General Information:
Release Date: Summer 2016
Price Point: $297 (for the Transformers Subscription Service 4.0 with a total of seven figures), $120 individually when sold on the Collector's Club store
Retailer: Fun Publications Exclusive
Accessories: Hand/Foot/Weapon, Shotgun
The theme for the "Generations" segment of the "Transformers" toy line in 2015 is "Combiner Wars". The focus will be on updated versions of Combiners from the past (with some new elements thrown in for good measure). The idea is to take lessons learned from the Bruticus released a couple years ago and create better Combiners featuring a Voyager Class central body piece with Deluxe sized limbs. To spice things up a bit, some of the Legends Class figures released for "Combiner Wars" will be able to serve as weaponry for the combined giants.
When "Combiner Wars" kicked off the focus was on characters who were traditionally associated with being Combiners such as the Aerialbots and Stunticons. However later on down the line characters who were not traditionally associated with being Combiners began to be integrated into the line. Many of these characters were Autobots from the 1984-85 era of Generation One such as Wheeljack and Trailbreaker. When the Transformers Collector's Club decided to expand the "Combiner Wars" line with exclusive figures, they too drew from this well of characters. For one of the last figures in the fourth subscription service the club released Bluestreak as part of "Combiner Wars".
This basic sculpt has been used several times in the "Combiner Wars" line. Here is a rundown (based on order of release):
Bluestreak is a direct redeco of the sculpt used for Prowl and Smokescreen. Since the three characters share a very similar head design this makes perfect sense.
Packaging:
Bluestreak came packaged as the "surprise figure" with the last figure in the fourth subscription service, Impactor. The two figures were packed in a cardboard box with a lid that flips open. The figures themselves are set inside a foam tray with their weapons around them. Their tech specs and instructions were packed in plastic bags underneath the foam.
Accessories:
Bluestreak comes with the same accessories as Prowl. This time out the hand/foot/weapon piece is cast in light grey plastic. This piece is unpainted. On the other hand the shotgun accessory is cast in blue plastic, but almost all of it has been painted silver.
Vehicle Mode:
Despite being named "Bluestreak", the "Fairlady Z" based Autobot was never actually blue in Generation One. Legends of a blue Bluestreak variant floating around in the 80's were actually sightings of the Diaclone figure that would become Bluestreak with blue colors! Funny thing, memory. Anyhow, thirty years after Bluestreak's release "Combiner Wars" Bluestreak is based on the colors found on the original Diaclone "Fairlady Z" figure.
Bluestreak's primary plastic colors are blue, black and white. The blue makes up most of the vehicle while black is found on the wheels. Some white shows on the sides. The most heavily used color is silver which you will find on the hood, the light bar on top and the sides of the wheels. The windows are black (including the small rear window). Black is also found on the front end of the vehicle. A bit of yellow is used for the headlights. On either side of the cabin is the word "Turbo" in white. The finishing touch is a tampographed Autobot symbol in red and white on the hood. Overall these colors represent the Diaclone Fairlady Z figure very well. I love how bold the silver looks against the blue and the inclusion of the "Turbo" details really helps sell this as a new incarnation of "Diaclone Bluestreak". Aside from being an excellent homage, the colors are simply gorgeous on their own.
Both accessories including with this figure can attach to the 5mm ports on the sides or the one on top. They still fit nice and snug.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Detach the weapons and set them aside for now.
- Swing the rear wheel well panels up.
- Swing the rear of the vehicle back.
- Swing the rear sections of the vehicle down, then swing the panels back into place.
- Swing the sides of the vehicle out and up.
- Swing out the fists on each forearm.
- Swing the windshield piece down.
- Swing the front of the car back.
- Swing the chest and head panels down.
- Rotate the waist section around.
- The weapons can be attached to his shoulders or fists.
Robot Mode:
Like the vehicle mode, Bluestreak's robot mode is based on the colors of the Diaclone Fairlady Z's robot mode. A lot of the details on that figure came from stickers, so many of the details were recreated using tampographs in this form. Here's a rundown of how this figure matches up with the Diaclone Fairlady Z figure:
- The head is blue with yellow horns, a silver face and yellow eyes.
- The chest has silver in the center and sides with spots of red paint. These colors match up with those on the front of the car mode, which forms the chest of the Diaclone figure.
- The forearms are painted black.
- The mid-section has small green details, two of which are outlined with silver, all of which call back to stickers on the Diaclone figure.
- The thighs are cast in white plastic.
- The lower legs have several tampographs including purple trapezoids outlined with silver with one in the center featuring yellow and black outlined by silver.
- The feet have red and yellow details that look like rear lights on a car. All this is outlined with silver.
Overall the folks at Fun Publications did an amazing job with this deco. He looks absolutely stunning. Given that the mass produced "Combiner Wars" figures were somewhat limited with their deco, seeing this amount of deco on one of these sculpts really shows the visual potential of these figures and it is striking!
All the joints on my copy of this figure are fairly tight. Nothing is loose or floppy. The joints are not super tight mind you, but you can pose him and he can hold his weapons just fine.
Transformation to Arm Mode (Starting in vehicle mode):
- Detach all weapons.
- Take the hand piece and swing the fingers and thumb out, bending the piece so it forms a fist.
- Swing the panels on the back of the vehicle out.
- Swing the robot legs out and then split them apart in the middle.
- Rotate the piece to connect the fist down.
- Swing the panels back into place.
- Swing the windshield back.
- Swing the front of the vehicle up and back.
- Swing the robot head and chest plate back.
- Depending on which arm you want Prowl to be, rotate the robot waist left or right.
- Attach the fist to the end.
Arm Mode:
Thanks to the extensive deco on this figure there are quite a few different colors coming together in this mode. Blue is the main color of course, but white and grey shows prominently as well. You also get some smaller details such as the yellow on the headlights, black on the windows and the silver on the sides of the windows.
From a functional standpoint, the knee joints are a bit more loose on this figure than previous uses of the sculpt so he can't hold up a Legends Class figure in weapon mode like Powerglide but he can hold his own shotgun up. The ratchet joint for the shoulder still holds up well so there are no issues there.
Transformation to Leg mode (Starting in vehicle mode):
- Detach all the accessories.
- Swing the windshield back.
- Swing the front of the car back and down.
- Attach the foot piece to the bottom of the vehicle.
Leg Mode:
The leg mode is largely a variation of the vehicle mode, but thanks to the extra paint applications it looks extra nice. In this form the "Turbo" tampographs are very prominent and the silver on the sides of the wheels really stand out. The grey foot piece contrasts nicely with the blue and if you attach his shotgun to the side it adds an extra bit of silver color.
The ratchet joint that connects the leg to a larger figure still works well. I had no issues getting him to help Optimus Maximus stand.
Final Thoughts:
Bluestreak is an absolutely beautiful piece of work. The deco and tampographs along with the base colors work together to really show the visual potential of the base sculpt. The only bad part? This guy is not a mass release so he will cost you a pretty penny to buy. At the time I am writing this the figure is $120 on the Transformers Collector's Club site and that is after the price was cut down from $150! For the most part this piece will be for the most hardcore of collectors and not the casual fan.
Pros:
- Beautiful deco with paint applications not seen on mass release figures.
- Tampographs serve as great callbacks to the Diaclone Fairlady Z figure.
- Sculpt matches the character well.
- Despite many reuses, the joints are in good shape.
- The shotgun included with this sculpt is one of my favorite "Combiner Wars" weapons.
- Adds another "1984" cast member into "Combiner Wars".
Cons:
- Exclusive nature and high price will keep many fans from getting this figure.
- The hip ball joints are not tight enough for him to hold up a Legends Class weapon in arm mode.
