Beast Machines Jetstorm (Ultra)

Robot Mode: Ultra Jetstorm has the same general shape as Deluxe Jetstorm, but with several differences and a lot more detailing. His head-and-shoulder area is a weapons plattform with two missile launchers. His lower body looks a bit more wholesome, as the cockpit from the jet mode folds away onto his back. This leaves his spark crystal near the crotch position, though, which is a bit strange. His arms are a bit short, but carry the same triclaws and thick gauntlets as his smaller namesake. His coloring is very different, consisting mostly of blue. His posability is excellent, no complaints here, and he also features a hover mode (as the character in the TV series held such loathing for all things groundbound that he never touched the ground himself). His legs fold together around the jet mode cockpit and his shins open up to show thrusters. All in all Jetstorm is an excellent toy in robot mode, though they could have made his arms a little longer.

Alternate Mode: Jetstorm transforms into a jet. This airplane looks quite similar to his deluxe counterpart, but again, more detailed. The cockpit can swivel from side to side like a snake's head and he can deploy his missile launcher platform from the back. If you turn it sideways, the cockpit and neck turn along with it. He features a landing gear as well, though I don't much like it for some reason. Not sure why. Anyway, Jetstorm makes a damn fine jet.

Missing Parts: Jetstorm originally came with two drones, which I'm missing. Also, the blue missiles in the pictures are not his originals, which were transparent red.

Remarks: Beast Machines was a toyline that, after the very show-accurate toys of Beast Wars, disappointed many fans. The first Jetstorm toy was a better likeness to his TV counterpart than many other figures, but still not that good. So Hasbro brough out a line of Ultra toys, Optimus Primal and Cheetor among others. Also included was a new version of Jetstorm. While he is still not a hundred percent likeness to his TV incarnation, he does hold a much better resemblance and is a better toy altogether. My Jetstorm is showing some wear, as the chrome layer on his torse is starting to peel, but I still find myself liking him a lot. Definitely one of the better Beast Machine toys.

Rating: B-

Update 2019-09-28: Well, fourteen years ago I wrote "the chrome layer on his torso is starting to peel". Now it's 2019 and the chrome layer was not so much peeling as shedding like crazy. So I decided to do some restoration work and the result can be seen in the pictures below. I have included a picture of how Jetstorm looked originally in 2005 and how worn he was in 2019 before I repainted him. Overall I'm very satisfied with my work. It's not quite the original color scheme, but the new metallic blue actually fits better with the rest of him than the original chrome layer, I believe. Also, man! Ultra-class toys were large back in the day. Jetstorm here easily towers over current-day Leader-class robots. Still a great toy, especially the jet mode.

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