Insecticon here is the same little insect Transformer that appeared briefly in one scene in Revenge of the Fallen (and was fairly promptly squashed by Sam). His beast mode is a very interesting and unique design, being both a rather spindly insect byt recognizably robotic. For an insect Transformer the legs are surprisingly long (though accurate, both in terms of real insects and compared to its CG model), and the other proportions are quite well done, too-- the snail shell-like detailing on the abdomen, the fragmented look of the wings, the excellent design of the insect face, with a single optic peaking out behind four jaw-like structures-- all VERY cool-looking. The robot head is fairly obvious in this mode, though (its only significant drawback)-- the front of the wings cover it up a little, but generally it's just sitting right there in the middle of the mode, which is a bit of an eyesore. The color scheme of pale brownish green and light gray is a bit dull, but fitting for the character and hardly a "bad" color scheme. The transparent aquamarine color used for Insecticon's wings works quite well as a contrast color-- I wish there was a little bit more of it on the figure. The bits of dull gold and gunmetal gray paint are fit in with the overall look of the figure quite well where they're used, though I wish there was a bit more of it on the legs, which are completely undetailed in terms of paint.
    Insecticon's robot mode was not shown in the movie at all, and I doubt it was really conceived of at the time-- namely because Insecticon's robot mode seems like a bit of an afterthought compared to his beast mode. His robot mode is essentially his insect mode with a head flip two of the insect legs forming the robot legs while the other four legs form lanky pincer-like arms. His actual transformation is SLIGHTLY more than that, but not by much-- he's definitely one of the simplest scouts to transform in recent years. My feelings are a bit mixed when it comes to this mode. On the one hand, it does work well for the character-- the robot face is very much like a slightly more "humanized" insect face, and the red eyes go quite well with the silver mandibles on the lower half of the face. The wings fan out quite nicely behind the robot mode, and having four arms does work well with an insect character. The insect head also forms a decent enough chest, and certainly fits in better in this mode than the robot head did in insect mode. However, it really is barely different from the insect mode at all. I also think that the arms should be a bit more obviously-- well-- arms, and not just the long insect legs positioned around his shoulders. One more minor thing I think subtracts a bit from this mode is that almost none of his paint apps are visible in this mode-- there are some on the face, but it really shows how unpainted this toy is, despite all the awesome mold detailing. As far as articulation, Insecticon's movement pretty awesome-- he can move at the base of the wings as well as two places at the base of his shoulders; two additional spots on each individual upper arm; one spot on each elbow; at the hips (at two spots); at the knees; at the ankles; and at the neck. (In insect mode it's the same, except with the articulation of his legs being the articulation of his front two legs; also his insect mode head can only move up-and-down, not side-to-side, though the sets of two mandibles on each side of his head can move up and down independently, as well.)
    Autobot Alliance Insecticon has an excellent beast mode that recreates his onscreen presence quite well, but his two modes are far too similar for my liking, and the lack of paint detailing hurts him a bit in robot mode. Not a bad figure by any means, but I just wish his transformation (and robot mode) had a bit more to it.

Review by Beastbot

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