Silverbolt returns to the battle as a basic Maximal. This toy is a huge departure from the original Silverbolt Fuzor toy and the results aren't as great as one may think.
Beast Mode:
It is very telling that Silverbolt is packaged in robot mode. Silverbolt's beast mode is supposed to be a condor, but one would be hard pressed to figure that out at first glance (or for some, after a long stare). The first thing to throw anyone off would be the extremely bright color scheme. Silverbolt is mostly red, yellow and orange with translucent blue parts as well. His beak is gold and his wings are a nice combination of translucent dark blue to light blue.
Silverbolt has fifteen points of articulation. This includes three points of articulation on each leg. There are some nice details molded into parts of the beast mode such as the wings and beast mode head, however it does not help one get past the odd looking mix of parts that form Silverbolt's "wings". Rather than looking like a bird, he looks more like a person in a halloween costume trying to raise his arms with a fake cape on while yelling "Boo!". Not a flattering visual effect for a Transformer.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
Begin by removing Silverbolt's wings and set it aside. Fold the beast mode head back and then rotate the waist around. Swing down the beast mode arms and straighten out the end to form the robot feet. Swing down the beast mode legs to the sides and straighten out the robot arms. Place the wings/weapon into his hand and Silverbolt is in robot mode!
Robot Mode:
Silverbolt is one of the Beast Machines toys that began the trend towards more show accurate toys. His robot mode has all the detailing of the CGI television show model, including the "ponytail" and shoulder armor details. However, the colors are very different than the television show model. Whereas the television show model is primarily purple, white and silver, this toy is mostly red, orange, yellow and translucent blue. There is some silver and purple on the robot chest and head however.
In robot mode, Silverbolt has fifteen points of articulation. His weapon is a nice idea, acting as a "clamping weapon" or a sword. Although he is mostly show accurate and has an interesting design, his robot hands are extremely large in comparison to the rest of his arms.
Silverbolt has many good points and many bad points. What works against this toy's overall rating is that the toy had a lot of potential to be more than what it is. Mildly recommended. C+
Updated Thoughts (January 19, 2022):
Oof. The Beast Machines toy line introduced a very different set of aesthetics to the Transformers brand, and in the case of many figures (especially the Vehicons) this worked well. However, Silverbolt is an example of where everything went wrong. His beast mode looks awkward and (as noted above) looks more like a humanoid wearing a costume. The robot mode has weird proportions (that were not reflected in his CG model on the TV show) and the weapon is cool in principle, but lacking in execution thanks to the odd proportions of the figure. Worse, the beast mode head forming a bit of a "belly" on him in robot mode really adds to the bizarre appearance of the figure. In my opinion, Silverbolt would have been better served being a Deluxe or Mega Class figure (by a similar token, Rattrap should have been a Basic Class figure, not a Mega). This figure really does a disservice to the character and it is a shame because he looked pretty cool in the TV show.
