Pathological hatred of anything and anyone that is not 100% evil. A wicked genius, wholly dedicated to laying waste all in his path. Utterly cold, calculating and rational. Even his all consuming loathing of the Autobots is clinical in its vicious single-mindedness. Locks together with Predator planes to maximize astounding supersight capabilities. Interaction also gives him instant ultra-communication with the minds of his forces. As bomber, attacks with dreadful 15 missile power. As robot, strikes terror with handheld missile weaponry.
Figure Details
Manufacturer - Hasbro
Toyline - Botcon
Additions/Mods:
- Added Decepticon symbols to the wings (Covering the sculpted ones)
- Added a Decepticon symbol to the chest
Review
By the time I saw Skyquake in the shops I had pretty much lost interest in Transformers. I do remember being impressed by the sheer size of the toy, but put off by the pretty horiffic neon colours. I was obviously naive back then and couldn't see the inherent beauty of the bonkers late G1 colour schemes. So unfortunately Skyquake remained on the shelf that day, although I seemingly dodged a bullet, as lots of them fell apart due to gold plastic syndrome. FunPub eventually gave this figure a new lease of life, just as he was unceremoniously executed by
Overlord in Last Stand of the Wreckers. The irony.
Appearance (Robot Mode) 8/10
So I am going to gripe about the size of the figure once and get it out of the way. G1 Skyquake was an immense and impressive figure, and his Tech Specs are the most powerful on any G1 Decepticon that I know about. So it is perhaps a disappointment that the figure chosen to represent him is a deluxe class. Size aside, the figure does do a very good job of evoking the neon despot of old, right down to the crazy colour scheme. The paint apps are some of the nicest I have seen - impeccably neat and vibrant. The base plastic colours are also suitably bold. I think that the gold plastic is a bit too orange for my liking, though. Proportionally, this figure has some issues. The legs are just a bit too short in relation to the torso for my liking, and the garishly vulgar waepons are huge. They connect together to form some kind of sword/blaster thingy but the end result isn't great. But they are ostentatious which is what you want with this figure.
Appearance (Alternate Mode) 9/10
I love this jet mode. It sticks a massive two fingers up to camouflage and subtlety by basically being a huge glowing target in the sky. The colour scheme is explained away somewhere as being effective camouflage on Skyquake's native planet, but I like to think that he just doesn't care if he is seen. I am a big fan of this sleek plane although its aerodynamics are somewhat ruined by the large and asymettrical weapons on either wingtip.
Transformation 7/10
This is a mainly routine transformation although positioning the arms to make the jet, and removing them to make the robot is a bit fiddly, and relies on there being a fair bit of flex in the surrounding plastic. It makes me nervous. Other than this, Skyquake is pretty satisfying to transform and holds together very well in both modes, with decent tabs and tolerances to keep him locked in place.
Poseability 8/10
Being an
Energon repaint I wasn't expecting too much from this figure and actually he is pretty good. The hips are on ball joints but everywhere else is hinged or swivelled. There is no waist articulation. The shoulders offer a good range of movenment and there is also bicep swivel and an elbow hinge. The knees are jointed and the thighs swivel. My main concern is the elbow joints which are not only very thin but also are not pinned, meaning that they could fall out with a bit of wear. They also look quite odd but are necessary for the transformation.
Quality 7/10
This figure has 2 things which worry a lot of collectors - Lots of clear plastic, and lots of 'gold' plastic. Only time will tell whether either or both of these become brittle. I particularly worry about Skyquake's right arm and wings, which feature loads of clear plastic. The aforementioned elbow hinges worry me also, as does the rather scary manipulation of the arms required for transformation.
Overall - 39/50
Skyquake is a brash and quite mad figure with oodles of sculpted detail. This re-purposed Energon Starscream mould is pretty special. It isn't without its flaws, but it just looks so damn good with the crazy colour scheme. While it may be a tad too small, a lot of thought has clearly gone into accurately referencing this last hurrah of the Generation 1 era. A left-field choice for Botcon treatment maybe, but a very welcome one.
