The Energon Pub

JaZzTaStIc wrote:just came on to check up on news and didn't know anything about this KO at all, clicked on the topic drooled over the pictures and almost wet myself.....within 30mins of reading this topic I went straight to the website and brought one. doesn't bothers me one bit its a "KO" as I've waited for the classic seekers mold to be done in these colours for years now and lets face it, hasbro are never gonna release him. the silver to me actaully looks really nice and the price is pretty cheap. I paid easy £40-50 for each henkei skywarp, thundercracker, thrust and dirge even henkei starscream was about £30 so this mold has always been around that kinda price to me. Can't wait for him to turn up within the next few weeks :D:D:D:D:D

Watch Haasbro release a more accurately coloured one next year.

Dead Metal wrote:

Skyfire-5 wrote:Edited for bad idea...

If your edit was along the lines of you suck for trying to sell this to us you bad news idiot.

Okay, why not... I don't know if you remember it or not, but there was a GI Joe Line by the name of Sigma 6. The latter part of that 8" figure line included the figure "Dark Ninja Master." White paint on translucent red plastic. The effect was masterful to say the least. As far as Hasbro releases of translucent figures, there was one instance - the Target excl. Animated Stealth Lockdown. But paint on translucent transformer is just a bad mix in theory - especially on a friction riddled mold like classics seeker. I had this in mind initially:

...but then I thought, if Hasbro recons were reading these threads, I'd just want the simple idw/dreamwave comic direct homage with a nice rubsign (as a true Sunstorm would have a hidden allegiance & fit right into the whole reveal the shield concept - conveniently as it would be). And why not throw a monkey wrench in the whole continuity of the character and have him reveal a Unicron insignia .

Preemptive "No, you're a seeker dork..."

...and the gold chrome version.

Skyfire-5 wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

Skyfire-5 wrote:Edited for bad idea...

If your edit was along the lines of you suck for trying to sell this to us you bad news idiot.

Okay, why not... I don't know if you remember it or not, but there was a GI Joe Line by the name of Sigma 6. The latter part of that 8" figure line included the figure "Dark Ninja Master." White paint on translucent red plastic. The effect was masterful to say the least. As far as Hasbro releases of translucent figures, there was one instance - the Target excl. Animated Stealth Lockdown. But paint on translucent transformer is just a bad mix in theory - especially on a friction riddled mold like classics seeker. I had this in mind initially:

...but then I thought, if Hasbro recons were reading these threads, I'd just want the simple idw/dreamwave comic direct homage with a nice rubsign (as a true Sunstorm would have a hidden allegiance & fit right into the whole reveal the shield concept - conveniently as it would be). And why not throw a monkey wrench in the whole continuity of the character and have him reveal a Unicron insignia .

Preemptive "No, you're a seeker dork..."

Sorry for taking sooooooo long to answer.

Yea that sounds incredibly cool and yes paint on clear toys isn't that cool, especially hasbro paint on Transformers.
That does make me want to see what it would look like if someone took one of those clear KOLD seekers and painted the inside of the toy with the needed colours, maybe that would create a pulsating energy induced glowing effect without paint scratches?

Scaleface wrote:...and the gold chrome version.

And now I kind of want it, because it's just so damn gaudy!

I've personally have already ordered this from KOTOYS.com. I don't understand the color debate. I don't like the original orange and white scheme. Makes him look like a race car from the seventies. If you're gonna have the word "sun" in your name you should be yellow and white does not go with yellow - silver or black does.

SentinelA wrote:I've personally have already ordered this from KOTOYS.com. I don't understand the color debate. I don't like the original orange and white scheme. Makes him look like a race car from the seventies. If you're gonna have the word "sun" in your name you should be yellow and white does not go with yellow - silver or black does.

What's not to understand? It's not colored like Sunstorm ... and when it coems to Seekers the colors are the key. So those of us waiting for this are kind of disappointed.

As you can see from the in-package photo, this Sunstorm comes from the CHMS mold. The packaging is clearly taking a page from the Takara Henkei line. If there actually had been a legitimate Takara Sunstorm made, the packaging would give away the KO status of the toy. CHMS is clearly marked on the top right of the card and on the left of the blister over the "Transformers" logo. Also, the card-art is blurred and a bit smaller than the real deal would be. Packaging tends to be a little neater than the other Seeker KOs in circulation right now. The toy comes bundled with launchers and a ziplock baggie with instruction sheet and character collector's card. There are only two twisted ties around the body of the airplane. (The other mold also has ties around the wing tips.)



Here we see Sunstorm in his F-15 jet mode. Unlike many of the KO seekers out there today, Sunstorm fits together quite well in jet mode. The piece directly behind the cockpit is a little bit difficult to fit in, but it does snap together (and quite tightly, at that.) The wings all sit securely. The blasters peg in under the wing, though the pegs are almost too big for the wing mounts. Extreme caution should be used to avoid stress marks.

Now, the question that's on everybody's minds... Just how yellow and/or orange is this guy? Judge for yourself.



As you can see here, Sunstorm falls somewhere in the middle of Classics Bumblebee and Solar Storm Grapple. My wife's immediate response when I asked her the color was "mustard yellow." I think most fans were looking for something closer to e-Hobby colors, but I have to say, in person, Sunstorm really does look good. Given that there is a recolor that matches the e-Hobby version more closely in the works for later, some fans may choose instead to make Sunstorm their yellow rainmaker. Witness:



Now...on to the quality of the figure.

Joints on this one are EXTREMELY tight. In fact, in some places, they're almost too tight. The feet are one problem area, as they are a pain to fold down. The chest area is a bit difficult to open and then put back together. The nosecone is very stiff. Don't get me wrong, it can be done, but this figure is built tight! At some points, I became worried about putting stress marks on the joints and at times outright breaking it. To my great relief, nothing broke, so I have a solid figure.

Perhaps the best news is that the launchers peg into the arms VERY tightly. There is no slippage, and they do not fall out on their own. Poseability is the same as any Hasbro/Takara version of this toy. Paint apps are well done. Overall, the figure is very solid, with only the few negatives that I've mentioned above. I would, however, recommend that you leave this toy in one mode, as I am not confident that it can hold up to massively repeated transformations. This is a display piece and for collector's only, and should not be given to kids who are going to want to play with it aggressively.



KOToys has this in stock and is shipping it out now.

I will have more outdoor and natural light photos tomorrow!

Thanks for the review and nice pictures, I see you have him pictured/displayed with his legs straight and I'm wondering, how are the knee joints? I have KO TC and SW Version 1 and my main complain from that mold is how floppy the knees are.

Macross wrote:Thanks for the review and nice pictures, I see you have him pictured/displayed with his legs straight and I'm wondering, how are the knee joints? I have KO TC and SW Version 1 and my main complain from that mold is how floppy the knees are.

Not floppy AT ALL. This is the CHMS version. The joints are very very tight.

That actually looks pretty nice and I may have to pick one up. I would have preferred white paint rather than silver, but I can always take care of that myself.