Beast Hunters Skystalker

Beast Mode: I’m going to change my usual order and start not with the robot, but the beast mode. The reason? The beast mode is by far the better of Skystalker’s two modes. Like all Predacons Skystalker transforms into a dragon, in this case a winged dragon with a long tail, horns, and a very ‘icy’ look. The wings actually look like they might as well be made of ice and the color scheme – white and blue – underscores the cold image.

Articulation is excellent. All four legs can move more or less organically, the head can move, the mouth can open, and the wings are multi-jointed as well. Only the tail is static. The wings also contain the figure’s main gimmick, two discs that can be launched at enemies. The discs are pressure launched and the gimmick works... kind of. Don’t expect to actually hit anything with them, though.

So bottom line: a very nice Deluxe-sized dragon mode. Nothing bad to say here at all.

Robot Mode: It’s not so much that Skystalker’s robot mode is bad. The problem is more that it’s basically just the dragon mode standing up. Apart from some minor changes to the hops and hands, the only real difference is the head. The dragon’s jaws open wide, the lower jaw folding down and partially going down into the chest, and the head is inside the mouth. The resulting robot doesn’t look bad, but it does have some problems.

The major one is that its legs are the rear legs of the dragon, meaning rather thin, double-jointed legs that have to support an upper body with pretty big wings attached to it. Skystalker can stand on those legs, yes, but most dynamic poses require you to either use the tail as a third leg. My other problem with the robot is that it doesn’t look half as menacing as the dragon. Could easily be an Autobot, too, I think.

The disc launchers in the wings remain fully functional here as well, of course, and you can remove the tip of the dragon’s tail and use it as a kind of mace / brass knuckles by putting it on either hand. The wings can fold down to form a sort of cape on Skystalker’s back, too. He’s actually at his most balanced this way. So bottom line, not a bad robot mode, but not nearly as good as the dragon mode.

Remarks: There is little I can say about Skystalker since so far we’ve not seen any Predacons in the Beast Hunters cartoon apart from Predaking. Will he make an appearance eventually? No idea yet. I do like beast formers, though, and I also like dragons, so I got this dude here. Is he a good toy, though? Well, I’m rather torn. He’s a pretty nifty dragon, but also a pretty boring robot. So I guess it depends on what you want. If you want another cool robotic dragon to bolster your Predacon ranks, then he’s a good choice. If you’re looking for more than that, though, I’d think twice about it.

Rating: C+