Sunday, September 29, 2013

Toy Review: Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Windrazor (Legion)


Review:  #149
Name:  Windrazor
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Predacon
Line:  Prime - Beast Hunters
Year of Release:  2013
Size Class:  Legion (Wave 3)
Variations:  a clear version sold in a giftset which was a Target exclusive

BEAST MODE:


Windrazor transforms into a bird/dinosaur-like beast/monster.  According to the back of the packaging, this is dragon mode.


This is a well formed beast mode.  Windrazor gives the illusion of bulk thanks to the large wingspan but he feels very lanky in your hands.


The head is fairly detailed and he has a surprising amount of paint applications (his wings are painted in addition to gold highlights around the body).


As mentioned, he is a bit small.  I forgot to straighten him up in the above photo (since I like to pose Windrazor in a crouching position, makes him look more realistic).


You can plug the weapon in a few places here, the first (and best) place would be outside of his legs.  They're the least obtrusive there.


He can also hold the weapon with his mouth, which is interesting (understandable since that's where Abominus holds his weapons in combined mode).


Major visual flaw here would be that his hands are clearly visible.  He also has a hollow chest thanks to transformation.


Unlike some of the other Terrorcons, Windrazor isn't as poseable in beast mode.  There's only so much you can do but on the other hand, he looks great as it is already.

TRANSFORMATION:

Not as complex as the other Terrorcons, yet more so than what you expect.  With beast forms, it's always tempting for the designer to just have the beast arms turn into robot arms and beast legs into robot legs, with minimal manipulation.  With this smaller size, the temptation would be even greater.  However, the transformation manipulates enough parts for it to be satisfying and exceed your expectations.  True, his arms don't really change much, and his legs are just formed by flip up a piece, but that's one piece more than they had to.  In the end, quite impressive.

ROBOT MODE:


Robot mode looks great here, I particularly love the wings on the outside of his arms, it feels like Windrazor could use them for defensive or offensive purposes.


Once again, Windrazor is fairly lanky here, and thicker lower legs would make him look more aesthetically appealing.


The head sculpt is good, and you can just make up the smirk in the above photo.  The head is hard to get a focus on due to the extremely small size.


You can make out the Predacon insignia on the top of his right shoulder guard.  Unusually, it's more visible in beast mode than in robot mode.


Windrazor is still small in nature compared to some other Legion toys.


While some may view the wings to be kibbly, I really like it and it gives him a lot of character.  For some reason, it reminds me of Terrorsaur (particularly the Transmetal version).


Windrazor might look like he's quite poseable but the opposite is true.  He has balljointed elbows, true, but they're restricted such that you can't straight them.  He also lacks needs and his head is fixed, so effectively, the only meaningful movements are in his shoulders and this elbows being posed inwards.


His weapon is a "Tornado Bow", he shares his weapon with Rippersnapper, which is a shame.  For some reason, my Windrazor cannot hold it securely.


Anyway, there are a few possibilities in how Windrazor holds it.  The weapon seems like a cross being a gun and a bow and arrow lookalike.


A great robot mode that has a distinctive appearance.

OVERALL:

This is an amazing figure, especially considering it's size.  He looks wicked in both modes and even if you have no intention of obtaining all the Terrorcons to form Abominus, he is still worth picking up.

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Other Transformers reviews can be perused at this page here.

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