Originally written March 2019.
There’s a term in collecting called “Shelfwarming.” It refers to the figures that, either through too many being made, or due to being less popular, stick around on the shelves longer than the others released alongside them. They’re the ones that you still see long after an assortment of toys has been bought by collectors, and, in a worst-case scenario, will hang around long after the entire line is done, and go on deep clearance for years. Sometimes, this is because they’re bad. Often, the figures just have less built-in appeal.
Skytread seems to be the shelfwarmer of this first series of Transformers: Siege, as he’s the one you’ll see on the shelf after all of the rest have been bought up. As for why, I think the reason is just that as a character, he’s a lot more obscure than the rest of the wave, which are mostly 1984-1986 G1 characters known by collectors and casual fans alike. He’s a Duocon, formerly named Flywheels. But that name is difficult to trademark, so he goes by Skytread now.
His original figure was released in 1987, and, as per his Duocon gimmick, was made of two separate vehicles that combined into one robot. He never made his way onto the American cartoon, and was barely in the Japanese Headmasters Anime. He also had a single-issue role in the More than Meets the Eye comic that ended in his death. Basically, he’s kind of a D-lister. So, why’d he get a new toy? In short: To check a box off, and finish off a set.
Since 2006, various Transformers toylines (Classics, Universe, Generation and others) have focused on the nostalgic collector’s market, and over the years, have slowly, but surely set about to updating the entire original G1 toyline, in between other releases. Over a decade later, they’ve gotten to 1987. Battletrap, the other Duocon, was released in the previous collector’s line, Power of the Primes. Now, his companion follows, to tick that box off. But for Power of the Primes, Battletrap was reinvented as two smaller Legends figures, Battleslash and Roadtrap, who could combine. Skytread is still just two vehicles, as his original gimmick went. But for all this explanation for why he seems to be the poor-selling figure, is he any good? Let’s see how he stacks up. Photos in this review were taken by Venomously Addicted Photography, which you can follow on Facebook and Instagram
Robot Mode
Right off the bat, I love this guy’s colors, including his vibrantly red eyes. The rest of him is a mix of purple, brown and blue. Unlike a lot of the rest of the Siege line, he doesn’t have the heavily-sculpted-in detailing, or greebling, presumably to make him fit with Battletrap better. That being said, he does have Siege’s trademark damage and grime in the form of silver paint on his feet. He feels bigger than Sideswipe (reviewed here) and Hound (ditto), is the same size as Battletrap (pictured below) and looks good next to him, an important selling point.
Overall, he fits in with the Power of the Primes line aesthetically, and is just a well-designed, if a bit generic Decepti-goon, and there ain’t a thing wrong with that. Part of that “generic troop” look has to do with the way his jet cockpit winds up on his chest, and his wings on his back, like nearly every classic Decepticon jet ever.
Despite having very big feet, he still manages to have ankle tilts, and despite needing to break off at the waist, it still rotates, though the joint itself is much lower than a human’s waist, like with his wave-mate, Sideswipe. Overall, he’s got that excellent Siege poseability, and is fun to bend.
In terms of accessories, he’s got two purple and silver laser guns, which are actually totally different sculpts. He can hold them nicely, or, if you want him to look even more like a generic Decepticon jet, you can mount them on his upper arms. And if you want more firepower, you can combine them into one long rifle, which he’s poseable enough to grip with two hands. He’s got other mounting points for weapons (a.k.a Siege’s whole line gimmick) on his lower arms, ankles, and back. For a little bit of additional armament, he’s got tiny guns sculpted into his wrists, too.
Transformation
Since he’s a Ducon, Skytread splits into two vehicles, which means you need to break him at the waist, like he was Jazz in the first Bay movie, only this won’t kill him. I’ll also note here that he uses the exact same connection point with Battletrap, and the two can swap legs and torsos, if you want. Other than that, it’s really easy to transform his two parts, with his upper torso forming a jet, and the bottom forming a tank. I’ll look at both vehicles separately.
Jet Mode
In terms of scale, this jet is about the same size as a Legends minifigure, and fits in well with Starscream, and other figures released in that size. Like many late-G1 characters, while it’s an Earthly-looking jet, it doesn’t match up with any existing vehicle. Most of his purple is here, changing the balance of his colors, with the undercarriage keeping the brown. Speaking of undercarriage, his robot arms pretty blatantly hang underneath him, though they at least condense into a block, the better to make them look less like arms.
For his accessories, you can mount his weapons under his wings, once again, like a classic Decepticon jet. I’ll note that one of those weapons needs to be given to his tank for it to be complete, but you can also take the one remaining laser and mount it under the jet’s nose. While he doesn’t have any landing gear, he does have extra weapon ports on the bottom of his undercarriage, and on the top of the jet. You can really make him into a tiny flying force of firepower.
Tank Mode
Like I said, the tank mode needs one of his guns to form a turret, otherwise this vehicle is just a brown featureless slab on treads. This mode definitely got the short end of the stick, and sadly, its upper half, doesn’t hold together on my copy, with the panels that close around the turret slightly sticking out of where they are supposed to tab down. This may just be on my copy, though. While this mode’s mostly a drab brown, it’s broken up by the silver Siege battle damage on his treads. Speaking of those, he rolls nicely on four wheels.
As mentioned above, his longer gun makes the tank’s barrel, providing the only purple on him, and fits in with the peg originally used to combine his two halves to appear to connect to the tank. If you want, his smaller gun can mount fits beside it, on either side, or on holes on the tanks’ edges. Sadly, neither his gun or turret can raise or rotate.
Overall
The only reason Skytread is lingering on store shelves is because he’s an obscure character. And while it’s true that he’s a bit generic design-wise, he’s a pretty well-made generic. He makes for a nice robot, a nice jet, and a weak tank, but two out of three ain’t bad. He’s a great figure, solidly made, and fun to pose, and a good villain to add to your army (and Siege is short on villains). I’ll also say that while Power of the Primes Battletrap was a neat idea, he was an overdesigned mess of panels and parts that looked nice, but wasn’t very fun, whereas this guy’s a lot more fun in-hand. If you’re the kind of collector who’s looking to plug holes in their complete collection, and needs a Flywheels, you’re already getting him. But, if you want a Decepticon for your army, he’s a good one for your heroes to do battle with.
(2021 Note: He was later retooled into the Autobot Slamdance, released as part of the Alphastrike boxeset, reviewed here. My copy of Slamdance fixed the problems with his tank mode not holding together. On the other hand, that set’s expensive and rare, whereas you can get this guy for roughly retail price on the aftermarket, which is impressive considering how inflated the prices are on modern Generations figures. He’s a goon, but he’s a fun goon, and he sneaks up on you with how well-executed he is. We could all use a few goons in our lives.)
