Skystalker's alternate mode is a pretty unique one for a Transformer-- a drone plane. For the most part, it's pretty accurate, with the proportions pretty nice. The large robot feet stick out a bit from near the back end of this mode, but otherwise there isn't any overly obvious junk underneath the wings. (Skystalker's hands do stick out a little from the rear, though.) There's quite a lot of nice mold detailing even in this sleek, aerodynamic mode, with tones of little details all over Skystalker's wings, even including little molded "rivets". There isn't a whole lot of paint detailing here, but it's a little drone plane-- those tend not to have a lot of colors on them. The little Decepticon-wing symbols and the 808 designation are enough, though. There's a flip-out landing gear near the front of this mode, and it's a pretty nice nod that Skystalker's single-optic face is actually staring out at you to a limited extent from the front of this mode. Creepy.
    Skystalker's robot mode is really unique-looking, while still definitely looking like a Movie Decepticon. He's got rather large lower legs-- which actually stick out at the sides from his knees, which is a bit odd-- but otherwise his proportions are pretty good. His arms are nice and skeletal-looking without being TOO skinny, and the way his chest folds down and his wings sweep out behind him looks pretty good. (That said, I wish there was some sort of way the wings could "lock" in place to make them look a bit better when you're moving Skystalker's arms.) The way his chest folds down works well, and his head design is really nice-- kinda like a mini-Shockwave, almost. He's got some nice paint detailing and more mold colors to help vary up the colors in this mode, with some greenish brown and maroon adding to all the black. The greenish brown is kinda bleh, honestly, but it contrasts with the black well enough, I guess. I would've wished for a bit more maroon, personally, as the parts where it is used contrast pretty well with all the surrounding colors. Skystalker has two features-- one of which is really cool, the other really annoying. The cool feature is that two hatches detach from his wings and can be held in his hands-- they also fragment the look of the wings when they're detached in a very movie-esque style, I love it. The hatches also have 3 mm clips attached to them should you want to attach them to other figures with that feature. Skystalker's articulation is pretty decent-- he can move at the neck (at two places), shoulders (at two places), elbows, hips, knees, and technically at the ankles. However, his ankles are involved in his other "gimmick"-- auto-clasp action, as his feet automatically clap shut if you pick him up from the table. It's actually really darned annoying-- I just wish the feet would just stay splayed like on a normal TF's! Ugh.
    Skystalker has a few minor issues in both modes-- a couple of noticeable extras in vehicle mode, and a couple of odd things going on with his lower legs in robot mode-- but overall he's a great scout mold with a fitting color scheme, and worth adding to any movie fan's collection. Highly recommended.

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Index