CLASSIFICATION: REPAINT
BASE FIGURE: HEROES OF CYBERTRON STARSCREAM (OTFCC REPAINT)
MATERIALS USED: ACRYLIC PAINTS
FIRST APPEARANCE: "MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE" PART 1

"Autobots!  Stop them!"

Preamble:  Apparently I'm not the only one to have taken an interest in the generic Decepticon jets of the G1 cartoon.  In 2003, Takara actually took one of the background troops from "More Than Meets the Eye" part 1 and released a toy in its likeness named Sunstorm.  It didn't really match the cartoon version very closely, partly due to the limitations of the Diaclone jet design and, probably, partly due to Takara not wanting to commit to a lot of extra paint applications or costly mold changes.  In any event, it's an orange-and-white toy that's intended to represent the yellow-and-grey character shown below.

Later, the folks at OTFCC decided what a novel idea it would be to take one of the PVC jets and repaint it into a generic background character, so they produced a Heroes of Cybertron version of Sunstorm.  Instead of consulting the episode, though, they just based their version on the Takara toy, so their version was also badly miscolored.  Even Hasbro wanted to get into the act, so they took a random Armada toy (Thrust, in this case), painted it orange and white, and stuck it in the Transformers: Universe toy line.  Not one of these toy versions uses the colors of the character as seen in his original screen appearance.  (There have also been a host of alternate versions of Sunstorm, like the Legends of Cybertron figure and the Titanium Series figure, both of which utilize the "take a Starscream toy and color it orange" approach.)

I've decided that Sunstorm is, in fact, a brand-new character invented by Takara, along the same lines as Cramp Down and Load Rage or whatever they're called.  The character who actually appears in the cartoon is named Heatwave.  And, since he's never gotten any toys in his likeness, here's mine.

Construction:  The acrylic yellow paint I was using was kind of runny and watery, so it took several coats of paint before the toy's original colors were completely covered.  (I mixed in a couple of drops of red paint to give him a darker schoolbus-yellow color, but I didn't want it so orangey that the color of his canopy glass would be indistinguishable from the rest of him.)

Comments:  I think it's kind of funny that Hasbro and Takara left these generic characters alone completely for 20 years, and it was only after I took up an interest in them and started assigning my own names and personalities to them that they finally got around to releasing toys based on these characters.  I guess I can't complain that they scrambled to supplant the characters I created, since all they really did was snatch up their own intellectual property, but I'm just going to keep calling this character Heatwave all the same.

HEATWAVE
FUNCTION: TROOP SUPPORT

"When life gives you Autobots, make Autobot junk heaps!"

Bright, cheerful disposition...happiest when carrying out MEGATRON's orders.  Capable of storing solar energy...used as supplemental power.  Can also release stored energy in bursts through nosecone.  Jet mode highly agile...has most sophisticated gyroscopic balance systems of the Decepticons.  As robot, uses starburst cannons that fire sustained bursts of energy.  Disliked by fellow Decepticons.

STR: 6  INT: 7  SPD: 7  END: 4  RNK: 4  CRG: 8  FPW: 8  SKL: 9