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TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)
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Warcry's review of: Waverider

Name: Waverider
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Naval Warfare
Sub-Group: Pretenders
"Freedom for all starts with freedom of navigation."

A furious fighter and formidable adversary in battle. Prefers exploring the ocean bottom for buried treasure over warfare. Enjoys the "out-of-body" experience of working side-by-side with his humanoid shell. Without shell, transforms to aquatic sea-skimmer capable of diving to a depth of 25,000 feet! Armed for underwater combat with armored shell, energy-spear gun and a thermal broad-axe!

Waverider ranks pretty highly among the Pretender toys. In fact, I'd go as far as to say he's one of the top three or four. Waverider appeared in the comics as one of the Fortress Maximus's troops. He appeared in US #40, disappeared for thirty-odd issues, then got smashed into a wall by a fusion of Megatron and Ratchet. In his only other memorable US appearance, he got scrapped by Unicron. Not exactly what I'd call a good track record.

Vehicle Mode:
As per usual for first-year Pretenders, Waverider's alternate mode is obviously a folded-up robot. However, unlike many first-year Pretenders, his alt-mode is also a decent facsimile of what it is intended to be. In Waverider's case, that means a naval combat vehicle. He looks decent with or without his gun attached. In this mode, he is mainly black, with a gold cockpit and several grey panels. Not too bad, I must say.

Robot Mode:
Waverider is a very nice looking robot. He's a little lanky, but certainly not scrawny. In this mode, Waverider is mostly black, with grey feet and upper thighs. His optic band is gold, which really stands out from the rest of his body. His head is a little too large, and his arms are a little too small. Not enough to look bad, mind you, but it's one of those things you notice when you're writing a toy review for him at 12:30 at night. He's articulated at the shoulders, hips, and knees (though the knees bend the wrong way). This lets him make a wide variety of poses, though the joints on mine are too loose to do much anymore. He can carry his gun in this mode, though it honestly looks a bit ridiculous. His feet are fragile, and tend to break off if handled roughly. Despite all his minor flaws, I really like Waverider. Not only is he good for a Pretender, he stacks up pretty well against the earlier TFs of comparable size.

Pretender Shell:
The shell itself is mostly a dark grey, with bits of red, gold, light grey and black tossed in. He carries his gun in this mode, as well as a nice-looking broadaxe. Unfortunately he can't do much of anything with the axe, since he's only articulated at the shoulders. He looks decent, and his shell has a decent amount of moulding detail on it. One beef that I have, though. His helmet and belt are a very light grey, which doesn't fit at all with the rest of the shell. To make it worse, the helmet tends to develop brown speckles after time. My Waverider has succumbed to this, as has my cousin's.

Transformation: 4 - Not too difficult, not too convincing, but not horrible.
Durability: 4 - Mine's pretty well-used, but it's still more beaten up that it should be. Helmet speckling, loose joints, and feet that tend to fall off for absolutely no reason are not a good thing.
Fun: 9 - A not-bad shell, with a decent alt-mode and a very good robot mode. I know I had fun with him as a child, and I still do as an adult.
Price: 6 - About $60 sealed, $30 loose. Not ridiculously high, but not exactly a bargain, either.
Summary: 8 - One of my favorite Pretenders. Good for play, as well as display.

 
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