Beast Wars Universe Silverbolt Slightly bigger than the original, only triple the price
Transformers Legacy Evolution Voyager
Item No.: Asst. F2991 No. F8544 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Feather swords Action Feature:Transforms from robot to wolf/eagle Retail:$34.99 Availability: April 2024 Other: The Knight is back
Among a certain group of fans, Beast Wars and Animated reign supreme as the most popular (and arguably best) cartoons we've ever had from the toy line's dramatized toy commercials. "Show characters" - that is, anyone that actually appears on the show - tend to be the most popular, which makes season two debut Beast Wars Universe Silverbolt something people would want. He was one of two Fuzors toys to make the show, the Tuvix'd, mashup animals having been a big part of the 1997 line and a bigger part of literal clearance bins at Toys R Us in 1998 and 1999. Thanks to his and Quickstrike's appearances on the show, they were generally not as common at markdown - I found them cheaply, but it took some doing. Today, Silverbolt is hanging out a bit at retail shops six months later but that isn't atypical for characters that aren't G1 updates. Beast Wars is still something of a niche interest in the fandom, and one worth perusing.
This particular toy reminds me a lot of the original. The robot mode's head looks more like the cartoon, and the beast mode's colors are incredibly close to the original with very similar sculpting. However at $35, you may also want to consider buying the original Kenner release - it had working rocket launchers and at current market prices, is only slightly more expensive (and smaller) than this 2024 edition. Both are good for different reasons - he should be a bit larger to be in scale, and this one is.
I really miss the original toy's action features - his wings could move when you pulled the tail, swinging forward and eventually triggering a pair of feather-shaped projectiles. That Kenner toy was the real thing - this one opts to give you articulated wings so you can pose them, take them off the rails yourself, and chuck them across the room. It's less satisfying, but at least this time, the feathers are painted to match the wings.
The figure's sculpting is excellent, as there's a lot of variety here. You can see robot bits, fur, and features plus talons brought to life with that weird red toothy tomato thing. Articulation is very similar to the original toy, with some additions like rocking ankles, swiveling wrists, a waist joint, and thigh swivels. This means he can still fight other figures with his feather swords quite nicely, and his big feet ensure he's a stable boy. It's funny to call this out, but it matters - other non-transforming action figures with lots of articulation tend to fall over with time (if they lack support), Transformers usually have stiffer joints and are just so much sturdier.
His only accessories are a pair of very large feathers. They can tab on to his wings, or you can put them in his fists as melee weapons. They look a lot less like spoons this time, given the improved sculpting and the gold fading to a black tip deco. The designers at Hasbro clearly read the reviews of the original toy and took notes.
In addition to the limbs, the wings are also jointed and can be posed tucked behind him, or spread out, or even pointed lunging to the skies. While it's unfortunate we had to trade away the flappy wings for this, I doubt many collectors will deny that it's going to look better on our respective shelves. Having them on his back rather than on his shoulders is also a big improvement and should delight fans of the Mainframe cartoon, too.
Transformation is pretty simple, similar to the original toy with a lot of folding backpack wing bits and more tabs to put together. It's not terribly complicated, and the resulting creature looks like something out of an elementary school kid's spiral notebook margin sketches. I find this one odd, but kids do love wolves and flying things. The design makes a lot of sense in that sense, as it's easy to forget the true reason behind nearly everything adult toy collectors covet stems from the fact that they wanted (or had) these as kids or adolescents. Anyone who wasn't part of the Beast Wars cartoon audience may dismiss unfolding wings and wadding up arms to result in some sort of bizarre sphinx creation as a massive waste of dollars, but he's a big part of the show and later G1 continuity. Also, not a pain in the neck to transform.
The critter's wingspan is about 10-inches when fully extended outward, and those wings are capable of a lot of movement There's a swivel in the middle so you can sweep them back, and there are two joints near the body so you can fold them perpendicular to the ground. The bag legs have a limited range of movement, but can be posed. The lower legs are so tight, it will cause the robot arms/fists do detach from his haunches. It's a great idea, but the stiffness hurts the execution. (You won't be moving them much.) The forelimbs are pegged to the body, and can be moved at the elbow and wrists. You can also un-peg them for added shoulder movement, and as long as three limbs are on the ground he can gesture and remain standing. All of these moving parts make for an above par alt mode, as most toys amount to "wad up into a brick with wheels and admire." This guy has an opening mouth, emotive wings, and the ability to shake. Shake! Good boy.
On the bottom of the figure is another one of those hexagonal display stand ports, which are somehow still completely unused by Hasbro in the western market after over a decade. Why they don't do stands, I don't know, even Takara-Tomy seems to be ignoring the upsell and I can't fathom why. For peg holes you can use, it's worth noting his taloned forelimbs (being the robot's legs) have 5mm holes in the bottom for any flame projectiles you may have handy.
Silverbolt was not my favorite of the Kenner Beast Wars Fuzors toys (Sky Shadow holds that crown) but he was incredibly popular in all the ways Injector wasn't. The design was pretty good then and while it is kind of hard to be excited about paying $35 when you can buy a sealed original for around $60 or a good complete open one for a little less, this one does have a lot more articulation. Beast Wars toys were some of the very best action toys Kenner offered in their time, with the very best articulation Transformers fans could get. Comparing the brick-like G1 toys of 1984-1990 to the almost super-articulated Beast Wars of 1996-2000, it's astonishing to see how much things changed. (Maybe a little less of you also look at the missing link that was G2, but I digress.) The jump between Beast Wars and today isn't nothing - but it's obvious that the early to mid 1990s brought about the very biggest changes. This new Silverbolt benefits from things like rocker ankles and a better center of gravity, with the key selling points being his cartoon-accurate head and improved stature. So if you really love the old one, you may not need to upgrade... unless you want better scaling so he can make out with Blackarachnia.
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