Silverbolt
(Beast Machines)
Beast mode is a condor-
sort of. The main, inexcusable problem I have with this mode is that the
condor has friggin' ARMS. Birds don't have arms, at least not in this sense!
It makes this look more like some kind of wacked-out feathered monster
than an actual condor. Second, the color scheme just wakes your eyes water.
Not only is it extremely bright and just plain looks like whoever picked
it was color-blind, it is not accurate to the show version. The show version
has a primarily purple and yellow color scheme, which contrasts much better,
in my opinion. There is absolutely no reason Hasbro couldn't have put a
show-accurate color scheme on this toy to make it more appealing. Third,
in this mode, Silverbolt has his robot head sticking out of his butt, making
it look like he's giving birth- kinda sick, really, I wish Hasbro would
have tried to hide the face better. Also, this mode is not very show-accurate
at all, with the exception of the head. Another oddity is that they used
transparent plastic for both the beast and robot heads, a bad move- it
just looks wrong. Posability is also very limited in this mode. On the
upside, the fiery detailing on the legs is pretty neat, as is the feathered
detailing on the wings. If you hold Silverbolt up the the light, his wings
look really neat. This toy is also quite big for a basic- which, of course,
is definitely not a bad thing. His spark crystal is pretty difficult not
to spot, as it's right on top of his head.
Robot mode is actually
pretty show-accurate- with the exception of the color scheme, of course.
Except for the aforementioned color scheme, I actually don't find this
mode all that bad. His posability is excellent in this mode, and he has
a much better overall look to him in this mode than in his beast mode.
The small feathers on his back also add a nice touch as well. One of the
flaws, however, is that Silverbolt's condor head sticks out of his stomach
a bit too much, giving him a kind of potbelly. This figure also has a bit
too much transparent plastic, which is a bad habit running through the
Beast Machines Maximals line. He has a very large weapon that consists
of his bird wings and a small part attaching them. This small part has
a small dagger on the end of it, but it's so small, it doesn't look like
it can do much damage, especially with the large wings attached to it always
getting in the way. There is some kind of action feature on this weapon,
but it doesn't seem to serve any kind of obvious purpose. If you bring
his wings together and then press the red button they swing out again.
Some kind of weird flapping action for beast mode, I guess. His weapon
can be stored on his rear in this mode, but it tends to get in the way
too much, and it also falls off a lot, so I just leave it off in this mode.
An absolutely horrible
beast mode, and an okay (but not great) robot mode. In my opinion, the
worst of the basic Beast Machines Maximals.
Review by Beastbot