TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' review of: Airazor

Name: Airazor
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Aerial Something-or-other
Sub-Group: NA

Airazor was one of those purchases you make when you haven't bought something in a while and feel like spending a little bit of money. There wasn't a lot that interested me in the Armada line but the Beast Wars repaints seemed kind of neat. The only one I really wanted was Predacon, but I picked up an Airazor at some point (can't even remember when now) for little reason other than I felt a compulsion to buy a Transformer and they didn't have any more Cheetors. The main difference between this version of the figure and the earlier Beast Wars incarnation is that this one's been remolded to accommodate a Minicon linking.

Beast Mode:
Like the other Transmetal figures, Airazor's beast mode is more of a robotic imitation of an animal than something that could pass for an actual organic creature. The jet engines are a dead giveaway anyway. I think Airazor's beast mode is pretty good. The colors aren't bad and it's reasonably detailed and the robot mode's hidden fairly well. There's not really a lot you can do with the beast mode though. Not much articulation, nothing shoots, and the feet are positioned so that it always looks like the bird's just crouching somewhere. There's also a "vehicle mode" for the figure that consists of detaching these pontoons (for lack of a better word) and moving the wings forward. Looks pretty goofy and I can't imagine anyone believing that was a vehicle since it still has the bird head and feet prominent in the figure.

Robot Mode:
This isn't too bad and has the articulation one would expect from a Beast Wars figure, and was also something lacking in many Armada figures. Airazor is supposedly a female character, but I do believe this mold is the first post-op (or maybe pre-, you never know) Transformer figure. I mean, look at those broad shoulders, and if those aren't implants then I'm a Primal's uncle. Manliness aside, there are some ugly aspects of this figure in robot mode. The face is weird and disturbing and really looks a lot like Energon Insecticon's. The arms also have the bird's feet attached under the hands to apparently serve as weapons, which is probably good since Airazor's defenseless otherwise. Well, I can't really say that as you can finagle the beast mode's back into some sort of shielding over the front of her torso. Regarding the torso, the thing seems to have the same problem BW Megatron had when it comes to connecting to the back of the figure. As a result, the torso wiggles forward quite a bit during casual handling. Finally, the paintjob for the robot mode is kind of bland compared to the alternate modes and relies heavily on the color of the plastic.

Minicon:
Nightscream has a great looking vehicle mode, but the robot mode has weak arms (similar to the other sports car Minicons) that are hardly articulate and fall apart often. It's not a bad looking Minicon though and it matches Airazor's color scheme admirably.

Transformation: 8 - Kind of tricky the first few times and is designed well even if the alternate modes aren't.
Durability: 7 - Torso gets looser and looser and the Minicon has problems staying together.
Fun: 7 - Meh. The robot mode's articulated well, but there aren't any guns. No gun = no fun.
Price: 8 - It was an Armada deluxe figure, so it was $10. That was about fair even if the toy isn't all that great.
Summary: 7 - Entirely average.