Name: Jetstorm
Series: "European" G1
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Defence Strategy Expert
Alternate Mode: Rally Car
CAR MODE
Height: 4cm Length: 11cm Width: 5.5cm
A red rally car with transparent red windows, yellow racing stripes on the sides and a yellow spoiler, Jetstorm has charcoal plastic tyres and grey sunguard painted on the back window. The doors sport yellow stickers with "TRANSFORMERS" on the stripe part and the number 6 in red, which also adorns the bonnet. The transparent red windows are pretty much lost amongst the red of the car itself - which is a mix of painted and solid plastic - the shades match exactly.
This is a believable rally car for the most part. The pink bellows on the spoiler and red windows are somewhat unrealistic, but the blue sportslight rack on the front, moulded headlights and grille are nice. A blue sticker on the windshield reads "PARIS - DAKAR", which is about as rally as you're going to get. There are taillight stickers on the back and a G2 Autobot logo sticker on the roof, which is small enough to not ruin the rally car theme.
Jetstorm is a member of the Autobot team known as Aquaspeeders, and the central gimmick is a water-squirting mechanism. There's a small nozzle hidden under the sportslights, which shoots water stored in the bellow at the back when the bellow is compressed. It's not a terribly impressive gimmick although it works reasonably well. There's a secondary gimmick based on the painted hood. If Jetstorm is himself shot with warm water on the painted bonnet - presumably by a Stormtrooper (the Decepticon version of the Aquaspeeders), his bonnet will turn white. The changing paint is unimpressive, although unlike most of the toys in this line the painted bonnet matches the rest of the car well.
The gimmick isn't impressive, but isn't a liability as it is on some of his contemporaries. The rally car is pretty good for the era, although the profusion of red is a little unsettling. The water shooting mechanism is well integrated here, which is a plus.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Push down the sportslights and detach the water mechanism, set aside. Flip over the rear to form the boots, slide out the doors to form the arms, which will pull the hood apart as shoulderpads. Flip up the shouldepads, rotate the roof (his back) to line up the head and fold his head down onto Jetstorm's shoulders. Unfold the handle on the weapon and plug it into either hand.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 11cm Width: 7cm
The red is now on the edges - the shoulderpads, boots and forearms to be exact, while Jetstorm's thighs, upper arms and torso are a dark transparent green. The head is painted blue with a silver mouthplate and red eyes (and a very good lightpipe). The transparent green plastic only really glows on his thighs, since the roof sits on the back of the upper half of this robot. The colour scheme here is a little more muted, which is nice, but I find the colours a little disjointed here.
The hood halves look good as shoulderpads, while the boots are clearly the back of the car. There's a slot down the middle of the torso where the shaft of the gun sits in car mode which doesn't look so great. Otherwise the robot mode is fairly well formed.
The weapon is a long yellow affair with the nozzle and sportslights on the front and a kibbly spoiler at the back supporting the bellows. It's huge compared to Jetstorm and looks a little awkward. There's not a lot of poseability - the elbows lift up 90° and that's it. The gun can point slightly down at best - rotating shoulders would have been very helpful, although the shoulderpads would probably get in the way. The water gimmick is mildly effective again, and the limited angle of the nozzle is doesn't help matters at all.
Surprisingly, Jetstorm's robot mode is one of the stronger amongst the Aquaspeeders. I like the shoulderpads and the lightpipe is fantastic. The gun is a waste of time and I'm not so sure the transparent green was a good idea, but this is still a decent robot mode without being anything special.
VARIATIONS
None as such. The first Transformer called Jetstorm (there have been several since), he was not available in North America, being part of the last gasp of G1. Recoloured as Gobots in North America in early G2 (in the same year, in fact).
OVERALL
The best of a bad bunch, Jetstorm is the only Aquaspeeder I would recommend. The rally car is reasonably nice and the robot mode has some nice aspects. I wouldn't recommend hunting him down, but if you come across him he's worth a look. Probably not worth importing into North America (Gobots is similar enough anyway), unless you have a thing for rally cars - 5.5/10
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