Thanks for the info on pushing those legs in until they "Click" for the Alt Modes. It does help with the bow. That's ONE negative thing I'll take back about this figure. 😊
As a kid I had G1 Blitzwing and Astrotrain, Blitz being my favourite. I never had the Autobots, but out of the three I kept looking over them on a leaflet and deciding that Sandstorm looked the best, I managed to borrow him for a few days from a friend. Broadside being the weakest, Springer looked cool but his alts are just one vehicle with a mode change rather than two distinct vehicles. Sandstorm gets two very different looking vehicles (that look great), a decent robot mode and a fantastic colour scheme all back in G1. Because of this pedigree he should naturally always look great when they put serious design into him. Legacy not only gives him two great looking alt modes, but he gets an even better looking robot mode - he looks like a motocross rider with a backpack on for his supplies as he goes off roading - an additional little extra gun/torch that can stay in the wrist position for all his modes (an exhaust for buggy, machine gun for helicopter), and then his paintjob even has the little touches like the white pin stripes. Only issue is the cage not storing for robot/helicopter so you can't just leave it aside, it's needed for the buggy. he's easily my favourite of the six triplechangers currently made, not sure if Broadside or Octane will beat him.
I also didn't have much of the original collection when I was a kid. Even though Transformers was my main thing. With ninja turtles in 2nd, the JOES in 3rd, and Thundercats in 4th. I guess that's why I collect now. Now I have about every major Transformers character in figure form. All from Hasbro. I don't do 3rd party.
@@robertj.3383 Yeah as much as 3rd party do some nice figures, I feel it's "cheating" to not hold on and wait for Hasbro/Takara to make the figs you want. I waited ages for Quake and he's coming soon.
The chest on mine isn't super tight but it holds fine, needing a little force to unplug. Interesting to hear that being a common problem. Also you aren't retracting the legs far enought, had that problem the fist time I transformed him.
Epic review Patriot Prime!! Sandstorm looks incredible, and all I can say to Hasbro and Takara Tomy is, please create leader and commander class sized figures of Octane and Broadside respectively!! Keep on being amazing.
Oof, my condolences for the bum wheel. That chest design is definitely an issue; I've found pulling the head/engine assembly away from the rest of body a bit and pushing down hard on the Autobot insignia helps hold the chest in a little better but still, a modern-day Leader Class shouldn't have such a fiddly transformation. I think my main issue with the buggy mode is the windows are too small, it makes the whole cockpit look squished? I'm not sure what they could have done to fix that though considering the chest piece barely gives enough clearance from the ground in helicopter mode as it is... Aside from the aforementioned chest problems though, I've been pretty happy with my Sandstorm. Kind of surprised they went with a toy-accurate aesthetic when most of the recent releases have aimed for animation-accuracy, but I'm cool with it.
I was having the same problem with the bow, I was looking for things I may have been missing to fix it, I noticed my leg section was not pushed in all the way. I watched over your vid again and you also did not have the legs pushed in all the way. It is noticeable at the 12:52 mark. I pushed them in the rest of the way and it is no longer bowed.
yep same chest problem on mine too, I guess we all now know why he had a rubber band around his chest in the box. I like the bot mode a lot, helo mode looks good. but I agree not what i expected for a $55 figure.
I bought one yesterday but after seeing all these YT reviews and comments with people having the same QC issues with the chest, I took it back today and will wait for the eventual reissue.
I have the T30 Sandstorm. I originally got the T30 one because he is also the same Sandstorm that appears in the IDW comics. I have to open this one and do some photo comparisons. I'm surprised I haven't seen any so far. Great video and information Patriot Prime!! 😁
Based on the footage you showed with the chest not plugging in properly, it seems like there might be a tolerance issue where the peg is too large for the hole/slots so it flexes itself back out. I had a similar issue with Powerlinx Hotshot where his blasters kept flexing and falling out of the ports in his back. My solution was to sand the pegs down slowly so that the tolerance changed enough that they fit normally. The same fix might be applicable here.
Yeah, that chest is a pretty big QC. How did they not notice that? But overall I'm happy with the figure, but I really wished he had a more cartoon accurate head. You did an awesome review, as only you can do. Great work.
I never had Sandstorm before, and always one. Him not staying together in anymode makes me think this isn't the one. Very sad. Original Sandstorm is pretty amazing.
I don't have any representation of that character and I happened to see that you had posted a review so I have a little bit more interest in it. I know a lot of people didn't find it to thrilling but for me it caught my eye, plus I love a challenge, however I will wait for sale, hopefully a 50% off deal if Target has him.
I have the same problem with the chest on my copy as well. I'm thinking I might sand the tabs on the side down just a little to help them fit in the slots and see if that solves the problem.
When pushing the legs in during buggy mode it needs an extra push for it to click down far enough for the arms to fit in better. It will help the plane mood better too. I don't know if it helps the blades but the whole propeller can be pulled up higher on a slider. Try taking the wheel off and submerge in really hot water for a few seconds to get it to it's original form, it could help. I do that with a lot of warped action figures to put them back in shape.
I skipped out on him and after hearing all about the chest issues I’m kind of glad I did. Maybe I’ll find him at a discount later down the road and grab him then.
Sorry to hear and see how bad that tire is. 😢 Also agree about the legs - I was able to get mine early (Canada) and finally figured out what was wrong with the dune buggy mode. As always great review!
The chest not tabbing in is a real oversight/headscratcher. Possibly to make the transformation simpler/less frustrating opposed to being too tight, and stressing the plastic. Bad Q/C with the wheel though which is unfortunate and probably would warrant a replacement. While I don't feel this has been executed quite as well as the Legacy Blitzwing it's still a good attempt at an updated G1 Sandstorm with a fairly fluid transformation for all three modes. Definitely agree to the absolute pointlessness of the tiny gun, and cage/wench though tbf they do accessorize/complete the overall look of the buggy. Got mine arriving I think in June. Really hope the Q/C is a lot better.
With triple changing being one of the most common mutations amongst transformers, how have we never gotten something like a Shockwave experimentation line of multiple Triple Changers? Need me an Autobot who changes from BIG Foot to a Hover Tank and is named Tremor.
My son said basically the same thing. Except he hunk of junk. I bought two of these things. This is the first review of this figure I watched I was dying to know if it was just our two with the loose chest and barely on tires. I might as well bite the bullet and get another so I can have one in every mode. That way I will never have to transform it. I'm just not a fan of this on. Hasbro tried. They were close, but no cigar. Great review P.P. ✌️🦅 🇺🇸
It seems like every Sandstorm figure has the chest problem. Almost like it's an engineered defect. Which they'll probably fix later and sell with a cartoon face🙄
I think if one figures out how all the parts are supposed to be perfectly aligned behind the chest, then it should stay. However, I haven't figured it out yet.....
I really wanted to like Sandstorm, but I couldn't. I've had the same issue with the chest section on mine and I was wondering if it was with mine or if it was a widespread QC thing. Kind of sad, though, because you're paying so much for him, just for him to have those flaws. Mine doesn't have that bow shape to him (at least, I don't think so?) and the wheels don't look warped either, but I was initially impressed with the egineering the thing had to pull off all the modes. I guess it's just a matter of how it worked on paper, but in practice, it fell short at the finish line. And it's a shame, since I was impressed with how well the helicopter mode worked. The dune buggy was okay for me. The bot mode... well, yeah, the chest section is frustrating and the legs just look kind of odd to me. I like the wench, considering we don't get stuff like that these days. The cage, I sort of get if you're doing some "Search and rescue" kind of thing for him, but yeah, I can see why it feels tacked on. The tiny pea shooter also seems kind of like "what?" but I think someone mentioned that meant to be his cartoon weapon. Still seems puny either way.
the robot mode is a walking backpack, the buggy looks awful and the helicopter is ok at best. with all the QC issues this has to be the worst triple changer in quite some time
I was looking forward to this figure but the chest issue and that face not being toon accurate turned me off this guy . I hope they do a ton version and fix the chest with that version
maybe you can put a patience o meter to see how much patience you put in trying to transform figures that are a pain in the ass until you explode? Lol, it's just something that I thought just for fun.
Well, an excellent review of a less than fantastic figure... That is just shameful charging nearly $60 for such a $#!tty figure! Bot mode looks great, but WTF with that chest and the arms untabbing constantly?! Helicopter mode looks great, as well, but that damned pointy tailwing sticking up a mile past everything...🙄😑😮💨 But "dune buggy" mode...?! OMG, that is horrible!!! If by less than great, you mean absolute SHIT... yep, nailed it, brother! That is just insanely horrible to look at in that mode. 😕 I guess Hasbro thinks if they over engineer something enough, that should be so much simpler, and throw in a piece of shit gimmick item, they're justified in overcharging for a really shitty product, because "Oh, yeah, those TF fans are suckers. They'll pay whatever we tell them to, lol"... Well, F**K you, Hasbro. I've missed a bunch of stuff this past year that I'd like to have gotten, but never freaking ever SAW it to buy, thanks to their ever degrading production and distribution practices 🤬🤬🤬... but then there's also a TON of Legacy $#!t that I, thankfully, didn't even want, which saved me a lot of money 😅. I'm happy for anyone who wanted most of their offerings the past year and into this year, but glad I didn't feel like I wanted that much of it. This figure was one that I was looking forward to getting, but I think I'll just buy a second SS86 Scrapheap and a Nonnef Junkion upgrade kit instead, and for less money. Hopefully, it will get discounted big time and I'll get one, but I refuse to pay $60 for a figure that falls apart and sucks robonuts in his dune buggy mode... that's just bullshit, and could have definitely been engineered to work so much better with a slightly less fiddly transformation. I guess those dumb bastards don't understand that they can upgrade and modernize these figures WITHOUT overcomplicating them. ALL we really needed here was better posability and articulation, but nooooo, they had to go batshit crazy and just make it insane and F**KED up at least ONE of the alt modes, though both are bowed, and cause the floppy torso problem... just absurd.🤨🙄🙄😑😤😠😡🤬🤬
