General Information:
Release Date: August 2016
Price Point: $69
Retailer: Transformers Collector's Club Exclusive
Accessories: Missiles x 2, Swords x 2
Disclaimer: This action figure was provided to me at no charge by the Transformers Collector's Club for review purposes.
Back during the "Unicron Trilogy" era the Starscream sculpt was given a new head and deco and released as Skywarp, based on the G1 character of the same name. This figure would later be repainted and made part of the "Transformers Universe" line as Ramjet. Now, history is repeating itself...in reverse. The Collector's Club Exclusive Ramjet that was released in June of 2015 has been repainted as Skywarp from "Armada". This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release, but below are all the reference links you will need to get a good background on this figure. The most relevant is Ramjet's review since this figure is a direct redeco.
- "Armada" Starscream
- "Armada" Skywarp
- "Universe" Ramjet
- "Generations" Armada Starscream
- "Timelines" Ramjet
Packaging:
Skywarp is packaged in a box similar to those of exclusives from years past such as Nightbeat. The box has a bottom section that feels much like a jewelry box, giving a premium feel. The top is a cover featuring artwork wrapped around the box on all sides. Taking the graphics and inspiration from the 2003 "Armada" packaging, the background features a colorful radar screen and map. There is a photo of the toy and artwork of the character. The lower left hand corner of the box features a small insert that is also based on "Armada" packaging, namely the rounded inserts included with "Armada" figures. While the packaging (and comic book) firmly place this character in the "Armada" universe, the branding on the box indicates this is a "Transformers Timelines" figure for reasons that become obvious once you look at the comic book included with the figure.
Inside the package the figure is in a foam insert. No worries folks, unlike Ramjet, the figure sits deep inside the insert so there is no paint wear on this guy like there was with Ramjet. Underneath is a booklet, instructions and tech specs. The booklet is modeled after the comic book/catalogs included with the "Armada" and "Energon" figures in the early 2000's. Half the booklet is a short comic book set in the "pocket universe" of "Armada" based on the four comic books that were released in 2003. This is different than the animated series with the most glaring difference being that Starscream is alive after the Unicron Battles and in his original "Armada" colors. The other part of the booklet is an old style toy catalog, with pages featuring past and present toys from the Transformers Collector's Club. This booklet is a real labor of love and I've provided sample scans above so you can get a taste of how cool it is. I did not include the entire booklet out of propriety.
Vehicle Mode:
Skywarp uses the same sculpt as Ramjet, so he's not an exact match for "Armada" Skywarp due to the design of the nosecone. On both "Universe" Ramjet and "Armada" Skywarp the nosecone features small blasters mounted on either side of the cockpit. The other design element form "Universe" Ramjet and "Armada" Skywarp that isn't found on this figure involves the rear horizontal fins, which are just regular fins here whereas on the original version of the character they had VTOL fans sculpted into them. If you're a stickler for exacting details this might bug you, but I personally have no problem with it.
Skywarp features a deco that is inspired by "Armada" Skywarp, but it's not an exact copy. Part of this is due to the layout of parts on the figure and I also think the designers were trying to give it a look that would stand on its own. Like its namesake, this Skywarp is mostly cast in black plastic with some smaller parts cast in light grey, translucent orange and purple. Black dominates the vehicle mode, but there are a bunch of purple paint applications that help give it some visual variety. The purple is a similar shade to the "Armada" version of the character, but it is slightly darker. The purple is used on the air intakes/engines on top of the vehicle, the wings and the crest sticking out right behind the cockpit. Red is found on the angled air intakes that flank the cockpit section as well as the engines on top and the rear of the vehicle. This color is directly inspired by similar details on "Armada" Skywarp. The rear horizontal fins have orange on them, which is a bit of a visual allusion to the gold colored VTOL fans on "Armada" Skywarp.
Two tampographed Decepticon symbols are found on the wings right behind the purple lines. The cockpit cover is translucent orange, calling back to the yellow cockpit cover on "Armada" Skywarp.
Overall the deco looks fantastic on this figure. I really like the way the colors are broken up and pay homage to "Armada" Skywarp.
In terms of play value you can use the Mini-Con pegs on the top to attach two Mini-Cons or even "Energon" weapons with the appropriate ports. Pushing the translucent purple parts of these engines launches the missiles inside the engines.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Flip the vehicle over and separate the robot arms from the wings and swing them up.
- On each robot arm, swing out the fists.
- Swing the lower legs out to the sides and down.
- Rotate each robot leg so the rear fins face up.
- Push each rear fin into the lower legs.
- Push the feet up and swing out the heels.
- Swing the central piece the legs are connected to up.
- Swing down the white panel in the middle (under the front half of the vehicle) down.
- Swing down the cockpit/nosecone section.
- Push the robot head up.
- Rotate the wings so the ends point up.
- You can leave the air intakes/engines up or swing them against the back.
- Behind each wing is a sword you can detach. Swing out the blades and place them in the hands.
Robot Mode:
Like the vehicle mode Skywarp follows the same general color pattern as the "Armada" Skywarp figure. This mode shows off some purple and light grey plastic on top of the black. The deco patterns call back to the "Armada" figure nicely. The wings have purple on the edges, his arms have purple on the curved part of the forearms, the chest and lower legs feature red horizontal lines on them. The head is cast in grey with the high crest painted purple. His face is black and eyes are orange. A bit of orange also appears on his forearms and the underside of his vehicle engines (which wind up sticking up by default in this form). I'm really fond of the way the red pops against the black on this figure. I'm also very impressed that a detail as small as the orange spots on the bottom of the engines were painted. This is the type of attention to detail I love in the Club figures.
All the joints on this figure are nice and tight. I mentioned in my Ramjet review that the swords had issues popping apart when you swing the blades up. Interestingly my copy of Skywarp does not have this issue. The swords swing open nice and smooth without a problem.
Final Thoughts:
I really like the way this figure looks. The dark colors all work very nicely and the head sculpt is very cool. Keep in mind that this guy will cost you more than an average mass retail Deluxe, but for the serious collector it's well worth it!
