Toy Review - TFPRiDE Deluxe Airachnid

[Decepticon]

I will say yes it's worth getting. Don't have it but will get it.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

I will say yes it's worth getting. Don't have it but will get it.

Yeah, that's what I thought before getting it too. Do yourself a favour and wait for the TT version - you'll at least get a Minicon with it which will mitigate the suckiness somewhat.
I want to like this, to find just one decent redeeming feature, I really do. I'm a sucker for fembots, especially Decepticon fembots just because they're so rare, and I was looking forward to this one since we first saw pics for it a few weeks back. But having it in-hand it's just needlessly disappointing on pretty much every level. I can overlook the small size and the poorly realised spider-legs/alt-mode blades 'cos that's to be expected, but when the base toy is as needlessly poor as this it's just not on.
I'm gonna keep it because, well, evil fembot, but it really is a case study in how to ruin a potentially good toy due to poor design choices.

[Decepticon]

But can it be any worse than some of those movie deluxes such as Blazemaster? I detest that thing!

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

But can it be any worse than some of those movie deluxes such as Blazemaster? I detest that thing!

I've never seen or handled Blazemaster out of package, so can't help you there.
I guess the best way I can put it is like this: a punch in the face is arguably better than a kick to the balls, but that still doesn't make me want to be punched in the face.

[GoktimusPrime]

That's disappointing considering how cool Animated Blackarachnia was. Still... I'ma show completist, so it's on my to-get list.

[GoktimusPrime]

So I've opened her up and had a fiddle. She's actually not that bad! Maybe it's because I had really low expectations for this toy before opening it. I like how the cockpit can open up to reveal a pilot's seat - a neat Diaclone-esque homage (intended or not). The purple chopper blades/spidey legs looks weird, but I can understand why they did it as it really helps to break up the monotony of all the black on this toy. And it spins really well too. The helicopter mode itself is pretty decent -- reveals a relatively small area of robot kibble on the underside. It does a much better job of concealing the robot than the Deluxe Seekers. I also like how the toy incorporates the vehicle parts into the robot, and avoids making this toy into a massive shellformer. In fact, the only left over alt mode kibble is the cockpit section, which is easily acceptable to me. Now the way that this kibble is attached to the head so that it has to be raised in order for the head to come out is something I'm not fond of. I'd rather they just leave the kibble on the back and have the head raise independently. I like how the aft roof panels split to form two of the arachnid legs in robot mode - I thought that was a clever way to incorporate those panels into the robot mode rather than just have them dangle as useless kibble.

The arms are by far the weakest part of the toy. They're essentially just the side panels with an elbow connector and hands. I don't think they're terrible though. They do function just fine as arms; the elbows bend and the hands can hold weapons, so they're adequate - just not great. Another weird thing is the Decepticon insignia... there's a teeny weeny Decepticon logo sculpted on the centre of the chest, but it's unpainted, and on such a black toy it just gets lost and easily unnoticed. I'm impressed that this toy actually has a sculpted insignia, but a TINY drop of paint would really make it look better. How cheap are Hasbro for not even giving us that much?!

The legs are spindly as one would expect. I haven't tried putting her into dynamic action poses yet, but she stands just fine on my TF Prime Decepticon shelf. She stands better than Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia! The weapons are fine. I prefer them over an Arms Micron which would just be oversized... and personally I don't like those things because they feel more like little model kits (like the kind you get with chewing gum or lollies) than proper Mini-Con action figures... then there's the stickers So I'm personally quite glad that I managed to pick up the Hasbro version and I was able to cancel my Arms Micron order. Getting it locally also means that I didn't need to pay for postage (or wait for shipping -- although I did have to wait a day for my Arms Micron cancellation confirmation to come through )

I was pessimistically expecting this toy to be as bad as ROTF Scalpel (just an awful excuse of a toy based on a difficult media model) or optimistically as good as Injector (a "nice try but awful results" action figure) -- but I find Airachnid to be, by far, MUCH better than either of those toys! Unlike Scalpel her robot mode is solid, and unlike Injector she doesn't look f'ugly in either mode. Yeah sure, the spider leg blades look odd, but they work as helicopter blades... and considering the show model that this toy is based on, it's perfectly understandable why they did this. Yes, having black blades would make the toy look more uniform and show-like, but it would also make the toy look monotonously dull. It's a nice pale lavender and not some bright garish colour, so I think it works well with the black.

This toy is another example of why (IMHO) Transformers toys shouldn't be based on cartoon models, but rather the cartoon models should be based on the toys. *sigh* But given the ambitious concept of adapting Airachnid's show model into a Deluxe Class figure, I actually think this is a pretty nice toy. I don't think it's necessarily worth paying the full $30 Deluxe RRP for, but it's quite a nifty toy for $23~25 (or less ). I would be more scathing of this toy if I'd paid above $25 for it.

[LordCyrusOmega]

I don't find her horrible. Just a poorly executed toy that had a lot of potential. No spider mode which could have been incorporated in some fashion (don't ask me how, I'm no engineer)
The reason I dislike mine is she has 2 right (or left) hands and I'm to lazy to send her back.