(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Generations Thunderwing. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Generations Thunderwing here.)

    Metalhawk here is certainly something that wouldn't see mass-release, being a full-blown human "Pretender"-- without any actual "real inner robot", given that like all Botcon toys he's a remold and not a new toy that could take advantage of that gimmick. However, the jet mode is a little reminiscient of the original toy's inner robot's alt mode, so there's that. Metalhawk's color scheme is pretty basic for the most part, and also very primary-- white, a light red, and dark blue are used as his main colors. These patriotic colors go together fairly well, though perhaps adding a bit of gold here and there as an additional accent color would've helped him look a bit more varied. He certainly does have many paint apps, but nearly all of them are of roughly the same white/red/blue hues as his plastic-- along with some silver for good measure. In robot mode is where all his paint apps really come together, with some pretty extensive detailing on his legs and chest, in particular, to help emulate his original toy's color layout. It's a pretty impressive job all-around, and works well on Metalhawk given that the original release of this mold was also modeled after a human-esque Pretender.
    Metalhawk has a new head sculpt, but it's certainly one that's going to be polarizing-- it's made to resemble his Pretender "fake human" head, as opposed to his inner robot's! Thus, unless you know the backstory, he really does look like a human in extensive armor in robot mode, as opposed to an actual robot. Given the lack of his "real" head, this may disappoint some folks, but for something aimed at a rather niche audience I think it works, and the sculpting itself is fairly accurate, so no complaints there.
    Metalhawk certainly isn't for everyone-- his color scheme is neither outrageously kitschy neon or anything approaching realistic, and his head is a human head. That said, the idea was a pretty solid one, and in robot mode in particular it works well with the mold. I wish his color scheme was slightly less primary, but then again it IS, of course, accurate to the original toy this way. I still think the Sky Shadow release of this mold is the best, however.

Review by Beastbot

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