Review: #210
Name: Air Raid
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot
Line: Generations - Fall of Cybertron
Year of Release: 2012
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 3)
Variations: retool of FOC Shockwave, this mold was also repainted into Botcon 2014 Brimstone
VEHICLE MODE:
Air Raid transforms into a Cybertronian mobile artillery, in other words, some sort of floating vehicle.
Air Raid is a heavy retool of FOC Shockwave, in vehicle mode, the most notable changes are the extra piece on top (the sword), part of the fuselage and the upper piece.
It's Cybertronian so it doesn't have to be realistic. It's not the best alt mode ever but it's still okay. Unfortunately, due to the giant blade in robot mode, it affects the balance in vehicle mode. Air Raid will tilt to one side since the blade folds underneath and it still sticks out by a small margin.
Air Raid's vehicle mode is mainly long in length but small in width. Nothing much else to say here.
Unfortunately, due to the placement in robot mode (the robot chest), the Autobot symbol on the upper piece is upside here.
A decent vehicle mode, the gold and red color scheme really pops and differentiates him a lot from Shockwave.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation for Air Raid remains the same as Shockwave. It's simple and easy to do, nothing too much that's extremely clever or ingenious here though. The spring-loaded head reveal gimmick remains and it's still as cool as ever.
ROBOT MODE:
Air Raid's robot mode is where he shines. The addition of silver makes him one of the most striking robots in the line.
Air Raid doesn't have much kibble in this mode, having only the wings and pieces on the outside of his legs.
The head sculpt is similarly amazing. While it does have a lightpipe, it doesn't work very well. If you haven't figured it out already, this is a brand new head sculpt.
He's small in robot mode though, especially compared to the previous WFC figures, lacking in height and bulk.
Poseability is okay, Air Raid has his restrictions such as the fixed feet which makes some of the more dynamic poses unstable.
As with the trend in this particular wave, Air Raid comes with bonus weapons. He has two pieces that detach from vehicle mode during transformation.
These unfold to form a sword, a blade and a double-barreled gun.
Air Raid's strength and play value comes from the versatility of his weapons, so we'll go through them all in order. First up is the blade, he holds it like a gun which looks fairly awkward to be honest.
It's big and unwieldy and is probably the worst weapon of the lot (by itself that is).
Next up is his sword which looks amazing. The combination of transparent red plastic with silver highlights is perfect. Too bad Air Raid lacks any wrist swivels so he can't realize sword poses to their full potential.
Lastly he has the dual barreled gun. You can either have him hold it in his hand like a conventional gun or fold his wrist in and attach it to his forearm so that it looks like it's integrated.
You can leave the giant blade attached to the gun and have it like the blade comes straight out of his arm, which actually looks pretty nice (if not for the blade facing upwards).
Lastly, and this is the best part, all three pieces can combine into a giant sword. The smaller sword acts as a hilt with the bigger sword as the blade. It looks fantastic and menacing.
It is big though, to the point where it even might be a little bit too big for Air Raid.
A great robot mode and this is the mode that won me over with all the equipment options, good paint scheme and meaningful resculpted pieces.
OVERALL:
Air Raid is a better toy than I expected. He is a great example of a retool done right, carrying a distinct and unique personality compared to Shockwave. The addition of the sword and the immense play value of his weapons make Air Raid a fantastic figure.
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