The G1 Journey

Bio:

Skywarp is the sneakiest of all Decepticons. Enjoys playing cruel pranks on fellow Decepticons and appearing out of nowhere to attack Autobots. Not too smart. Would be useless without Megatrons supervision. Top speed of 1500 mph. Can instantly teleport up to 2.5 miles. Carries heat-seeking missiles and variable-calibre machine guns.

Introduction:

Skywarp has always been my favorite Seeker; that black and purple deco just wins it for me! As a character though, fans know little about him. For being such a popular character/toy among collectors, it’s very surprising that Skywarp has done virtually nothing of importance. All fans can agree though that Skywarp’s shining moment was in the 1986 Transformers Animated Movie when Unicron himself reformatted Skywarp into Cyclonus: Who is Cyclonus?

I’m kidding, I don’t want to open up that can of nerd rage and endless debate. On a more universally accepted note, I find the history and “controversy” of Skywarp’s tech specs very interesting. Supposedly, Skywarp’s tech specs were swapped with Starscream’s stats. You’ll notice Skywarp’s stats are off the charts – fit for only a leader, but his bio portrays that of a less than intelligent fool, a “sneaky but dumb” Decepticon! Quirky facts like this actually draw me in closer to the toy. I like being able to put some great back story with my toys and Skywarp, although not having much media attention, has some great hidden facts to him. I’ll try not to dive too deep into the review aspect for this figure (since we’re gonna have a total of 6 Seekers) so please enjoy the photo gallery 🙂

*** As a reminder, please click on the images to view their full size ***

Alt Mode:

You guys are familiar with it, Skywarp is a Seeker fighter jet based on the F-15. He shares the same mold as the Seeker leader Starscream and flying partner Thundercracker. I enjoy the Seeker mold and I’ll say it again, Skywarp is the best looking F-15 out of the bunch because of the awesome black and purple deco. There have been a few different variations of Skywarp over the years: some are official reissues to unreleased prototypes. One variation of Skywarp I think would be cool to own is the Mexican variant figure with a purple nosecone. These are very rare to find and probably command a heavy price tag.

In fighter jet mode, Skywarp is a fantastic toy to both display and fiddle around with. With his detachable landing gear, opening cockpit, and two firing missile launchers, it’s easy to see how Skywarp can be a kid and collector’s favorite.

Notice the black nosecone on the G1 version …

Really like the missile launchers … even though they don’t launch.

Robot Mode:

It’s no secret, the biggest downfall of this toy and the Seeker mold in general is the parts forming. Numerous times I’ve almost lost fists, missiles, or launchers just from setting the parts down for transformation. Handling parts formers takes time to get use to because it is ridiculously easy to lose certain parts. However, the result of robot mode is well worth it. Even if the only sort of movement you have is moving Skywarp’s arms up and down, the Seeker mold in general is just a great looking figure that seems fun with limited functionality. It has to mostly be the iconic look to these toys that make them so cool.

One of the things I’d like to point out, Skywarp’s deco was actually new to the Transformers line. Most of the Series 1 Transformers were carried over from the early Diaclone line. It’s interesting to note that Skywarp was a brand new deco. I wasn’t aware of that until I started digging on several fan sites: how’s that for your Transformers trivia of the day?

Is this the most dynamic pose of the Seeker?

Evolution:

This is still one of my favorite evolutions, probably always will be. You can just see the natural progression from a G1 parts-former to a modern day engineered toy trying to find ways to keep all those pieces on the figure itself. It really is cool to fiddle with both of these figures side by side. And if you’re a fan of the Masterpiece Transformers line, you can see even more of an evolution process with the new MP release of the Seekers. Let’s let the pictures do the talking though 🙂

Alt Mode Comparison:

Hmm, Classics Skywarp has the purple nosecone. Nice nod to the Mexican variant of the G1 figure!

Robot Mode Comparison:

Even my 3 year old daughter noticed the Classics Skywarp is much more of a pinkish purple.

The Classics version has a distinctive headsculpt.

Mirror images?

Overall: 8/10

The Seekers are a team of toys that once you’ve seen one … you pretty much have seen ’em all. With that being said though, each toy still is able to separate itself from the team with different decos and personality traits. I bumped up Skywarp’s overall rating to an 8 because he personally may be favorite Seeker out of the ranks. With the Seekers you know what you’re getting, but it’s probably more about personal value that makes each individual Seeker worthwhile.