Buzzclaw (Botcon 2005 Exclusive)
Beast ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Basic (comes in a 7-pack with Chromia, Deathsaurus, Dirge, Fallback, Ironhide, and Ricochet)
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Transparent deep purple, black, moderately light red, and some dull pasty yellow, glossy metallic purple, and off-white
Rating: 7.5

(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Beast Wars Buzzclaw. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Beast Wars Buzzclaw here.)

    Buzzclaw is repainted to look similar to a G1 Insecticon, with purple, black, and yellow being used, as well as red to add a bit more variety to the mix. It's definitely an intentional homage, seeing as he and Dirge are meant to be two of the last surving members of the G1 Insecticon group in the 2005 convention's comic. Regardless, Buzzclaw's new color scheme is EXCELLENT-- the transparent purple is an absolutely wonderful color, especially with the dull yellow used on top of it to contrast-- in fact, the way the yellow is painted on the face almost makes it look like a skull! The black parts help to add more "darkness" and evil to the way Buzzclaw looks, and the red used for the wings, tail-shield, and bug eyes is just the right color to top it all off. The black-and-red detailing used on the wings is especially astounding, and one of the most eye-catching parts of the figure. Buzzclaw has a small Decepticon insignia on the underside of his tail-shield to help identify his allegiance-- no old Predacon rub symbol on this repaint.
    No mold changes have been made to Buzzclaw from his predecessor; however, like on the other Botcon Buzzclaw repaints, the mandibles have been assembled the wrong way; to fix this, you need to unscrew the bolt connecting the insect head to the neck, crack open the halves (don't put too much force into it), switch the mandibles around so they're facing the other direction, and then reassemble the thing again. It's rather difficult, though, and you can break some of the pegs holding together the two head halves if you're not careful, so I only recommend doing this is you're experienced with taking apart and reassembling toys.
    Botcon Buzzclaw is an astoundingly good repaint, with all the right colors in all the right places. No complaints about the scheme at all-- this is as good as the mold's going to get. My personal favorite color-wise of the Botcon 2005 Exclusives.


Buzzclaw Bio:
FUNCTION: Warrior
MOTTO: "Mercy is a luxury afforded only to the weak."
Buzzclaw is one of the few remaining members of the ancient Insecticon clan, a group of powerful Transformer warriors dating back to the beginnings of the Great Wars. He is brash, loud and obnoxious. However, he is also dedicated to helping Deathsaurus bring the Decepticon Empire back as a major power in the galaxy. He sees this as an opportunity to practice his own brand of brutality on the population of planets everywhere. His past as a warrior in the gladiatorial pits of Polyhex have afforded him skill and preference for hand-to-hand combat. He relishes the feeling of an enemy's body going limp at death in his hands or claws.
Abilities: Buzzclaw is trained in various forms of hand-to-hand combat and has spent eons using those skills in battle. His insectoid beast form allows him to use his skills in both modes, each allowing him to utilize different weapons. As a beast, he can use his claws and mandibles to tear enemies apart. In robot mode he uses his wrist mounted claws and shield in combat. Like all Insecticons, he has an innate ability to create clones out of himself from existing raw materials in his immediate vicinity, however the ability has become diluted over time as he has changed his exo-structures. It is this ability that Deathsaurus hopes to unlock from his genetic code.
Weakness: Buzzclaw's over-reliance on hand-to-hand combat makes him vulnerable in situations requiring more artilery-based solutions.
Strength: 8.0
Intelligence: 7.0
Speed: 6.0
Endurance: 9.0
Rank: 4.0
Courage: 9.0
Firepower: 3.0
Skill: 8.0

Review by Beastbot

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