TRANSFORMERS: Revisiting the Characters of Generation 1 - SKY LYNX

 TRANSFORMERS:  Revisiting the Characters of Generation 1

"Save your ammunition Autobots!  Superior forces are taking over!" - Sky Lynx, Call of the Primitives, 1986.

AUTOBOT

Name - SKY LYNX

Function - Lieutenant Commander

Series Debut - 1986 / Wave 3

Sub-Group - None

BACKGROUND...

    Sky Lynx's biggest fan - is Sky Lynx!  Though he is a fearsome and powerful warrior for the Autobot cause, he is extremely vain and boastful!  He will take any and every opportunity to remind others of his great attributes and many victories!  He views himself as above all others, including his Autobot brethren! 

    Sky Lynx transforms into a space shuttle with transporter.  He often acts as a transport for other Autobots.  He has solar-powered auxiliary engines that he uses for interplanetary travel and he can reach speeds of up to 30,000 mph.

    For his robot mode, Sky Lynx's shuttle can transform into a giant bird-like creature and the transporter into a puma/lynx.  His typical form, however, is with the two combined together in a massive almost-dinosaur-looking creature.  Sky Lynx's most feared weapon is the Acetylene blaster inside his mouth which can shoot flames of up to 3000 degrees!

MY THOUGHTS...

    I got Sky Lynx for Christmas in 1986, although he wasn't necessarily a character that was high on my want list.  Yet I was pleasantly surprised!  He had a very cool look, some great chrome details in his transport bay and the flamethrower located in his mouth was a unique touch.  Especially after having the Dinobots breathe fire all the time, Sky Lynx was so big you could actually see the nozzle in his mouth that spews the flames!  I really liked the motorized rolling or walking feature too!  Sky Lynx was much better than I expected.

    Yet, Sky Lynx confused me...  What happens when the bird and lynx separate?  Are they different characters?  Do they have the same personality?  Also he was an enormous figure!  You had to love that giant size, yet he was SO much larger than his Autobot brothers.  At the same time, he was not large enough to transport any characters or anything.

    His boastful personality made for a fun character trait in the cartoon though.  He would come soaring in to the rescue all the while patting himself on the back for... well, anything and everything!  

    Standing in for the G1 character of Sky Lynx is the Combiner Wars Sky Lynx.  This figure solves the questions of the 1 or 2 personalities as this figure does not separate.  This is a great version of the figure and much more compatible with other figures from the same series.  I could do without the "combiner" feature though.  Sky Lynx is not a combiner!

    Our family went through a big "Transformer Revolution" where 4 of my boys and I, all got into re-watching the old G1 cartoons.  The boys then all jumped into collecting the Combiner Wars figures, especially since many of them had a G1 look.  My son, Nevin, was after Sky Lynx bigtime!  However, he was nowhere to be found.  After a long search, we found a great deal online and finally nabbed him.

Sky Lynx from the Series 3 catalog!

    (Information on the character's lore was taken from the Sunbow Transformers cartoon series, including the Movie and the figure's original Tech-Spec.)