Dave's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Rant - Beast Battle Masters Wave 3

Airazor (crossbow/shield-gun)

Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/RotB/Battle3

Well, the line peters out with a single new toy, but it's good enough
I'm giving it a proper review rather than just a capsule.

CAPSULE

$6-7 price point.

Airazor: Falcon turns into a good crossbow and a somewhat questionable
shield-gun, but that's half a mode more than it needed to have.
Recommended.

RANT

Packaging: Same as previous Beast Battle Masters. The packaging only
shows the crossbow mode, but the instructions show the shield-gun as well,
it's not left to be an undocumented feature.

MAXIMAL: AIRAZOR
Assortment: F4604 (heat-stamped and not printed, thankfully, so it's subtle)
Altmode: Falcon/Crossbow/Shield-Gun
Transformation Difficulty: 4 steps (crossbow), 8 steps (shield-gun)
Previous Name Use: Yes
Previous Mold Use: None

Packaging: Held into the flimsy semi-tray by three plastic ties. The
instructions are partially wedged between the front and back layers of the
card.
In addition to the two modes, the instructions show how to fold down the
grip peg to let the falcon mode rest on a larger figure's hand or other 5mm
socket. The package front shows a figure holding the crossbow mode, but
there's no guidance to how the shield-gun is supposed to be held.

Beast Mode: A falcon with wings spread wide and some mechanical details
here and there but pretty good about avoiding too much transformation
kibble. It can stand on its feet without falling over, and the wings can
flap but not furl.
1.75" (4.5cm) long with a wingspan of 4" (10cm), predominantly a
brownish gold with some metallic green and silver. All of the plastic is
sort of trying to be gold but being more of a brown mustard color or
something. There's "copper patina" colored metallic green paint on the parts
of the wings called "coverts" according to a quick online search I did (top
and leading edge, but not underside), and this paint is also used on the
eyes. The beak and the visible cannon barrel in the butt are painted
silver.
The wing roots are ball joints, so they can flap up and rotate a bit,
mostly useful for transformation. There's a little flap-down range, maybe
15-20 degrees. The feet/legs are all part of a single piece with a
through-axle that can swing forwards and backwards, including all the way
back for a more realistic flight pose. A 5mm peg can fold out from under the
chest to let the bird roost on someone's hand or other 5mm socket.

Transformations: Going to crossbow mode is simpler than the instructions
suggest, you really just unhook the pelvis/legs/tail piece and swing it back
around, then fold down the peg as a grip.
From the crossbow mode, swing the wings up together so that the leading
edges peg together and then fold the tail section up so that the tabs on it
go into slots on the undersides of the wings. The instructions say to have
the 5mm peg along the same axis as the gun barrel, so maybe it's supposed to
be a barrel extension for another gun that has a 5mm muzzle?
In any case, it's clear these were two totally planned modes and not
just a canonized fan mode someone figured out and put in the instructions.

Crossbow: Basically a slightly deconstructed bird with a stubby cannon
barrel between the wings, which has a 5mm socket in the muzzle. It has the
same wingspan, although now the primary and secondary feathers are the front
edge making it a sort of saw-blade bow weapon. The whole length is 1.75"
(4.5cm), and the grip peg only extends a little more than 5mm past the lowest
obstruction, which limits who can hold it. Studio Series Airazor has no
trouble holding it, fortunately, something that puts in sharp contrast their
two different light brown plastics. The plastic used for Studio Airazor's
arm rockets is a little darker than the Battle Master's plastic.
In addition to the muzzle socket, there's technically a 5mm peg at the
back end (it plugs the muzzle in bird mode).

Shield-Gun: This is kinda weird. As per the instructions, it would have
the barrel pointed up if held in a hand, although I suppose the intention
could be for it to be mounted on the outside of the forearm as a shield with
a cannon on it. If you fold the peg up, it's either a stubby pistol with a
large wing shield on top, or you have it held by the underside of the fist.
In any case, it's 2.25" (5.5cm) tall, with the green-painted bits
combined in the center of the shield in a sort of V shape. The bird head is
pretty well concealed inside this mode.

Overall: You may have trouble finding it, as it's a tail end charlie,
but it's definitely worth picking up. I grabbed two, so Studio Airazor can
wield one in each mode.

Dave Van Domelen, would've gotten a bit more done today if not for the
vaccination symptoms. At least no chills this time.