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ZeldaTheSwordsman's Review: G2 Silverbolt

Name: Silverbolt
Function: Aerialbot Commander
Subgroup: G2 Aerialbots
Size Class: "Scramble City" combiner leader

"Don' t look down, look straight ahead!"

A brave and grimly determined warrior. Selected by Optimus Prime to command the Aerialbots, a task that keeps Silverbolt worrying more about his teammates than about himself. In jet Mode can reach speed of Mach 1.9 with range of 4500 miles. Carries electrostatic discharger rifle and expertly uses it to blast Decepticons. Forms Superion with fellow Aerialbots.


The Generation 2 toyline started out as mostly redecoes and slight retools, although these were eventually dropped like hot potatoes in favor of focusing on new molds due to competition (mainly the then-new Power Rangers toyline). During this era of redecoes, the Aerialbots and Combaticons were rereleased in new color schemes and with slight retools in the case of Silverbolt and Onslaught. They were advertised together in a commercial, which featured a mix of toy-accurate CGI footage and footage of the toys being played with on a diorama, Silverbolt being voiced by Garry "Optimus Primal/Unicron Trilogy Optimus Prime" Chalk, and a very cheesy rap song shilling the toys.

Alternate Mode:

Silverbolt transforms into a Concorde Super Sonic Transport jet. Where his original G1 release was primarily white, as with most real passenger jets, the G2 toy is primarily blue. The gold chrome has been dropped, revealing the red base color of the hips and forearms (which is a bit brighter and a little more orange in cast than the G1 toy). His topside is painted silver (Seemingly with an airbrush in the case of the wings), and he lacks the stickers showing the plane's passenger compartment windows. In exchange, there are stickers on his wings with his name and the number 5, and a blue-and white checker-pattern sticker on his front end. There are yellow G2 Autobot symbol tampographs present as well.

He features a retractable front landing wheel, and a pair of permanently-deployed landing wheels at his aft. All of them roll well barring damage or rust. The wings have been retooled to have sockets on their undersides - Silverbolt's Generation 2 release packs a pair of the new missile launchers developed for the G2 releases of Starscream and Ramjet. As the missiles for these new launchers are well outside the choke gate (the deadly zone where a part is too large for a child to readily swallow, but still too small to be easily removed without the aid of tools), the launchers are fitted with decently powerful springs.

As with all the typical "Scramble City"-type torso robots (Silverbolt, Motormaster, Onslaught, Hot Spot, Hun-Grrr, and Scattershot), Silverbolt has a third mode he can transform to, a "base" mode. Starting from his jet mode, fold the tail back. Flip his legs out and rotate them as if transforming him to robot mode, then fold them out to the side. Remove the launchers, bend his arms so that the fists point out to the side (this isn't in his instructions, but it's important since otherwise certain Aerialbots' wings bump on the arms), and reinsert the launchers so that they're facing the same direction as the legs. Fold down the support leg located behind his cockpit. Then attach the large blue ramp. It doesn't clip all that tightly, but if his base mode is set down then that's a non-issue. This base mode can be connected to Metroplex's city mode - simply remove one of the kneecaps and set the support leg in rectangular slot.
Trvia time: Silverbolt's base mode, as with Motormaster's and Onslaught's, was designed to have a spring-loaded launch ram (and on the Takara releases of their G1 toys, it does), but that was neutered. Silverbolt's would be the easiest to restore for a customizer, since instead of replacing parts with a filler blank Hasbro just left out the extension spring and trigger lever (The launch ram is that loose red piece on his chest). But even without that, the G2 base mode is fairly decent since the launchers give it some teeth.

Robot Mode:

To transform Silverbolt from jet to robot, first fold the tailfin to one side, then fold the tail over his fuselage. Fold up the wings, and extend the fists. Flip his legs back, then swivel them around 180 degrees and fold the feet out. Slide the red chest section down, fold back the jet's nose, fold up his head.

Silverbolt's robot mode is tall, and a bit thin, but overall well-proportioned (if a bit plain). The medium blue and the bright red go fairly well together. His art shows him with the Superion chest shield attached, but he looks fine without it and it gets in the way of his forearms. His arms do not rotate at the shoulder, but they do bend at the elbow. Unlike fellow torso robots, he does not have 5mm fist holes, meaning his rifle has two different pegs (a large one for Superion, a smaller one for him). They're not the 3mm standard for smaller G1s either - they're about the same size as those used by every TFTM-based 1986 mold except Galvatron. His fists and the second post on his rifle were sadly not retooled, which means he unfortunately can't wield the launchers in his hands (or hold the ramp as a shield). Not much other poseability, but when you're playing with him you can use the transformation hinges in his hips to let him do high kicks.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation Design:
A solid 9. It's simple and the tail and nose of the jet bump into each other on his back, but it's no less fun for that. It's also nice that like his smaller team-mates, you can transform him without changing his forward direction.
Durability: 8. Quite solid in all honesty. The main trouble area with Silverbolt is that his leg swivels seem to mislead people and cause them to try swiveling the legs at the hinge used to fold them for jet mode.
Fun: 10. The jet mode is lovely for swooshing around and shooting Decepticons and annoying relatives with the launchers, the base mode is decent and a good complement to G1 Metroplex if you've got him, and the robot mode stands decently and looks good leveling his gun. He makes a good combiner torso too, although his shoulder sockets are extremely stiff, and the launchers are compatible with the 5mm fistholes combiners employ.
Aesthetics: 9. Would be a ten if his sculpted details were painted, but alas. (I painted mine, which is why this review lacks photos)
Articulation: 4. Mostly a brick, as expected for what he is, but he makes decent use of the little he's got.
Value/Price: 5. Loose with few or no accessories, he tends to be around $15 on eBay. Complete is much rarer, though those tend to be around $80 on eBay if loose. The combiner kibble is about average price for such when sold separately but if you're not specifically trying to complete G2 Superion it can be skipped. The ramp is a bit on the rare side, and the missiles are even worse. G2 Starscream and Ramjet's are the same tooling, so you can at least substitute, but be prepared for patient looking and waiting if you simply must have Silverbolt's.
Overall: 7.7. I would say get him, though I would try to get him with the at least the launchers (and preferably the missiles).
 
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