Airazor (Beast Battle Masters/ Beast Alliance)

Let's take a look back at the Beast Alliance toys from last summer. I was quite the fan of them and plan on covering the entire line here even if posts are sporadic. I've managed to collect all the toys from Beast Alliance (the Hasbro version), and Airazor here was the hardest to get. If this was a social media post, I'd follow that up with a 'lol' and maybe a laughing emoji. I found Airazor at Publix, of all places, while picking up the Mrs and I up lunch from their deli.

Grocery stores can be interesting places to find toys and Publix occasionally has a good selection. The only problem is... the price is more than you'd pay at a regular store. Normally Airazor would be $5, but I paid $10. Which honestly, got under my skin. I expect to pay more the the three 'Burning' Battle Masters exclusive to Japan whenever I get them. However, a $5 figure whose class normally stayed in stock... well that's a pisser. I had assumed her being in the end of the line, she'd be harder to get. So I paid the extra money to get her along with the Mrs sub sandwich and my sushi. Publix has a great. That was in December and come January... my local Walmart is all Airazors. Well, I guess I paid extra for the piece of mind. 

Airazor as a Beast Battle Master is pretty great. She's larger than the others thanks to her wingspan. According to the TF Wiki it's 4", which doesn't seem right to me. I didn't measure her though, so maybe. Airzor has quite a bit of movement due to the ball sockets her wings use. It's basic, but feels like a lot compared to some of the other Beast Battle Masters. Thanks to this extra movement, she has two weapon modes instead of the usual one. She can either transform into a crossbow blaster or a shield-blaster depending on where you fold the wings. Airazor's colors are an odd choice. I feel like they were chosen to represent the statue/artifact of her seen in the movie. Which is neat, but I feel may be lost on some people. It looks good and makes her stand out from the other Beast Battle Masters on the pegs. If she were brown (as you'd expect), she'd be too similar to Optimus Primal and Rhinox.

In either of her weapon modes, Airazor can be held by most Transformers figures compatible with the 5mm system. You could also plug a blast effect inter her or Optimus's gun barrel for extra fun.  Sadly Airazor is seemingly the last new mold Beast Battle Master of Beast Alliance. I know being a move tie in line, it would be a limited series. Part of me hopes Transformers One will have a similar partner figure line as I just love this sort of thing. There's a few more Beast Alliance figures that we'll be looking at over the coming weeks. It's a fun little tie-in line to a movie that I wish did better financially than it did (though we'll only know box office, not ongoing profits). Like I said, hopefully something like it will accompany the upcoming Transformers One as the mask figures seem to be making a return. Fingers crossed.

Scorponok with Sandspear (Beast Weaponizers/Beast Alliance)

Beast Weaponizers are my favorites from Beast Alliance with the individual Beast battle Masters coming in second. I love a good partner figure and love one even better when they turn into a weapon. I was really looking forward to Scorponok with Sandspear ever since the set was announced. Currently, as I don't own the Arcee or Wheeljack Beast Weaponizers yet. It's my 2nd favorite after Optimus Primal. Scorponok just has one glaring problem that I'm going to focus on now before I spend the rest of the post talking about everything I like about it.

His upper body is ridiculously hollow. I expect some hollowness in my Transformers. That's a reality of the line. Either from engineering or keeping the toy on budget, it's just something to expect. Sometimes it can be ignored or is hidden... not with Scorponok. His upper body is literally just the front, there's no back. One can be argued that this is due to the transformation... it feels cheap here and seems like it could of been done better.

With that out of the way... this is a great toy. Scorponok and Sandspear are both scorpions as seen in Rise of the Beasts. Sandspear turns onto a bladed melee weapon that works oddly well. In addition to Sandspear, Scorponok's tail can be wielded as a sword. Clearly he's a melee fighter. The weapons look cool and give an air of menace. Both toys are primarily brown with some accent colors. Scorponok features some green giving him a Rocks Bugs & and Things vibe. If I'm comparing to other toys though and to be honest, this looks like a Gobot. Scorponok's robot head and overall look make me wish Scorponok was a Monster Gobot... because he looks like one. This design feels more like a Bandai toy than a Takara toy.

I really wish a version of this toy in Scorp or Creepy's colors would be released. Sandspear could be one of the alternate colors... or hey McDonald's Scorponok. Whoa. Either way... this is a spiritual Monster Gobot or Devil Invader in my opinion. Scorponok is well articulated and is a really pleasant figure (outside of that back issue) that transforms into a gnarly looking scorpion with some viscous claws. It's a simple toy... but a really cool one. I do hope for some future recolors. It just such a cool set that I want to buy it over and over again in various decoes. I really like it... as you can probably tell. Scorponok with Sandspear is released as part of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line. That adds to it's uniqueness I think... I don't know how to end this. I just keep wishing he was a Monster Gobot. 

Optimus Prime with Chainclaw (Beast Alliance/Beast Weaponizers)

Getting back to Beast Alliance, we're taking a look at Optimus Prime. This toy of Optimus is like the others in it's class in that you have a very similar to Core Class figure (about Robot Master sized) with a Beast Battle Master partner included. You all know I'm a fan of partner figures and this gimmick, so obviously I like this set. Thing is, I really like this set. There's just no getting over just how awesome the idea is. Optimus Prime has a wolf that turns into a chainsaw. In the future, the product description will be in a book of great poetry. Let's talk about Chainclaw for a second. He's a wolf or maybe a dog, that's not clear nor is the gender. I'm just assuming. Like Arrowstripe, Chainclaw is a more simple Beast Battle Master than the individually packed ones. It is what it is. 

Chainclaw is a name reuse of an older G1 guy. This kind of thing happens, especially with glorified accessories. It just is what it is. There's not much sense getting too worked up over it, not to mention the whole wolf/chainsaw things just kinda makes everything better. The chainsaw of course can be held by Optimus Prime, but is compatible with most 5mm ports and hands. 

Speaking of Optimus... since he's technically the main figure of the set (personally I bought the set for Chainclaw)... he's a pretty standard Optimus Prime. The intention is a representation of his appearance in Rise of the Beasts, though could really be his classic self if you so desired. I wouldn't be too surprised to see this figure pop up elsewhere down the road. Or any other Beast Alliance figures either, they could work in multiple places and I almost think that was intentional. Optimus is decently articulated for a toy his size and price class and honesty pretty nice. Like, there's nothing bad to really say here. If you came in expecting the smaller toy at a lower price to be a Masterpiece style toy, you fully deserve that disappointment. If you come in knowing what you're getting... you'll be pleasantly surprised. That's been my general impression with Beast Alliance toys. The Beast Weaponizers are generally nicer figures than the others. Optimus could use a little extra paint, which is obviously a price cutting issue. If you're prone to customs or adding extra detail to your toys, he's a prime candidate. I'm not apologizing for the pun. 

Optimus Primal (Beast Battle Masters)

It's not secret that I love partner figures, it's said in every post about them. These Beast Battle Masters are a fun addition to the Rise of the Beasts toy line and an easy sell for me as a fan of Battle Masters and partner figures in general. Optimus Primal is another repeating character from this series. Like I said, I'd rather them all be new characters, but it doesn't bother me too much. Optimus is pretty neat. As a Beast Battle Master, he turns from beast to gun. The gorilla form is simple, but pretty good. There's a surprising bit of articulation for such a small and simple little figure. 

Optimus transforms into a pretty large blaster. It can be held by all 5mm compatible Transformers and obviously is a part of Beast Alliance. There's not really any information about the toy, but I like to think it shoots large electrical blasts. Primal's ape mode was inspired by King Kong, so it's only natural that Kong's lightening abilities be reflected in this gun mode. I'm obviously thinking too much about a silly little toy of a gorilla that turns into a gun... but that's fun to do. I really like how these are making me think alot about other things. Rise of the Beasts has some great toys, and this is another one.

Optimus Primal with Arrowstripe (Beast Weaponizers/Beast Alliance)

Beast Weaponizers are my favorite part of the Beast Alliance sub-line.  When Rise of the Beasts toys were first getting leaked out on news sties, this particular set was one of the first I saw and was instantly hooked. Beast Weaponizers are a two-pack of a traditional Transformers figure with a Beast Battle Master partner. However it's not specifically stated if partners are Beast Battle Masters or Beast Weaponizers. I tend to think that the set itself is called Beast Weaponizers and the partners are Beast Battle Masters, so that's how I'll be referring to them from here on out. If I'm wrong, I'll correct that in the future.

In this specific set, Arrowstripe is the Beast Battle Master. Not just that, but a new character! Arrowstripe is a cleverly named white tiger that converts into a crossbow. This crossbow can held by most 5mm compatible Transformers. Most Beast Alliance toys can also be mounted via ports on their arms and bodies as well. It's a fun gimmick that hearkens back to Armada. Some of these are even Mini-Con port compatible... which I've noticed on some newer toys as well. Arrowstripe is made from a different plastic grade than the individual Beast Battle Masters and isn't as articulated. That's likely a cost cutting measure as the set was only $16. I didn't mind it too much, but it's worth pointing out.

Optimus Primal is the set's main figure and a pretty nice toy all around. These Beast Weaponizer figures are similar to a Core Class Transformers toy. However they're to scale with the Beast Changers for some nice uniformity. The Beast Combiners (I'll cover them too, don't worry) main figures are to similar scale as well. However they're more simple. I appreciate that everything is to similar scale in Beast Alliance, even though there's some differences in the toys themselves. I'm actually really impressed with Optimus Primal here. This is a fairly nice little figure. Thanks to his beast mode, Primal has some pretty decent articulation. While his colors match the movie, his sculpt is classic Beast Wars. Like some of the Cheetor toys, I'm sure this is due to design changes during production. 

Optimus transforms into his gorilla form pretty easily. Admittedly the beast mode is a lot more simpler than I'd like it to be. On all fours it isn't terribly impressive as the beast mode head will look straight down. Standing upright looks pretty good. With some additional color this would be a nicer toy, but once again, movie. Still, it's pretty decent. I like this one a lot and it's definitely my favorite of the Beast Alliance toys so far. Actually, I think the Beast Weaponizers overall are my favorite part of Beast Alliance. I'm not including the stand alone Beast Battle Changers in that as they belong to the Rise of the Beasts line overall. It's a weird distinction to make, but I'm trying to be specific to keep confusion down. Optimus Primal with Arrowstripe is probably the best set overall in the Beast Alliance toys, which is probably why it's a little harder to get than others. Fortunately the Mrs ordered me one off Amazon right away when they first showed up. This is a solid showing and is pretty recommended. Especially if you're a Beast Wars fan as it's a good little figure of the classic Primal.

Cheetor (Beast Battle Masters)

Like the prior Beast Battle Masters I've talked about here, Cheetor has a beast main form and a weapon alt mode. I really do love a good partner figure, so I'm enjoying the crap out of these. Like prior uses, I do wish these were new characters... but whatever. I like to think Cheetor here is an updated Catgut, even if his weapon mode is different. Speaking of that, Cheetor's weapon mode is some sort of large claw weapon. I'm not sure of it's a melee weapon, or perhaps some sort of electric trident type gun.

He's fairly articulated in cheetah mode, not super articulated, but the basic parts move. If there's anything to point out, it's that his main body is gray as opposed to a matching yellow. I understand he's likely group molded with another toy to save production costs, but the consumer doesn't save anything when they do that, so it just looks cheap. Cheetor is pretty great, just a bit weird.

Skullcruncher (Beast Battle Masters)

Adding some variety to the Rise of the Beasts toys in the aisle is Skullcruncher. This particular toy of Skullcruncher is a Beast Battle Master and turns into a cannon looking gun. If you take issue with the name reuses of Skullcruncher in this toy, the designed has said it was inspired by Gatoraider. I like to think that's who he's supposed to be.

However, as a fan of partner figures like this... I'm not really nit picking the name. I'm really enamored by the idea of an crocodile that turns into a gun. That's all sorts of neat. I like to think of a cartoon episode where Skullcruncher is used and shoots some swamp gas powered attack. If you have one of those blast effect thingies around, it can plug into the barrel of the cannon looking gun. Like other toys in this line, the gun can be held by most other figures or plugged into the ports present on some.

Neatly enough, the handle is also compatible with Armada style power link ports... which I noticed some on my Voyager Rhinox figure (more on him later). Skullcruncher is absolutely charming. His little gator mouth can open to bite your ass before turning into a gun and shooting it.

Rhinox (Beast Battle Masters)

Beast Summer is beginning with an analogy for life. You need thick skin and to charge forward, you need to be a rhino. A rhino also makes for a good beast mode in battle. Thick skin, heavy hitter, charge forward. That's why Rhinox as a Beast Battle Master just works. Admittedly I'm a big fan of both beast warriors and Battle Masters... but it's hard to not enjoy the idea of an animal based partner figure that changes into a weapon. In this case Rhinox changes into a chain gun. This is super appropriate as something like a rhino needs to be a BFG and well... it's Rhinox, those signature chain guns of doom are a necessity.

As a Beast Battle Master, Rhinox's main form is his rhino beast mode. It makes for a great partner figure, though I do wish they would have made it a different character in this form as there is a plethora of other Rhinox toys in the line. However they probably want to get some name recognition going as well as there's only so many trademarks in the budget. It also makes me think of the Arms Microns from Go! that were main characters as smaller weapons based partners. Like Bulkhead Knuckle. That being said, I'd love a boxing glove alt mode in Beast Alliance.

Transformation into gun mode is pretty easy as it should be for something this small. To transform into gun form, you essentially split the rhino in half and the chain gun barrel comes out the rear Ace Ventura style. The sides and extra parts fold away and you've got a BFG for whatever figure you wish to use it. I paired it with Battle Charges Rhinox. Because yo dawg, I heard you like rhinos. Also that toy was handy.