Toy Review - Generations IDW Waspinator

[BigTransformerTrev]

Series - Generations
Sub-line – Thrilling 30
Wave: Wave 1 - 2014
Size/class - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here – Not yet
Approximate Retail Price - $28Aus
Approximate Size – 14cm
Allegiance – Predacon
Alt-mode – Wasp
Main Features/Gimmicks – Design based on IDW design
Main Colours – Green, Yellow, Brown
Main Accessories – IDW exclusive comic, Stinger Gun





Robot Mode
*Quite good looking, faithful to both Beast Wars and the IDW incarnations. He has good articulation and the light piping works really well with his huge optics.


Wasp mode
*To my mind the wasp mode here is better than both the Beast Wars and the Animated versions of the character. Very compact, very well coloured and very well balanced. The flapping wings are a nice touch that add a lot of play value.


Transformation
This transformation would be far easier if the instructions were REMOTELY USEFUL! I was able to figure him out because, well, if I can’t after 30 years of collecting I should hand in my Autobrand right now. But I wouldn’t give this to a little kid or a novice who would try to go soely by the instructions because Waspy would be flung out the window after 10 minutes. Once you've done it though, it takes about 15 seconds to transform him back


Worth getting?
*For me, as more of a G1 than BW fan (technically the same universe I know), the only BW characters (besides the odd Robot Hero) I’ve bothered to collect over the years have been Depthcharge's and Waspinator's so I was happy to grab this guy to add to the collection. I’ll be bypassing the new Rhinox & Rattrap figures altogether. But if you are a big Beast Wars fan I’d say this is the figure to get for the new year. Oh, and the free comic is a nice bonus too

[MayzaPrime]

I bought a 2nd Waspinator

[i_amtrunks]

Excellent figure, painted brilliantly.

Ignore the instructions, he can be transformed easily enough going off the packaging images. The wing flap mechanism is nice without the figure needing to be built around it and the head sculpt is fantastic.

Like the stinger gun is just that, not firing missile to lose!

Probably appeal to BW fans more, but overall a strong figure, second only to Skids (or third to Hoist) in the Generations line.

[DELTAprime]

I have both the Hasbro and Takara versions coming. I hope I can give Waspintor's gun to FOC Shockwave, then all I need is a Necrotitan toy.

[Bidoofdude]

Got this guy the other day, and he is just stellar. Robot mode is pretty much flawless, the colours and details are just right, really accurate to his BW incarnation. The headsculpt is just perfect. Sometimes the height of his wasp head can obscure his headsculpt a little bit, but it's not too much of a problem.

Though I admit I did have a few problems understanding the instructions at first, after transforming him a couple times I think he has a really nifty transformation.

The wasp mode is pretty great as well, I don't really seem to notice his arms on his sides as much as I thought I would. The insect eyes are really nice as well.

[snaketales]

His light piping is SUPERB

[GoktimusPrime]

I had a fiddle with liegeprime's Waspinator at the last Parra Fair, and IMO it's a nice toy but I'm not convinced that it substantially improves over the original Waspinator toy to want to import one. The robot looks lovely and there are some neat features, but in some ways the original still feels better to me. Original Waspinator has a more solid robot mode that doesn't have a large gap like Gen Waspy does, and also BW Waspy's arms and hands and legs are better incorporated into the beast mode than Gen Waspy's. The somewhat "cybernetic" mould features also detracts from the 'robot in disguise' element of the more organic looking beast mode of the original toy.

There are some features of Gen. Waspy that are really nice and better than BW Waspy, of course. The flapping wing gimmick is fantastic -- works well and is rather non-intrusive. I also like how the toy is able to stand on its insect legs, which was a not only a shortcoming of BW Waspy, but of a lot of BW bugformers (who often flop onto their bellies). Also the beast mode seems to be proportionately more zoologically accurate than BW Waspinator's (particularly with the head and hind legs). So I do think that there are some really nice things about Generations Waspinator, don't get me wrong. But I don't feel that it's that 'significant' an improvement over the original like many other Classicsverse toys are over their G1 counterparts. But that's also because the original BW toys were so well made in the first place, they really haven't dated as much as G1 IMHO.

I came across a review on Shortpacked which I think describes it well:

He's basically a perfect Waspinator toy, if what you're looking for is a toy of Waspinator-the-character, not toy-that-will-become-Waspinator-the-character. But if you'd rather the latter, then you probably already have that one.

Here are some comparison pics between BW and Gen Waspinator:
http://www.bwtf.com/toyreview-images...tor/rmboth.jpg
http://www.shortpacked.com/image/Waspys.jpg

[liegeprime]

I had a bit of confused moments when trying to transform his legs into the Insects abdomen. but I figured it out after a few minutes. it's coz the arrows in the instructions are incomplete and confusing. I love the proportion of the figure, though I wish they made the arms more hidden. Robot legs/foot transforms as part of the lower mandible , thorax but somehow it feels bulky and not really well thought off thus if you look at it from below - it's not any insect part Ive ever seen. Oh well it looks nice from side and above views, insect mode wise. They invested more I believe in the robot mode which is really neat, though a little bit more paint apps here and there to make it better. Loving the flappy wing gimmick, though I wish there was a lock point so they can be kept open positioned. A few pics from the fair...







Ill have to take some newer shots of the robot mode.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Got my Taktom version in the post the other day and I quite like it. Much prefer the darker colours over the Hasbro version, especially since they are are uniform colours. No lime green upper arms sticking out on this guy.

Really nice robot mode. Not bad beast mode, as long as you ignore the robot parts hanging off the bottom.


Originally I was in two minds about buying Waspy. The original toy is pretty good and the images of this guy don't look like as much of an update like with Rhinox for example, as Gok stated. I am glad I did though now as the head sculpt is great. Light piping is brilliant and on the Taktom version, the eyes and wings have a slightly pearlescent light refraction going on.

Instructions were rubbish on the hips, as stated above. Took me some messing about to work out what was going wrong.

I love the little guy now!

[ILikeSoundwave]

My favorite out of this wave, don't ask why as I don't know because I hate Beast wars (Sorry to all you fans out there).