Name: Silverbolt
Function: Tracker
Motto: "After the darkness I take wing again!"

Formerly a warrior with the Maximals, Silverbolt became the victim of the worst kind of crime. His spark stolen and reprogrammed by Megatron, Silverbolt was remade into the evil Vehicon aerial general, Jetstorm. With no memory of his Maximal past, it took Blackarachnia to finally bring him back to his former Maximals self. Reformatted into a technorganic condor, his wings create violent turbulence that topples Vehicons. In Robot Mode, eyes can fire static pulse lasers that paralyze Vehicons instantly. Silverbolt struggles to shake his Vehicon past and rediscover his noble Maximal ways.

Silverbolt returns to the battle as a basic Maximal. This toy is a huge departure from the original Silverbolt Fuzor toy and the results aren't as great as one may think.

Beast Mode:
It is very telling that Silverbolt is packaged in robot mode. Silverbolt's beast mode is supposed to be a condor, but one would be hard pressed to figure that out at first glance (or for some, after a long stare). The first thing to throw anyone off would be the extremely bright color scheme. Silverbolt is mostly red, yellow and orange with translucent blue parts as well. His beak is gold and his wings are a nice combination of translucent dark blue to light blue.

Silverbolt has fifteen points of articulation. This includes three points of articulation on each leg. There are some nice details molded into parts of the beast mode such as the wings and beast mode head, however it does not help one get past the odd looking mix of parts that form Silverbolt's "wings". Rather than looking like a bird, he looks more like a person in a halloween costume trying to raise his arms with a fake cape on while yelling "Boo!". Not a flattering visual effect for a Transformer.

Transformation to Robot Mode:
Begin by removing Silverbolt's wings and set it aside. Fold the beast mode head back and then rotate the waist around. Swing down the beast mode arms and straighten out the end to form the robot feet. Swing down the beast mode legs to the sides and straighten out the robot arms. Place the wings/weapon into his hand and Silverbolt is in robot mode!

Robot Mode:
Silverbolt is one of the Beast Machines toys that began the trend towards more show accurate toys. His robot mode has all the detailing of the CGI television show model, including the "ponytail" and shoulder armor details. However, the colors are very different than the television show model. Whereas the television show model is primarily purple, white and silver, this toy is mostly red, orange, yellow and translucent blue. There is some silver and purple on the robot chest and head however.

In robot mode, Silverbolt has fifteen points of articulation. His weapon is a nice idea, acting as a "clamping weapon" or a sword. Although he is mostly show accurate and has an interesting design, his robot hands are extremely large in comparison to the rest of his arms.

Silverbolt has many good points and many bad points. What works against this toy's overall rating is that the toy had a lot of potential to be more than what it is. Mildly recommended. C+