Review: #700
Name: Waspinator
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Predacon
Line: Generations - War for Cybertron: Kingdom
Year of Release: 2021
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 4)
Mold Status: new
BEAST MODE:
Time sure flies by because the last time we got an update for Waspinator, that was in 2013! As an update to his Beast War Season 1 incarnation, Waspinator transforms into an organic wasp.
This is a pretty good beast mode, despite the obvious robot legs. The purple wings look really nice though and brings out the sculpting and evilness of the character.
Waspinator is a Deluxe, above is a size comparison against TLK Bumblebee, he isn't a bad size considering how small figures are nowadays.
The wings are on balljoints, so can be positioned however you want. This time around, unlike the previous figure, there are no gimmicks for the wings, so there's no bulky piece wasting space.
Another interesting thing is that the mandibles can open and close, while the antennae are on balljoints. It's not really necessary but is a nice touch nonetheless.
The legs are not as good though, since the front pair are joined. You can only lift the head up and down for posing purposes.
The dark green and purple wings contrast nicely, leading to an excellent beast mode that's better than you'd have expected at first glance.
TRANSFORMATION:
Transformation is easy, the legs unfold from the bottom and spans the length of the beast body. They fold down, at which point you can then flip the arms out to the sides. For the final steps, you collapse the front half of the beast, including the head, down to form the torso, although annoying, it doesn't actually clip together that solidly.
ROBOT MODE:
Waspinator's robot mode is fairly accurate to the show, with one exception, his arms don't have the pair of legs there anymore, there's only one leg, as the other two / four are moved down to his legs.
He has the wings on his back and also the back piece of the beast as kibble, sadly, they do get in the way.
The head sculpt, at first glance, isn't as sharp or defined as the previous figure, but it grows on you. The purple used for the eyes are perfect and accentuates the figure.
For size, above is a comparison against Siege Sideswipe and unfortunately, Waspinator is a bit on the shorter side.
Poseability is fairly good, his has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
Annoyingly, his chest doesn't peg in solidly so the wasp head likes to detach and flop around when you're trying to pose him.
Waspinator comes with his gun, formed from part of the beast. Due to cost-cutting, it literally looks like a piece of his stinger, rather than the gun from the show.
He can hold the weapon in either hand but it looks pretty bad due to its shape, it just looks like a blob held by him.
The insect legs also loves to get in the way, all the time. So while the robot is great in theory, there are little practical annoyances.
Having the option to position the wings down or up is great, and this leads to an above average robot mode.
OVERALL:
Waspinator is not going to win any prizes for innovation. He plays it safe and this leads to a solid Transformer, albeit one with a few minor design flaws that make him more annoying that he should. He's still worth the asking price though, especially if you're a fan of the figure.
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