Beast Wars Polar Claw

Robot Mode: First of, on the matter of faces. Like many first wave Beast Wars figures Polar Claw has two. A more-or-less humanoid one and a beastial, mutant face. The package features the humanoid one as his 'real' face, but his sole appearance in the Beast Wars comic series from IDW features the mutant one. So, since I don't like the grin on the humanoid one, I've decided that, for the sake of this review, the mutant face is the 'real' one. But it's really a matter of taste. Anyway, As a figure Polar Claw isn't half-bad, a powerful-looking robot with some fun features. He can snap out an 'attack-claw' from one of the beast legs on his shoulders and launch his bat-drone from the other. The bat also doubles as a hand weapon for him. What I don't like is that Polar Claw looks a little plain here, almost like a G1 figure where you forgot to put on the stickers. So bottom line I can only call him average.

Beast Mode: As you might have guessed from the name, Polar Claw transforms into a polar bear. The robot parts all fold away quite nicely, only the arms are somewhat visible under the belly, but not much. So all in all a good beast mode, but it being all white again makes it look somewhat plain. I know, I know, polar bears are white, so what are you gonna do? Anyway, the beast has a gimmick, too: Opening the bear's mouth unleashes twin fangs, making him a sabretooth polar bear, I guess. Not bad, but not all that special, either.

Remarks: Another no-show Beast Wars character, Polar Claw only has a short cameo in the IDW Beast Wars comic to his name. The figure is among the less interesting of the line. There is nothing there which I can point to and say "that's bad", but it doesn't really offer all that many high points, either. So unless you're a Beast Wars fanatic or a polar bear lover, there's really no good reason to get this toy.

Rating: C-