Review: #170
Name: Waspinator
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Predacon
Line: Generations
Year of Release: 2013
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 7)
Variations: none as of this date
COMIC:
Part of the IDW comic series, Waspinator comes
with a comic. This is Issue 19 of Robots in Disguise. Obviously this issue was
chosen because Waspinator has a relatively prominent role, but unlike the
Spotlight issues, Waspinator’s screen time is drastically overshadowed by other
characters, particularly the Autobots.
The story can be hard to grasp since it’s a continuation of a bigger
plot arc but still understandable and easy enough to know what is going
on. To be fair, it is a bit boring and
nothing jumps out at you at being spectacular.
Of course, as a freebie, there are no complaints and the cover as
always, is amazing.
WASP MODE:
Based upon and presenting an update to his Beast Wars incarnation, Waspinator transforms into an organic wasp. There has been a focus to improve the realism of this wasp mode.
This is a well-rounded wasp mode. All six legs are thin insect-like legs, unlike the original in which one pair was thick and out of place (as it formed the robot legs). Waspinator has a transparent stinger which is kinda weird.
He stands securely on his thin insect legs. The stinger can act like a seventh leg, and Waspinator relies mainly on the tightness of the balljoint and swivel joints to keep up.
There is a Predacon symbol on the back, between his wings.
Waspinator is a Deluxe and he's decent sized. Naturally, being an insect he doesn't have as much mass as a vehicle. That said, the insect body is pretty bulky.
The head is modeled against the cartoon representation and it's very cartoon accurate. There are even teeth in the mandibles. It's surprising but there are a lot of paint apps, from the metallic blue of his eyes to the black stripes to the various dark green paint.
Waspinator looks good from above and that's the angle most photos are shot however, his robot feet form a very bulky underside which does not suit the outline of a wasp. Furthermore, due to the transformation and higher focus of robot mode, the insect legs are weirdly positioned, being on different planes so it looks weird when viewing from side on or at a level plane.
Here you can see the robot bits squished into insect mode. Another downside is that his robot hands are easily visible, not much effort has been made to fold them into the body or something.
You can see a lever on the back, this is part of the "flapping wings" gimmick. The wings are also transparent white with a touch of yellow.
You can recreating the flapping wings by sliding the lever up and down (you need to position your hands to get a proper grip), this will push the wings up and down. It's not a bad gimmick and the whole mechanism is contained in that small block.
The wings are also on balljoints so you can position it in a way that you like. A really great wasp mode at first glance but as you fiddle with him more carefully, there are a lot of nuances and he isn't so perfect after all.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation is easy, the only "hard" part is how you twist and fold his legs for wasp mode and even then, it's very easy to figure out. Don't rely too much on the instructions though as they can be confusing and miss out a few steps. Compared to the original toy, I think I was more impressed with the original as the Generations version doesn't have anything that surprises. I guess because his robot limbs doesn't have any true integration into wasp mode and basically folds out during transformation, it feels cheaty. I do like how the wasp head splits apart when you transform the shoulders.
ROBOT MODE:
There is no denying that this is the focus of the toy. It is a near perfect representation of how Waspinator appeared in the Beast Wars cartoon, bar a few things. Oh, I guess he's also a good representation in how he appears in the IDW comics.
He features signature kibble such as the abdomen and wings on his back. The abdomen actually blocks some of the leg's backward movement.
The headsculpt is amazing, hands down one of the best things of the figure. The detailing is intricate right down to the compound eyes. The lightpiping is super effective as the eyes are big and the whole back of his head is transparent plastic.
The split wasp head forms his chest and looks great there, but it is a bit big in the sense that it can often partially cover his head. There are a few different shades of green here.
There's also the green block that houses the flapping gimmick, while it's not obtrusive, if they could have made it collapse a bit more or fill in some other gaps of the robot abdomen by scrapping the gimmick, I wouldn't mind.
In terms of size, he's about right, maybe a bit shorter than the average Deluxe (Rhinox, pictured above, is only a smidgen taller than the average Deluxe).
To make use of the abdomen which is basically kibble, a part of it forms Waspinator's gun, the tip is transparent white plastic. It looks good though.
Waspinator can hold the gun in either hand and what's cool is that Waspinator features wrist swivels.
Good heelspurs and large feet means he's stable in a wide variety of poses.
The insect legs on his arms can get in the way of the backpack when posing since they stick out so much. The other pair of insect legs rests close to his legs but they stick out there, particularly since they weren't there on the original toy nor the cartoon.
Waspinator's knees range of motion are restricted, going only about 45 degrees backwards (and forwards), which is disappointing. You also can't fold the abdomen further back to get more range, which kinda sucks.
A strong robot mode who's main gimmick is the poseability and cartoon-accuracy.
OVERALL:
While I've read a few opinions that state that this new Generations figure doesn't drastically improve upon the original figure, I agree to a certain extent. There are still plenty of improvements here such as the streamlined robot mode and better proportioned wasp mode. The abundance of paint applications are just right, there's an unobtrusive gimmick and he's just so photogenic, Waspinator is highly recommended.
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