Pterosaurs seem to be one of the most popular beast forms in the TF universe, eh? From G1 Swoop to BW Terrorsaur to this guy, there's enough of 'em to form a squadron.
Beast Mode
Contrary to what the packaging says, this is NOT a Pteranodon. Pteranodon had a long pointed crest extending from the back of its head, whereas Skydive does not. No, I'd say that this is a Quetzalcoatlus northropi, the largest pterosaur and indeed the largest creature to ever take flight. Weighing 190 lbs, it had a wingspan of 40 feet, as long as a T. rex. Skydive's wingspan is 28.5 cm (11 inches), and is 24 cm (9.5 inches) long with his neck fully extended. Main colours are dark purple, dark grey, lavender, and orange, with silver highlights and transparent orange-red for his lower jaw, eyes, and wings. Looks very nice when you hold it up to a light. His spark crystal is housed in his back, and the casing around it appears to have been damaged.
Aside from the hind limbs being a little too long, this is probably the most accurate pterosaur to come out of Hasbro yet. It can even stand up on its hind legs like a crane, using its wingtips for forward support. The wings have six segments each, one of them spring-loaded, and simply rest against each other. Nor do the hind legs snap into place. As a result, it's pretty easy to mangle poor Skydive into a pointy ball of body parts.
Skydive's gimmick in this mode consists of a lunging attack. Push down on the tab near the base of his neck to make his head lunge forward and peck and snap at his enemies. Neat how there's a laser cannon mounted inside his mouth. I'm not overly fond of this gimmick myself, since it makes the head and neck essentially unposeable. He can't look to the sides or anything like that, nor can the neck lock in place once it's extended.
Transformation
Deceptively complex, involving lots of twists and turns and what nots. The photos on the package have Skydive mistransformed: the pterosaur head doesn't hang down between his legs all phallic-like. It folds up against his back, with the beak sticking out behind him. Watch you don't run into this guy.
Robot Mode
Standing 16 cm (6.3 inches) tall at the head, this is one of the stranger robot modes to come along. It's very gangly, with spindly arms and even spindlier legs. The feet are spindly as well, making stability somewhat of an issue with this toy. The robot head is mostly orange, and pointed, with a silver mouth, yellow markings, and glowing orange eyes. On the whole, Skydive's look is that of "cool-strange" as opposed to "ugly-strange."
Skydive's other gimmick consist of his spring-loaded wingtips. They function like as giant scissor blades, slicing and dicing their way through Vehicon armour. Sort of like the Edward Scissorhands of TFs. Skydive is articulated at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, hips, knees, and ankles in this mode. If you're feeling naughty, you can rotate his wrists around so that his fingers point upwards. The elongated third fingers make it seem like he's making obscene gestures at someone. Heheheh.
Overall
Overall, Suspsy Sez: Skydive is a neat toy. The Quetzalcoatlus mode holds together more like a house of cards than a brick one, but has great detailing and an alright gimmick. Transformation is quite involved. Robot mode has an exotic feel to it, and I rather like the scissor weapons.
Suspsy
Reviewer | Suspsy |
Date | November 14th 2001 |
Score | (8 out of 10) |
Reads | 6773 |
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