Dark of the Moon Skyhammer

Review by LimeWire:

Prelude: Skyhammer is the surprise candidate among the toys announced for the DOTM line-up. Nobody knows yet whether he’ll actually appear in the movie, but me, I certainly hope so. Personally I’ve come to regard this guy as a sort of Ultra Magnus / Optimus Prime / Jazz hybrid, so call him Jazzymus Prime. If he turns out to be a reincarnation of Jazz, that would be really cool.

Alternate Mode: Skyhammer’s alternate mode pays homage to two different Russian helicopters, the MI 24 Hind and the MI 28 Havoc (the first one appeared in Rambo II). The alternate mode is solid and shows almost no hints as to what, or who, is hidden in there. For the first time in the Movieverse we have an Autobot with a military alternate mode, by the way. About time, too. Why should the Decepticons be the only ones allowed the cool modes?

Skyhammer has a lot of Mechtech ports. Two of them are occupied by missile launchers, very similar to those possessed by Brawl in the first movie, which certainly isn’t a bad thing. The big Mechtech weapon can be mounted under the cockpit in alternate mode, but it prevents the helicopter from actually touching the ground now. The rotor can spin freely, so no complaints here, either. Only the rather unusual paint job takes some getting used to, but more than makes up for it in robot mode.

Robot Mode: The transformation to robot mode is somewhat difficult, but fun. Seeing that one in the movie would be a sight for sore eyes. Skyhammer is very solidly built and looks proud and powerful, yet at the same time kind, which only furthers his resemblance to Optimus Prime. The head is a mish-mash between Jazz, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus. Interestingly the head is the only body part with the color blue, yet another touch of Ultra Magnus. The head’s shape and visor remind me of Jazz and would be great for customizers, who want to give Deluxe Jazz a better head. The final detail, which once again points towards Optimus Prime, is the forehead, which is pretty much identical with that of previous incarnations of the Autobot leader. I don’t think all these similarities are coincidental and hope we’ll get an explanation soon.

The arms and legs of the robot turned out very well, too. Nicely proportioned, very posable, and with those Mechtech ports in the upper arms they’re just the bomb. The legs look great, too, though they seem a little short. Doesn’t bother me, though. Posing the figure is a tad difficult because of those strange shin-pieces, which can be pressed into the legs themselves. What’s completely original, I think, is the transformation of his chest. I’ve never heard of a robot where the rotor blades become the chest. Superbly done! What’s even better is that you can pull out the rotor in robot mode and make it spin like a shield. I’d love to see that in the movie.

Gimmick: Skyhammer has a rather strange Mechtech weapon. The double-barreled blaster looks really cool and can transform into a blade, something like a sword. The strange part is that you have to turn the outer casing a full 180 degrees around, but there’s nowhere to hold it while you do. So you always need two hands to transform it. Just like with the weapons of the other Voyager-class figures, a simple twist of a component part fixes the blade in place.

Conclusion: Great figure, fully recommended to the following groups: Helicopter-fans, Ultra Magnus fans, Optimus Prime followers and, of course, to Jazz-fanatics.