Sandstorm has begun hitting the usual suspects this month, so fast that the new toy smell hasn’t even worn off the original mold version of this figure yet!
We first got word of this worthy addition to the Wreckers crew in strange, cryptic ways: a familiar looking VTOL vehicle on images of the Metroplex box and a listing in the Wal-Mart computer here and there, so his arrival really wasn’t a shock. Add to that that information had begun to clarify that Sandstorm would be a repaint/remold of Generations voyager Springer, you could be forgiven for not getting all that hopped up about him. I wasn’t either, really. Springer is a top-tier fantastic Transformer, and he is still the ‘bot to beat for my “figure of the year” pick, so while I certainly wasn’t going to turn down another, I greeted the idea of Sandstorm with a more “Oh, cool, I’ll probably get that” than the raging nerdgasm that accompanied Springer…
Speaking from the Transformers mythos, being unassuming and in the shadow of other triple changers is not unusual territory for Sandstorm. A 1986 release, he joined one of the biggest pushes of new toys of the original G1 brand, on account of a certain movie out at the time. He was a medium “deluxe” boxed figure, like Springer, but he didn’t make it to the big screen, therefore he probably didn’t get the same sales appeal most his shelf-mates did. Sandstorm did make it into the third season for a couple less-than-memorable episodes, but he unsurprisingly didn’t make it into my collection as a kid.
Which is a bit of a shame because as far as G1 triple-changers go, he was pretty cool. He had three respectable separate modes — robot, Sikorsky Naval helo, and dune buggy/racer — and had a very unique yellow, orange, and black paint job. In fact, he was a more “successful” triple changer than most, including Springer, because of the distinctive properties of each mode made them all pretty unique.
Getting a new Sandstorm in Generations certainly never sounded like a bad idea, regardless. We did get the legion import last year, but it’s hard to turn down a voyager-class supporting character.
Sandstorm gives other repaints and retools a bad name. What’s been done here — taking an already excellent mold, adding a new head, chest, dramatically altering the rear wheel setup, and then applying a stand-out paint job — has changed the original figure so significantly, it’s almost easier to think of him as a new figure with a shared transformation.
His ‘bot mode is surprisingly distinct from Springer’s with the basic silhouette still there, but with the addition of a new chest and shoulders, and the giant VTOL fans on his back make him look discernibly bulkier. I dare say I like the head-sculpt just a little more as well.
In VTOL mode, he makes a pretty convincing Hornet-esque ground support vehicle. Seems like there’s one that looks like this in just about every future war game franchise, doesn’t it? It absolutely sells, though, maybe even a bit more than Springer’s helo mode. The giant fans can rotate from hover to accelerate, and, despite the bulkiness of them, they still feel aerodynamic and help make this a very formidable mode.
His dune buggy/murder wagon mode might be my favorite, though. With the VTOL fans serving as big-ass tires on the back, and the tail boom folding over to add grating to the side windows (a nice nod to the G1 car mode), Sandstorm looks like he’s going to pop wheelies and bring the pain wherever he rolls. It’s hard not to make engine noises and jump this thing when you’ve got it in hand. His weapon also plugs very securely and low-profile in this mode, as opposed to the functional-but-not-sleek underslung nose position in the other mode.
The craziest part about Sandstorm his how ridiculously close he’s got me to saying I like him better than Springer. Nuts, right? But there’s just so much done right here, you could make one helluva case for it. Thankfully, I don’t have to choose just one of these guys, and actually having both has made me appreciate things on Springer I might’ve overlooked. So, I would recommend both for that alone — they complement each other really well. Overall, this is a remold that adds so much personality to a pretty one-note character that he absolutely earns his place on a Wreckers team headed by one of the best figures of the year, even if they’ve got more than a few things in common.
