Striker
Beast mode is a stegosaurus.
This toy is a repaint of one of the Japanese Beast Wars toys, Sabreback.
The only part remolded is the robot chest, so that the spark orb can be
placed in it. This mode is very nicely detailed, with several wrinkles
and creases etched into the plastic. The color scheme is also very cool,
and makes this toy stand out. One of the downsides, though, is that you
can't really move and parts in this mode except for the mode- no neck or
mouth articulation, etc, which gives this mode a very limited set of poses.
The only major extra in this mode, besides the obvious "robot mode" colorations
here and there, is the robot mode feet pads that are attached to the back
of the back feet. These look very odd, and not much of an attempt was made
to cover them up.
The first appearance
one may get from Striker's robot mode is that Striker is that he's some
kind of native Indian. His face certainly looks like it, with a serious
expression molded into it, and a large hat seemingly made of feathers.
Another feature that adds to this is the long "ponytail" made from the
stegosaurus plates on his back. Yet another neat feature is that these
plates can move individually! By utilizing his feature you can move the
plates around so that they look like Indian-style "bows" to keep Striker's
"hair" in place. A very nice idea! The detailing in this mode remains just
as excellent as it was in the beast mode, with robot wires and pumps molded
onto the inside of the organic beast mode parts. An interesting molding
feature is that Striker's legs are half-organic and half-robotic! This
mode does have its disadvantages, though. The most noticeable extras are
the two long "flesh" plates jutting upward from Striker's robot shoulders.
Surprisingly, as big and odd-looking as these plates are, they don't get
in the way much, because they move with the arm. The two extras that get
in the way the most are the two "flesh" plates on Striker's hips- since
these are connected to the body, and not to the legs, themselves, these
tend to hinder movement in the legs a little. Striker's weapon is pretty
neat- pull back on the large stegosaurus plate on the top, and the tail
weapon opens, revealing a blaster that looks somewhat like the center of
a flower. While this doesn't look exactly threatening, you could pretend
it shot toxic spores or something like that. One of the downsides to this
weapon, though, is that it won't stay open when you push the plate back-
it automatically closes once you let go of it, and when it isn't opened,
it looks kinda dumb. It looks like Striker is holding a humongous tail
for a weapon.
A very nice transformer
in both modes. It has its flaws, but not many. My personal favorite of
the first wave of deluxe Dinobots. Highly recommended.
Review by Beastbot