Sonic
Shock Smokescreen
(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 Ion Blast Autobot Jazz. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Ion Blast Autobot Jazz here.)
Smokescreen is one of
only two Fast Action Battlers that isn't represented in some other toy
form in the movie lines, although he's "just a repaint". Smokescreen here
is clearly an homage to the G1 character of the same
name, with a similar alt mode and a nearly identical color scheme,
right down to the "38" symbols on the side doors. The red on FAB Smokescreen
is a bit darker than on the original Smokescreen, however, and as such
I don't think it contrasts quite as well with the other colors, so it certainly
doesn't clash. It just makes the colors look... I dunno... too "primary"
compared to most other Movie toys, though Smokescreen looks infinitely
more interesting than FAB Jazz's dull scheme. The light gray, which is
more visible in robot mode, serves as a nice light color to offset Smokescreen's
otherwise mostly dark colors and does it quite well. The silver and light
metallic blue used for the car headlights and windows also contrast fairly
nicely, though I don't like the yellow-- it really doesn't fit against
the light gray at all, and looks rather odd on Smokescreen's robot antennae,
being painted on only one side of them and all. Although he has a fair
amount of paint apps in vehicle mode-- with the exception of the tailights,
which are the same red as most of the surrounding plastic-- Smokescreen's
robot parts are rather lacking in paint apps. His robot head is quite detailed,
but the "robot parts" of his arms and legs have no paint on them at all.
I also think it looks pretty weird in vehicle mode having Smokescreen's
rear tire rims painted silver while his front tires are completely light
gray-- they don't mesh at all.
No mold changes have
been made to Sonic Shock Smokescreen.
Sonic Shock Smokescreen
is a great repaint of the FAB Jazz mold-- one of the best FAB molds, in
my opinion-- though a few minor things, such as a lightening of the red
and the removal of the yellow, could have made it a bit better. Recommended
over FAB Jazz's very dull colors any day of the week.
Review by Beastbot