Robots in Disguise - Storm Jet
Well, after Ben Yee it looks like I'm the first one in
the fandom to score one of these. Okay, sure I had to pay $15 for one from BBTS, but still, I
paid more for Sonic Attack Jet, and I do love this mold. Anyways, as is the tradition with repaints,
I'll just be pointing out the changes made from the original. You know the drill.
So Storm Jet (uh, I hate that damn name, so unoriginal) is here for filler since RID has,
for all extensive purposes, ended, but Armada has not yet started up. Yay, filler! Essentially
we're getting a bunch of Beast Machine and G2 repaints, along with one new mold (Megabolt Megs). I'm
not counting Air Attack Primal just yet.
Anywho, I'm a big fan of this mold, as some of you may know, since it's solid in both modes, and
there's pretty much zero kibble anywhere. It's really, in my opinion, the best Transformer ever
made. But enough of this crap.
Jet mode is the familiar colors of red, black and white (significant for anyone who remembers
Skyfire from G1 or the Jetfire toy presumably meant to represent that character). Actually,
comparing him to Jetstorm, he has more paint apps on him, mainly in the cockpit area which has
red paint for a nice look. Also that weird tampo that was present on the previous two releases is
now gone (I think it was supposed to be Jetstorm's head). Essentially, where Jetstorm is
greensih-blue (or whatever color you think he is), Storm Jet is white. The yellow on Jetstorm
had been replaced by either black or red on Storm Jet, and any gray was changed to black.
The gimmicks are still present, but instead of Jetstorm's hair triggers, Storm Jet (this was
added for SAJ) has harder to trigger missiles, which is good because they're harder to lose. Also the
cockpit gimmick is really stiff and hard to activate at times, and the button looks like it was
remolded a little. The glowing eyes gimmick is still there of course, only Storm Jet's eyes are a
dark shade of pink rather than the red Jetstorm had. Same deal with the robot eyes and the
missiles.
Ah, and then there's the spark, which is a really shiny piece of red plastic instead of
an Autobot spark like we might have hoped. The plastic piece is really shiny actually, and
I sort of want to put it in my mouth for some reason. Looks kinda like candy.
Transformation hasn't changed of course, and hover mode is still there, so we'll cut to the
robot mode chase.
Storm Jet resembles Skyfire a lot less in this mode, where the white is not as present as it
was in jet mode. His chest is red, his upper legs and feet are red, his lower legs black, his upper arms
and hands black as well. All in all it's very cool looking. He still has the bunny ears of course
as well. They're white with the rest of his head being red and a black stripe on the helmet. I like
it a lot.
Also a word of caution, his lower arms are painted black and very rubbery, so they have a
tendency to stick. The first time I tried to move one of his elbows I ended up popping his
arm right off at the bicep, so just be careful. His hands have a similar problem, but once
you loosen them up everything works fine.
Overall, like I said, I like this mold a lot, and I also like the color scheme. So far I still
like Jetstorm's the best, but this guy comes in a very close second (sorry SAJ) with his nifty
G1 tribute to Skyfire. These are going to be quite scarce (when they come out), but if you
don't own Jetstorm or Sonic Attack Jet, definitely grab one, and even if you already own those (or one),
still pick this up. He's quite cool, and of course gets the ol' nine from me.
Now you can enjoy the inevitable group shots:
