General Information:
Release Date: June 2013
Price Point: $9.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Toys R Us, Amazon, Target etc.)
Accessories: Waspinator figure/weapon, Blasters x 2
*Images above with asterisks and text below in italics are from Amazon.com:
Though they have never fought side by side, Starscream and Waspinator are intimately familiar with one another. Long after his time had passed, Starscream returned to a cybernetic half-life by possessing the body of the smaller robot. In the guise of Waspinator, the Deception air commander nearly completed the betrayal of Megatron he had long contemplated. Pop into some "explosive" Transformers action with these special Starscream and Waspinator figures. These Deception warriors lie in wait until an unsuspecting Autobot comes around. Your Starscream figure converts from robot mode to fighter jet mode when he wants to launch an attack from the sky. But your Waspinator figure is a 3-in-1 menace. He can convert from robot to wasp mode, but with the push of a button, he auto-converts to weapon mode. Will the Deceptions be able to handle your lightning-quick Starscream and Waspinator figures. Only you can decide. Transformers and all related terms are trademarks of Hasbro.
Continuing the trend started by Optimus Prime with Roller and Bumblebee with Blazemaster, the "Generations" Legends Class line rolls on with the introduction of Starscream and Waspinator into the line. As the write up above indicates, the two have a history together, going back to the episode of "Beast Wars" titled "Possession", where Starscream's ghost possessed Waspinator and caused all types of havoc. This was a key moment in the show's history as it created a solid link between Generation One and "Beast Wars". This two pack celebrates that connection by putting these two characters together.
Waspinator Review
Robot Mode:
Waspinator is slightly smaller than a Mini-Con sized figure, much like Roller and Blazemaster were. What he lacks in bulk he makes up for in detailing and design. Most of his details are directly carried over from his television show CG model. This includes his distinctive head, which looks like a robotic insect head, his insect head being on his chest and the layered, curved armor on his legs. His wings have layers of design, some of which look like blasters (but also kind of resemble veins on the wings). His arms and legs have his beast mode legs on them as well, drawing another connection to his "Beast Wars" counterpart. The sculpt looks great overall, the only slightly awkward looking section is the lower body where the abdomen of the beast mode winds up right between the legs (instead of behind them as it was on the show and original toy). Given the concessions necessary for this tiny of a design however, I'm willing to forgive this.
Waspinator is cast in two shades of green: dark and bright. Most of the figure is dark green, with the arms cast in bright green. The legs are painted green while the wings are silver. A metallic blue paint is used on the beast mode eyes (seen on the chest here) and the robot eyes. The wings are painted silver. While not 100% true to the colors of the original Waspinator figure or cartoon model, it does look good for a mini figure such as this. I'm glad there's a bright/dark color contrast happening here. I was also happy to see the robot eyes painted since they're very small.
Waspinator has three points of articulation. Each of the arms can move up and down while the legs are connected together and can be moved up and down (but they move simultaneously). Each of his hands has a 3mm opening on it, allowing Waspinator to hold Starscream's weapons or those of other Cyberverse figures. He looks almost silly holding gigantic weapons such as Starscream's, but some of the smaller weapons included with Legion Class figures from "Transformers Prime" will do nicely.
Transformation to Beast Mode:
- Swing the robot arms to the sides.
- Swing the robot chest up to form the beast mode head.
- Swing the stinger/peg back.
Beast Mode:
The beast mode on this figure looks great. Waspinator has his large, round signature beast mode head, including mandibles in the front, big eyes and antennae in front. His wings get featured here, allowing you to see a lot of his detailing. The abdomen section also has some sculpted stripe detailing. It's not painted yellow and black, but it's nice to see the sculpted detail there. The beast mode legs wind up splaying out in front, to the sides and back. Each has segments and small "hands" at the ends (I believe the scientific term is "tarsus"). It's a really intricate sculpt for such a tiny figure and I'm very happy with it.
The same colors from the robot mode carry through here. The only real "new" part being shown off here is the 'stinger' at the end which is bright green. There are no real moving parts to this form, but it's not really necessary as all he needs to do is buzz around.
Transformation to Weapon Mode (from Beast Mode):
- Swing the tail/stinger down.
- Swing the beast mode head down.
- Push the wings together and the cannon barrel will push forward.
- Swing the beast mode head back up.
Weapon Mode:
This is the first time Waspinator has had a "weapon mode". In the past he's had a beast and jet mode, but now he serves as a "Targetmaster" style weapon for Starscream. It's really just a variation on the beast mode, with a curved cannon barrel at the front. Howver, I do appreciate the way some of the wing details come together to form extra weaponry. On each end of his wings are "veins" which now look like extra weapon barrels. The rear wings also have raised sections that come together to form a blaster "sight" of sorts. It's a cool little design and works well as a weapon. The peg is a 5mm one, allowing larger figures to hold Waspinator in this form as well.
Starscream Review
Robot Mode:
Like Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, Starscream takes his new toy form from a design out of the IDW Publishing comic book series. Specifically, this is an "unreleased" design from artist Guido Guidi. Several design elements of those illustrations come into play including the very angular look of the wings, arms, legs, chest and waist along with some of the panels from the vehicle mode covering up the forearms. A lot of classic Seeker design elements are still present including the wings on the back, the weapons on the arms, cockpit on the torso, turbines on the chest and thrusters on the lower legs. Overall, this is a really sleek, dynamic looking design with a lot of Anime influence and I think it looks great as a 21st Century update of the classic "Seeker" design. Given that this design is about two plus years old now, it's cool to see it get its due in toy form.
If you want to see more detail, lift up the "cockpit" section in the center of the chest and you'll see tubes and vent lines underneath. Also check out the back of the figure (essentially the bottom of the wings) where there are tons of more sculpted details including tubes, ridges and indented details.
True to "Classic" Starscream colors, the figure is primarily cast in silver, red and blue plastic. Most of the body is silver, with red making up most of the torso section and the blasters. Blue is used on smaller parts like the feet. There's quite a bit of deco on this figure for oneo f this size. Dark grey is used on the "helmet" portion of the head and his weapons. Silver paint is used on the face and the "turbines" in the chest. The cockpit section on the chest is copper (a version of the yellow color used in previous incarnations). His eyes are painted red, staying true to the G1 convention of Decepticons have red eyes while Autobots have blue ones. Blue paint is used on the thrusters on the lower legs and the forearms. Overall Starscream looks fantastic, especially if you take into account the tampographed details on his wings that face front in this form.
Starscream has eight points of articulation, almost all of which are ball joints. His head can't turn however. His weapons are outfitted with both 3mm and 5mm pegs. You use the 3mm pegs to attach them to the sides of his arms (or have Waspinator hold them) but you use the 5mm peg to place them in his hands. Waspinator fits in his hand as a cannon just fine and he is able to hold the weapon up without his arm flopping down. If you want to store Waspinator (or any other 5mm peg weapon) in this form, there is a hole in the back that you can attach a weapon to. I've definitely had a lot of fun fiddling with this figure.
Transformation to Vehicle Mode:
- Remove the weapons for now.
- Push the two halves of each foot together.
- Connect the two lower legs together.
- Swing the rear stabilizers out to the sides.
- Swing the wings piece back and connect it to the back of the lower legs using the tab.
- Swing the cockpit section up, folding out the nosecone.
- Swing each arm down, connecting the forearms to the wings using the tabs on the underside of each wing.
- Connect the weapons to the sides of the arms.
Vehicle Mode:
This updated version of Starscream resembles his old design in many ways. The nosecone/cockpit section is flanked by two vents that angle forward. The wings have points in the back and sweep in a backwards direction. He has two thrusters in the back and there are vertical and horizontal stabilizers in the back. Even his weapons (which I think of as Null Rays even though the packaging makes no mention of their names) wind up under the wings like his G1 incarnation. Where this version differs is how angled and sleek everything is. The vertical stabilizers for instance angle out to the sides and the wings sweep back at a more severe angle than the G1 version did. Also the vents on either side of the cockpit section angle more than their G1 counterparts. Overall the design looks fresh yet familiar all at the same time.
This form is still mostly silver but there's a healthy amount of blue plastic thanks to the nosecone and the stabilizers. The front section has some red plastic on the bottom. The cockpit is painted copper while there are red paint details on the top of the vents. The wings each have large red and white lines painted on them with Decepticon symbols tampographed on top. These details resemble those found on G1 Starscream, but the lines are much wider. I love how bold and bright the details are against the silver backdrop. Overall this vehicle mode is very striking looking.
Starscream has a 5mm hole on the top of the jet to attach Waspinator (or any other 5mm peg weapon really) as additional weaponry. Truthfully you could kind of go crazy and put weapons in his robot fists and give him more weaponry in this form. He also has landing gear under the cockpit that swings out. It's a bit unusual for a figure this size to have so many ports for connecting weapons so it's rather fun!
Final Thoughts:
Starscream is another great example of how this class of figure can work very well in terms of design and deco. I also love the choice to put Waspinator in the set with him. The match up is perfect and in a weird way, Waspinator is roughly "in scale" with Starscream since "Beast Wars" established the Maximals and Predacons were generally smaller than their Autobot and Decepticon ancestors. This set looks great and it's fun, highly recommended!
