Don't ask me how Dreadwing is still around come the time of Beast Hunters, but he's got a new-mold upgrade for the line nonetheless. Dreadwing, of course, still retains his jet mode, but it's been a bit "animalized", as is the theme of the Beast Hunters Autobots & Decepticons. The front of the nosecone is painted like a beak, his main wings are a bit feathery-looking, and his rear wings are curved back a bit more like wings. From a strictly top-down view, this mode isn't that bad; the robot feet stick out the back very obviously, sure, but the proportions are more or less okay, minus the rear part of the nosecone being a bit too thick. (His main wings could also stand to be a TEENSY bit bigger, but that's getting nitpicky.) The big issue here is that nearly all of Dreadwing's robot mode is hanging down below the main body of the jet quite blatantly, and severely hampers the look and sleekness of this mode. The arms right below the wings and the aforementioned feet are the biggest offenders, but this is just way too much undercarriage junk. Dreadwing's color scheme of dark blue-and-yellow is still intact, though his yellow is noticeably brighter and less goldish than on his Voyager toy. The big color addition here is of a slightly bluish gray mixed with black, which makes up his main wings and the sides of his nosecone. Just a plain gray would look awfully boring, but mixing in the black actually makes these sections look more interesting, with light "weathering" and the like. That said, dark blue in those places would've looked better overall; there's not quite enough dark blue, here. Besides silver, a transparent cherry red is used for his cockpit, which looks great and contrasts with the blue quite well. There's also some light purple plastic used for his missiles and a few other minor pieces-- this goes well with the dark blue and yellow, but it does seem like one color too much, in that Dreadwing looks just a titch busy. His mold detailing combines the usual Prime aesthetic of large sections of relatively sparse detailing (such as the wings) with some more intricate details like on the sides of his cockpit-- most of this detailing looks a bit regal while also a little animal-like, both fitting Dreadwing's character and fitting in with the Beast Hunters aesthetic as well. Dreadwing has a pretty large weapon-- a bayonet-styled spring-loaded launcher that's similar to his original weapon design, but it comes with both two long purple "energy" projectiles and an odd sawblade-like weapon that can also be fired out of the front end or held in either of his hands in robot mode. Unfortunately, it's impossible to store both energy projectiles and the sawblade weapon in either mode, which annoys me a bit. Dreadwing does have a landing gear that folds out underneath his cockpit, but the underside goes down so far further back there's no space for other landing gear.
    Dreadwing's transformation is very simple for a deluxe, mostly just involving folding his robot parts out from his undercarriage and folding his cockpit down to reveal his head. The chest does a flip, but that's about the only real surprise here. What IS very cool about the transformation-- and is optional, if you don't like it-- is that Dreadwing's main wings splay into four different parts each to approximate peacock-like feathers in this mode, and they just really enhance the silhouette and beastly look of this mode-- to me this little ingenious touch is the highlight of the toy. The increased amount of yellow in this mode also helps add to the bird-like qualities, as well as the clawed hands, though I find the taloned yellow feet a bit too much, like he's venturing a little into chicken territory there. The increased amount of light brownish gray in this mode ensures that no one spot has too much dark blue on it (there is noticeably more of the latter color visible here), but otherwise it's a fairly boring color, if accurate to his original Prime toy. There's also some light red and dark purple paint apps added in some parts, but to me it just makes this toy look a bit busier than it already was, as one or two shades of color really should've been cut. Dreadwing's headsculpt is quite well-done, aping his original face but with a longer, thinner brow that looks vaguely avian, which is certainly fitting. As far as kibble, the back two-thirds or so of the jet hangs off of Dreadwing's back, but it stays in place and only peaks up from behind his head and gets in the way of movement a little, so it's a minor downside. The shoulder plates are far too long and don't clasp close enough to the shoulders themselves for my liking, however, and on a lesser note Dreadwing's lower arms are very obviously hollow from an inward angle due to the transformation, which doesn't look too great. For articulation, Dreadwing can move at the neck, shoulder panels (at two points each), shoulders, elbows (at two points), hips, knees (at two points), and ball-jointed ankles, so he can get into a pretty decent number of poses, though he is a little back-heavy.
    I love Dreadwing's splayed wings in robot mode and some of his more avian qualities/detailing, but overall this is a bit of a downgrade from his previous design as far as mold design is concerned. Dreadwing's design has always had some kibble problems, but having so much of his robot mode tucked unconvincingly under and behind his jet mode is a pretty big downside that's hard to overlook, and his overly large/long shoulder panels in robot mode are irksome. His color scheme is also just a tad too busy, and his transformation a bit too straightforward and simple. I'd only recommend this if you're a huge Beast Hunters Autobots/Decepticons fan or want a "normal"-sized Dreadwing toy that's easier to transform than the voyager.

(Continued from Chapter 13, Deluxe Autobot Ratchet)
Dreadwing has known Starscream for too long for the cowardly Seeker to hide from him. Still, when he smashes into his former commander's hiding place, he expects a vicious fight, and is surprised to instead find Starscream with his weapons lowered. "Listen!" Starscream says. "Since when do I flee the moment Megatron is out of the picture? If he was deactivated because of me, I'd take command! As is my destiny!" Dreadwing aches to blast his fellow air warrior to atoms, but he knows Starscream is telling the truth. He levels a finger at the other Decepticon. "You will help me find Megatron then. Find him and bring him back."
(Continued in Chapter 15, Voyager Grimwing)

Dread Assault Cannon:
-Ancestral weapon passed down by generations of air warriors.
-Fully nuclear, making it hot and radioactive enough to destroy circuitry without piercing armor.
-Churning axe blades designed to hurl shredded armor back at victim, dealing ever more damage.

Strength: 8.0
Intelligence: 8.0
Speed: 8.0
Endurance: 7.0
Rank: 9.0
Courage: 7.0
Fireblast: 8.0
Skill: 5.0

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Prime Index