Just how evil is Armada Galvatron? So evil that he can turn the friendly Star Saber into the ominous Dark Saber just by touching it. Say, does Megabyte know Galv ripped off one of his gimmicks?
JETSTORM
Jet Mode: Jetstorm is an SST jet, very similar to the famous Concorde except for all the undercarriage garbage. Measuring 7 cm(2.75") long with a 4.5 cm(1.8") wingspan, he's now purple, light silver, and very dark gray, with a gold stripe on his nose. His Powerlinx socket is on his underside. Other neat features include tiny sculpted passenger windows and flip-out nose gear.
Transformation: Considerably more complex than your average G1 Micromaster. The jet nose folds back, robot legs swivel down, arms unfold, and tail fin swings down
Robot Mode: Jetstorm stands about 6 cm(2.2") tall in robot mode. His gold Y-shaped face is somewhat reminiscent of the G2 Cyberjets. The big jet fin on his chest looks awkward, and no doubt inhibits the poor guy from group hugs and slow dances. He's articulated at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. His faction symbol is located on his right shin.
Overall, a neat little toy. Sleek and detailed jet mode, good
transformation, and well-articulated robot mode. 8/10
RUNWAY
Jet Mode: Runway is some other type of SST jet, or possibly a Valkyrie XB-70. 6.5 cm(2.6") long with a 4.5 cm(1.8") wingspan, he's mostly light silver and very dark grey with gold trim and black cockpit, stripes, and flip-out nose gear. Flipping him onto his back reveals two Powerlinx sockets and a faction symbol on his right wing.
Transformation: Runway's legs and arms swing down and the rear of the jet folds down to become his chest.
Robot Mode: Runway stands 6 cm(2.4") tall. His head is dark grey, and whereas the first version of Runway had two red-painted lines to indicate a face, this new version has one gold-painted line to indicate a leering eye visor. The jet's engines become forearm-mounted laser blasters in this mode, cool! Runway is articulated at the head,elbows, hips, and knees, and stands very nicely thanks to the jet's nose, which essentially acts as a third leg.
Though less poseable than his teammates, Runway's still a neat little baddie, especially with those arm blasters. 8/10
SONAR
Spacecraft Mode: Sonar is an X-33 space plane, a conceptual spacecraft that at one point was slated to replace the space shuttle. Mostly black and purple with a light grey cylinder mounted underneath and gold cockpit and instrument panel. Including the cylinder, he's 5.5 cm(2.2") long with a 5 cm(2") wingspan. A grid pattern covers most of his body. His faction symbol is located in the center of his back. Although he has no landing gear, Sonar can balance on his cylinder, which houses two Powerlinx sockets and is, of course, the handle of
the Dark Saber.
Transformation: The front section of the shuttle separates and extends to form the robot legs, the robot head and chest flip out when the Dark Saber handle is swung over, and the arms unbend.
Robot Mode: Sonar stands 6 cm(2.4") tall with the handle on his back. Still mostly black and purple with light grey shins and gold chest and face. He's articulated at the shoulders, elbows, wings, hips, knees, and ankles. It should be noted
that his hips can only swing out to the sides, a la Galvatron.
A neat feature of Sonar is that you can fold down his head and swing up the Dark Saber handle to function as a mega cannon. This, along with the neat space plane mode, makes him my favourite of the trio. 8/10
THE DARK SABER
Transformation: Runway and Jetstorm connect to form a diamond-shaped blade and Sonar's front section splits apart to become the hilt.
From blade tip to handle, the Dark Saber measures 14 cm(5.5") long. I really prefer it to the Star Saber, since the solid light silver on Jetstorm and Runway make it more recognizable as a sword, albeit still a very awkward-looking one. Naturally, it won't light up when placed in Armada Prime's fist, but that feature wasn't terribly impressive to
begin with. Also, the Dark Saber appears to hold together better.
As well, the Dark Saber seems to have undergone a couple of mould changes, or flaws possibly. Whereas it was possible to stabilize the Star Saber a bit more by inserting the backs of Jetstorm's legs into Sonar's Powerlinx sockets, it's not with the Dark Saber. Jetstorm's left leg simply refuses to fit into the corresponding socket. Ben Yee has reported this condition as well, so I'm guessing it's universal. 7.5/10
Overall, Susp Sez: I much prefer the Air Assault Team to the Air Defense Team. The colours are nicer and go together perfectly with Galvatron, the Dark Saber looks more like a sword, and so far it has proved more stable. 7.8/10
Susp
"The air is my playground." -Storm Cloud
Reviewer | Suspsy |
Date | July 20th 2003 |
Score | (8 out of 10) |
Reads | 5506 |
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