(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Revenge of the Fallen Dune Runner. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Revenge of the Fallen Dune Runner here.)

    This redeco is meant to be an homage to the triple-changing character from the original G1 series, who transformed into both a helicopter and a dune buggy. Well, this one just transforms into a dune buggy (with weapons). Beyond that, this mold bears little resemblance to G1 Sandstorm beyond the colors. The colors, though, are pretty spot-on-- the main plastic color of light orangish tan is a pretty eye-catching shade, particularly when complemented by the light orange paint that's most obvious in Sandstorm's vehicle mode and on his robot chest. By itself, however, these two colors would be a bit bright as a color scheme, and that's where Sandstorm's black comes in, as a nice dark contrasting color (particularly in robot mode, where it's more prevalent). There's a surprisingly large number of other colors (for a Scout-class toy) that are used as accents-- the silver on the headlights, rear section and the machine guns looks nice against the black. The paint used for the front windows is actually a duller shade of silver, something completely unnecessary but still appreciated as it makes the windows look a bit more "shaded" and helps them stand out from the surrounding light orange well. His taillights are painted red as you'd expect, and his robot face has a light silvery blue visor and a white upper lip. This latter paint app is my only complaint about Sandstorm color-wise; this facesculpt already looked way too much like it had a goofy mustache, and now it's downright impossible not to see that when you look at Sandstorm's face, here. It's a bit too goofy, in my opinion.
    No mold changes have been made to "GDO" Sandstorm.
    The release of Generations "GDO" Sandstorm was made largely obsolete when a larger, actual triple-changing, more direct G1 update was made available at mass retail about a year later. That said, that still doesn't discount how awesome this color layout looks on this mold, with just the right amount of each color to make for a pretty nice "themed" paint job that catches the eye while still being somewhat realistic. This is my favorite color scheme this mold has had-- if you want this mold but don't have it, or simply want a "movieverse" Sandstorm, I'd recommend this redeco. But if you're in for more of a triple-changing, G1 update, the larger Generations Sandstorm's the one you want.

Review by Beastbot

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