General Information:
Transformers Armada was one of the first Transformers lines in years to make heavy, heavy use of redecos to create new waves of toys. Sure this had been done during the Beast Wars years, but Beast Machines and Robots in Disguise didn't really utilize this to a great degree. The problem with redecos is, after a while, people get tired of getting the same mold over and over. On the other hand, parents may see a mold in different colors and simply say "You already have that." to their kids, and that's that, no sale. A situation like this was avoided when Hasbro decided to take the mold they had already released twice as Starscream and Thundercracker and not only give it a new deco, but significantly overhaul the sculpt. On top of that, they created a new Mini-Con just to be included with Skywarp. The result is a toy with roughly 20% new parts (that's a quote from Hasbro). This review will focus on the changes made to the Starscream mold for this release.
Thunderclash is a Transformer name that has its origins in the later Generation One to G2 era of Transformers. Originally Thunderclash was a truck, much in the spirit of Optimus Prime, so much so that the mold was later given a new deco as Optimus Prime. This time however, he's a Mini-Con jet working with Skywarp.
Vehicle Mode: The color scheme is simple. Thunderclash is mostly grey with some purple parts and black paint around the cockpit. While I love the sculpt, I do wish that the mold had been given a slightly better paint job. Some more details on the back portion would have kept the toy from looking plain color-wise. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: Color-wise, there's still not much to write home about. The upper legs are purple while the lower legs are grey. The only newly revealed paint app is orange for the eyes.
Final Thoughs (on Thunderclash):
Since the first two Armada jets of this design were Starscream and Thundercracker, naming this guy Skywarp was a no brainer, and appropriate. However, unlike his G1 counterpart, he is not a physical clone of his fellow jets.
Vehicle Mode:
All these changes work together to really help differentiate the sculpt from its predecessors. Not only are the
Color-wise, the designers decided to pay homage to the toys' G1 namesake. Skywarp's primary color is black, with a healthy dose of purple worked in. The purple is everywhere, the missiles, the wings, the cockpit etc. What is important to note is that the pattern used is fairly consistant with the G1 Skywarp's patterns. G1 Skywarp's wings were black with purple details at the edges, like Armada Skywarp's. G1 Skywarp had purple fins at the rear,
With Starscream and Thundercracker, you could take their Mini-Con partners and attach them to the underside of the cockpit. Kudos to Hasbro for making sure Thunderclash can do the same. Simply take the little guy in vehicle mode, and attach his cockpit to the underside of Skywarp's cockpit and voila, instant Powerlinking with more firepower for Skywarp! It even makes the same ejection sound as Starscream when you push down on the cockpit to release the Mini-Con. Thunderclash also attaches to the Powerlinx point at the rear to deploy the shoulder cannons. However, to do that you Skywarp utilizes all the same sound effects as Starscream and Thundercracker. While this may seem cheap, really there was no point in creating new sound effects for a redeco/retool that was only going to get limited distribution anyhow.
Robot Mode:
Skywarp shows off a couple different colors here not as prevelant in the vehicle mode. First is a bit of red, found on his chest, legs and shoulders. A bit of gold is found on the arms and his upper legs and arms are purple. The head is grey, with a purple crest and black face. His eyes are painted orange, which looks really nice. I do wish the designers had taken this opportunity to throw some black wash onto the upper legs to draw out the sculpted Functionally, everything remains the same here. The left wing becomes a sword and he retains all the Powerlinx points the mold had before.
Final Thoughts:
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