Combiner Wars Streetwise

Robot Mode: Streetwise is a more or less typical Deluxe-sized car-Transformer. His legs are formed from the rear of the car, while the upper body is the front. The hood of the car flips onto his back as a rucksack, seeing as his torso is, of course, dominated by the large peg necessary for attaching to the combiner torso. A black chest panel covers most of it, though, so you barely notice it's there. The robot is mostly white with black and red highlights. Similarity to his G1 predecessor is not exactly profound, but good enough to see that they're supposed to be the same guy.

Articulation is good, though short of spectacular, and Streetwise comes with two weapons. One is, of course, the obligatory hand-foot-weapon all Deluxe-sized Combiner Wars figures carry, which serves as a weapon and also as a hand or foot of the assembled combiner. Not bad, but Streetwise looks much better with his other weapon, a triple-barreled shotgun. So bottom line: a nice car-former robot. Nothing particularly special, but fully okay and with no flaws. Thumbs up.

Alternate Mode: Streetwise transforms into a white police car with blue trim and the word 'Police' on the hood and the sides. Police lights on top complete the look. Detailing is good, but could be better. You can mount either Streetwise's shotgun or the bigger hand-foot-gun on top so he has firepower in car mode, too. And... yeah, not sure what else to write here. It's a good-looking car, no visible robot bits, everything as intended. Not revolutionary, but fully okay. Thumbs up as well.

Combiner Mode: Streetwise can become an arm or a leg for any of the Combiner Wars combiners, but is of course intended to become part of Defensor with his fellow Protectobots. I'll do a separate review for Defensor once I'm done with the team members.

Remarks: Streetwise and the other Protectobots popped up out of nowhere in the second season of the original Transformers series and were mostly just there to form Defensor. Only one of the five got a spotlight episode of his own and it wasn't Streetwise, so he's mostly just the other police car bot, the one that's not Prowl. Incidentally, we'll see this mold reused for Combiner Wars Prowl, but at least this time Streetwise came first. Well, not first for this mold, that would be Dead End, but first police car and first Autobot before Prowl.

On his own Streetwise, much like Rook, is an okay figure. Nothing special, but no flaws, either. A bit more detail work would have done him wonders, but otherwise I have nothing to complain about here. The real reason to get him is, of course, to complete Defensor, but even leaving that aside, Streetwise is a good Deluxe-class Autobot. Thumbs up.

Rating: B