Transformers Missing Link Sunstreaker

Once again we return to the world of Takara's Missing Link, having already covered Optimus Prime and the minibots Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, it's a pleasure to take a look at arguably the genesis of Transformers in updated form: Sunstreaker.

Most seasoned Transformers fans (read: old) will know that Sunstreaker was the first of the Car Robots to be designed by Kohjin Ohno for the Diaclone line in 1982. A mere two years later, he would be released by Hasbro in the very first wave of their Transformers series. Reissued in the 90's, the mould was since lost at sea, along with the Dinobots and a number of other characters that have been lost to time. Until now.

Now, this wasn't a toy I owned in my childhood, though as always I knew friends who had the character in their collection. I almost owned him in 1990 when I found him, along with Skids, in Italy, packaged with his Diaclone driver and big rubber missiles. I was allowed one and chose Skids - a tough choice, but I just love Skids' design so much that I don't regret a thing. Plus, he came with the MotoCompo, so I have that little curio with my cherished copy!

I recently picked up a G1 copy for my 84 toy shelf which is in amazing condition for its age, but it's something else to get a minty fresh one with a box...

Good gravy that's lovely...

Sunstreaker is striking for several reasons. His car mode is a modified Lamborghini Countach with roof-mounted air intakes that was never commercially available. The vibrant yellow is a lovely contrast to his black and red accents, even if the red shoulder stickers were an accidental holdover from the red variant of the Diaclone toy. The very square bonnet, almost Danger-Mouse-esque in its design, was eschewed by the Masterpiece toy, but as a door-stop shaped car, Sunstreaker is hard to beat. The plentiful die-cast also makes him feel hefty for his size.

I don't think even die-hard Sunstreaker fans would complain when I say he doesn't have the most intuitive transformation of the carbots - folding the head assembly down while positioning the black plastic cockpit for the Diaclone driver into place can be fiddly, but generally it's about folding everything out in order so it all comes apart (or goes together) smoothly. Once you get the hang of it, it takes under a minute to get him switched between modes and it feels very satisfying.

As a robot, he has overlong arms that can be mitigated by bending them at the elbow, but that was always the limit of his 80's articulation. With Missing Link, we now get the full potential realised, and it's pretty glorious to be honest.

True to form, Missing Link's designers have taken the original concept and re-built the figure from the ground up. The transformation remains identical, but the addition of shoulder hinges coupled with shoulder rotation and a head swivel bring life to the upper body, while the ability to separate the T shaped plastic behind the feet and articulated hips/ankles has given the figure a new lease of life. But it doesn't stop there.

One of the things I love so much about this line is that the designers add lots of little features that they didn't need to. The ability to store the guns in the feet of the minibots, or the inclusion of Cliffjumper's bazooka from that one episode were both aspects that could have been left out and nobody would have noticed. Sunstreaker has a few little surprises too!

Sunstreaker always had presence, now he has the moves too...

Firstly, the toy now comes with a blaster, an item his original fists could never hold, being large thumping things with no holes for accessories. But instead of drilling holes into those fists, the designers went even further - they added new hands that are attached and stored in the forearms! A brand new element of transformation that's just joyous to fiddle with. They're smaller than the original fists, making them look proportional with the rest of the robot at last, plus you can open the fingers! Oh Takara, you spoil us! Of course, if you want to replicate the original look of the toy, you get a rack of missiles and the original fists, both of which slot in when the built-in hands are stored away. The only limitation is that you can no longer fire them, but the button is there so it looks accurate to the original. 

Oh, you also get a Diaclone pilot painted to look like Spike from the cartoon. I feel woozy.

Anybody else noticing a theme going on here?

While this is a pricey figure, I've no doubt that he's worth every penny. From the lovingly sculpted and painted "sticker" details to the tampoed lights and Autobot symbols, I'm once again blown away by the passion of this line. The figure was always a beautiful toy, but this is next level.