As the release date of Transformers: Age of Extinction draws near, Hasbro has been slowly getting us acquainted with what we’re hoping are going to be the stars of the new movie: the Dinobots! Of all the new movie toys that have seen release so far, the Dinobots are certainly among the most intriguing. More so than many of the G1 Transformers, the Dinobots carry a huge amount of nostalgia with them, so it’s difficult to not be curious as to how Michael Bay will handle them on screen. One Dinobot in particular that has raised a lot of questions is this guy: Strafe.
Name changes and character reassignments are par for the course with the Bay movies, so when it was revealed that the classic G1 character Strafe is now a two-headed flying dinosaur in the upcoming movie, all we could really do is shrug our shoulders and go with it. See, Strafe was never a Dinobot; he was part of the Technobot combiner team that combined to form Computron. The Dinobot’s air support always came from Swoop, who transformed into a Pterodactyl. I can only speculate as to the reasons why the name swap occurred, but I’m going to go with the usual: copyright issues involving the same “Swoop.”
Regardless of who this figure is supposed to be, this is an excellent addition to the movie Dinobot team, and he may be the strongest Dinobot figure yet, surpassing even the excellent Scorn.
There are two versions of Strafe hitting the pegs as we speak: there’s the standard release in wave 2 of the deluxe-class figures, and then there’s this Evolutions set that’s exclusive to Toys R Us stores. I opted for the Evolutions release only because I happened to find it first, and for the same price as the standard retail figure, a Dinobot minicon is included, so that’s a cool little bonus. Supposedly these two figures juxtaposed together is supposed to depict the “evolution” of the character and figure, but even that ends up being something of an oddity in this case.
The minicon is painted to look like a G1 Swoop, but the figure itself definitely does not come from the G1 days, so the set amounts to little more than two flying dinosaur characters being packed together. To add to the confusion, on the side of the blister, we see artwork of the actual G1 Strafe, the Technobot, that has nothing to do with either flying dinosaur figure. So with that piece of artwork added to the mix, this set then does feature the evolution of the character to some extent because we now see the Technobot and the Dinobot together, but it still feels very tossed together and random.
Fortunately Strafe himself is a pretty great figure, so all that other marketing malarkey is easy to ignore.
Like Scorn, Strafe is an exceptionally handsome figure, and the knight motif here is totally doing it for me. The combination of blue, silver, and black is a real knockout too, making Strafe one of the more handsome figures to come out of the movie line. I love the way his wings fold up to resemble a cape draped down his back, and all the various sharp points protruding outward make him look positively lethal. This is one good-looking figure.
Looking at Strafe’s head sculpt, he has the same cold, detached visage that made Scorn so darn cool. Once again, his head sculpt resembles a knight’s helmet, but this time the only paint detail comes from what looks like a glowing visor. The simplicity of his head sculpt definitely harkens back to certain G1 Transformer designs, and I am absolutely fine with that. The combination of a vicious-looking body and a cold, detached face work here, and I love that this is something that has been consistent among all the Dinobots. It makes them feel like an actual team more than just a random bunch of robots that turn into dinosaurs.
Strafe comes with a few accessories, like the crossbow pictured above. His carrying a crossbow is a cool idea, but the execution is just a smidge off. He can’t really hold it in any way that’s convincing, so it’s hard to get cool action poses with him wielding it. And there’s no spring-loaded mechanism to make the projectile fly out; instead, it’s engineered so that all you have to do is give the missile a gentle push and it will then go flying as it’s freed from the locking mechanism holding it in place. At first this comes across as just a simple cost-saving measure, but I actually like it better than the usual spring-loaded sort because I can’t accidentally press the button and then lose the missile forever. Not that I’ve ever done that. *Coughs*
Strafe’s wings can be extended in ‘bot mode to give him some serious presence on the toy shelf. He reminds me a lot of Marvel’s Archangel here, and I like to think he uses his wings as weapons in a similar fashion.
With his fellow Dinobot’s, Strafe fills out the “blue” requirement, evidently. They’re certainly a colorful bunch, that’s for sure. I love it, though. I keep asking myself if I’d buy another set done up in straight G1 colors (sliver-red-black), and I truthfully don’t know. I love the G1 colors on the G1 Dinobots, but I’ve been able to mentally divorce these characters from the G1 crew, so these colors have become important to me for these characters. And I can’t wait to see the entire movie Dinobot crew all assembled. They’re going to look fantastic as a group, like a bag of vicious-looking Skittles.
Strafe’s pterodactyl (?) mode isn’t a whole lot different from his ‘bot mode, unfortunately. His legs shorten, his arms become part of his wings, his ‘bot head vanishes to make room for his duel dino heads, and the crossbow is added to his back to fill in a bit of a gap — that’s pretty much it. It’s not the most effective dino mode I’ve ever seen, so I’m truly wondering if I even have it transformed properly. (If I don’t, and I honestly hope I don’t, please chime in below in the comments.) His wings are articulated and can “flap” if you choose to position them doing so, and that does help his dino mode look convincing, but it still needs more.
Strafe’s other accessories in addition to his crossbow are two sword/spear/things that can be plugged into his wings. In place, they remind me of the null-rays the Decepticon Seekers carry on their jet wings. It’s kinda cool, I guess.
What I really like about Strafe’s dino mode are his two heads. The sculpt is awesome, and what few paints apps there are look great. The soft turquoise of his eyes make them look as though they’re glowing, and the silver streak along his head almost looks like a racing stripe; it makes him look, well, “fast.”
The little minicon is a neat-enough throwback to the G1 Swoop figure and character, but it really isn’t all that great a figure overall, and I wouldn’t go out of my way to snag this set just for this figure. I’m not sure when it was originally released, but I definitely had it as part of a 3-pack with two other dinobot minicons when it was released in the original Classics line. The only difference here is that it’s painted to look like Swoop, but in sculpt it doesn’t resemble Swoop at all. And it is definitely tiny — it comes in at just two inches tall in ‘bot mode.
I like how he’s got the minicon sigil on his chest, but apart from that, there really isn’t a whole lot to say about this little guy.
Strafe is a must-have figure if you’re collecting the movie Dinobots, but I would recommend picking up this Evolutions set only if you happen to find it before the standard release. The minicon Dinobot is a nifty little extra, but don’t go out of your way to get it.
It looks as though this set is shipping to Toys R Us stores in solid cases of eight (at least there were eight on the pegs when I found them), so it shouldn’t be too hard to track down. Otherwise, the standard Strafe figure will eventually be available at any of the usual retailers.