Review #60: Universe Ultra Silverbolt
Recently I've taken a look at a few figures (Arcee and Cosmos) that will soon be receiving highly anticipated new versions. Today, I continue that trend with this look at 2008's Ultra Class Silverbolt from the Universe toy line. Silverbolt was one of three toys released that year in the rarely seen Ultra size class, a size between the more common Voyager Class and the not quite as uncommon Leader Class. One of the others was this previously reviewed Onslaught, and like Onslaught, Silverbolt is normally the leader of a gestalt team. Here, however, he is a stand alone figure that does not combine with anything else.
In the G1 days, Silverbolt was a Concord jet. Here, he has been made into something more resembling a military bomber. Still, he manages to look suitably Silverbolty. |
He has some nice detailing in his vehicle mode, including transclearent plastic in just the right spaces. He has lights and sounds (activated by pushing the maroon button towards the top aft of his vehicle mode) that make use of some of these clear areas, including some sort of start-up noise, a jet wooshing noise, and guns firing.
His detailing includes a designation of "BOLT-25" and numbering on his wings that is also 25, nods to the fact that at the time of his release Hasbro was gearing up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Transformers franchise.
Silverbolt's gun, which is nicely reminiscent of the gun his G1 figure wielded, tabs under his nosecone in a not too obtrusive way for storage in vehicle mode. It has a spring-loaded firing missile in it. He had three landing gear that contain actual wheels (rather then molded-on wheel shaped nubs not too uncommon on some Transformers) that can all be folded away when not in use.
His detailing includes a designation of "BOLT-25" and numbering on his wings that is also 25, nods to the fact that at the time of his release Hasbro was gearing up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Transformers franchise.
Silverbolt's gun, which is nicely reminiscent of the gun his G1 figure wielded, tabs under his nosecone in a not too obtrusive way for storage in vehicle mode. It has a spring-loaded firing missile in it. He had three landing gear that contain actual wheels (rather then molded-on wheel shaped nubs not too uncommon on some Transformers) that can all be folded away when not in use.
Now there is something of an "elephant in the room" that must be addressed with this Silverbolt. With Transformers that turn into jets, it is not an unusual complaint amongst the fandom to point out that many of them are just folded up robots stuck on the underside of a jet. Often, while technically true, such complaints are a bit harsh and it is clear the the designers made some attempt to hide away as much of the robot as they could. And, of course, when transforming such figures, one expects that (aside from jet pieces necessary to the intended look of the figure) the vehicle mode is nicely hidden away once you have the figure in robot mode.
Well... when it comes to Silverbolt, anyone making such a complaint may have a point...
Well... when it comes to Silverbolt, anyone making such a complaint may have a point...
The two modes share almost no parts with one another. (And the "almost" is only because of the landing gear.) What you have here is, pretty much, nothing more then a jet with a folded up robot on its undercarriage or a robot with a folded up jet on his back! Frankly, my first impression of the figure and his transformation was one of disappointment. Over the last half a decade, has that impression held up? I'll let you know in my final thoughts. But before we get to that, a final note on the transformation and then we'll try and take an objective look at the robot mode itself.
Regarding the transformation, there is an additional light and sound feature involved with it: When you push his legs up into his body (which also pushes out his head) he makes the transformation sound effect and his eyes blink a few times with a green light. When transforming him back into jet mode and pushing his head back into his body, you are rewarded with the opposite transformation sound effect.
Regarding the transformation, there is an additional light and sound feature involved with it: When you push his legs up into his body (which also pushes out his head) he makes the transformation sound effect and his eyes blink a few times with a green light. When transforming him back into jet mode and pushing his head back into his body, you are rewarded with the opposite transformation sound effect.
So, onto robot mode!
First thing to say is that he looks like Silverbolt! Some may point out that his chest looks more like the chest of the gestalt Superion, rather then how his G1 toy's chest looked... but this is actually keeping in line with how his character looked in the cartoon, where for some reason his animation model was based on how he would look if the gestalt's chest plate was attached even if he wasn't in the combined mode. He still features a sound effect in robot mode. It is activated with the same button that was used in vehicle mode, even though that button is covered up with the jet is folded up on his back! This is achieved by the use of a pass-through switch that, when pressed, will then press the button for you. Quite an elegant solution to the issue of the button having been covered. |
In robot mode, the button only produces one sound effect rather then cycling through three, that of the firing guns. It also activates the same lights that it did in vehicle mode, but of course these lights are now kind of less then visible on his backpack. It would have been nice if they had engineered it so that in robot mode it made his eyes blink, a light-up feature that as it now stands is only activated by transforming him, making it of somewhat limited use.
The robot mode is not without some other issues as well. The head, which features an otherwise nice sculpt, is for some reason molded so that it is permanently looking down slightly. This makes him look somewhat strange, especially when posing him with other robots who are able to look forward normally with no difficulty. So you either have to live with him looking down a bit, or have him posed leaning back to compensate. (Perhaps his downcast gaze, firmly planted upon the ground, is a nod to the fact that Silverbolt is afraid of heights? Yes, folks, you read that correctly. Silverbolt is a Transformer who turns into a jet, and who is afraid of heights!)
Another big issue is his somewhat limited articulation. On larger figures, I typically expect more. But Silverbolt's articulation is barely passable for a Deluxe Class offering. Starting with his head, it can only swivel left and right. I imagine that this is in large part because they had to facilitate the light-up feature in his eyes. But, as stated, because it was made so that it only lights up briefly mid-transformation, that feature is of little use. I'd have rather had had the head on a ball joint! If nothing else, a ball joint could have solved the issue of the perpetually downcast gaze.
His shoulders feature two ratcheting joints, one for forward movement and one for outward movement. The outward joints move 90 degrees, an acceptable minimum. The forward joints only go forward about 180 degrees, so that his arms can go from straight down to straight up and points in between. You don't get any backward arm movement, because of his wings inhibiting the joint. Each arm has an upper arm swivel, and then a ratcheting elbow that allows for 90 degrees of movement.
There is no waist articulation. Again, because of the folded up jet hanging off of his back, it would have been rather limited in any case, but they could have squeezed in a tiny bit if they'd wanted. His hips, like his shoulders, have pairs of ratcheting joints. They can move forward 90 degrees or back a little bit before hitting the backpack, and they can move outward about 125 degrees. There is an upper leg swivel. The knees can bend very deeply, so no complaints there. You can get a tiny bit of movement out of the feet because of transformation, but nothing that would really be of much practical use for posing purposes.
Other then the lack of waist articulation, though, what he has would actually not be too bad. Heck, all the ratcheting joints make for a lot of fun, clickity movement. It is just the huge freakin' backpack ha has caused by having an entire folded up jet on his back that gets in the way and inhibits things greatly.
The robot mode is not without some other issues as well. The head, which features an otherwise nice sculpt, is for some reason molded so that it is permanently looking down slightly. This makes him look somewhat strange, especially when posing him with other robots who are able to look forward normally with no difficulty. So you either have to live with him looking down a bit, or have him posed leaning back to compensate. (Perhaps his downcast gaze, firmly planted upon the ground, is a nod to the fact that Silverbolt is afraid of heights? Yes, folks, you read that correctly. Silverbolt is a Transformer who turns into a jet, and who is afraid of heights!)
Another big issue is his somewhat limited articulation. On larger figures, I typically expect more. But Silverbolt's articulation is barely passable for a Deluxe Class offering. Starting with his head, it can only swivel left and right. I imagine that this is in large part because they had to facilitate the light-up feature in his eyes. But, as stated, because it was made so that it only lights up briefly mid-transformation, that feature is of little use. I'd have rather had had the head on a ball joint! If nothing else, a ball joint could have solved the issue of the perpetually downcast gaze.
His shoulders feature two ratcheting joints, one for forward movement and one for outward movement. The outward joints move 90 degrees, an acceptable minimum. The forward joints only go forward about 180 degrees, so that his arms can go from straight down to straight up and points in between. You don't get any backward arm movement, because of his wings inhibiting the joint. Each arm has an upper arm swivel, and then a ratcheting elbow that allows for 90 degrees of movement.
There is no waist articulation. Again, because of the folded up jet hanging off of his back, it would have been rather limited in any case, but they could have squeezed in a tiny bit if they'd wanted. His hips, like his shoulders, have pairs of ratcheting joints. They can move forward 90 degrees or back a little bit before hitting the backpack, and they can move outward about 125 degrees. There is an upper leg swivel. The knees can bend very deeply, so no complaints there. You can get a tiny bit of movement out of the feet because of transformation, but nothing that would really be of much practical use for posing purposes.
Other then the lack of waist articulation, though, what he has would actually not be too bad. Heck, all the ratcheting joints make for a lot of fun, clickity movement. It is just the huge freakin' backpack ha has caused by having an entire folded up jet on his back that gets in the way and inhibits things greatly.
The bottoms of his feet are molded at slight angles, so that when standing in a neutral pose he has to do so with his legs slightly splayed in an "A" stance. This doesn't bother me so much, but I have come across some people who are bothered by such things. Thus, I thought it was worth noting.
Detailing on the figure is definitely a positive. He looks like Silverbolt should, detailing is nice and crisp, plastic colors are well chosen, and paint applications are very good. It is a quite good looking figure.
Detailing on the figure is definitely a positive. He looks like Silverbolt should, detailing is nice and crisp, plastic colors are well chosen, and paint applications are very good. It is a quite good looking figure.
To the left, a comparison of this figure with a standard sized DVD case to offer a sense of scale.
So, overall, you might have gotten a negative impression from this review. But you know what? While I may have been initially disappointed when I first got this figure, it's grown on me. So many figures are so complicated, sometimes needlessly so, that it is nice once in a while to put your hands on a more simple one. You can sit down with this guy, transform him in about five seconds without hardly even glancing at him, and have tons of fun moving his clickity clackity ratcheting joints! And if you can get past him having a jet hanging on his back, he's a good looking robot! So, do I recommend him? It depends. If you want something simpler for yourself, or if you're looking for something that won't be too difficult for a younger Transformers fan, sure! Go for it! And don't even be too worried about the fact that he's an older figure... A quick check on eBay at the time of the writing of this article shows plenty of them available for about what he originally cost or less! And as a side note, for such a simple figure, it is amusing how some people can still get his transformation wrong! |
If that doesn't appeal to you, or if you don't want to have two different Silverbolts and would prefer having one that works as part of a gestalt, then you're probably better off waiting until next year when the new combiner teams Hasbro has announced start coming out. Otherwise, what are you waiting for? Head on over to the secondary market and track one of these guys down!
Review added 18 August 2014 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed!
Review added 18 August 2014 by Yotsuya. Comments are welcomed!
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