Is he Bluestreak even if he's not blue? Or is he Silverstreak? His packaging refers to him as Streak, dropping the color completely. That said, I've always preferred his original name of Bluestreak so that's what I'm going to go with.
Bluestreak is the Autobot chatter box that looks a whole lot like that major jerk, Prowl. But he's not Prowl. He's actually nice!
Vehicle Mode:
Bluestreak's alt-mode is a Datsun Fairlady Z. This version of the toy uses the darker silver and black bonnet of the cartoon model for Bluestreak. The original toy was a brighter silver and lacked the black (and an MP has been made of this color scheme as well).
It's a very nice looking car. Given the way he transforms there are less panel lines than many other figures to give away that this is not just a model car. You can see some of the robot mode through the windscreen but I don't think it's too distracting.
Where would a Masterpiece Autobot be without the old gun-on-the-roof bit? Apart from Prowl who uses his light bar the other versions of this mold require you to flip out a small piece attached to the roof to plug the gun into. This doesn't interfere at all with the alt- or robot-modes but does require slightly more effort to achieve than just plugging the gun into the roof.
Transformation:
Lifting up the roof and untabbing and opening the doors leaves you with two distinct chunks to transform. The back end of the car is the legs and the front is the upper body. I tend to start with the legs but it doesn't really matter.
Split the rear of the car in half. The side and back of each chunk becomes the foot while the center part becomes the lower leg. There are two panels on the underside that need to be rotated down, then the side of the section can be untabbed. It's on a double hinge with will allow it to swing out and down. Pull the lower leg down on a double hinge to straighten out the leg. Then fold the panels back in on the base of the foot and fold the side window down against the the base of the foot. Repeat on the other side and the legs are done.
From under the hood untab and swing down what will be the arms. This will allow the head to rotate through the gap in the hood and for the mirrors to swing down and hold the head in place. Split the arms and rotate the sections they are attached to up. The whole hood section will rotate forward to tab into the lower chest panel with the shoulders fitting into the gaps left by folding in the mirrors. Flip out the shoulder launchers (if you want. I have them up on Bluestreak because he had them in the cartoon) and fold up the car roof onto the back.
Robot mode:
Look at that handsome robot. This is the classic Autobot silhouette. Car hood chest and door wing kibble. Classic.
Some red is introduced here to make Bluestreak a bit more visually interesting. Black and dark silver work in car mode but would've been a bit dull for the robot. As most of this is done by casting particular parts in different colored plastic you won't have to stress about paint wear while transforming him.
The head sculpt is really nice. The bright silver face and blue eyes (the only blue on Bluestreak!) stand out against his otherwise darker color scheme. The glossy black of his chest also shows up dust really well - oops! His helmet is different to Prowls. The crest is wider but the fins are smaller. This goes a long way to helping the pair feel like their own characters and not just repaints of each other. It's also cartoon accurate!
Bluestreak has slightly better than average articulation for an MP Autobot. Double-jointed elbows from his transformation and ball joints in his shoulders give him a lot of range. That is then hampered to a degree by his massive chest. Oh well.
His big feet mean that he balances well. Running, fighting, dancing - Bluestreak can do it all.
The only accessory this release of Bluestreak comes with is his blaster. It's styled after the gun his original toy came with. This tabs into his hand very securely and he looks great wielding it.
As a pre-order bonus from certain retailers you could get one shoulder launcher based on those the original toy had. You got the other by pre-ordering Prowl. To get a complete set you had to pre-order both and even then only one bot got a full set. These plug into the smaller launchers built into the toy. 3rd party companies have released their own launchers if you feel he really needs them.
Final Thoughts:
Another solid figure in the Masterpiece line. Like the Sideswipe mold it's great that you have choice if you're looking to pick up a version of this toy. To date there are five versions - Prowl, Smokescreen, cartoon Bluestreak, all silver Bluestreak and the Diaclone colored "Blue Bluestreak". While I do like the Sideswipe mold more this is by no means a bad toy. If you're a fan of the character, or the car, or just thinks this looks cool I'm sure you'll enjoy owning it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment