Phil's
Energon Stormcloud & Blackout,
TFCC Topspin,
Movie Decepticon Reverb,
Universe Vortex & Swindle
Review


Stormcloud

Stormcloud is toy D1 in the Destruction (Combaticon) team

His vehicle mode is a very nice looking helicopter, mainly orange with brown sides and a clear blue canopy. The underside of the helicopter carries a blue Energon gun array. The rotor and tailfins on helicopter both spin, with his spark mounted behind the rotor.

TF: Turbines unclip from the side of the copter and fold back to become legs, arms fold up from underneath and cockpit - copying Rotorstorm - folds down revealing the head.

Like his case & team brother Kickback he's superbly articulated with ball joints at the elbows, shoulders, knees & hips. The head truns at the neck and is lightpiped in the same clear blue as the Energon. The gun array can be hand held with the side barrels being removable to form individual guns.

Stormcloud's limb mode involves some origami and you end up with this sort of extended thing with the vehicle mode cockpit and the legs at one end. The gun assembly fits into the ends of the feet either as a hand or folded out as a foot. Limb looks odd but functions OK in either mode.

Stormcloud was sold in the Galaxy Force Toyline in Japan as part of the SD-21 Bruticus set where he was called Vorter (Vortex)


Blackout

Blackout is toy D3 in the Destruction (Combaticon) team.

Blackout swaps both orange & brown for a purpley blue colour to give a helicopter in much more Decepticon like colours.

Blackout was sold in the Galaxy Force Toyline in Japan as part of the SD-21 Bruticus set where he was called Blast Off.


Decepticon Reverb

Reverb was in the cancelled fifth wave of Traget Movie Basics along with Gunbarrel(Kickback/Blight) and Backtrack(Lugnutz)

Reverb's main colour is a military looking green which suits the mould very well. The upper limbs in robot mode and the rotor blades are now black with the Energon a blue green colour.

Looks very nice - almost Waspinator as a helicopter. A real loss I think.


Topspin

Topspin is the 2008 TFCC exclusive toy - the fourth in their set of Energon combiner repaints. The orange stays the same, but the brown becomes clear purple and the energon/lightpipe clear orange.

Awful. Avoid !


Vortex

Vortex is the first of two Stormcloud repaints in the Bruticus set - first sold as an Universe boxset in Australia and then as a Revenge of the Fallen exclusive for Target in the USA. At time of writing this boxset has not reached the UK, although it's companion piece Superion has.

Orange is swapped for grey and brown for a slate grey/blue to give a colour scheme close to the original Combaticon Vortex. Cockpit canopy, lightpipe and Energon are now clear orange when maybe purple would have been better.


Swindle

Bruticus' second helicopter part is called Swindle with the vehicle being coloured to match: Orange becomes a sandy colour and brown a more sandy brown - together with orange clear parts - gives the toy a lovely coherent and plausable desert colour scheme - if he had an Autobot logo on him you'd call him Sandstorm !

Best colours on this mould. Oh for this as one limb and Reverb as another !


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