Phil's
Gobot Firecracker, Sideswipe & Optimus Prime and
Spy Changer Eagle Killer & Rev
Review
It's hard to know what to say about the Gobots/Spychangers. I suggest
reading this in conjunction with the Gobot/Spychanger repaint guide. This mold has 12 distinct versions (11 if you discount the Tiny Tin
re-release) This makes it one of the most recoloured Transformers in TF
history !
Firecracker is a car, looking quite like the G1 Autobot car Sidesipe but
lacking the spoiler as the back. The main body of the car is car in clear
red. Turning the car over shows that the front and the back of the
underside are cast in solid yellow and the middle is white.
TF: Most of the Gobots/Spychangers - all the ones originally designed for
G2 - have the G1 Sideswipe Transformation. Pull the back of the car back,
fold down the bonnet under the front of the car. Pull the arms out to the
sides.
Robot mode carries the clear red over to the body, back of the lower legs
and the arms. The yellow is the front of the lowerlegs and the neck piece.
The body (under the car bonnet), upper legs and head are all white. In this
mode he gains a gun also coloured in clear red. The arms are the only part of the toy that moves and then only at the shoulders.
Overall: Looks quite decent.
Sideswipe is an inevitable repaint for this mold. Unfortunately the colours
are all wrong for Sideswipe - the clear red becomes blue, white becomes
black and yellow becomes a sort of lime yellow.
Not a great colour change.
Optimus Prime is effectively a solid version of Firecracker - it takes the
clear red and makes it solid while painting the head blue. Not a bad
repaint, but could have been better if the yellow had been turned into a
blue making the front of the robot legs look better.
The Japanese version of Optimus Prime is cast in a set with the Japanese
Soundwave and they opted to keep Gobot Soundwave's hideous lime yellow which
turns the front of the lower legs lime yellow. Horrid. If they'd have gone
with dark blue as suggested above we'd have got a Japanese Soundwave closer
the colours of the G1 version. He also gains Gobots Soundwave's T shaped
Transformers logo.
Looks bad - the red and yellow clash. Avoid.
Eagle Killer effectively swaps this mold's original colours with those used
for Gearhead - including gaining the Phoenix logo that was on Gearhead's
bonnet. The car body & gun becomes yellow, the robot body becomes white and
the undersides of the front & the back of the car/front of the lower legs
stays white. There's a mold change used on this toy which follows through
into all subsequent versions: The piece that connect the middle of the car
to the front changes from being the same colour as the front of the
underside (originally yellow, now red) to the same colour as the body of the
car (now yellow). Wars/W.A.R.S. also has the same mold swap so I suspect they just swapped pieced between the molds at this point.
Not a bad repaint but the red and yellow looked better the other way round.
Eagle Killer was sold as Car Robots toy C-006 or in a box set with the other
five spychangers numbered C-011
Clear Eagle Killer was an exclusive to the Justco chain of stores in Japan
in 2000. The red and yellow become clear versions of the same colour, while
the white becomes a clear dark blue.
It's a clear repaint, what's not to like ?
Rev is Eagle Killer with the addition of a small Autobot symbol on the roof. Rev is an acronym for either Race Evolution Vehicle or Race Exertion Vehicle.
He was sold in a 2 pack with Spychanger Hot Shot. In both versions of the packaging Rev appears in vehicle mode.
Clear Rev was anexclusive to KB Toys in 2002. He takes the yellow and makes
it clear orange, the red becomes clear red and the white becomes a
colourless transparent plastic.
Tiny Tin Rev is identical to RID Rev. He comes with a little matchbox size
tin to hold the car.
Super Eagle Killer uses dark blue for the car body, white for the parts
under the front/back of the car and red for the robot legs/body. The head
is painted blue, black of the wheels & windows, some yellow lines on the
bonnet and the phoenix logo in green. Nice attractive repaint.
Clear Super Eagle Killer comes with all parts cast in colourless transparent
plastic. The only colour is the blue painted head, black of the wheels &
windows, some yellow lines on the bonnet and the phoenix logo in green.
It's a bit plain though especially when lined up with the other five Clear
Super Spychangers which are all the same.
KB had another exclusive with Clear Recolours. Rev is very similar to the
previous Clear Rev - the only real change is the main body piece is now
coloured green instead of clear.
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