Terran Nightshade (EarthSpark/Deluxe Class)

Nightshade is a unique figure as they don't specifically transform into an owl, but a statue of one. This ties into the show where the various Terrans took their time to pick an alt mode and went with one that they felt fit them. As a long time fan of this sort of thing, that's funt. It gives a different look into the characterization of Transformers. Normally we'd just accept that Bumblebee was a car or Starscream a jet. Nightshade chose an owl statue from a book series they liked. Not to mention, the statue was in a cemetery. Nightshade's colors match that really well. Spooky Season may be over, but Christmas time is for scary ghost stories and it's fun to think Ebeneezer was right around the corner in that cemetery.

Nighshade is a pretty well done figure that closely matched their appearance on the show. I say closely as you'd have to remove the beast mode wings to really nail is and due to the plastic quality of them... that's not super recommended. They'd break after a few times. Fortunately I really like the winged look in robot mode. It works well overall with the statue flavoring of the toy... and the wings just look cool. In addition, Nightshade comes with a neat pair of knives and a Mandroid part. Initially I wasn't planning to complete Mandroid... but I've changed my mind. I've got a good bit of him now and it'd be fun. I don't think the Takara Tomy versions of these come with the Mandroid parts, but they have slightly different decos. Nightshade is more show accurate in the Takara Tomy release, but it's not that different from the Hasbro version in my opinion. 

Transformation was very easy for me. Everything just folded away and Nightshade turned into a statue of an owl. Those cool knives fit into the owl's wings neatly and everything just works well. As a robot, Nightshade is fairly articulated and the same could be said for the owl form. That cool green looks great in both modes and brings out some well done sculpting. This is certainly a toy full of character. Part of me wishes to see a repaint as Hoot from Convertors, but that'd never happen. Like Twitch (who I just realized hasn't been covered here yet... dang it), Nightshade's robot mode gives me strong Microman/Micronaught vibes. That's neat, I like the similarities even if they're probably unintentional. Nightshade is a really cool toy. I think my only complaint is their hands. They too small. That's probably a necessity, but I'd like them a little heftier. If a minor nitpick is my only complaint, then there's nothing to really complain about. Neat toy.