The evil Megatron has developed an experimental anti-conversion virus with which he plans to win the Beast Wars! This toxin infects its host and prevents the ability to change into robot mode - eventually causing permanent shutdown. But something went wrong... when unleashed on several Fuzors, it caused a reconfiguration of their conversion abilities, trapping their robot modes inside two different beast modes. Now, bewildered by new and potent extrasensory powers plus the ability to change into two ferocious animals, these Transformers join together to form a renegade band of warriors. This is...Mutant Beast Wars!
Razor Claw is one of the first Mutant Beast Wars toy releases. As part of an effort to keep the Beast Wars part of the Transformers toy line, this breed of Transformer transforms from one fierce beast to another! This presents a unique challenge as often it is difficult to make one species of animal change to another species of creature altogether. The result are some interesting toys.
Raptor Mode:
In raptor mode, Razor Claw is mostly dark green. black stripes with neon orange detailing run from his head to tail. His beast mode eyes are neon orange and his arms and toes/claws are a shiny bone-like color. A small patch of silver chrome on the side of his left leg shows off the "Mutator" symbol of all the Mutant Beast Wars characters.
The detailing of this toy is what you've come to expect from Beast Wars. Nice wrinkles and ridges appear all over the body, and the head of the raptor shows a distinct scale pattern. Unlike his predecessor, the original Dinobot, Razor Claw does not suffer from too much kibble tucked under his belly. The whole toy looks rather sleek and proportioned.
In raptor mode, Razor Claw has fourteen points of articulation, mostly focused on his legs which include individual toe/claw articulation! Another nice feature is the robot head "hidden" in the body which acts as a representation of the robot "stuck" inside the two beast modes. Simply flip back the top of the beast mode head, and a silver, black and neon orange robot head is revealed! This head is rather insect like and an interesting detail can be found in that the top of the robot head antennae become the beast mode eyes! Nicely done.
Transformation to Wolverine Mode:
Begin Razor Claw's transformation by pulling down the rear section of the raptor tail, rotating it around, and then pushing it back into place, forming the wolverine tail. Now spread out the sides of the raptor upper body and the raptor legs, revealing most of the wolverine parts. Fold back the dinosaur head and neck. Now fold in the side pieces with the dinosaur arms on them. Line up the dinosaur arms with the dinosaur head, and then fold down the section with the wolverine head. Swing back the rear wolverine legs and swing down the forward wolverine legs. Fold down the panel behind the wolverine head. Finally, move the inner raptor claw down and Razor Claw has made his change!
Wolverine Mode:
In wolverine mode, Razor Claw is the same color scheme as the raptor mode, minus the black/neon orange details. His beast mode eyes and rear claws are orange. Unfortunately, color is primarily what works against this mode as being convincing. Wolverines are generally shades of brown, however this one is green. Although it is understandable that the designers wanted a green dinosaur, a brown dinosaur works much better than a green wolverine. This point is pushed further as one will note Razor Claw's tech specs image has the wolverine image colored brown.
In this mode, Razor Claw has seventeen points of articulation. This includes two claws on each forearm and his jaw, which can open and close. Other than the coloring, the detailing on Razor Claw is nicely done, simulating fur patterns. The four legs are out of proportion since wolverines generally have four legs that are the same size.
Other than the color and leg proportion problems, this is still a nice toy. It's not perfect, but perhaps the future may see a re-release of this toy in different color. One can hope. B-
Updated Thoughts (January 30, 2022):
The first thought I had when looking at this figure again was that the green color was not the best way to go. As I mentioned above, a brown dinosaur works better in concept than a green wolverine. That was perhaps the biggest mistake with this figure. I would have also liked to see a way for them to collapse the front legs and claws of the wolverine mode, but I suspect doing so would have forced this figure out of the Deluxe price range. This is not the best Beast Wars Mutant out there, but it is still a cool figure.
