While the stuff of legends, the original combiner teams from Transformers were kind of pricey and kind of clunky. A 5-member team would set you back around $30 ($63 adjusted for inflation) and while neat, featured limited articulation. Some held together well, like Bruticus. Some were a bit of a pain, like Devastator. Even the biggest ones weren't huge, which makes this new Silverbolt such a treat. Obviously it's not going to compare to the titans of this line, but the figure has a decent robot mode, a good vehicle mode, and makes the core of a healthy 12-inch tall robot. This puts him in roughly the same class as giants like Armada Tidal Wave and the hefty Air Attack Optimus Primal. Of course, the individual toy is no slouch either.
If you're into this Combiner Wars thing, Silverbolt is a must-buy with a decent robot mode, a good vehicle mode, and what could well be the very best torso mode in this entire line. Even if you aren't into it, he's a decent toy - but as a stand-alone piece to fidget with he doesn't replace my large, goofy, simple, and electronic Universe Silverbolt.
The 7-inch tall robot mode has 19 points of articulation, and it feels a little on the shorter side - but only by a fraction of an inch. Optimus Prime from Combiner Wars is about a head taller, and he's not too wide or chunky either. The coloring is good and closer to the original toy than the US Universe release, and the head is as square as they come. The limbs don't have heads that are quite this square - it's marvelous. The face has a good smirk and plenty of silver paint, plus shiny blue eyes. He has no problems holding his gun if you separate the "shield" piece from it, otherwise it's a smidgen too long. The shield mounts nicely to his arm and overall this is a nice little robot.
Transformation is nothing special - basically you've got a plane which unfolds as a backpack, while the robot sort of contorts to undercarriage junk. It's sort of like Sky Lynx - it feels like two things combined into one ungainly whole. It's easy to figure out the conversion, plus it's fairly logical. There are plenty of tabs that fit in place to give you the Concorde-esque plane of your dreams.
Deco is good, not fantastic, as it's somewhat awkward. The off-white plane has a yellowish orange stripe along the side, black windows, and a nifty pair of Autobot symbols on the wings. Retractable landing gear unfolds easily, plus the gun can mount around that spot if you like. Fake wheels on the bottom of the gun help balance the vehicle, and show some thought when into the design and how the vehicle works. I appreciate this. There's not much else to crow about here, but I do love the symbols and this toy really exists primarily to give you a couple of great robot modes.
As a torso he's quite a sight, incorporating elements from the original combiner team as well as a mishmash of inspirations to make a newish head. This is the design that appears in the Combiner Wars comic cover artwork, so let's say it's the new version. There are fake jet wheels on his chest making what I could best call nipples, plus a nice silver Autobot logo. The head swivels and the limbs plug into their positions without any real problems. The locking mechanism is one of Hasbro's best, easily edging out Power Core Combiners and the other one-offs. The torso itself is minimally jointed, but you do get rotating hips and thighs. Deco is quite good, with a lot of silver, cream, and orange making up for the lack of gold and stickers. I love the head sculpt, but the antenna are a little hard to get into position and due to their being painted rubbery plastic, I do worry for their long-term health as paint cracking goes. I assume there will be third-party upgrades for this toy, so perhaps new "ears" would be nice.
Having a fully-assembled very large Superion on my desk makes me feel like a king. It's big and majestic, and a little more on the nose than the Optimus torso. As an armless, legless robot it looks silly but if you're buying the various limbs they all look good - even Dragstrip. I don't think I'm being too hyperbolic when I say that this may well be the high point of the entire modern "classic" Transformers brand. Metroplex was good, and the many deluxes we've bought are quite nice, but the general size and quality of robot you get for your money here feels like one of those things we'll look back on and wipe a tear, realizing just how spoiled we were that Hasbro was making combiner teams for kids ages 8 and up that just happened to fit perfectly for the needs of your average late-30s toy nut.
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