Bot Reviews: Transformers: Earthrise Deluxe Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker’s one of those characters who’s legacy mostly relies on being one of the very first Transformers we ever laid eyes on in 1984. In fact, it goes deeper with him, since the original Diaclone version of his figure was apparently the first transforming car-to-robot toy ever designed. And it’s easy to see why his design stuck around. He changed into a crazy supercharged variant of a Lamborghini, and in his robot mode, just oozed a specific retro-robot aesthetic.

That being said, like a lot of the 1984 cast, Sunstreaker was kind of a flat, underdeveloped character, remembered more for being there from the start than anything he really did. Here’s one of he and his brother Sideswipe’s more prominent moments:

 

On the cartoon in particular, a lot of the first-season Autobots were often written with the same “jovial rough-and-tumble wisecracking adventurer” personality, and Sunstreaker was just another one of those, with “he’s also very vain about his looks” tacked on.

In later years, like they did with so many other early G1 characters, IDW’s 2005-2019 Transformers comics continuity would do much more interesting stuff with Sunstreaker than the show or original comics ever did.

Like any well-remembered ‘84 guy, Sunstreaker’s gotten a few updates over the years, including in Alternators, Universe 2.0, Combiner Wars, and Masterpiece, typically (but not always) around the same time Sideswipe does. And, funny thing, over my collecting life, I’ve rarely managed to actually own both brothers at the same time, so grabbing this new Earthrise one, meant to go with Siege Sideswipe, is unique for me, especially since I didn’t think I’d get to grab one at all. The third and final wave of Earthrise, which he came out in, was available in Canada for what felt like 30 seconds, before Kingdom overtook it (which we’re roughly in Series 2 of, now). Miraculously, though, a big batch of that final Earthrise series of figures showed up locally, so he gets to join his brother in the Sunbow Squad.

Robot Mode

So much of the whole War for Cybertron trilogy’s design ideology is to make figures as slavishly cartoon-accurate as possible, so it’s odd that Sunstreaker’s design isn’t that, being more of a “slightly new spin on a recognizable design”-type figure, like older Generations releases. An odd choice, but interesting, especially when Sideswipe is a scaled-down version of his cartoon-accurate Masterpiece design, and Sunstreaker is not.

That being said, Sunstreaker isn’t really that big of a departure from his classic look. He’s got the familiar roof-chest, the hood-feet, and silver backpack, among other things. A lot of the fine details on him, though, are just a bit different. In particular, he has this interestingly elaborate pair of techy patterns sculpted into his shins. Speaking of his legs, his car-hood feet are actually fake car parts, with the headlights and hood sculpted on both sides! At least his chest is real, unlike the Masterpiece, where it’s also a fake piece.

Sunstreaker’s always had kind of a weird, interesting head design, with his “elf-ear” vents, and in this case, the smaller, rounder ones on this figure’s head are animation-accurate. Between IDW’s various takes on his design, and his G1 and Universe 2.0 toys though, I tend to think of his much larger toy-style ears before these ones. Still, this is a very good headsculpt, especially with his determined-looking furrow of the brow. Probably the oddest thing about it is the decision to leave his chin unpainted, resulting in a black mark that looks a bit like a soul patch.

Sunstreaker’s colors are pretty much his traditional yellow and black, without much in the way of re-invention, along with small bits of silver, red and blue to break it up. In particular, I like how the clear blue windows on his chest contrast nicely with the yellow on the rest of him. Speaking of that, one of the biggest points of contention about this deco is the difference in shades of yellow between parts that are painted yellow (like his chest and forearms), and parts that are yellow plastic (most other yellow on him).  For months, the adage I’ve heard has been “it looks less obvious in person than it does in photos,” and while that’s true, it’s more noticeable than I was expecting in person, particularly since the painted bits are more glossy, and the plastic bits are more matte. Really, though, it doesn’t bug me, and I think having two shades of yellow actually helps make him look less plain. Another interesting thing about his deco is the utter lack of the battle damage aesthetic that started in Siege, and carried on into a few early Earthrise figures, meaning Sunstreaker is squeaky clean, but his brother Sideswipe got dirt on him. Funny enough, though, that fits their meager personalities a bit.

Initially, I had trouble standing Sunstreaker up out of the box, until I realized his heels didn’t come fully deployed, and I put them in place with a firm click. He became really stable after that, thanks to his big feet.

For his articulation, while he has no wrist swivels thanks to his transformation, he’s got the standard Siege-and-onward suite of articulation, and can pose really well in fighting stances, including his famous Jet Judo.

It’s a shame he doesn’t come with much to pose with, though, because they really skimped on his accessories. Between my recent experiences with Netflix Bumblebee, Studio Series 86 Hot Rod, and the various Kingdom beastformers, I’d forgotten about War for Cybertron’s tendency to under-equip its characters. In Sunstreaker’s case, his silver backpack can be popped off, and held in his hands like…something.

The two vents suggest some kind of long, flat, two-barrelled gun, I suppose, but it really fails to look like much of anything.

I’m more fond of plugging it into his forearm, like some kind of Captain America-esque Melee Shield.

It definitely feels like an attempt to upsell me on Weaponizers, Battle Masters, Micromasters, Modulators and Fossilizers, in an attempt to arm him up, and sure enough, he looks better with one of the guns from the Centurion kit in his hand.

If you have further accessories, he’s got weapons mounting points on his back, forearms, shoulders, feet, and the backs of his legs.

Transformation

Despite sharing almost no parts with Wheeljack (or Exhaust, who I’ll post a review of on Friday), Sunstreaker has a near-identical transformation to that sculpt. Basically, he belly-flops, and you arrange his legs and back into the car front and body (after some waist twists that migrate the hood on his chest to his back). After that, the arms fold up into the very back of the car.

The whole thing’s very easy-peasy, and you can even leave his backpack on the entire time. My first go, I had a bit of difficulty getting his arms to sit flush at the sides of the car, but the instructions (for once) actually helped me figure out where certain tabs had to meet certain holes.

Car Mode

Sunstreaker changes into a concept car that is pointedly not a Lamborghini, with a supercharged engine added to the back. In particular, the Lambo design this is definitely-not-based-on had a large spoiler at the back of it, and this one includes a pair of weapon-mounting holes there instead (and there’s already a Nonnef kit adding the spoiler).

The hood, headlights, doors and wheels are all pretty earthly in design, while the fancy patterns on his windows (and sculpted beneath them) are a bit more futuristic. The vehicle on its own looks pretty slick, and its explicit status as an Earth vehicle of the future makes it pair well with Sideswipe’s technically-Cybertronian-but-really-an-advanced-Earth-car altmode nicely.

The only issue I have with the sculpt is his roof (and the bits of window attached to it), which feels like it ought to be able to sink into the car’s body more, but instead sticks up a little bit, in a way that doesn’t blend well with his door windows, or what’s supposed to be an unbroken black shape behind his roof-mounted Autobot symbol.

His colors are more or less the same as his robot mode, just with a bit more yellow and a bit less black. And the yellow on his roof, and the back of his car is still kind of a poor match to the rest of him, but almost gives it a deliberate two-tone vibe that I still don’t hate. I also still love the contrast of his vibrant blue windows against the rest of him.

And that rest of him’s painted pretty well, including a detail I always appreciate, the silver rims on his wheels, along with painted silver headlights and black bumper. I’d say the only thing he’s missing is rear headlights, but there isn’t even a sculpted spot for them. Not like he was street-legal with that giant engine anyway.

For features, he rolls just fine, as a car should, and, aside from the mounting point where his engine typically goes, he has those other two mounting points at the back of his car, which are pretty good for rear-mounting some weapons, though, once again, you need to bring your own.

Overall

Maybe I’m just spoiled by the way the base-level quality of War for Cybertron carformers has been consistently good, going all the way back to when Sideswipe first set the pace in the first series of Siege. Now, many waves later, Sunstreaker’s good, but feels a bit plain, which is funny, considering his personality. He looks nice, feels solid, poses well, and transforms snappily, I just wish he had a bit more going on with him in terms of features, and in terms of accessories. He’s almost a bit too workmanlike, a bit under-armed, the only point of interest being how he oddly diverges from his classic toon design compared to other figures in the line. Still, Sunstreaker’s real fun to pose with his brother, and if you’re a fan of the character, or want to add him to your Sunbow crew, he’s a good, solid entry.

All that being said, Sunstreaker has, again, proven a bit hard to find due to being part of that scarce third wave. Because of that, I’d put a “don’t break the bank paying aftermarket prices” asterisk on him. Funny enough, the Generations Selects two-pack of red and white new-character repaints of him, Spinout and Cordon, are easier to get at the moment, but I’m always going to prefer a more familiar face, which is probably why, like so many 1984 characters, Sunstreaker keeps popping up.

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