Combiner Wars Silverbolt

Apparently Combiner Wars figures have been out for a bit, judging by every single post I see on Facebook.  Every day, several times a day, I see someone posting their Combiner Wars figures that they found at Target or Wal-Mart.  Guess, what?  I haven't been able to find a single one in my little corner of the world.  Thankfully, Hasbro put them up for sale on their HasbroToyShop website.  They were offering free shipping on qualifying orders, and I ordered enough to qualify.  It's a good thing that I got free shipping, since every figure that I ordered seems to be shipping separately.  The first figure to be dropped off at my doorstep was Silverbolt, so we'll look at him first.

Here he is out of the box, and I'm really digging it.  He's a mixture of his G1 figure with newer touches.  This version of Silverbolt certainly isn't as skinny as he was in 1986.  With newer designs comes updated articulation.

I can't imagine doing this with my old Silverbolt.  His gun is frakking huge; way out of proportion for a figure of this size.  I'm certain that it will look better fitted on Superion.

The back end of the gun separates to become an arm mounted shield.  The gun becomes much more in proportion when this happens. 

Transformation to jet mode is pretty straightforward and reminiscent of his G1 model.  It's certainly better than the Universe Silverbolt.  Univerese Silverbolt has a much more streamlined jet mode, however.

A lot of Silverbolt's torso sticks out of his this mode.  It's a small quibble, and I understand that it's a necessary evil considering what Silverbolt's real purpose is: forming Superion.  Still, overall, I'm very pleased with him.  He walks a fine line between just a part of a larger figure, and a viable action figure of his own, and he does it quite well.

Finally, here is what Silverbolt looks like after he's transformed into Superion's torso.  The transformation sequence is very well conceived and executed.  I'm really digging the face sculpt on this guy.  So far, no skinny legs, which I enjoy.  Hopefully the rest of these Aerialbots arrive soon.