Here’s Smokescreen. Takara Tomy released this figure ahead of Hasbro’s US version and the only reason I decided to get this version was because of the very cool Arms Micron figure. He sells for about $30 and is available at bigbadtoystore. He comes in a very cool box with nice CGI art of Smokescreen as well as product images on the side and back.
The photos on the packaging show a pure white plastic Smokescreen. Unfortunately the actual toy in hand is in a very light grey. It re-uses the Knockout mold with a new rear and spoiler section.
Naturally, you get transform instructions, an assemble guide for the Arms Micron, a mini-toy catalog, and decal stickers.
Once you apply the decals, you start to see the coolness come out. It feels less like Knockout.
In Robot Mode, you will notice he is pretty much a white Knockout with a new head mold. He is missing the big bulky shoulders, door wings, & weapons from the animated show. By rotating the shoulder pieces down towards the waist you can get a little bulk for a less Knockout feel.
The Arms Micron is one of the most unique to date because you can do various things. In robot mode, it has a typical humanoid design. I decided to grey panel line the Arms Micron and the figure with a Gundam Marker to bring out the sculpting.
In its bird-like mode, the Arms Micron can act like a little Laserbeak for Smokescreen or crossbow type weapon for the hand.
You can modify the wings on the Arms Micron to give Smokescreen wings for his back. By flipping the wings in a U-Shape in the image below and clipping it to the back of the figure you can achieve a slight winged appearance.
Even though this figure is nothing like his CGI animated design, this figure did turn out pretty descent. If you plan to pick this up, I highly encourage you grab yourself a grey Gundam Marker to panel line the toy. It makes a whole lot of difference. I really think this is the version US fans will get rather than a completely new and original CGI accurate mold. I imagine instead of decals there will be paint apps & a gun type weapon. If the weapon can’t attached to the back and act like wings then I’d recommend the Takara Tomy version.
