Dave's Alternator Rant:

     4: Silverstreak - Subaru Impreza WRX

     Bluestreak was my first Transformer, a Christmas gift from my parents.
(My brother got Jazz.)  Due to the vagaries of trademark law, Hasbro lost the
rights to the name Bluestreak a while back, however, and switched to the more
color-appropriate Silverstreak for the G1 reissue.  Under any name, the
character has a special place in my memories.
     Oddly, Silverstreak is not up yet on Hasbro's official Alternators page,
while Hound is (and Tracks has a silhouette).  Of course, Hound is #3 in the
series, even if it's not yet ready to go when #4 is put in the pipeline.
Silverstreak is, at least initially, shipping half and half in cases with
Side Swipe.

CAPSULE

     Silverstreak: Good colors, great mold, enough variations to justify
getting even if you have Smokescreen.  Strongly recommended if you don't
already have Smokescreen, Recommended if you do.  $19.76 at Wal-Mart.


RANT

     Silverstreak is a moderate remold of Smokescreen, so I'll be
concentrating on differences in this version.  If you're reading this on
Usenet, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Alt/Smokescreen has that review for
reference. 

     Packaging: Standard (by now) Alternators box.  The art is new, and not
just a tweaked version of Smokescreen's.  The back brags about an "All new
body style!", although this is disingenuous.  In fact, much of the body is
identical, as I'll point out later.  The removable gun is described as an
"intercooler" this time, not an engine.  On the bottom of the box, the
co-sell is for "Autobot Hound", a Jeep Wrangler.  The instructions are
Smokescreen's, with the name changed but not the drawings (you can tell by
the larger Smokescreen spoiler on the back).

VEHICLE MODE:

     The WRX is very similar to the WRC, but without the racing
modifications.  And this is the Japanese-market WRX, with the steering wheel
on the right side, rather than the left (this is as far as I can tell, simply
a mirror-flip of Smokescreen's interior).  The body is painted in metalflake
silver with black trim.  No rally stickers, naturally.
     The following changes have been made, starting with the front of the car
and working around, then covering the top and bottom.
     Front center: the upper grille has a diagonal hatching pattern rather
than horizontal lines, and is black rather than chrome.  The lower grille is
just a gap with black backing, and a license plate covers the middle half of
it.  The plate is white, and has a silver-trimmed red Autobot symbol at its
center.  
     Front left/right: Under the main headlights (which are unchanged), the
foglamps are present (they're covered in the WRC), frosted clear colorless
lenses.  There's a short slit under the foglamp, and the panel rear of each
foglamp is smooth.
     Sides: The rearview mirrors are wider and look more "normal".  They are
only metalflaked, however, no chrome on the mirror surfaces.  The
hubcaps/rims have five double-bars emanating from the center.
     Rear: The rear windows have defroster lines on them in pale orange.  The
spoiler is much smaller, a single curved "wing" instead of the box kite shape
of Smokescreen's.  The trunk lip has "WRX" on the left and "Subaru" on the
right in type intended to look like chromed raised letters.  The rear license
plate is only colored on the center, raised part, with a white background.
The left half has "SLV" and a small Autobot symbol.  The right half has
"STRK" on it.
     Bottom: Mostly the same, but the chunks under the front doors that
become the abdomen of the robot mode have different detail molding.
     Top: The weird silver thing on top of Smokescreen (camera, vent,
whatever) is not on Silverstreak.  The hood of Silverstreak lacks the
secondary vent ahead of the supercharger hump.  Silverstreak also lacks the
little hooks behind each headlamp.
     Interior: Mirror-flipped.  Also, the seats have gray parts painted on,
and the central control chunk (AC, CD/radio, etc) is painted silver.  The
little bits of paint really help it look classier.
     Engine: No mold changes.  Red in the center, black at tip and grip.

TRANSFORMATION

     Obviously, it's the same, since they just used the Smokescreen
instructions.  I found I could get the right shoulder transformed without
popping off, but the left popped off as soon as I tried to move it, so we're
looking at some quality control issues here, I think.

ROBOT MODE

     Moldwise, about the only stuff changed here that wasn't visible in
vehicle mode is the head.  The head is, of course, similar to Smokescreen's,
but all the details are changed.  Vents in the side, rather than the safety
helmet look.  
     Much of the robot stuff revealed is red, including the forearms, legs
(tops of the thigh pieces are painted silver) and some of the connecting
stuff behind the head.  The head is silver with red antennas and light blue
eyes (contrary to some early pics, the face is silver, not black).  The upper
arms are silver, with a red Autobot symbol painted on the left shoulder.  The
elbows and hands are black, as are the interior parts of the boots (the toes
are silver).
     The forearm posts intended for storing the gun in vehicle mode are not
as good for Mini-Cons as on Smokescreen, might just be slight prodution
variations.  

OVERALL

     This one looks much better, in my opinion, than Smokescreen.  A much
cleaner, elegant color scheme, and it looks much more like the G1 character.
In fact, I'd call it enough better to recommend getting even if you do have
Smokescreen.  

     Dave Van Domelen, would say it's at least as different as Armada
Starscream and Skywarp were.