War for Cybertron: Kingdom/Battle Across Time Collection Skywarp

One of the most frustrating things about being sick and tired of G1 reboots is that, when Hasbro releases a boxed set of two or more TransFormers toys, there's a good chance I'd only be interested in half the set, at most. Such was the case when the 'Battle Across Time Collection' was announced. Comprising two boxed sets - Maximal Grimlock & Autobot Mirage and Maximal Skywarp & Autobot Sideswipe - my interest was piqued by both of the Beast Wars reboot repaints, but I couldn't have cared less for the two Autobots. Upon seeing the final products, my interest in Grimlock was seriously reduced by the uninspiring (not to say incomplete-looking) paint job. Skywarp, meanwhile, was a bit of an oddity from the start. A repaint of Kingdom Airazor (which I really liked) with a head sculpt based more on the character's appearance in the Beast Wars anime than on the original toy (which was named Silverbolt in the west, but categorically not another form of the other Silverbolt)... and I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not.

Of course, that was largely a moot point, considering the somewhat ridiculous cost of either set: £58.99 for the former, £48.99 for the latter, both of which seeming somewhat over the odds for a two pack when the paintwork wasn't exactly extensive. Granted, it's still (objectively) better value than most BotCon toys, which could start at those sorts of prices for a single Deluxe class repaint, but it was more than enough to put me off buying either set, considering I'd then have to dispose of the figures I didn't want.

However, it seems there are more than enough fans who are only interested in the Autobot figures and don't mind selling off the Maximals (Skywarp being, by far, the more common on the secondary market right now). I quick look on eBay identified a handful of UK sellers offering him for around the £20 mark - well below half the cost of the set, which is always a surprise given many sellers' propensity for asking close to the full price of the complete set for just half its contents (or less). A few days later, I got a notification that one seller was willing to knock £2 off, making him about a quid cheaper than a standard, solo-release Deluxe in the Kingdom line, so I figured I might as well.

The only question being, is this semi-'exclusive' figure - rejected by its original owner - a worthwhile addition to my collection, considering it's no longer even a Femme-Bot?

Beast Wars Metals Silverbolt

While late to the game by over a decade thanks to patchy UK TV showings, I've considered myself a fan of Beast Wars for quite a while - certainly longer than I've owned the DVD boxed set of the complete series. Even so, I think the turns it took later on - mainly as a toyline rather than the TV series - were a little bizarre, and consequently I own very few toys from the extended lines (Fuzors, Metals/TransMetals, Beast Machines). Then again, the toys weren't very well represented in the TV series - only two Fuzors turned up, and the introduction of the TransMetals was completely inconsistent.

Of those Fuzors toys available, one exemplifies the better aspects of the concept, and was an awesome character in the TV series... That character is ol' Bird-Dog himself, Silverbolt...

CW Silverbolt Addendum

Or

A Quick and Easy Modification to Silverbolt/Superion's Antennae,
being a Cheaper Alternative to a Third Party Head

I opened up Superion's head to look at how the antennae are attached, and found that they're both part of a single piece of painted rubber. This, no doubt, contributes to the difficulty in flipping them into place because there's not just the resistance from each individual antenna, but the drag caused by the piece linking them twisting rather than actually moving as well as rubbing against things inside the head. Having cut a chunk out of the rubber in the middle, I can report that the antennae - while still not perfectly willing to move into the proper place due to friction between the painted rubber and the plastic they're mounted in - are far more cooperative.

Combiner Wars Silverbolt

Now that Combiner Wars is in full swing (kinda), I've even more glad I didn't bother buying the Universe/Classics Silverbolt back in 2008, instead choosing the Darkwind repaint. It was utterly daft of Hasbro to release a Silverbolt remake that wasn't going to be part of a gestalt because the whole point of Silverbolt is that he's the leader of a gestalt team of flight-capable Autobots... and he's afraid of heights. Leading the team and becoming the main part of Superion is all intended to keep his mind off his phobia long enough to do something useful. Take the team away from him, and there's really no point to a Silverbolt toy (unless it's an update to the Fuzor - go on, Hasbro, you know you wanna).

But back in 2008, Hasbro had no apparent plans to do any more combiners, repeatedly telling BotCon attendees that they weren't financially or technically viable these days. More than five years later, and in the wake of a veritable plethora of third party combiners, Hasbro announced its latest phase in the continuation of the Classics line: Combiner Wars... and one of the first teams to be released is the Aerialbots... meaning, at long last, we have a true Silverbolt