DARK SKYFIRE

A remake of Jetfire, today let's have a closer look at Dark Skyfire from the Transformers Henkei line.

Dark Skyfire resembles an F-14 Tomcat jet. The only thing that looks out of place for now would be the cone of the jet. Instead of being rounded & pointed, the cone is triangular in shape.

The wings can open up as seen in the picture above.

Here's Dark Jetfire with the add-on booster pack. The booster pack draws its resemblance to the Transformers G1 Jetfire, as well as the early Macross/Robotech era.

A pair of laser blasters actually flip out from the booster packs.

Now let's have a closer look at Dark Jetfire in robot mode.

Transformation is easy & in robot mode, Dark Jetfire actually looks like a black butterfly. The only thing that I don't quite like about this figure is that it just seems too 'dark' & boring. It would have been nicer if I applied more lining on the figure. If you take a closer look at the images below, You'll notices that I have used a silver pen to mark some of the linings on this robot to give it more depth.

Posing this figure is easy. Being a Takara figure, the joints are very sturdy & they don't loosen up that easily as compared to Hasbro's version of Jetfire.

Now we have the powered-up mode of Dark Jetfire. Here's the additional helmet that comes with the figure. This mask really gives Dark Jetfire a Macross Valkyrie-ish look with the twin antennas on both sides of the head.

Behold, Dark Jetfire, all powered-up with the booster packs attached onto the back.

The booster pack can be flipped down as shoulder blasters to attack enemies from the front.

Among other poses of Dark Jetfire as you can see. Somehow, I never saw this figure as an exclusive or a limited edition toy. I found it easily & at a bargain I must say. The only thing exclusive about this figure I reckon, is the black & white box design. Nevertheless, beggars can't be choosers. Although this may just be something ordinary to me, but to others out there, it could be a rare gem.

OPTIMUS PRIMAL

Here we take a step back into the Beast Wars era to have a closer look at Optimus Primal. This is the Takara version that was released under the United line & not the Beast Wars Anniversary version.
 

In beast mode, Optimus Primal is supposed to be in the form of a gorilla. This figure has to be on of the few figures that I find acceptable, because the transformation & body parts are of symmetry as compared to other bots from the Beast series.

The only part that doesn't resemble a beast is the upper back of the head where you can see part of the metal frame.

Here, we see Optimus riding on his hover board that serves as a weapon as well.

There is a beast key that you have to insert for part of the hover board to flip out. Once the board is flipped open, it reveals a lever that you can push to fire the projectile.

Here's Optimus Primal in robot mode.

Basically, you're just flipping the robot upside down. The arms of the gorilla now become the feet & the gorilla feet now become the arms of Optimus.

There is now much restriction on this toy, which allows for more ways to pose this figure.

Here's looking at Optimus holding onto the hover board as though he's ready to go surfing in space.

To the serious Beast Wars fans, I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss out on this bot. After all, this is Optimus Primal.