibre machine guns and has the ability to teleport up to 2.5 miles. Top speed: 1500 mph.

Strength: 7 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 10 Endurance: 7 Rank: 9 Courage: 9 Firepower: 8 Skill: 8

A decided improvement over the original 1984 tech spec, which described Skywarp as being not too bright and useless as opposed merely misguided without Meggy's supervision.

Jet Mode: Like his comrades Starscream and Thundercracker, Skywarp is a McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. He measures around 22 cm(8.7") long with a wingspan of 15.5 cm(6"). He's primarily black with a translucent orange canopy, black rubber nosecone, lavendar stabiliser fins, and thrusters, purple and silver decals on his wings and fins, and a silver diecast metal frame. His rub symbol is located at the base of his left wing. And, of course, big Decepticon decals on his wings and nose. All in all, Skywarp is decidedly the most sinister-looking Seeker.

Whereas the rubber nosecones on Starscream and Thundercracker were flat and rough, Skywarp's is smooth and shiny. His free-spinning front landing gear can be stored inside his cockpit for flight. His heat-seeking missiles and variable-calibre machine guns have been enlarged and lengthened in order to meet with present safety laws. The machine guns look like they could easily put holes through the biggest tank, but the missiles unfortunately look awkward.

Transformation: Remove launchers, flip down feet, swing out arms, rotate jet nose through the body cavity and swing it up to form head and chest, fold wings and fins around, and attach fists and launchers.

Robot Mode: With his elongated shoulder pads, Skywarp stands around 14 cm(5.5") tall. His fists and feet are lavendar. The decals on his shoulder pads, chest, legs, and feet make him considerably more colourful in this mode. His yellow eye decals are VERY difficult to apply, and they look pretty goofy to boot, so I left them off. Like all Seeker moulds, Skywarp's articulation consists solely of his shoulder joints.

Overall, Susp Sez: With a price tag of $39.99 Canadian/$29.99 US, G1 Skywarp is one purchase you may have to think about first. I bought him in order to complete my Seeker trio, and because I like the mould, but fans who aren't really into G1 or have limited funds may want to look into the Armada line, which frankly gives you way more bang for your buck. 8/10

Susp

"Heat-seeking missiles . . . seek heat!" -Skywarp(G1)

Reviewer	Daniel Suh
Date	July 10th 2003
Score	(8 out of 10)
Reads	3968
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