OTCC Airazor (Dawn of Future Past)

Prelude: Seventeen years ago I wrote a review for an Energon figure called Slugslinger. In 2007 this figure was reused by the Official Transformers Collectors Club for one of its first exclusive figures, Airazor, portraying the Beast Wars character in its pre-Earth configuration. Now I have finally had the opportunity to take a look at this club exclusive figure. Let’s say go!

Many thanks to fellow TF collector Fuchs Geronimo, who loaned me Airazor for this review.

Robot Mode: Airazor (or Chromia 10 Pilot, as she is semi-officially called) is a repaint of Slugslinger with a new paintjob and a new head. The new head doesn’t exactly resemble that of Airazor as seen in the Beast Wars TV show, but it’s close enough to make you believe they’re the same character. The new paintjob, orange and brown, is a good match to Airazor’s TV colors, so overall the figure looks pretty good as a pre-Earth Cybertronian mode Airazor.

New head and colors aside, the figure is identical to Energon Slugslinger. A pretty cool looking figure, very nicely articulated for a figure from that time, with a cool shoulder weapon that can fold down onto the back, and posable wings. Of course the figure carries the same drawbacks, such as the kibble on the arms (wings, landing gear, thrusters) that restricts their movement. Overall, though, a very nice figure and it just works very nicely as Airazor. So bottom line for the robot mode: great figure choice, new head and colors work fine. The mold itself has some drawbacks, yes, but otherwise: very nice.

Alternate Mode: Airazor transforms into a science-fiction style jet with a double cockpit. The transformation is surprisingly complex and getting the shoulders and forearms into the right position is not quite as easy as it looks, but in the end you get a pretty nice-looking jet with no underbelly worth mentioning and the big shoulder gun peeking out between the two cockpits.

The jet has a four-piece retractable landing gear and there are almost no visible robot bits. The back of the robot’s head is kind of standing out a bit when you look at the back of the jet, but that’s about the only bad thing I can say in terms of looks. Sadly the jet has some drawbacks in terms of stability. While the legs that form the cockpit and the wings that form the body all tab in, the connections aren’t terribly stable and tend to pop out again. So while the jet holds together well when standing there, flying it around the room will probably make it come apart a bit.

Overall I really like this jet mode despite its somewhat questionable stability. And an alien jet is, of course, a great choice for Airazor’s pre-Earth alternate mode. So bottom line: pretty nice, though again with some limitations.

Remarks: The Transformers Collectors Club published a text story called “The Razor’s Edge”, portraying Airazor’s activities before going on board the Axalon. This was, coincidentally, also the first appearance of Flamewar. Airazor also appeared in the 2006 Botcon comic story “Dawn of Future’s Past”, which showed how she ended up on the Axalon after aiding Tigatron in the pursuit of Megatron and his renegade Predacons.

Looking back at the review I wrote for Energon Slugslinger seventeen years ago, I judged the poor guy a bit too harshly, I think. The mold itself is pretty cool despite some design flaws (especially the arm kibble in robot mode) and it was a great choice for a Cybertron Mode Airazor. So despite “only” being a repaint with a new head, it’s a pretty cool figure and should I find it for a decent price, I fully intend to add it to my collection one of these days. So if you’re a fan of either Beast Wars or Energon (or both, like me), this figure is recommended. Just be aware of its flaws, too.

Rating: B-