Let's get this out of the way: Sandstorm is my favorite Triple Changer. Ever. There, I feel much better now that I have that off my chest. My love of Sandstorm can be traced all the way back to Christmas of 1986 when I received him under the Christmas tree.
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| He's behind Matt Trakker's Thunderhawk |
I still own that Sandstorm, and he's still complete to boot! The only issue is that time has not been kind to his legs as they will not stay locked in robot mode, giving him a bit of a lopsided walk, even with the 20 year old masking tape on the legs. Also, there's old, decayed rubber band on the gun and it will not come off. Seeing as how I still have so many figures left to get, it may be a bit off to buy another instance of a figure that I already own, but I just felt the need to get a better version.
One of the reasons that I love Sandstorm so much is that I was always puzzled by his personality. His tech spec bio mentioned that he loved the heat of battle so much that he could count the rivets on the Decepticons that he was fighting. Surely Sandstorm is a warrior of great standing. Then again, on the third season of the show, he was a freaking pacifist. A pacifist that would pal around with a Decepticon deserter. They...they tried a few different things that season, and not all of them made sense. However, this dichotomy of personalities with Sandstorm stuck in my head for a long time as a kid, and the more I thought about, the more I grew to really appreciate the character. Eventually, I reached the age where I could care less about discrepancies between the show and the figure's bio, especially once I discovered the comic.
If I had never watched the show, Sandstorm would still be my favorite Triple Changer of all time, especially when compared to the rest of the Triple Changers. Most especially when compared to the Autobot Triple Changers. Those guys are hideous. Look at Sandstorm's dune buggy and then look at Springer's car mode:
God that thing is ugly. Springer doesn't even look like a wheeled vehicle. Disgusting. Most of the helicopter mode kibble is hidden in Sandstorm's dune buggy mode, with the exception of the rear propeller.
Helicopter is my favorite of the three modes. I've always been fascinated by helicopters since childhood, and Sandstorm's is a thing of beauty. I didn't know what kind of helicopter this was when I was a kid, but it looked like it could carry a lot of personnel or cargo. It turns out that this is a Sikorsky S-62 amphibious transport chopper. Looks like I was correct in that assumption. When looking at this mode, I immediately want to start spinning the rotor and make chopper noises, you know the sounds I'm talking about. Seriously, this is my favorite helicopter mode in all of the Transformers.
There are two versions of Sandstorm out there - metal toe and plastic toe. Like every other figure in 1986, the metal version was released first and then a running change introduced a plastic version. My childhood version is a plastic version. I really wanted to find a metal toe version, but I never could find one that met the criteria that I was looking for. When one pops up, I'll snatch it up.
In my mind, I had always associated Sandstorm with surf culture. The part of the chopper that folds up on Sandstorm's back always reminded me of a surfboard. Couple that with the dune buggy, something that I assumed was used on the beach, and it just stuck. Now that I've put that out there, I'd like for someone to use that in fiction. I feel as though Sandstorm should be using surfer slang.
It took me 28 years, but I was able to get the band back together with the addition of Springer. Thanks to a Sandstorm that can stand without looking like a pimp, I can take a group shot with pride. Compare Sandstorm to the rest of his Autobot Triple Changer brethren and tell me that he isn't the best. Is it a contest that he won by default? Nah. Sandstorm is just gorgeous.
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