Skyhammer with Airlift

Height: 11cm to top of head; 12cm (vehicle wingspan)

Articulation: 17 total points - Ball joint neck; 3 points each arm: Ball joint shoulder, double joint elbow; 5 points each leg: Universal joint hips, thigh swivel, double hinge knee.

Colors: Molded Air Force Blue, Midnight Blue, orange, clear orange, black (Mini-Con only); Painted Midnight Blue, Air Force Blue, silver, orange, black, bronze.

Accessories: Airlift Mini-Con

Release Data: Available on Hasbro Toy Shop during early 2011 but has long since sold out. US$9.99 if/when you could find it.

Author: ExVee

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The boiling clouds of an approaching thunderstorm hold terror for any Autobot caught in the open.  Skyhammer manipulates the weather to generate ferocious winds, torrential rains and destructive blasts of lightning.  As soon as his enemies are disoriented by the pounding storm, he descends from the clouds, smashing into his opponents like a hammer.

I get the distinct impression that were Skyhammer meant to be a specific existing character, he would in fact be one of the G1 Seeker group that Acid Storm arose out of. Which works well enough for me since I tend to incorporate PCC toys and characters with my Classics family toys even with indications that if they're anywhere, it's the movie universe. But then in that case, this Skyhammer would seemingly have to change sides, colors, and vehicle form by the time of DOTM. And that just feels like too much hassle to me.


Robot Mode

It's a somewhat unusual bodyplan for aircraft Transformers, though after a couple trips through the movie design school it might be said nothing is really odd for a Transformer anymore. But this has been visited on in traditional style TFs in the past, though Armada Starscream is the only one I recall doing so who could be called a fighter jet in any way... This unusual robot design has some drawbacks though. The whole torso is locked together by one square peg at the base of the abdomen. A peg that doesn't fit very snugly to its slot, alas. It's not hard to simply pop it out of place and end up with the majority of the upper body freely hinging up and down as you try to pose an arm or some other minor task. The shoulders don't seem to peg, tab, or otherwise mechanically fasten to anything, as they simply rely on friction and a soft ratchet to maintain their place afloat amid the torso. There's also a not unsubstantial gap in the torso, resulting from the jet basically being balled up into a fist to form the bulk of the robot body. Now you might see somewhat why stability is compromised.

The articulation is actually quite good when it's not causing major structural integrity failures. The head is on a ball joint, and in fact has an easier time looking up than it does left or right, though once you do get it turning it can make a full 90 degrees to either side of center, it's just a bit stiff getting there. A feeling I can sadly relate to! The arms notably have double jointed elbows, combining a hinge and ball joint to stand in for what would otherwise be an additional joint for forearm swivel. Standard 5mm compatible fists complete the arms. ...as well as a pair of what look like mounted guns. Except they point backwards. I guess if you're gonna elbow someone in the stomach, having a gun right there would be a perfectly logical extension of the thought. Or something. The legs are similarly well jointed, and don't even use a single ball joint. The knees are double hinged, but I think the robot mode benefiting is more side effect than intentional; the extra knee movement is really to position the legs for combiner mode. In fact, there's a tab that in robot mode will lock the legs straight if you position the knee joint just so. I suppose it could be seen as helpful. Since it's not forced on you in this mode it's certainly not harmful, at least. The weak point in the legs is literally that. There aren't ankle joints as such, but the toe is hinged and at least on this copy of the toy that hinge is pretty weak. Load-bearing is pretty poor, so using the PCC connectors as heels and putting the weight mostly on them has proven to be necessary more often than not.

There's a Mini-Con port that can unfold from the chest, as well as one on the back which can also be used in robot mode. Sadly that's set a bit too low to let you attach Airlift and use it as shoulder guns. But if you have Leadfoot, you can totally swipe Pinpointer and give Skyhammer a huge engine block in the middle of his back!


Transformation

In a lot of ways I'm flashing back to Cyberjets with this. That's hardly a complaint. While I am functionally comparing the transformation engineering to a range of toys now over fifteen years old, they were and I think still are a solid model for Scout-and-under Transformer planes. There's different strokes here of course owing to a different body layout in robot mode, but anyone who's handled those toys will find Skyhammer a familiar experience. The only potentially confusing things might be working out that the hands grip to the posts under the tail, and noticing the tabs that secure the legs behind the intake vents. I had such a joy in transforming Skyhammer the first time, and it was entirely nostalgia driven because it took me right back to my original Cyberjets and was like finding one after all these years that I never knew existed. ...I'm sure people who haven't been obsessed their entire adult lives with that one trio of late G2 molds will also find this transformation serviceable as well...


Vehicle Mode

The profile of the plane comes out pretty well, and is at least close to what it ought to be. However you're certainly not going to mistake most of the body length from the side or especially below as anything other than the robot parts it is. Even from above while the fighter jet "skin" is pretty complete on the top, it's given away at the very back where the robot parts stick out noticeably past the line where the jet engines should terminate. Plus aside from the intended engine housings between the stabilizers, there isn't any real anything that could be the jets in the parts or even detailing in the back end. Even Cyberjets tried to pretend with the giant could-be-engines vented feet stowed in back. Best you could do here is squint and pretend the tops of the thighs serve as jet nozzles or other means of propulsion. Not that it's the only issue in terms of alt mode anatomy. The TFWiki's assertion that this is a Sukhoi Su-35 is... debatable, at best. Some design elements are shared with that aircraft, and with probably a dozen others, in addition to plenty that you won't find on any plane otherwise like this. The nose-intake is especially out of place on a modern combat aircraft, at least in the form it's taking. It's definitely very visually striking because of all its incongruous elements, and at the same time it benefits because you can't really call any one thing wrong when clearly everything is wrong all together!

Many pieces move in vehicle mode, but mostly based on transformation needs. The wings can hinge up, for one. Since some Naval aircraft have folding wings to reduce their footprint inside aircraft carriers, I guess you could interpret this as a similar function. Congratulations Skyhammer, you're in the Navy! The tailplanes and stabilizers are also each hinged, but again that's really to facilitate transformation, as is the nosecone that can fold under the cockpit. Intended to move in this mode is a landing gear under the nose; the rear landing gear are fixed in place as part of the knee joint. There's also a Mini-Con port between the engine housings which can fold down out of the way when not in use. As it turns out, even without Airlift equipped, Skyhammer is reasonably armed: two rather large cannon ports are cut into the nosecone, and there are three small missiles sculpted underslung of each wing. But that's probably secondary to that he is apparently Thor.

Much of Skyhammer's paint is for the benefit of the vehicle mode, which is decorated in air-to-air camouflage colors and patterns, using shades of blue on top which at high altitude would help it blend in against ocean or ground below when seen from above. It's a good if simple deco, and actually puts me in mind of what the Blue Rainmaker would probably look like if it were to get the Acid Storm treatment at some point.



Combiner Mode

Transforming to torso mode isn't very difficult, especially from robot mode since it's effectively just folding the arms back and flipping the wings up. The legs are a little less obvious, but the tabs that will lock the knees straight just fit in holes in the thighs to tie the combiner legs together. Something to watch out for is that where the arms peg to the underside of the wings seems vulnerable to taking stress marks. On both sides they're not just up and down along the sides, but about half way around the base of each peg hole. The peg may be just slightly too tight, and since the wings can still move when everything is put together, it's pressing on the sides a way it shouldn't.

Skyhammer's elbow guns finally make sense now, since they become shoulder guns for the combiner mode. The combiner head in this case is realized not with a swap, but by putting an old style aviator helmet and goggles over the regular robot face. Nearly as cool as having an antique diving helmet for a combiner head! The neck swivel is unaffected, in a manner of speaking. Actually, the helmet is attached to a separate piece on the neck post, so it and the robot head can freely turn in unison. Plus the helmet is much bigger, so you have more leverage here which makes turning the head much easier.

Otherwise, there isn't much different from the robot mode. A bit less leg articulation for the sake of better stability, but the general appearance is very similar before you add the drones on. Skyhammer is a reasonably tall torso, meaning he's bigger in this mode than many five-pack Commanders are in their normal robot modes, even. Not that being taller than Steamhammer is difficult at all. One thing that definitely isn't different in this case is that the connection between torso and pelvis is no more solid. And with the weight of a couple drones on the legs, it can even function more poorly in some cases. Throwing a random set of drone limbs on out of my PCC bin, Skyhammer makes for a tall and rather thin looking combiner. Or at least standing a good head or so above combiner mode Heavytread. Most or all of that height difference is happening in the legs. If that bugs you, it's possible to fold the pelvis back inside the torso more and take a centimeter or two off the overall height. But in that case there's pretty much no locking at all between torso and pelvis, so good luck with that. His hips will still be higher regardless.


Airlift

In the march towards making PCC Mini-Cons into modern Targetmasters, Airlift is definitely a leap ahead. Little wonder then that Takara used the mold as exactly that in one of their United premium campaigns early this year. In fact, in some situations, the Mini-Con may have been available more readily in the premium Targetmaster colors than its original use with Skyhammer. The wacky consequences of slow distribution, eh?

The arms are jointed only at the shoulder, but since the arms seem to just be wearable vulcan guns, elbows might not be appropriate anyway. Ball jointed hips and hinged knees round out the articulation, making this Mini-Con pretty typically flexible, and not feeling like anything is absent given the design of the arms. Airlift has one other little trick, too: Torso twist. This is really part of transformation, but if you turn it just a little it can still be to advantage of posing as well. The transformation is actually interesting in its way. The legs bend and peg at the heels in to a pair of holes above the shoulders. But depending on which mode you're aiming for, those holes are either on the figure's front or back. In a reasonably clever mechanism, the torso moves independent of the head and waist. So in either weapon form and the armor mode, Airlift's face is never exposed like many other Mini-Cons may suffer from. Much better than the might-as-well-not-exist neck swivel on Waterlog, for sure!

Airlift's armor, gun, and vehicle weapon modes are all effectively the same thing - the robot form wadded into a vague box. The only variance is which way the arms are pointed, and which side of the torso is facing down. Ultimately, I like it as the gun best, but it's about as good as the vehicle weapon system. Armor mode is more hypothetical than most, and even for this series a box with guns is stretching the definition of armor. But not nearly as much as how the instructions advise, which looks like a baby monkey clinging to its mother. Sadly since the vehicle mode hardpoint and the intended robot and combined more hardpoint are separate, you can't just leave Airlift hooked up the whole time for use in all three modes.

But one thing that really makes me like Airlift is the delicious shade of clear orange plastic most of the body is cast in. I can almost taste the hard candy right now...

Closing Remarks

Of the three final Commander molds, Skyhammer is probably the weakest overall, despite a vehicle I like and generally taking me back to the days of Cyberjets. But there's aspects here that deserve attention, and Skyhammer is far from the worst PCC figure out of the line. But as so often happens, just as the designers get to reach their stride, it's time for the run to be over with. Just at a casual glance it's clear to see how the design process advanced from Skyburst to Skyhammer and then to just be sad that it doesn't get a chance to be better AND that this mold is so difficult to come by.

That having been said, I'd say around $15 is a good price to get this mold for given its scarcity. If it were an objectively better figure I'd even assign a higher dollar value. At the time of this writing on August 17th, 2011, Entertainment Earth still had singles of Skyhammer in stock for about $16 shipped, which is probably the best deal you'll find. If you luck into a cheaper one as I did, jump on it. Skyhammer is Good only because of a few design setbacks, otherwise I'd have little trouble adding a Very to that. Being the loser of a group including Undertow and Heavytread is barely any kind of failing at all.