-Submitted by: mag jr. The latest wave of gestalt limbs is upon us (if you're plain lucky or live in an area where people actually bought a lot of basics for Christmas). Stormcloud is one of the first two Destruction Team (read "Combaticons") basics to hit US shores, the other being Kickback. Stormcloud also gets the "honor" of being designated D1, which probably doesn't mean anything, apart from being a marketing gimmick and something to make it easier for people casually browsing the racks to spot different team members.
Vehicle Mode
In this mode, Stormcloud is a helicopter, perhaps inspired by the Apache (it's also the same helicopter that served as the inspiration for both G1 Whirl and Rotorstorm/Universe Whirl). His coloring isn't quite what you'd see in the real-life military, though, unless they were trying to get rid of convicted war criminals by making them fly the unfriendly skies--his primary color is a bright, glaring orange. On a toy, particularly in the fantasy universe of TFs in general, it's acceptable because of all the other colors added on as deco. Apart from orange, there's an earthy brown, a little blue, a touch of black, and a coppery color around his cockpit, main rotor, wings, and tail section. A very 1970s color scheme, but it's OK on this toy because they didn't quite overdo it. It's not Armada Smokescreen.
It's a nice sculpt, too. His cockpit area actually has not only two seats molded in, but a control panel as well (of course, there's no detail--it's too small) and he has tech detail worked in around his rotors and on the tail section. If you want to attach his weapon, fold the side weapons back and away from the guns in the middle until they're flat on the opposite side, then attach it to the fists on his underside with the dual pegs on top of the weapon (the large central piece will fit between his arms just fine). The larger guns are probably intended to face forwards, as they look like chain guns, but I like the way the smaller lasers look facing forwards, as well. It will attach either way, so do whichever you like better, or leave it off. Two more Energon weapons can be attached under the wings.
As far as gimmicks go, there's nothing fancy here. Both rotors are free-spinning, but that's about it.
Transform to Robot Mode:
1. Detach his weapon. Detach his legs from the side of his body and fold them back.
2. Pull his arms out from under his body. Rotate the legs so that the top sides face up and pull the feet up until they snap into place.
3. Rotate the waist section. Fold the tailfin up.
4. Swing the arms forward at the shoulders. Rotate the arms so that the fists face up. Turn the copter over and pull the panels underneath the cockpit apart and to the sides.
5. Fold the main rotor blades together. Pull the nose section down to form his chest. Pull the head out of the chest and pose him.
Robot Mode
While the coloring is very different on Stormcloud, the mold he shares with Blackout is vaguely inspired by G1 Vortex, the helicopter member of the Combaticons. The head is similar (allowing for the difference between a modern, full-head sculpt and a block that had sculpted details, but couldn't be sculpted because it was designed to fit into other toys), although the cockpit is now his chest, like Whirl/Rotorstorm/G1 Whirl, and not his feet. Blackout's coloring also looks more like Vortex. Stormcloud is on his own there.
Still, he's got a good little robot mode, with 9 points of articulation, and since everything (except for his head) is done with ball joints, he's got a reasonably full range of movement; the only thing that limits his poseability is his tail section, which might get in the way of some kneeling poses. The same colors carry through in robot mode, with his head being dark brown and copper with blue light piping for his face. The light piping works very well, which is nice, as this is a feature I've always liked.
To fit his weapon into his hand, fold the side guns back up until they're next to the middle guns and set it in a hand via either of the pegs on its underside. Stormcloud can also hold other Energon weapons. Note that this weapon form also becomes his "hand" for his arm transformation.
I'll cover the combining transforms later, when I have all the Destruction team members and do a review on Bruticus, but attached to Bruticus as an arm the orange is far less glaring and actually feels more natural, as strange as that may sound, since it's balanced by the dark-but-also-bright green on Kickback, and because Barricade has a fairly neutral set of colors. It's worth noting that his arm transform is more complicated than most of the combining limbs have been, except for Treadshot/Windrazor.
Like other Energon basics, Stormcloud stands at 4 1/4 inches tall.
Last Thoughts
Stormcloud has a cool mold, although I'm not sure why Hasbro made a military vehicle bright orange (of course, it's not as odd as G1 Blast-Off being a earth-colored/pastel space shuttle, either). Still, he looks fine as part of Bruticus Maximus, he's very poseable for such a small toy, and he's got a good vehicle design. Based on just the three molds that have come out I think I can say that Bruticus Maximus is the best of the three gestalts, and the one most people would be happy with. Heck, with Stormcloud and Blackout as arms, he'll even get to have fingers and thumbs. Recommended, if you can find one, or don't mind ordering online. |
