Originally issued in Machine Robo during 1985, Snoop was scheduled to join the Gobots line the same year but inexplicably failed to come out in North America - an interesting reversal for most toylines at this point, considering the toy came out practically everywhere else the line had a foothold (including Canada, under the Gobots banner).

Only a few American pre-production examples were made, though the character (a female Renegade) appeared several times, named as Snoop, in the cartoon series. Early prototypes of the figure had further paint apps, notably red upper arms and shins, but these were gone before it entered production in Japan.

Thinking about it, This review should probably be named Sky-Spy, the European Robo Machine name, though Bandai did use the American name from 1986 onwards. I'm sticking with Snoop, and this name was allotted a Gobot number (43). The closest thing I can think of to an explanation is Tonka not wanting a USAF jet as a Renegade, but that makes no sense whatsoever, considering there were no problems with Sky Jack (well, he was possibly held back for a year), and that it was Tonka who decided to make the figure a Renegade anyway... No idea. It's listed in the Gobots section here despite all this, though.

The Blackbird mode is well-rendered. Well, from above anyway. Because of the size of the SR-71, this is one of the smaller jets, which means the big sturdy undercarriage look oversized and clumsy.

The robot chest underneath is highly visible too, the bright red being rather at odds with a stealthy reconnaissance jet. That said, the detail is very nicely done, resulting in an impressive jet mode. The only weak point is that the wingtips tend to work loose, meaning they sometimes flop a little.

Still, despite a couple of drawbacks, this is a neat, effective jet mode.

Transforming Snoop is a little fiddly - it might just be me, but it always seems a little awkward getting the legs and arms in place without snagging them against each other.

The resulting robot mode, though, is pretty cool. He/she looks very impressive, and is towards the taller end of the the regular Gobot scale. The legs are maybe a little spindly, but the head actually has a big of character (a rarity for the line), and while the configuration is a little conventional, it's well-utilised. The only problem is that Snoop is another Gobot that tends to go a little loose after a while, and it can be trouble standing up.

Still, the robot mode is striking and unique, and that such a well-proportioned robot comes out of the guitar-shaped SR-71 is something to applaud.