(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 RiD Skyfire. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of RiD Skyfire here.)

    Everyone's favorite bumbling idiot is back in his pre-Beast Wars form! I have to admit, this was one of the biggest surprises of the Botcon 2006 exclusives, as I NEVER envisioned the Skyfire mold being used for Waspinator-- using the right paint apps makes all the difference! Darksyde Waspinator, who is named after the Predacon ship which now has its own official name, has colors which are spot-on with the 10th Anniversary Edition of the toy, and ignoring the less show-accurate colors of the original Waspinator toy. It's a beautiful color scheme on 10th Anniversary Waspinator, and the same is true of this toy. Every shade of every color looks very nice and contrasts well with the others, with no color being used too much or two little. Black and white stripes on the edges of the wings, and the a lesser extent on the front and back parts of the jet mode, help to keep Waspinator's waspy feel in that mode, and in robot mode the yellow-and-black patches on the arms and legs do the sasme. Using the metallic silvery blue on the underside of the wings was also a great idea, to allude to the fact that they become insect wings when Waspinator gets his beast mode. By far the most ingenious use of Waspinator's many paint applications is on his robot face. Painted the two small head crests like Waspinator's tiny head antennae and painted his gas-mask-like mouth to look like mandibles was an utter stroke of genius, pure and simple, and really brings out the Waspy-ness in the face.
    No mold changes have been made to Darksyde Waspinator, however, there have been numerous reports of various misassemblies in the package. They range from easy fixes like having the lower legs on the wrong upper legs, to very hard fixes like on mine where the key lever that makes everything fit together perfectly in both modes put in the wrong way, to impossible fixes like the toy coming with two left hands and the like. Thus, if you're planning on getting this toy, be sure to examine the package (or a picture of the package) VERY carefully to ensure yours doesn't have a misassembly you won't be able to fix. Also of note is that in addition to being a Botcon 2006 exclusive, you could only buy Waspinator for a whopping $95 with Megatron at the convention-- it was not available free to preregistrants or available at all to those who did not attend the convention. Waspinator is limited to 500 pieces, so he's worth a pretty penny.
    Darksyde Waspinator is an absolutely wonderful redeco of an admittedly mediocre toy. However, the obvious care that was put into all the paint applications and picking just the right colors puts this toy's score noticeably higher than it otherwise would have been. If you're in the market for high-end toys and like the character, I'd definitely recommend this toy-- just look at the toy carefully before you buy it.

Review by Beastbot

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