Name : Strafe
Allegiance : Autobot
Function: Dinobot Aerial Assault
Bio: You'd be forgiven if, upon seeing Strafe appear on the battlefield, you had some sort of embarrassing evacuation of waste. After all, the sight of a gigantic, two-headed, fire-breathing metal dragon-like pterosaur swooping down on you with lightning speed like some kind of movie monster would shake the toughest fighters. However, Strafe is an interesting contradiction in terms; while a powerful and merciless warrior on the field, off of it Strafe is one of the most friendly and approachable individuals you're ever likely to meet. He is very good friends with Bumblebee.
I picked up Strafe because I thought he looked nice.
Robot mode: Strafe has a pretty awesome design and look in robot mode. He looks like a knight in Dinosaur armour. He has this nice choppy, angular look to him which makes him look aerodynamic (appropriate) and quick. The two bird heads chilling out on his chest do look a bit ostentatious, but also the sort of thing I can imagine a show-off wearing. Like a fur, only made of beaks. I like these deadly pixie boots he has too, all spikes but quite cute looking. The only thing that is a bit much are the massive wings and tails. The wings can fold up a bit, but they are huge,and although they don't unbalance him, other figures on your shelf had best beware. What I like most are his awesome colours. He's got this nice mix of silvers, blues and blacks on the go, which are really nice. They're paler and more subtle than his Age Of Extinction toy, which help draw your attention to all the nice bits of sculpting and design the figure has. It's the same reason I picked up Slug. The more thoughtful colours just dial back the mental a bit so you can see what they were going for with these scrunched up tinfoil dinosaurs. For weapons, Strafe has a couple of neat swords and a crossbow, complete with pressure launching bolt. Nice.
Alternate Mode: Strafe is a two-headed pterosaur, which is both daft and extremely cool. It looks fantastic and majestic. It's in this mode I get the best out of Strafe's articulation too, being able to pose his heads, flap his wings and have him perch somewhere. It looks fantastic. I really appreciate the feathered metal look of the wings, all Easter Egg patterns and spiky bits. Likewise, the long sharp tails trailing behind him look awesome. He just looks so good and it's really made me get into the aesthetic of these metallic dinosaurs. It's a look I thought was ugly, but both Strafe and Slug have really made me get into what the designers were going for.
Marks out of ten for the following:
Transformation design: As with all bird-bot Transformers, the trransformation is pretty simple and involves tucking the robot arms away and unfurling the two beast mode heads. The wings do a tiny jiggle about on some hinged joints and the legs fold up for beast mode. It's simple, easy and fun. 8/10
Articulation: Strafe has Beast Wars style articulation problems. Whilst he's got a great range of movement in robot mode, his arms are sculpted in such a way that holding his weapons is an awkward affair. His forearms are curved and his wrists are on these side mounted mushroom pegs, so he can't really do much with his arms without looking weird. I always disliked these kinds of design choices in Beast Wars – having a really cool looking figure that's then undone by having awkwardly jointed and sculpted arms. The movement he has in beast mode does make up for this, though. 6/10
Durability: Strafe has no obvious signs of weakness or flaws in his mould. The tails are sensibly made out of a soft, rubbery plastic so there's nothing that feels easy to break or to watch out for. 9/10
Fun: Probably the Last Knight figure I've had the most fun with out of the entire line. Which surprised me as I'd been indifferent to the film versions of the Dinobots up until now. Good work. 9/10
Value/ Price : £9.99 on clearance, which is brilliant for such a cool looking figure. Even at RRP, I'd have been happy with this guy. Absolute top drawer Deluxe Transformer goodness. 9/10
Overall: I've been amazed by how much I like and enjoy Strafe. He's an unassuming figure with design choices that won't be to everyone's taste – heck, he wasn't even to my liking and I only really grabbed him because he was on clearance. Having a well articulated robot and beast mode is an absolute joy and the colours on this thing are just amazing. It's a shame more of the current movie toys aren't as good as this. 8/10
TLK Strafe
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TLK Strafe
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