General Information:
Release Date: July 2019
Price Point: $34.99 (In a box of 10 Micromasters)
Retailer: Target Exclusive
Accessories: None
Official images and text below in italics are from Target.com:
- BUILD THE ULTIMATE BATTLEFIELD: The Generations War for Cybertron trilogy introduces an expansive ecosystem of collectible figures and weapon accessories. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability)
- EXCITING 10pk WITH CLASSIC MICROMASTER COMBINATION: This 10pk includes 5 teams of Micromaster toys that convert and combine to form weapon modes!
- CLASSIC G1-INSPIRED CHARACTERS: Adult fans nostalgic for the original Transformers animation and kids discovering classic characters for the first time can share and experience exciting play patterns across generations
- AWESOME CONVERSION: Each figure in this Micromaster 10pk features simple conversion to micro vehicle modes. For kids and adults 8 years old and up!
- COMPATIBLE WEAPON MODE WORKS WITH ALL OTHER FIGURES: War for Cybertron: Siege figures have multiple weapon ports that enable fans to attach the weapon mode of Micromaster figures
- Build the ultimate battlefield with Transformers War for Cybertron: Siege collectible figures, featuring classic G1 characters. (Each figure sold separately. Subject to availability). Siege plunges fans into the epic fight to survive on the final day of the Autobot and Decepticon battle to control Cybertron. The Decepticon resistance army and the Autobot counter-resistance fighters gear up with the universe's most advanced modular weaponry, including the weapon modes of Micromaster figures - sentient bots that become weapons!
Micromaster figures combine to form weapons to equip other Siege figures (sold separately)!
- WFC-S58 Ricon and Irontread form Dual-Port Scrapgrinder
- WFC-S59 Road-Police and Wheel Blaze form Powershot Plasma Cannon
- WFC-S60 Overair and Ground Shaker form Ultra-Sonic Shredder Blade
- WFC-S61 Slyhopper and Nightflight form Dual-Edged Soundbreaker Sword
- WFC-S62 Cratermaker and Fireline form Gravatronic Rubblemaker Cannon
- Includes 10 Transformers Generations War for Cybertron: Siege Micromaster figures and instructions.
- Figure scale: 1.5 inches
- Ages 8 and up
- Warning: Choking Hazard - Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.
-Transformers and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro.
As part of the burst of new products at Target in late July/early August 2019, Target carried an exclusive ten pack of Micromaster figures. A majority of this set featured redecos and retools of previously released figures. Two of the figures in the pack (Irontread and Ricon) were redecos of the Off-Road Patrol, which was not readily available online (via Amazon) until about two weeks after this set was released. Instead of featuring the "missing members" of the previously released patrols, many of these figures represented characters who originally came with transforming bases in Generation One or Japanese exclusive Micromaster homages.
Slyhopper falls into the category of characters whose G1 predecessor came with a base in the 80's. In G1, the character Skyhopper came with a helicopter vehicle which transformed into a base. The G1 Skyhopper figure itself was a redeco of G1 Storm Cloud. By the same token, Slyhopper (note the name change) is a redeco of Siege Storm Cloud. You'll want to check out that review for a detailed look at the Storm Cloud sculpt.
Packaging:
The Micromaster 10 Pack is packaged in a box with a large window in the front. This allows you to see all ten Micromasters inside. The Micromasters are packaged in robot mode and roughly divided between Autobots and Decepticons. The left side says "Autobots" while the right says "Decepticons", but Ground Shaker and Overair (both Autobots) are near the "Decepticon side" while Nightflight is on the "Autobot side". The "Siege" logo is located towards the bottom and the side of course has the "Generations" logo along with a vertical Transformers logo on the right.
The back of the box features each Micromaster in both modes along with the number of steps to transform them. It also shows off each pair's combined weapon mode, but does not name them (they are however named in the official product description above). In the lower right hand corner is Red Alert holding the "Dual-Port Scrapegrinder" formed by Irontread and Ricon.
Robot Mode:
Slyhopper is a straight up redeco of Storm Cloud with no tooling changes. That said, this sculpt has the same basic design as G1 Storm Cloud and Skyhopper so it calls back to that character beautifully. He has a round head with visor eyes, wings on his back, a big booster behind the head and even a screw hole in the chest. Of course, there is one big difference: this sculpt has no hands. Instead, the designers gave Storm Cloud and Slyhopper wrists with pegs for Blast Effects. While it adds some good functionality to the figure, it looks like someone sliced his hands off and it's distracting (at least to me).
Slyhopper is made up of grey, black and green plastic. The colors alternate quite a bit with green focused on the head to the waist and grey/black used on the rest. Teal paint is used on the wings and feet. Silver is found on the chest and the face is painted purple. For the most part, all these colors call back to G1 Skyhopper's color scheme, but the colors tend to be darker than the ones used on that figure but they look fantastic.
All the joints on my copy of this figure are nice and tight. As mentioned above, you can attach Blast Effects to the pegs on his wrists.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing the wings forward.
- Swing the arms up, bending them at the elbow and tucking them into the gap between the wings and booster.
- Rotate each leg so the outer parts are facing the same way as the robot face and torso.
- Bend each leg at the knees and connect the tabs on the ankles to the slots on the forearms.
- Swing the cockpit forward.
Vehicle Mode:
Slyhopper's jet mode is the same as Storm Cloud's featuring a very Earth-like nosecone/cockpit section with two vertical stabilizers in the back and blasters mounted on each wing. The colors from the robot mode carry over here including purple paint on the cockpit and a really impressive deco on the wings. Each wing has teal and silver patterns on it that call back to G1 Skyhopper's wing stickers. Finishing up the wing deco are purple Decepticon symbols on the silver part. This deco is absolutely beautiful and I love the way a sticker from G1 Skyhopper was recreated on this figure.
Like Storm Cloud, you can attach seven Blast Effects in this mode! Five can go in the back of the jet and one can attach to the end on each wing. This is one of my favorite vehicle modes among the Micromasters because of this. That's some serious play factor!
Transformation to Weapon Mode (Starting in Vehicle mode):
- Swing the cockpit section back.
- Swing the head on Nightflight down to reveal the 5mm attachment peg.
- Attach Nightflight's peg into Slyhopper's attachment point.
- Slyhopper's peg can be used by larger figures to wield the Dual-Edged Soundbreaker Sword.
Weapon Mode:
The Storm Cloud/Slyhopper sculpt does not have its own individual weapon mode. Instead, you need to attach it to the Visper/Nightflight sculpt to form a sword weapon. In this case, Slyhopper and Nightflight team up to form the Dual-Edged Soundbreaker Sword! This is the same design as the sword formed by Siege Storm Cloud and Visper. I love the way this sword looks, and it also pays homage to the swords formed by Mini-Cons in the Armada and Energon. toy lines.
The Dual-Edged Soundbreaker Sword has attachment points on the sides of Nightflight to attach the "wave" Battle Effect piece included with Siege Lionizer. It looks great and really gives the weapon some "life"!
Final Thoughts:
Aside form his lack of hands, Slyhopper is a really cool figure. He looks like his G1 counterpart, he's fun to play with and the deco looks fantastic. I do recommend this entire boxed set since it is a lot of fun all in one package. It is also quite a bargain since ten Micromasters would normally cost you about $50 USD at retail.
Pros:
- Excellent sculpt (hands aside).
- Fantastic deco.
- Fun play value.
Cons:
- Design does not include hands.
- No individual weapon mode.
