Beast Machines Strika
This is one of the two guys I purchased off ViceGripX on one of his sales on ATT. Strika and
Bruticus (from RID) for $5 each. Not bad. Bruticus was not so great, but Strika was well worth
the price. Indeed.
Anyway, so after Tankor and Jetstorm pooped out on Megatron he needed some more generals to help
out Thrustinator. Enter Strika and Obsidian. Strika, of course, was Tankor's replacement. Enter, the
big six wheeler ready to flatten some Maximals. Oh yeah! Strika, also, is only the fourth female
transformer to get any decent amount of air time. Granted she won't get the exposure of Blackarachnia (but then,
few do, male or female), but it was nice to have a female Vehicon around.
Strika's vehicle mode is that of a nifty six wheeler tank dealie. Unlike Blastcharge, who
is of the same sort of alt mode, Strika's is much less military feeling and a lot more sci-fi and
futuristic looking. The tires actually remind me of ones on those lunar probe car things. Pretty neat.
Also unlike her older brother (older by not too long, though), Strika's wheels all roll. None of
them are spring loaded, so they all spin fine. Always a plus. Her lone action gimmick is when you
push down on her spark her two missile launcher thingies reciprocate (so says the tech specs anyway)
in a really quick motion. You can press the spark quite fast as well and the action will keep
up with you. Quite neat. Ah, and the missiles both fire to boot, though they aren't spring loaded,
but in the ol' friction ball form (like RID Prowl or the cyberjets from G2). They actually go insanely far
for missiles that aren't spring loaded too. I just shot one from the desk (maybe three feet off the
ground) across the room like six or seven feet. That's more than a lot of spring loaded missiles can
say.
Transformation isn't impossible without directions, but you'll probably need to check out the
pretty pictures on the box a few times before you get everything pegged in right. Be sure to
remember how some stuff goes before you transform it, by the way, I had some troubles getting her
back into vehicle mode again.
Ah yes, before I forget, both mode are very stable. Everything pegs into somewhere else making
for a tank with no loose bits and a robot that won't flop apart (this is especially prominent when you
get Strika at the same time as RID Bruticus who's a mess of non-pegged together stuff).
Robot mode, as with vehicle mode, is quite show accurate, except for the colors (this seems to be a
trend with the BFTS toys. Apparently Hasbro just couldn't bear to release a single show accurate
toy in the BM line, so with all the BFTS stuff they botched the paint job at the last second. That's
my theroy anyway). Her arms are set back quite far on her body (the shoulder joints end up behind
her legs) which looks a bit odd, though you get used to it. The spark gimmick still works in this
mode as the missile launchers are now shoulder cannons. Very cool. The only real problem I have with
robot mode is the hands and arms. Her lower arms are kinda just hanging there with long wire
hands molded into them. Still, there's a swivel joint at the elbow, so I guess I can overlook it.
Strika's head is about the only thing that doesn't peg firmly into place here. However, it's on a
very tight sliding hinge joint (like the hand flap dealies on Savage's feet/Noble's hands), so
she can look up and even slightly (very slightly) to the sides with no problem or support required. You can
also flip the vehicle cockpit over her head for a weird battle mask or something.
Also, since I'm comparing Strika to Blastcharge, let me address the issue of where the six wheels
go. While Blastcharge had four end up awkwardly as his stubby legs and feet, Strika only has two
end up as feet, whereas her other wheels fold up neatly within her chest and fold down to make
some nifty jetpack thrusters. Blastcharge's extra wheels make for some annoying kibble above his
shoulders.
Overall Strika is an excellent toys. While the Beast Machines line had some very weak toys (Megatron,
Optimus Primal, Supreme Cheetor, the list goes on) it also showcased a lot of very cool gems that were better
than any previous Transformer had been before. Strika is one of those, making for a very cool
robot and vehicle mode. I only paid $5 for a loose one, and the rarity and overall coolness of
the toy means a carded one could set you back a good $15 or more, but, and I don't usually say this,
that price is actually worth it. If you can find one, buy it (of course, don't go paying $30 for one, but
you knew that I'm sure).
