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Toys I Love #006: ROTF Shadow Striker
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Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats
Mar 2, 2015, 4:35:56 AM3/2/15
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The Legends Wheelie mold was ostensibly available in the US in orange as part of the Universe series, but had very limited distribution -- I certainly never saw it.
I picked up the Henkei! Henkei! version, which was basically yellow. And, I honestly might have done so just to get Warpath and Cosmos, rather than Wheelie.
http://www.tfu.info/2009/Autobot/TFUWheelie/wheelie.htm
As a representation of Wheelie, it's an odd mold. Up to this point we had never seen an Earth mode for Wheelie, just the traditional bubble vehicle. And, the Henkei! Henkei! colors are entirely wrong -- this is one case where Takara has a much worse deco.
The vehicle mode is a subcompact coupe of some imaginary vintage, but clearly very much a modern earth vehicle. The tires are a pale gray, which is hideous and wrong, as are with windshield and side windows (rear window is unpainted). There is some orange trim along the bottom edge, and some bright yellow headlights that fade right in. Also, bright red tail lights.
There's basically nothing about this vehicle that suggests Wheelie.
Like a lot of Legends toys, there is a lot of chunky kibble on the mold, which also doesn't really suggest Wheelie. The head sculpt is good, and the v-neck is there, but that is about all. Also a molded and painted slingshot inside the kibble on the right shoulder.
Honestly, this is a terrible Wheelie. The US release would be better, and be just a poor Wheelie.
Shadow Striker was the second domestic release of the mold, as part of a Target exclusive set with yet another Legends Bumblebee -- although who can possibly tell which one, since they all look alike? (This one had Cyberglyphs on the doors, and wheels by the hands)
Shadow Striker is one of those Movieverse toys that completely lacks all Movieverse styling, suggesting that either the Movieverse look is an affectation, or that this toy is a random redeco from another toyline shoved into the popular line.
http://www.tfu.info/2010/Decepticon/ShadowStriker/shadowstriker.htm
I do like the explanation that everyone we see in the movies is all moody and covered in the Cybertronian equivalent of piercings, and that everyone else eyes them rather suspiciously. This also explains Starscream's tattoos in ROTF and DOTM. But, mostly, I prefer to just ignore the origins of this toy.
Vehicle mode is a rather stark and simple color scheme: Black, with yellow headlights, red wheels, three red windows (still no paint for the rear window), and red tail lights. The red of the side windows is painted, but the windshield is plastic -- color matching is acceptable, if not exact.
Big red wheels are as weird as can be. They look awesome, and they suggest the Cybertron Speed Planet, but they are weird. This would not pass unnoticed on the streets. Red windshield is also odd.
The yellow headlights are now visible against the black background, and have a nice angled look suggesting a batmobile.
The new plastic color brings out some details that were lost in the yellow version -- the sides of the vehicle have a subtle texture to give them a slightly matte finish, compared to the smooth, glossy hood and roof. It's really nice, and very subtle.
I don't get a Nemesis Wheelie vibe from this, in part because I don't get a Wheelie vibe at all, and in part because of the large red wheels, and the lack of any teal. I don't think that the toy would be improved at all by having a Nemesis color scheme.
There is a small purple Decepticon symbol on the hood, and against the black it is very difficult to make out whether this is the classic Decepticon symbol or a Movieverse Decepticon symbol. I believe it is Movieverse.
Overall, it is a very good looking vehicle mode, once freed from any expectations to resemble Wheelie.
Transformation is straightforward, although this does not mean they didn't screw up when photographing the toy for the packaging. Four useful points of articulation, which is pretty standard for a Legends figure (shoulders and hips on ball joints). Knees can bend backwards, and ankles can tip down and back because of transformation.
Robot mode is mostly stark and black from the front, with the headlights visible, the Decepticon symbol as visible as it ever was, a bright red crotch, and a face that is gold with red eyes.
From the side, you can see all the red wheels, and the windows. From the back, there is even more red.
The shoulders are about 1/3 of the way down the side segment of the car, so there are very large towering shoulder kibbles.
Shadow Striker is female, but the figure does not have a strong feminine vibe to it. She would appear to be a bit of a tom boy, wearing a cadet hat. There are no large hips, high heeled shoes or rounded limbs. Everything is appropriately boxy, with square molded robotic details. She is only incidentally female.
It's really nice to have a Chick-Bot that is not overtly sexualized.
Bio:
Bumblebee isn't easily frustrated, but Shadow Striker seems to have done the trick. Something about her personality, from her sneering expression to her constant sarcastic remarks, just gets on his nerves. Shadow Striker is a plain unpleasant robot, and Bumblebee is determined to make her regret her insults.
It is a bit unfortunate that her personality is defined mostly in terms of how it affects Bumblebee. There was a tendency to attempt to create rivalries and arch enemies in the bios at that time, so it isn't just that Shadow Striker is female and can't stand on her own. You can actually get a fair amount of her personality through that bio, once you account for Bumblebee kind of being an asshole.
The TFWiki page apparently used to refer to her as a bitch, however, and still refers to her as a glitch. There's a reason there are so few female Transformers -- they all get fed up with the casual misogyny and become My Little Ponies instead.
If I were to give her a Bumblebee as a rival, I wouldn't choose the one she came with -- the differing looks between Generations Legends and Movieverse Legends is pretty jarring. But, she can have the Generations Legends Bumblebee as a foil, or one of the other redecos (perhaps the "Cybertronian Mode" DOTM Legends Bumblebee if one were worried about keeping him in the same universe).
http://www.tfu.info/2011/Autobot/TRUCybBumblebee/bumblebee.htm
If Shadow Striker weren't female, or so small, I'm not 100% sure she would be loved. But my permanent collection can have a bit of affirmative action going on if I so desire. She's certainly a nice toy though, and the use of textures in her vehicle mode is very nifty.
I picked up the Henkei! Henkei! version, which was basically yellow. And, I honestly might have done so just to get Warpath and Cosmos, rather than Wheelie.
http://www.tfu.info/2009/Autobot/TFUWheelie/wheelie.htm
As a representation of Wheelie, it's an odd mold. Up to this point we had never seen an Earth mode for Wheelie, just the traditional bubble vehicle. And, the Henkei! Henkei! colors are entirely wrong -- this is one case where Takara has a much worse deco.
The vehicle mode is a subcompact coupe of some imaginary vintage, but clearly very much a modern earth vehicle. The tires are a pale gray, which is hideous and wrong, as are with windshield and side windows (rear window is unpainted). There is some orange trim along the bottom edge, and some bright yellow headlights that fade right in. Also, bright red tail lights.
There's basically nothing about this vehicle that suggests Wheelie.
Like a lot of Legends toys, there is a lot of chunky kibble on the mold, which also doesn't really suggest Wheelie. The head sculpt is good, and the v-neck is there, but that is about all. Also a molded and painted slingshot inside the kibble on the right shoulder.
Honestly, this is a terrible Wheelie. The US release would be better, and be just a poor Wheelie.
Shadow Striker was the second domestic release of the mold, as part of a Target exclusive set with yet another Legends Bumblebee -- although who can possibly tell which one, since they all look alike? (This one had Cyberglyphs on the doors, and wheels by the hands)
Shadow Striker is one of those Movieverse toys that completely lacks all Movieverse styling, suggesting that either the Movieverse look is an affectation, or that this toy is a random redeco from another toyline shoved into the popular line.
http://www.tfu.info/2010/Decepticon/ShadowStriker/shadowstriker.htm
I do like the explanation that everyone we see in the movies is all moody and covered in the Cybertronian equivalent of piercings, and that everyone else eyes them rather suspiciously. This also explains Starscream's tattoos in ROTF and DOTM. But, mostly, I prefer to just ignore the origins of this toy.
Vehicle mode is a rather stark and simple color scheme: Black, with yellow headlights, red wheels, three red windows (still no paint for the rear window), and red tail lights. The red of the side windows is painted, but the windshield is plastic -- color matching is acceptable, if not exact.
Big red wheels are as weird as can be. They look awesome, and they suggest the Cybertron Speed Planet, but they are weird. This would not pass unnoticed on the streets. Red windshield is also odd.
The yellow headlights are now visible against the black background, and have a nice angled look suggesting a batmobile.
The new plastic color brings out some details that were lost in the yellow version -- the sides of the vehicle have a subtle texture to give them a slightly matte finish, compared to the smooth, glossy hood and roof. It's really nice, and very subtle.
I don't get a Nemesis Wheelie vibe from this, in part because I don't get a Wheelie vibe at all, and in part because of the large red wheels, and the lack of any teal. I don't think that the toy would be improved at all by having a Nemesis color scheme.
There is a small purple Decepticon symbol on the hood, and against the black it is very difficult to make out whether this is the classic Decepticon symbol or a Movieverse Decepticon symbol. I believe it is Movieverse.
Overall, it is a very good looking vehicle mode, once freed from any expectations to resemble Wheelie.
Transformation is straightforward, although this does not mean they didn't screw up when photographing the toy for the packaging. Four useful points of articulation, which is pretty standard for a Legends figure (shoulders and hips on ball joints). Knees can bend backwards, and ankles can tip down and back because of transformation.
Robot mode is mostly stark and black from the front, with the headlights visible, the Decepticon symbol as visible as it ever was, a bright red crotch, and a face that is gold with red eyes.
From the side, you can see all the red wheels, and the windows. From the back, there is even more red.
The shoulders are about 1/3 of the way down the side segment of the car, so there are very large towering shoulder kibbles.
Shadow Striker is female, but the figure does not have a strong feminine vibe to it. She would appear to be a bit of a tom boy, wearing a cadet hat. There are no large hips, high heeled shoes or rounded limbs. Everything is appropriately boxy, with square molded robotic details. She is only incidentally female.
It's really nice to have a Chick-Bot that is not overtly sexualized.
Bio:
Bumblebee isn't easily frustrated, but Shadow Striker seems to have done the trick. Something about her personality, from her sneering expression to her constant sarcastic remarks, just gets on his nerves. Shadow Striker is a plain unpleasant robot, and Bumblebee is determined to make her regret her insults.
It is a bit unfortunate that her personality is defined mostly in terms of how it affects Bumblebee. There was a tendency to attempt to create rivalries and arch enemies in the bios at that time, so it isn't just that Shadow Striker is female and can't stand on her own. You can actually get a fair amount of her personality through that bio, once you account for Bumblebee kind of being an asshole.
The TFWiki page apparently used to refer to her as a bitch, however, and still refers to her as a glitch. There's a reason there are so few female Transformers -- they all get fed up with the casual misogyny and become My Little Ponies instead.
If I were to give her a Bumblebee as a rival, I wouldn't choose the one she came with -- the differing looks between Generations Legends and Movieverse Legends is pretty jarring. But, she can have the Generations Legends Bumblebee as a foil, or one of the other redecos (perhaps the "Cybertronian Mode" DOTM Legends Bumblebee if one were worried about keeping him in the same universe).
http://www.tfu.info/2011/Autobot/TRUCybBumblebee/bumblebee.htm
If Shadow Striker weren't female, or so small, I'm not 100% sure she would be loved. But my permanent collection can have a bit of affirmative action going on if I so desire. She's certainly a nice toy though, and the use of textures in her vehicle mode is very nifty.
Zobovor
Mar 2, 2015, 8:47:06 AM3/2/15
to
On Monday, March 2, 2015 at 2:35:56 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> The Legends Wheelie mold was ostensibly available in the US in orange as part
> of the Universe series, but had very limited distribution -- I certainly
> never saw it.
Pretty sure I got mine off eBay. I never saw it in stores either.
> The Legends Wheelie mold was ostensibly available in the US in orange as part
> of the Universe series, but had very limited distribution -- I certainly
> never saw it.
> As a representation of Wheelie, it's an odd mold. Up to this point we had
> never seen an Earth mode for Wheelie, just the traditional bubble vehicle.
> Honestly, this is a terrible Wheelie. The US release would be better, and be
> just a poor Wheelie.
> Shadow Striker was the second domestic release of the mold
> There is a small purple Decepticon symbol on the hood, and against the black
> it is very difficult to make out whether this is the classic Decepticon
> symbol or a Movieverse Decepticon symbol. I believe it is Movieverse.
> Shadow Striker is female, but the figure does not have a strong feminine vibe
> really nice to have a Chick-Bot that is not overtly sexualized.
Kinda like GoBots Crasher that way.
> It is a bit unfortunate that her personality is defined mostly in terms of
> how it affects Bumblebee.
I was actually not aware this toy existed until your review, so thanks for that.
Zob
Gustavo Wombat
Mar 2, 2015, 1:04:30 PM3/2/15
to
Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
> On Monday, March 2, 2015 at 2:35:56 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
>> As a representation of Wheelie, it's an odd mold. Up to this point we had
>> never seen an Earth mode for Wheelie, just the traditional bubble vehicle.
>
> It's not really the right vehicle mode (and his domestic toy package
> suggests that Hasbro thought he came from the Planet of Junk) but it's no
> more or less wrong than Generations Blurr or Sergeant Kup. At least he's
> a small orange (or yellow) car that's more or less to scale with the
> Deluxe toys. And the head sculpt is really good.
With Blurr and Kup, we meet them on Earth in the far distant future of
> On Monday, March 2, 2015 at 2:35:56 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
>> As a representation of Wheelie, it's an odd mold. Up to this point we had
>> never seen an Earth mode for Wheelie, just the traditional bubble vehicle.
>
> It's not really the right vehicle mode (and his domestic toy package
> suggests that Hasbro thought he came from the Planet of Junk) but it's no
> more or less wrong than Generations Blurr or Sergeant Kup. At least he's
> a small orange (or yellow) car that's more or less to scale with the
> Deluxe toys. And the head sculpt is really good.
2005. We don't know when they arrived, so it is entirely possible that they
had more traditional vehicle modes for a while -- I take those as their
1990s modes. Transformers tended not to get rebuilt and adopt new modes in
G1, but they could have been damaged or something, like happened with
Goldbug.
Wheelie never had a plain Earth mode.
Also, the toy doesn't feel like Wheelie. The giant shoulder pads are very,
very off, and they dominate the robot mode.
Also, he's yellow. And his v-neck exposes gray. The US release would at
least be in the right colors.
>> Honestly, this is a terrible Wheelie. The US release would be better, and be
>> just a poor Wheelie.
>
> It's better than the redeco of Special Ops Jazz! That's a gigantic Wheelie!
toy as Special Ed Jazz...
>> Shadow Striker was the second domestic release of the mold
>
> Is she supposed to be the same Shadow Striker character as the BotCon
> toy, or somebody else entirely? (I guess if she were BotCon Shadow
> Striker, she would have both an Autobot and a Decepticon symbol on her somewhere, yes?)
(symmetrical!), some similar colors. She's missing the purple stripes, but
does have the red windows. The big red wheels are a rather distinctive
addition -- I would expect that the matching windows and tires are the key
thing in this character's deco, and that they are entirely separate rather
than this being the movie version of the previous character. Also, no
mention of Roulette, or another sister.
That said, two female Transformers sharing the same name... Who knows?
>> There is a small purple Decepticon symbol on the hood, and against the black
>> it is very difficult to make out whether this is the classic Decepticon
>> symbol or a Movieverse Decepticon symbol. I believe it is Movieverse.
>
> Movie. You can tell by the shape of the eyes.
too bothered by the poor color matching. So it's hard to see the details of
dark purple on black.
>> Shadow Striker is female, but the figure does not have a strong feminine vibe
>> to it. She would appear to be a bit of a tom boy, wearing a cadet hat. It's
>> really nice to have a Chick-Bot that is not overtly sexualized.
>
> Kinda like GoBots Crasher that way.
>
>> It is a bit unfortunate that her personality is defined mostly in terms of
>> how it affects Bumblebee.
>
> It's one thing when they were doing it to get you to buy other toys.
> That almost makes sense, and it's not like G1 never did it (Bumblebee
> idolized Optimus Prime and Prowl; Octane liked to harass the Aerialbots;
> etc.) These two toys were already sold together, though, so it's
> unnecessary here. As you said, unfortunate.
bought know each other and that they have a relationship you can can play
out. It's sad that she is only defined from Bumblebee's perspective though.
If they had room for another paragraph describing Bumblebee from her
perspective, it would have worked.
Is she snide and sarcastic towards everyone, or is this special for
Bumblebee? Did she once secretly have a crush on Bumblebee, then decide he
was an idiot, and now taunts him because she is angry at herself for ever
liking him? Or is it just sadistic pleasure? Does she speak to him only in
clips from TV and Radio to mock him? Is she upset that Bumblebee tore out
Ravage's spine?
So much we don't know.
> I was actually not aware this toy existed until your review, so thanks for that.
the US. The Classics/Universes/Generations/Whatever legends were generally
great and should have gotten more use.
--
I wish I was a mole in the ground.
Zobovor
Mar 2, 2015, 7:54:42 PM3/2/15
to
On Monday, March 2, 2015 at 11:04:30 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> Wheelie never had a plain Earth mode.
He was badly damaged fighting Superion in "The Return of Optimus Prime." I find it odd that Bumblebee required a total overhaul into Goldbug but none of the other Autobots did. Maybe THAT is when Kup and Blurr and Wheelie all got their new Earth vehicle modes! (I am conveniently ignoring the fact that we do see all of them transform after the Quintesson revives them.)
> Wheelie never had a plain Earth mode.
> Also, the toy doesn't feel like Wheelie. The giant shoulder pads are very,
> very off, and they dominate the robot mode.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b122/tanafor/Wheelie/DSCF0123.jpg
> I play with my Transformers under poor lighting conditions, so I don't get
> too bothered by the poor color matching.
> I can see doing it to make you a little excited that the two toys you just
> bought know each other and that they have a relationship you can can play
> out. It's sad that she is only defined from Bumblebee's perspective though.
> If they had room for another paragraph describing Bumblebee from her
> perspective, it would have worked.
Zob
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Mar 3, 2015, 11:32:44 AM3/3/15
to
Stop making me want to hunt down molds that never hit the store. I won't do it. Never saw this, saw wheelie online once.
Message has been deleted
Cappeca
Mar 3, 2015, 1:06:01 PM3/3/15
to
Em segunda-feira, 2 de março de 2015 21:54:42 UTC-3, Zobovor escreveu:
>
> I don't think I've ever liked it when the G1 tech specs, or Marvel profiles, describe the opinions of other robots about that character. It kind of strikes me as filler, honestly. "He gives me the creeps," says RAMJET. Okay, so what? Maybe everybody gives RAMJET the creeps.
>
>
I *hate* those! What if RAMJET is an asshole? Always feels like the writer is either too lazy to put the full character on paper, so he just writes some gossip down and it's up to the reader to draw his own conclusions, or he just becomes Mary Sue and writes his personal taste of the character using other characters as proxy. Of course, the TF universe span is over 10 million years, but no one changes their opinion because they're robots and there's no character evolution to robots. Everyone is afraid of Bludgeon, the Master of Metallikato, an ancient cybertronian lethal martial art. Even Overlord says that ol' skull-face is a bad ass! "He's a bad ass", Overlord says. Bad Ass. Bludgeon. Metallikato. The DW universe guide is *full* of examples.
>
> I don't think I've ever liked it when the G1 tech specs, or Marvel profiles, describe the opinions of other robots about that character. It kind of strikes me as filler, honestly. "He gives me the creeps," says RAMJET. Okay, so what? Maybe everybody gives RAMJET the creeps.
>
>
Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats
Mar 3, 2015, 5:09:31 PM3/3/15
to
A profile of Bumblebee or Optimus Prime from someone else's perspective would be fine, and even interesting -- we know the character and have already formed an opinion of the character, and this would give us a chance to understand the someone else better, as well as give us some insight into how the character being described affects those around him.
For instance, if Movieverse Bludgeon found Bumblebee's speech problems and speaking through media clips intensely unsettling and creepy because any emotion that carried through was not really Bumblebee's, that would be interesting.
If we learned that G1 Jazz found Optimus Prime to be a bit standoffish, but wondered whether that was his own bias against robots with faceplates (because you cannot see them smile), it would add something to two well known characters that we weren't expecting.
And, taken together, we would learn that Transformers are probably afraid of clowns.
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