SDCC Exclusive Transformers & G.I. Joe Jetfire Skystriker

As the years have gone on, I've felt it exceedingly difficult to try and figure out how to lay out some of these reviews, especially the SDCC ones, which pack so much stuff into one box. Previous years weren't quite so bad, but this year... we've got two Transformers vehicles, three figures (one of which is more of a Transformer than anything), and an assortment of accessories that are almost characters unto themselves.

As I prepare, though, to transition to YoJoe's excellent database categorization format, it becomes clear that these should be more treated as individuals, and I think that's mostly what you'll see as time goes on.

So to match that theme, the 2013 ComicCon Exclusives will be reviewed as the individual components within the set, and then one final review will kind of link it all together. Hopefully that works how people want it to work.

As most young boys (and yes, girls, too) in the 80's would attest, G.I. Joe was the leading action figure brand of the time, but Transformers was right there, too, and most children of the 80's I speak with hold them both closely together as elements of delight and nostalgia. I was no exception. I loved the Transformers toys right alongside my G.I. Joe toys, and while I've somewhat evolved out of a devoted Transformers obsession (well, except for the upcoming Beast Wars Rhinox, anyway) I still follow the brand closely and really enjoy that universe and those toys. For that reason, I'm not so much against what Hasbro does in skirting that line between the universes, especially the way they connect them together via the old school Marvel G.I. Joe and Transformers limited series.

Jetfire has always been one of my favorite Transformers characters for whatever reason. The idea that he was primarily an independent scientist, yet also a powerful warrior seemed to be really interesting to me, and his toy was completely awesome. Like my story about the Tomahawk, I clearly remember a birthday where I got both Shockwave and Jetfire, and they both became primariy antagonisists. I find it extremely awesome that they have now both been represented in SDCC Exclusive format.

The cool thing is, this set actually bridges a few different gaps.

First and foremost, Hasbro uses the Skystriker for the base of Jetfire, which doesn't seem right at first thought, but they mix the existing Skystriker parts with an added booster rocket set and looks amazingly like Jetfire in plane mode, considering how few newly tooled parts Hasbro used to accomplish the look. But wait... what about that booster? Well, Hasbro went above and beyond on that one, not just making it able to hook into the top of the Skystriker, but also giving it an independent cockpit and canopy so it can even be used as a separate vehicle. How cool is that?

Another neat thing they did is by reutilizing the Skystriker parts so much, and by coloring the plane white for Jetfire, they've made it possible for Joe fans to recreate the old school white Skystriker pretty easily. There were some fandom complaints over the more gray color of the modern era Skystriker, and now, even though this is a somewhat pricey exclusive, fans now have the white foundation they might have been looking for. I'm not sure I can really see too many fans buying this set for a hundred bucks only to customize the Skystriker, but hey, stranger things have happened.

The vehicle itself looks amazingly like a blank template, with no deco whatsoever, relying on the purchaser to place all of the decals on the vehicle to reproduce Jetfire's look. I'm fine with this, especially since it gives folks who want it a better blank template to work with for other purposes as well. Speaking of decals, though, be prepared for some time and frustration dealing with these. There are a lot of them there that take a long time to apply, and also, some errors in the instructions may cause some confusion. I would go by the decal numbers, not necessarily with the images say in the instructions, as they don't always match up. Be prepared for some extra accessories as well. Also, for some odd reason, they have a decal assigned for the clear round control screen, but that control screen was not included with the jet itself.

I found the booster set to be remarkably simple to plug in and remove as well, as it has tabs that slide right in where the tail fins would have been (and the tail fins hook into the sides of the booster).

I'm not sure if this is standard or not, but my set actually came with some extra missiles for Jetfire, too. Not sure why, but they're there. I will say these missiles feel more secure on this vehicle than the Skystriker itself was a couple of years ago, so maybe these are intended to replace those and help folks who were having problems keeping their missiles attached? I don't know, maybe that's a stretch.

This vehicle is fantastic. It's an awesome Transformers homage, but beyond that, it's a really neat update to the Skystriker and for folks who aren't into the Transformers angle, I think there is still a lot of great elements to appreciate here. The fact that I love Jetfire is a huge bonus, too. If you can track down this set for SDCC retail ($99.99) this set is a real steal. A large vehicle (normal retail $35), a medium vehicle (normal retail $20), and three figures (normal retail $10 each) with all of this new tooling makes for a great package set at a really good price. Well worth it, in my mind.

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