Shadow Striker (Legacy: Evolution/Deluxe Class)

Shadow Striker is a character with an oddly complicated history. She began life as a Transformer as one of the exclusive toys for OTFCC 2003 in a set with her sister Roulette. In those earlier days of BotCon/OTFCC, the exclusives were generally kept secret until the show. Something most in the fandom really enjoyed. However, click bait happy news sites did their nonsense and leaked images. One of the leaked images was a repaint/remold of Side Burn that looked like Nightracer. Pointless drama ensued and when it was all said and done, the toy was actually a new character named Shadow Striker. As time went on Shadow Striker made appearances leading up to Transformers Cyberverse. This new version was an interesting patchwork robot... and apparently was originally to be named Nightracer.*sigh*

This is a new figure of Shadow Striker as the Cyberverse character in a toy that's VERY similar to Side Burn. Of course leading to speculation that a Legacy Side Burn using this engineering (with maybe new car parts) is coming. I also wonder if a two-pack of OTFCC Shadow Striker and Roulette using this mold will find it's way out as a Generations Selects release. This new figure really cool on it's own, despite the obvious 'other bot' -ness of the design. Like I said, Shadow Striker was something of a patchwork robot in Cyberverse. I often felt like she was based on Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy. Toy wise... she didn't get much. A Scout Class figure that I always enjoyed, and an Ultra Class that wasn't as patch work like the normally is. Kinda makes me think that toy was designed when the character was meant to be Nightracer. The Legacy toy isn't as patch work looking either. Only the larger eye really stands out in that way. Maybe she got some repairs. The dark purple and red colors of the figure really look neat with the chrome and black accent colors. It's a simple color deco that looks very sharp.

Shadow Striker has a lot of carryover from the Side Burn design. You can either arrange the parts to resemble the that design or get a little creative. The car roof makes for a robot mode shield, but I stuck it on her back for a more stocky appearance. The blaster can also be held as a blade or combined with eh bumper to make Side Burn's Exhaust Bowgun. I opted for her to wield the blaster as a gun and stuck that bumper on her forearm. Transformation is pretty easy (much easier than the classic Side Burn mold... yikes). The only hard part for me was getting the car hood to attach. It's an odd connection and I was a little too clumsy with it. In alt mode, Shadow Striker is a sports car that's similar to a Doge Viper. In these colors, I'm reminded of the M.A.S.K. Manta. Ironically from a a toy line that oddly enough had a spiritual successor named Shadow Strikers. This is a great figure of Shadow Striker that makes me look forward to the eventual Side Burn toy quite a bit.