Name: Wind Sheer
Series: Robots in Disguise
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Decepticon Jet
Alternate Mode: F-18 Hornet
JET MODE
Height: 5cm Length: 12cm Width: 8cm
A black F-22 fighter with fluorescent yellow highlights, mainly along the edges, but also on the nose. The yellow more a tennis ball colour than a highlighter colour, thankfully. Still, it doesn't really go with the transparent orange cockpit. But then, if the designers were paying attention, they would have realised that the phenomenon is called wind shear - sheer is used to describe a smooth surface (like a cliff). If it's a play on words, it's not a very good one. Anyway, Wind Sheer has Decepticon logos stamped in each wing, complete with white outlines. There are some dark purple robot bits sticking out from underneath the wings, and the undercarriage is also purple. The purple is dark enough that you don't really notice it. On the whole, Wind Sheer looks better than you'd expect of a jet that uses fluorescent yellow - somehow the black with yellow highlights almost work, although it's brought down by the orange cockpit, which should have been yellow.
There are a few lines on this jet, seams and such, but it's pretty much impossible to spot them amongst the black plastic. Luckily the robot kibble also blends in, since it's either black or purple. His kibble hides better than on previous version of the mould, but so do his details - it's about even.
There's really no play value in this mode - it's all in the transform and the robot mode. The landing gear can retract, which is fine if you're zooming him around the room, but he can't stand with the wheels up. On the whole, it's a decent vehicle mode, if a little dull.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Theoretically, push down on the nose and that's it. In reality, you have to fold up the landing gear first. Once you've done that he does essentially transform. The tail section actually slides up when it transforms, which is kind of cool. Position the arms and legs, and remove the two halves of his gun from inside his legs.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 10cm Width: 8cm
A mainly black robot with purple on his thighs and shoulders, as well as the landing gear on his shins. He has a buckethead (since this is the Machine Wars Megatron mould), with a yellow crown and yellow cheeks. The face is unpainted, so all you really see is the orange eyes - he has a lightpipe, but it works against him since it's so bright on such a dark toy. Aside from the eyes, facial paint, some yellow stripes on the torso and the cockpit, he's all dark colours - and the orange cockpit _still_ looks out of place.
By the time Wind Sheer came around, the level of poseability in this mould wasn't really news, but his best asset is still his poseability. The hips, knees, elbows and shoulders are ball joints. The head is, too, but it's movement is limited to turning about 30° to either side, since the metal rod that his chest swivels down on is pushing up behind it. This poseability is Wind Sheer's strong point, and he has heelspurs that allow a lot of posing. He sports a cape - black, naturally - in the form of his wings. There are rather cool elbow spurs and a nice big black rifle, with detachable silencer.
On most versions of this mould, I prefer the robot mode, but in Wind Sheer's case it's too dark, with the stupid orange plastic the only thing breaking up the dark colours. The gun is nice and his poseability is an asset, but the jet mode looks a lot better.
VARIATIONS
As mentioned, he's a recolour. In Machine Wars the mould was used for both Megaplex and Megatron. BWII Thrust also shares this mould.
OVERALL
It's a good mould, with good poseability, but thanks to a bad colour scheme, Wind Sheer is the worst version of this mould. The main reason for getting him is that he comes packaged with Skid-Z, who had a cartoon appearance. If you're just after this mould, hunt down Megaplex, or Thrust if you can find him, because Wind Sheer's colours suck - 4/10
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