Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 2, 2007 15:48:29 GMT
Phil's All Encompassing Cyberjets Review
I've recently acquired a set of the Decepticon G2 Cyberjets and thought I should review them. In the process I noticed that I'd never reviewed the Autobot G2 versions either...... or slightly more shockingly the RM Toy R-Blade (why this is shocking will be seen later)
I personally feel these are possibly the most important set of TF's ever released. Here's some reasons why:
1) Ball Joints ! Ball joints had showed up the previous year (1995) on the hips of the Laser Rod cars and the Stealth Bomber/Fighter. These toys are the first to use ball joints for all their joints (with one exception) This represents a huge step forward articulation wise for TFs. Some of the larger early TFs were quite well articulated but in general articulation on G1 TFs isn't good - especially bellow the waist - as each point of articulation requires multiple parts and thus has a cost at assembly. Some TFs are effectively bricks - Powermaster Optimus springs to mind as a G1 TF that would be stunning with a few more points of articulation. Ball joints allow a full range of articulation with just 2 pieces - each limb part involved. You even get some bonus articulation thrown in - a ball jointed elbow effectively serves as both an elbow and a rotational bicep joint in that it allows the lower part of the arm to move up and down (which you'd expect at an elbow) but also allows movement from side to side. They pop out easily preventing breakage for the most part and a worn ball and socket joint can be easily restored with a bit of clear nail varnish. Make no mistake, this is a gigantic leap forward for TFs as you can now get some good action poses out of your toys - this is the point where TFs truly become action figures.
2) Light Pipes ! I love lightpipes. It's a simple action feature adding real value to a toy. This is where there's a piece of coloured clear plastic running from the eyes/visor etc on a toy through to the back of the head. Light shines through and makes the eyes glow. The only down side is a clear coloured panel in the back of the head but to me that's an OK price to pay. It's also been used effectively on Star Wars Jawa figures and most modern R2 & R4 units. Light pipe eyes first show on the Euro G1 Turbomasters and Predators in 92 so were quite common by the time the Cyberjets showed in 1995
3) Marble missile launchers ! We'd had a string of weak missiles, then huge oversized missiles. These missiles are long, yes, but they look a reasonable size for the launcher, and don't have any springs involved. Nice touch.
4) Landing Gear ! Each plane has 3 sets of fold down landing gear (which previously would have been a treat on larger toys)
5) Small Jets ! You may have heard me rave on this subject before. As a rough generalisation Autobots are Cars, Decepticons are planes. It infuriated me as a child (11 in 1984) that although there were mini Autobot Cars there weren't mini Decepticon Planes. The first mini Plane is an Autobot (Powerglide), the next 4 are part of an Autobot combiner (Superion - why ? Surely the plane combiner should be a Decepticon ?), the next is again an Autobot (Strafe) making the first Decepticon small planes Needlenose (dual TM) and Windsweeper (Triggercon) in 1988 the 7 & 8th small planes (and there's another 2 Autobots - Dogfight and Raindance that year !) Things improve with Micromasters but it isn't till the Euro exclusives of 1992 that things start to be put right. We get 4 Predators in 1992, 4 Skyscorchers in 1993, 1 Rotorforce member in 1994 and then these
G2 Decepticons - the Original Versions
A few overall comments
Several common colours run throughout these toys:
Red for the upper limbs, 2 heads and some robot body parts. Problem: I associate red with Autobots. For Decepticons I'd have gone for a purple, or a black or even the pale blue that eventually turned up on the Autobot repaints.
Black for the missile launchers and landing gear
Yellow for the missiles
Clear Yellow for the canopies and lightpipes
Hooligan www.tfu.info/1995/Decepticon/Hooligan/hooligan.htm
Hooligan is a Swing Wing jet along the lines of the GI Joe Skystriker or (to bring it up early) Autobot Jetfire. To be honest it's hamstrung a bit by looking like Jetfire as you somehow feel it should be G1 Jetfire's colours, and that they should have done Jetfire first and made this the repaint. But hey ho. The paint scheme itself - while a trifle unrealistic for a jet fighter - is nice, orange body with black tigerstripes. Of the 3 Decepticon Cyberjets Hooligan probably suffers the worst for odd G2 paint schemes - though all 3 have some hang-ups. A very similar design nearly showed up on Tigertron and if this design ever got a release (as it would in my fantasy repaints assortment *) the Hooligan name might be appropriately reused on it. Hooligan has a couple of incredible features on a jet toy this small - as well as the landing gear he has working swing wings. Superb. Like the other Cyberjets there's a storage point for a missile underneath - it's actually on the robot's forearm so can be worn there in robot mode - and he's got a missile launcher - which in his case sits rather obtrusively pegged between the 2 tail fins. The launcher can be folded under the plane but it won't balance properly with it underneath.
TF: Turn the plane over and fold the landing gear in. Unpeg the rear undercarriage on both sides (robot legs) and fold them (and his waist) 180 degrees forward from under the cockpit so they're fully extended in front of the nose of the plane. Unpeg the missile launcher and fold out behind the plane. This is attached to a piece of plastic on the right hand side of the plane - swing round to the right so the missile is pointing forward. Then swing the arm up at the shoulder ball joint so the missile is pointing out the back. Pull the other arm out to the left from where it's been sitting in the centre of the plane's underside. Pull the head back, turn the plane over, and push down on the little square of plastic just behind the cockpit. Fold this right the way back through the plane. Fold the head up into the hole this has left, turn the plane over so the top is facing you and fold behind the cockpit & at the back of the hole so the rear of the plane folds over the shoulders to form the back of the robot and locks into place on the robot's bottom.
In 1995 this was the most poseable TF ever. And thanks to some large feet it was stable too. There was nothing a GI Joe figure could do that he couldn't - ball joints at knees, hips, shoulder, elbows and neck gave it an incredible range of motion. Was there a TF before this one that could kneel down on one knee and stay there forever with no support ? We also get a nicely molded head with a T shaped visor that lets the light through. About the only down side is the lack of a right hand - it's where the missile launcher is but I can forgive that. Swing wings still operate in this mode which give the appearance of a flight pack on Hooligan.
I can remember buying this from a Toyshop in Wimbledon in 1995 (on about the same spot as where the Entertainer now stands), taking him back to the office in Merton Park and being gobsmacked at what I could do with him. He was incredible ! And do you know what ? 12 years later he still is. This is an outstanding toy.
(But I did think even then I'd like it in G1 Jetfire colours)
Skyjack www.tfu.info/1995/Decepticon/Skyjack/skyjack.htm
Skyjack is a stealth fighter. Back in the late 80s early 90s Stealth Fighters were popular toys - we had a Micromaster version, AM Thundercracker is riding one and of course there's the G2 Stealth Bomber - all variants on the Stealth theme. This is the first version of this vehicle mode to be an actual Transformer. The stealth mode suffers slightly as the G2 colourists have scrawled a red and yellow flame detail all over the back of the jet and the wings of the missile launcher - d'oh.
The missile launcher - like Hooligan - is the end of the right arm and is again swung over the back of the plane to be to the above and the back of the plane. In someways the launcher looks like a small version of the jet itself. As with Hooligan, Skyjack has the swing down landing gear, and storage space for 2 missiles this time - under each wing.
TF: Turn the plane over and fold the legs and hips down like Hooligan. Straighten out the missile arm and fold down and to your left. Extend the other arm out from the centre and fold up & to your right at the shoulder. Push down on the back of the jet, which raises the middle up so that the wings are at 90 degrees to the rest of the jet. Turn the wings round 180 degrees at the point it connects the front - the robot's neck. Poke the head through from the back, and fold down at the base of the neck so the wings now form the rear of the robot with the back of the jet at the top of the robot back - the entire piece locks into the robot's hips.
The resulting robot is a lovely contrast between his almost all blackness and the red of the robot's upper limbs. Articulation is nearly as good as Hooligan's - Knees, Hips and Shoulders are ball jointed as is the right (missile launcher arm) elbow. The left elbow lets the side down with a straight folding joint.
Another fantastic toy just a degree or 2 down from Hooligan's awesomeness.
Space Case www.tfu.info/1995/Decepticon/SpaceCase/spacecase.htm
I'm not sure what sort of plane Space Case is but he's the same design as the Conquest X130 a GI Joe plane (see www.yojoe.com/vehicles/86/conquest and linked paint variations) Since GI Joe was still reasonably plausible on their military vehicles at that stage it might actually be known as a conquest ! The white jet reminds me of the aerialbots - possibly Slingshot.
The most prominent feature of the jet mode is the swept forward wings. The plane's white body is covered by blue and black squares which I presume is some sort of anti radar thing. Or another moment of G2 paint madness. In this mode the missile launcher is fixed under the jet, and it's operation usefulness is rather limited by the cockpit's undercarriage.
TF: Turn Over. Unpeg the back to form the legs and fold forward as per the other 2. Unpeg the arms and fold the shoulder panels out. Swing both lower arms out to the side 90 degrees at the elbow. Find where the robot head is and rotate everything forward of that round 180 degrees so the cockpit of the jet is the same side as the undercarriage of the rear of the jet. Fold the robot's chest and head up so they lock into the underside of the rear of the jet - the hips should peg into where the arms were and the connecting strut completely recess in the back.
In many way Space Case has the colour scheme that should have been on Hooligan - mainly white with red inner body and upper limbs. The only let down is the blue head. Ball joints are present at knees, hips, elbows, shoulders and wrists. As a bonus he has 2 hands - the missile launcher is slung under the right arm. We do have a mild problem with the shoulders though - the ball joints are on panels that fold out and aren't actually secured so they do move about a little bit. Pretend it's bonus articulation and you'll be fine.
Great again, completing a fantastic set.
If you get one buy Hooligan.
Now onto repaint city !
G2 Autobot Repaint
These 3 repaints came out some time after the original Cyberjets - I found mine in a Discount Stock shop in 96. Missile launcher, landing gear and clear plastic remains unchanged, but the missiles are now white and the upper limb and body parts - a nice Autobot red on the originals - are now pale blue. Like Pounce, Wingspan, Snapdragon, Darkwing, Dreadwind, DoubleDealer, Piranicon, Pretender Starscream, Bristleback, Hyperdrive ..... so a colour with very Decepticon connotations. I wonder if the G2 designers had been thinking clearly ? Or was there a bit of a slip up on the way to the manufacturers and the sides got swapped for the colours (CF Sideswipe and Sunstreaker for a similar thing happening)
Jetfire www.tfu.info/1995/Autobot/Jetfire/jetfire.htm
Jetfire's swapped Hooligan's Orange with Black tiger stripes for pale grey with a darker grey camouflage pattern. Looks great in jet mode, and works well with the robot mode. Just not the name. Jetfire's a big G1 name. You're expecting white and red. So decent repaint, but poor use of the name without a proper Jetfire having been done first. The name for the Energon Jetfire repaint - Overcast - might be appropriate here.
Air Raid
www.tfu.info/1995/Autobot/AirRaid/airraid.htm (Skyjack Repaint)
There is some hint of thought going on for the name choice for this toy - Air Raid was the black painted Aerialbot so let's make him the stealth fighter Cyberjet. Much applause as well for restricting the urge to make the repaint some garish multicoloured thing - they've stuck with black, this time with a pale blue trim along the trailing edge of the jet. Looks good, and works especially well with the light blue in robot mode. Problem is it's screaming Decepticon at me, which I'm not sure is a good thing for an Autobot.
Strafe www.tfu.info/1995/Autobot/Strafe/strafe.htm (Spacecase repaint)
Strafe was the Technobot Plane. No hint of continuity colour or formwise here as Spacecase's plane get a camouflage job - there's a similar one on a version of the GI Joe Conquest linked above. Plane mode is nice. Robot mode should clash horribly but does somehow work. Other colours - black even - might work better on the upper limb pieces though.
Universe
Nothing happened Cyberjet wise for another 9 years. Then in 2004 the Universe sub line reused all 3 toys - 2 in a vs pack and one as a pack in with a larger toy. The missile launchers, body parts and upper limbs all become a sort of burgundy colour here, whereas the missiles and the landing gear all become an olive green. I've been holding toys up to the light and I think the clear yellow has also acquired a greenish tint here. Comments are salvaged from original reviews at the time.
Wind Sheer www.tfu.info/2004/Decepticon/WindSheer/windsheer.htm (Hooligan Repaint) vs Airraid (ttp://www.tfu.info/2004/Autobot/AirRaid/airraid.htm (Skyjack Repaint)
"Cool - a vs pack ! Both of these have limbs in the nice burgundy that's been in so many of my recent Universe purchases. Air Raid - the Autobot - is the stealth jet and done in a fetching dark blue. Windsheer is a lovely metallic grey with burgundy camouflage pattern on him - different to the pattern on my existing grey Autobot version of the mold. Both nice, well worth having and a good edition to a con army which lets face it does not have enough small size jets."
Which shows that a few lines later I'd completely forgotten Air Raid's faction. I was ready to lay into him this time but the dark blue does hold up well, and there's some lovely painted detail. It's hard to know what to do with a Stealth Jet without breaking out the black.
Windsheer still looks dynamite today in a colour scheme that I don't think has been reused on a jet yet. There's a Windsheer in RID and he looks good too, but has a totally different colour scheme.
SpaceCase www.tfu.info/2004/Decepticon/TFUSpaceCase/spacecase.htm (with Soundwave) (Spacecase repaint)
"Spacecase however is a thing of articulated beauty. I could rave about the importance of the Cyberjets all day in terms of articulation on small toys but these are the great stepping stone forward for TFs. But since I have 4 more Cyberjets to talk about in the next few months ...... Lovely colour scheme - just like RID Sky Fire..... "
Not very descriptive, is it ? Refers to a rare RID toy and doesn't link to pictures of either jet ! Well here's what RID Skyfire looks like: www.tfu.info/2001/Decepticon/Skyfire/skyfire.htm
Both jets are mainly grey with purple trim. Simple, effective, it works and says Decepticon. I quite liked the Soundwave he came with too ! ( uk.geocities.com/philip_ayres@btopenworld.com/Universe2.html ) Who says Universe was all a big smelly pile of poo ?
These are good repaints.
Robotmasters
And also in 2004 - memory does not recall if RM or TFU got to the Cyberjets first - we got the Robotmasters versions. Back comes red for the body and limb parts, black for the landing gear, and yellow for the missiles. The clear plastic is different on each toy this time. There's a long gap between the individual toy in this group and the vs pack - I've a note on these dated Jan 2005. Comments from original reviews reproduced again.
R-Blade R-Blade www.tfu.info/2004/Cybertron/R-Blade/r-blade.htm (Hooligan Repaint)
R-Blade ? It's Jetfire, but Jetfire in Japan is a huge can of worms due to the reuse of the Robotech mold for the original jet. This is one of 2 repaints from the first RM wave to finally nail down the colour schemes that *should* have been on toys onto the molds in question. They're 2 of my favourite TFs. And as far as I can see I didn't review either of them which I find very hard to believe. But then I thought I reviewed Overload and Skywarp at the time and I can't find those either !
Colour - Everything you'd expect to see on Jetfire is where it aught to be down to the black on the boots being where the big robot's feet are. The only imperfection is that the wings are stickers on top of black plastic, with nothing underneath so there's black wings on the underside. The cockpit and lightpipe is a lovely ice blue.
This is worth tracking down, it's a superb repaint, it's a great toy (see above)
Delta Seeker www.tfu.info/2004/Cybertron/DeltaSeeker/deltaseeker.htm (Skyjack repaint) vs X-Gunner www.tfu.info/2004/Destron/X-Gunner/x-gunner.htm (Spacecase repaint)
"These aren't the best colour schemes of these molds I've seen. X-Gunner's grey is nice enough, and goes well with his purple clear plastic but it sort of doesn't work with the red in the forelimbs. Whereas Delta Seeker's metallic blue/green positively clashes with the red forelimbs on him. And to make matters worse DS suffers somewhat in the joint department - mine's gun hand came off coming out of the box, but the joint on the shoulder is so tight I damaged the plastic attaching the shoulders to the wing section. Not the greatest moment for the RM range "
Subsequent experimentation showed that X-Gunner (the Decepticon) works far better with Strafe's light blue limbs. A 2nd of each may have to be purchased and a permanent swap arranged. I suspect the same is true for Delta Seeker ! Apart from that I stand by the above comments still
BOTCON EXCLUSIVE
Botcon Exclusive: Ricochet
In the course of writing these articles I discovered that Hooligan has an all black Botcon exclusive repaint. Ricochet is an appropriate name, having been previously used for the US version of Stepper the Black Targetmaster version of Jazz. I don't own this toy but like the look of it ! All black is an obvious paint choice but here it works - would have been nice to see on the other 2
POSSIBLE FUTURE REPAINTS
An obvious line to go would have been to complete an all black set. But I wouldn't mind seeing a set with Decepticon Purple bodies and limbs. Black obviously for Skyjack (Skywarp ?) and possibly for Hooligan too. Spacecase would have to be a lighter grey than used on the Universe repaint and made similar to Skyfire. I'm sure there's other possibilities out there - white limbs spring to mind.
KNOCK OFF
I possess 1 Cyberjet Knock Off - and that's a deluxe sized version of R-Blade. Colours are reasonably accurate, though the head hatch is fixed, as is the head to the body and there's no lightpipe. The black plastic is brittle and I've broken one trying to fire the missile - so don't ! But if anything it proves how good the Hooligan mold is by upscaling it and it still looking good - if a small toy can be upscaled then it was a good small toy. Conversely being able to down size a larger toy usually means the larger version isn't much cop ! (Cybertron Starscream)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
*
Fantasy Repaint Assortment:
1) Night Slash Cheetor in bright Yellow, with Black spots, and Green clear plastic. Like what it aught to be
2) Armada Wheeljack with the Autobot symbol repaired, the car in Red, the body parts in Black as Sideswipe
3) Armada Hoist in Purple and Green as Scavenger
4) BW Buzzsaw with the Purple painted Black and the head painted Yellow as Bumblebee
5) Armada Demolishor in White and Green as Sixshot (like what they meant to do before the cartoon animators mucked it up)
6) Movie Longarm in Green as Hoist
7) BW Rhinox with a Black hide and Red robot body parts) as Ironhide
8) BW Tigertron in Oranage (with either green or red limbs) as a Predacon - Hooligan
I've recently acquired a set of the Decepticon G2 Cyberjets and thought I should review them. In the process I noticed that I'd never reviewed the Autobot G2 versions either...... or slightly more shockingly the RM Toy R-Blade (why this is shocking will be seen later)
I personally feel these are possibly the most important set of TF's ever released. Here's some reasons why:
1) Ball Joints ! Ball joints had showed up the previous year (1995) on the hips of the Laser Rod cars and the Stealth Bomber/Fighter. These toys are the first to use ball joints for all their joints (with one exception) This represents a huge step forward articulation wise for TFs. Some of the larger early TFs were quite well articulated but in general articulation on G1 TFs isn't good - especially bellow the waist - as each point of articulation requires multiple parts and thus has a cost at assembly. Some TFs are effectively bricks - Powermaster Optimus springs to mind as a G1 TF that would be stunning with a few more points of articulation. Ball joints allow a full range of articulation with just 2 pieces - each limb part involved. You even get some bonus articulation thrown in - a ball jointed elbow effectively serves as both an elbow and a rotational bicep joint in that it allows the lower part of the arm to move up and down (which you'd expect at an elbow) but also allows movement from side to side. They pop out easily preventing breakage for the most part and a worn ball and socket joint can be easily restored with a bit of clear nail varnish. Make no mistake, this is a gigantic leap forward for TFs as you can now get some good action poses out of your toys - this is the point where TFs truly become action figures.
2) Light Pipes ! I love lightpipes. It's a simple action feature adding real value to a toy. This is where there's a piece of coloured clear plastic running from the eyes/visor etc on a toy through to the back of the head. Light shines through and makes the eyes glow. The only down side is a clear coloured panel in the back of the head but to me that's an OK price to pay. It's also been used effectively on Star Wars Jawa figures and most modern R2 & R4 units. Light pipe eyes first show on the Euro G1 Turbomasters and Predators in 92 so were quite common by the time the Cyberjets showed in 1995
3) Marble missile launchers ! We'd had a string of weak missiles, then huge oversized missiles. These missiles are long, yes, but they look a reasonable size for the launcher, and don't have any springs involved. Nice touch.
4) Landing Gear ! Each plane has 3 sets of fold down landing gear (which previously would have been a treat on larger toys)
5) Small Jets ! You may have heard me rave on this subject before. As a rough generalisation Autobots are Cars, Decepticons are planes. It infuriated me as a child (11 in 1984) that although there were mini Autobot Cars there weren't mini Decepticon Planes. The first mini Plane is an Autobot (Powerglide), the next 4 are part of an Autobot combiner (Superion - why ? Surely the plane combiner should be a Decepticon ?), the next is again an Autobot (Strafe) making the first Decepticon small planes Needlenose (dual TM) and Windsweeper (Triggercon) in 1988 the 7 & 8th small planes (and there's another 2 Autobots - Dogfight and Raindance that year !) Things improve with Micromasters but it isn't till the Euro exclusives of 1992 that things start to be put right. We get 4 Predators in 1992, 4 Skyscorchers in 1993, 1 Rotorforce member in 1994 and then these
G2 Decepticons - the Original Versions
A few overall comments
Several common colours run throughout these toys:
Red for the upper limbs, 2 heads and some robot body parts. Problem: I associate red with Autobots. For Decepticons I'd have gone for a purple, or a black or even the pale blue that eventually turned up on the Autobot repaints.
Black for the missile launchers and landing gear
Yellow for the missiles
Clear Yellow for the canopies and lightpipes
Hooligan www.tfu.info/1995/Decepticon/Hooligan/hooligan.htm
Hooligan is a Swing Wing jet along the lines of the GI Joe Skystriker or (to bring it up early) Autobot Jetfire. To be honest it's hamstrung a bit by looking like Jetfire as you somehow feel it should be G1 Jetfire's colours, and that they should have done Jetfire first and made this the repaint. But hey ho. The paint scheme itself - while a trifle unrealistic for a jet fighter - is nice, orange body with black tigerstripes. Of the 3 Decepticon Cyberjets Hooligan probably suffers the worst for odd G2 paint schemes - though all 3 have some hang-ups. A very similar design nearly showed up on Tigertron and if this design ever got a release (as it would in my fantasy repaints assortment *) the Hooligan name might be appropriately reused on it. Hooligan has a couple of incredible features on a jet toy this small - as well as the landing gear he has working swing wings. Superb. Like the other Cyberjets there's a storage point for a missile underneath - it's actually on the robot's forearm so can be worn there in robot mode - and he's got a missile launcher - which in his case sits rather obtrusively pegged between the 2 tail fins. The launcher can be folded under the plane but it won't balance properly with it underneath.
TF: Turn the plane over and fold the landing gear in. Unpeg the rear undercarriage on both sides (robot legs) and fold them (and his waist) 180 degrees forward from under the cockpit so they're fully extended in front of the nose of the plane. Unpeg the missile launcher and fold out behind the plane. This is attached to a piece of plastic on the right hand side of the plane - swing round to the right so the missile is pointing forward. Then swing the arm up at the shoulder ball joint so the missile is pointing out the back. Pull the other arm out to the left from where it's been sitting in the centre of the plane's underside. Pull the head back, turn the plane over, and push down on the little square of plastic just behind the cockpit. Fold this right the way back through the plane. Fold the head up into the hole this has left, turn the plane over so the top is facing you and fold behind the cockpit & at the back of the hole so the rear of the plane folds over the shoulders to form the back of the robot and locks into place on the robot's bottom.
In 1995 this was the most poseable TF ever. And thanks to some large feet it was stable too. There was nothing a GI Joe figure could do that he couldn't - ball joints at knees, hips, shoulder, elbows and neck gave it an incredible range of motion. Was there a TF before this one that could kneel down on one knee and stay there forever with no support ? We also get a nicely molded head with a T shaped visor that lets the light through. About the only down side is the lack of a right hand - it's where the missile launcher is but I can forgive that. Swing wings still operate in this mode which give the appearance of a flight pack on Hooligan.
I can remember buying this from a Toyshop in Wimbledon in 1995 (on about the same spot as where the Entertainer now stands), taking him back to the office in Merton Park and being gobsmacked at what I could do with him. He was incredible ! And do you know what ? 12 years later he still is. This is an outstanding toy.
(But I did think even then I'd like it in G1 Jetfire colours)
Skyjack www.tfu.info/1995/Decepticon/Skyjack/skyjack.htm
Skyjack is a stealth fighter. Back in the late 80s early 90s Stealth Fighters were popular toys - we had a Micromaster version, AM Thundercracker is riding one and of course there's the G2 Stealth Bomber - all variants on the Stealth theme. This is the first version of this vehicle mode to be an actual Transformer. The stealth mode suffers slightly as the G2 colourists have scrawled a red and yellow flame detail all over the back of the jet and the wings of the missile launcher - d'oh.
The missile launcher - like Hooligan - is the end of the right arm and is again swung over the back of the plane to be to the above and the back of the plane. In someways the launcher looks like a small version of the jet itself. As with Hooligan, Skyjack has the swing down landing gear, and storage space for 2 missiles this time - under each wing.
TF: Turn the plane over and fold the legs and hips down like Hooligan. Straighten out the missile arm and fold down and to your left. Extend the other arm out from the centre and fold up & to your right at the shoulder. Push down on the back of the jet, which raises the middle up so that the wings are at 90 degrees to the rest of the jet. Turn the wings round 180 degrees at the point it connects the front - the robot's neck. Poke the head through from the back, and fold down at the base of the neck so the wings now form the rear of the robot with the back of the jet at the top of the robot back - the entire piece locks into the robot's hips.
The resulting robot is a lovely contrast between his almost all blackness and the red of the robot's upper limbs. Articulation is nearly as good as Hooligan's - Knees, Hips and Shoulders are ball jointed as is the right (missile launcher arm) elbow. The left elbow lets the side down with a straight folding joint.
Another fantastic toy just a degree or 2 down from Hooligan's awesomeness.
Space Case www.tfu.info/1995/Decepticon/SpaceCase/spacecase.htm
I'm not sure what sort of plane Space Case is but he's the same design as the Conquest X130 a GI Joe plane (see www.yojoe.com/vehicles/86/conquest and linked paint variations) Since GI Joe was still reasonably plausible on their military vehicles at that stage it might actually be known as a conquest ! The white jet reminds me of the aerialbots - possibly Slingshot.
The most prominent feature of the jet mode is the swept forward wings. The plane's white body is covered by blue and black squares which I presume is some sort of anti radar thing. Or another moment of G2 paint madness. In this mode the missile launcher is fixed under the jet, and it's operation usefulness is rather limited by the cockpit's undercarriage.
TF: Turn Over. Unpeg the back to form the legs and fold forward as per the other 2. Unpeg the arms and fold the shoulder panels out. Swing both lower arms out to the side 90 degrees at the elbow. Find where the robot head is and rotate everything forward of that round 180 degrees so the cockpit of the jet is the same side as the undercarriage of the rear of the jet. Fold the robot's chest and head up so they lock into the underside of the rear of the jet - the hips should peg into where the arms were and the connecting strut completely recess in the back.
In many way Space Case has the colour scheme that should have been on Hooligan - mainly white with red inner body and upper limbs. The only let down is the blue head. Ball joints are present at knees, hips, elbows, shoulders and wrists. As a bonus he has 2 hands - the missile launcher is slung under the right arm. We do have a mild problem with the shoulders though - the ball joints are on panels that fold out and aren't actually secured so they do move about a little bit. Pretend it's bonus articulation and you'll be fine.
Great again, completing a fantastic set.
If you get one buy Hooligan.
Now onto repaint city !
G2 Autobot Repaint
These 3 repaints came out some time after the original Cyberjets - I found mine in a Discount Stock shop in 96. Missile launcher, landing gear and clear plastic remains unchanged, but the missiles are now white and the upper limb and body parts - a nice Autobot red on the originals - are now pale blue. Like Pounce, Wingspan, Snapdragon, Darkwing, Dreadwind, DoubleDealer, Piranicon, Pretender Starscream, Bristleback, Hyperdrive ..... so a colour with very Decepticon connotations. I wonder if the G2 designers had been thinking clearly ? Or was there a bit of a slip up on the way to the manufacturers and the sides got swapped for the colours (CF Sideswipe and Sunstreaker for a similar thing happening)
Jetfire www.tfu.info/1995/Autobot/Jetfire/jetfire.htm
Jetfire's swapped Hooligan's Orange with Black tiger stripes for pale grey with a darker grey camouflage pattern. Looks great in jet mode, and works well with the robot mode. Just not the name. Jetfire's a big G1 name. You're expecting white and red. So decent repaint, but poor use of the name without a proper Jetfire having been done first. The name for the Energon Jetfire repaint - Overcast - might be appropriate here.
Air Raid
www.tfu.info/1995/Autobot/AirRaid/airraid.htm (Skyjack Repaint)
There is some hint of thought going on for the name choice for this toy - Air Raid was the black painted Aerialbot so let's make him the stealth fighter Cyberjet. Much applause as well for restricting the urge to make the repaint some garish multicoloured thing - they've stuck with black, this time with a pale blue trim along the trailing edge of the jet. Looks good, and works especially well with the light blue in robot mode. Problem is it's screaming Decepticon at me, which I'm not sure is a good thing for an Autobot.
Strafe www.tfu.info/1995/Autobot/Strafe/strafe.htm (Spacecase repaint)
Strafe was the Technobot Plane. No hint of continuity colour or formwise here as Spacecase's plane get a camouflage job - there's a similar one on a version of the GI Joe Conquest linked above. Plane mode is nice. Robot mode should clash horribly but does somehow work. Other colours - black even - might work better on the upper limb pieces though.
Universe
Nothing happened Cyberjet wise for another 9 years. Then in 2004 the Universe sub line reused all 3 toys - 2 in a vs pack and one as a pack in with a larger toy. The missile launchers, body parts and upper limbs all become a sort of burgundy colour here, whereas the missiles and the landing gear all become an olive green. I've been holding toys up to the light and I think the clear yellow has also acquired a greenish tint here. Comments are salvaged from original reviews at the time.
Wind Sheer www.tfu.info/2004/Decepticon/WindSheer/windsheer.htm (Hooligan Repaint) vs Airraid (ttp://www.tfu.info/2004/Autobot/AirRaid/airraid.htm (Skyjack Repaint)
"Cool - a vs pack ! Both of these have limbs in the nice burgundy that's been in so many of my recent Universe purchases. Air Raid - the Autobot - is the stealth jet and done in a fetching dark blue. Windsheer is a lovely metallic grey with burgundy camouflage pattern on him - different to the pattern on my existing grey Autobot version of the mold. Both nice, well worth having and a good edition to a con army which lets face it does not have enough small size jets."
Which shows that a few lines later I'd completely forgotten Air Raid's faction. I was ready to lay into him this time but the dark blue does hold up well, and there's some lovely painted detail. It's hard to know what to do with a Stealth Jet without breaking out the black.
Windsheer still looks dynamite today in a colour scheme that I don't think has been reused on a jet yet. There's a Windsheer in RID and he looks good too, but has a totally different colour scheme.
SpaceCase www.tfu.info/2004/Decepticon/TFUSpaceCase/spacecase.htm (with Soundwave) (Spacecase repaint)
"Spacecase however is a thing of articulated beauty. I could rave about the importance of the Cyberjets all day in terms of articulation on small toys but these are the great stepping stone forward for TFs. But since I have 4 more Cyberjets to talk about in the next few months ...... Lovely colour scheme - just like RID Sky Fire..... "
Not very descriptive, is it ? Refers to a rare RID toy and doesn't link to pictures of either jet ! Well here's what RID Skyfire looks like: www.tfu.info/2001/Decepticon/Skyfire/skyfire.htm
Both jets are mainly grey with purple trim. Simple, effective, it works and says Decepticon. I quite liked the Soundwave he came with too ! ( uk.geocities.com/philip_ayres@btopenworld.com/Universe2.html ) Who says Universe was all a big smelly pile of poo ?
These are good repaints.
Robotmasters
And also in 2004 - memory does not recall if RM or TFU got to the Cyberjets first - we got the Robotmasters versions. Back comes red for the body and limb parts, black for the landing gear, and yellow for the missiles. The clear plastic is different on each toy this time. There's a long gap between the individual toy in this group and the vs pack - I've a note on these dated Jan 2005. Comments from original reviews reproduced again.
R-Blade R-Blade www.tfu.info/2004/Cybertron/R-Blade/r-blade.htm (Hooligan Repaint)
R-Blade ? It's Jetfire, but Jetfire in Japan is a huge can of worms due to the reuse of the Robotech mold for the original jet. This is one of 2 repaints from the first RM wave to finally nail down the colour schemes that *should* have been on toys onto the molds in question. They're 2 of my favourite TFs. And as far as I can see I didn't review either of them which I find very hard to believe. But then I thought I reviewed Overload and Skywarp at the time and I can't find those either !
Colour - Everything you'd expect to see on Jetfire is where it aught to be down to the black on the boots being where the big robot's feet are. The only imperfection is that the wings are stickers on top of black plastic, with nothing underneath so there's black wings on the underside. The cockpit and lightpipe is a lovely ice blue.
This is worth tracking down, it's a superb repaint, it's a great toy (see above)
Delta Seeker www.tfu.info/2004/Cybertron/DeltaSeeker/deltaseeker.htm (Skyjack repaint) vs X-Gunner www.tfu.info/2004/Destron/X-Gunner/x-gunner.htm (Spacecase repaint)
"These aren't the best colour schemes of these molds I've seen. X-Gunner's grey is nice enough, and goes well with his purple clear plastic but it sort of doesn't work with the red in the forelimbs. Whereas Delta Seeker's metallic blue/green positively clashes with the red forelimbs on him. And to make matters worse DS suffers somewhat in the joint department - mine's gun hand came off coming out of the box, but the joint on the shoulder is so tight I damaged the plastic attaching the shoulders to the wing section. Not the greatest moment for the RM range "
Subsequent experimentation showed that X-Gunner (the Decepticon) works far better with Strafe's light blue limbs. A 2nd of each may have to be purchased and a permanent swap arranged. I suspect the same is true for Delta Seeker ! Apart from that I stand by the above comments still
BOTCON EXCLUSIVE
Botcon Exclusive: Ricochet
In the course of writing these articles I discovered that Hooligan has an all black Botcon exclusive repaint. Ricochet is an appropriate name, having been previously used for the US version of Stepper the Black Targetmaster version of Jazz. I don't own this toy but like the look of it ! All black is an obvious paint choice but here it works - would have been nice to see on the other 2
POSSIBLE FUTURE REPAINTS
An obvious line to go would have been to complete an all black set. But I wouldn't mind seeing a set with Decepticon Purple bodies and limbs. Black obviously for Skyjack (Skywarp ?) and possibly for Hooligan too. Spacecase would have to be a lighter grey than used on the Universe repaint and made similar to Skyfire. I'm sure there's other possibilities out there - white limbs spring to mind.
KNOCK OFF
I possess 1 Cyberjet Knock Off - and that's a deluxe sized version of R-Blade. Colours are reasonably accurate, though the head hatch is fixed, as is the head to the body and there's no lightpipe. The black plastic is brittle and I've broken one trying to fire the missile - so don't ! But if anything it proves how good the Hooligan mold is by upscaling it and it still looking good - if a small toy can be upscaled then it was a good small toy. Conversely being able to down size a larger toy usually means the larger version isn't much cop ! (Cybertron Starscream)
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Fantasy Repaint Assortment:
1) Night Slash Cheetor in bright Yellow, with Black spots, and Green clear plastic. Like what it aught to be
2) Armada Wheeljack with the Autobot symbol repaired, the car in Red, the body parts in Black as Sideswipe
3) Armada Hoist in Purple and Green as Scavenger
4) BW Buzzsaw with the Purple painted Black and the head painted Yellow as Bumblebee
5) Armada Demolishor in White and Green as Sixshot (like what they meant to do before the cartoon animators mucked it up)
6) Movie Longarm in Green as Hoist
7) BW Rhinox with a Black hide and Red robot body parts) as Ironhide
8) BW Tigertron in Oranage (with either green or red limbs) as a Predacon - Hooligan
