Definitely not Just Another F#%@ing Observer, Dark of the Moon Skyhammer!

Though it’s easier to go on and on about a toy that is either an update or an homage to a previous character or toy, it’s refreshing every now and again to get a new toy that has no relation to a previous character other than the incidental reuse of a name.

It also doesn’t hurt when the toy is freaking awesome.

I don’t care what kind of Transformers collector you may be, this toy needs to be in everyone’s collection. The robot mode is a wonderful hybrid of good ol’ fashioned Classics/Generations while retaining plenty of the Dark of the Moon movie aesthetic. This gives him awesome amounts of articulation. One of the best parts about his transformation is that his alt mode’s rotor blades actually fold backwards, forming an “X” across his chest, and tabbing into place on his back. His MechTech gun is a giant double-barrelled cannon with MechTech ports on both sides. Here I have attached his two missile pods to it.

Yo dawg, we heard you like guns, so we put guns on your guns so you can shoot while you shoot.

When the MechTech trigger is pushed in, it converts from a cannon to an “Energon Sword”.

His bio mentions that his meritous service to the Autobots was rewarded by Optimus with this very weapon. Pretty cool.

Because of the port’s positioning within the mechanism, anything attached to the sides of his MechTech weapon (like his missile pods) will remain facing forward even when the sword rotates out.

Skyhammer’s transformation is suitably complex, I almost had to pull the instructions out… almost. While messing around with him in alt mode, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but he reminded me of something. I finally figured it out (and this may be dating myself somewhat), he reminds me of an updated version of Airwolf from the 80′s TV show. Now that I look at the caption of one of the images on Skyhammer’s TFWiki entry, I guess someone else thought of an 80′s helicopter Movie/TV show, but Blue Thunder instead (which lead to the title of this post. If you got the title of the post without reading the post itself, congratulations, you’re old). Now I’m starting to think he looks like a cross between the two famous helicopters.

Skyhammer, love child of Airwolf and Blue Thunder.

Though Airwolf and Blue Thunder had armament, they never had armament like this. Thanks to a multitude of MechTech ports, Skyhammer can load up on weaponry.

I'm sure that does wonders for his aerodynamics. You can just imagine the whupwhupwhup noise of death coming from those spinning rotor blades.

This guy should still be in stores, so I strongly suggest giving him a place somewhere in your collection.