Here's one of those late to the game looks at something I should have been more excited about when it
first came around.
In scale transforming Transformers and the classic 3.75" scale G.I.Joe together in one package. It should have been a win. It's really not. It wasn't even the cost at the time but the real lack of imagination and effort on such a big company that could have knocked this really simple and long overdue natural out of the park.
I didn't pay full price for this. I traded in some of my little bits of remaining stuff and thought it would be fun to try out some Transformers for a change.
This is not a good Transformer. I'm not a Transformer collector but my last Transformers were the amazing Generation 2 Laser Rod Optimus Prime, the G2 big tank Megatron, and the incredible G2 Dreadwing. These are all gone now. These are all mid-1990's products. They are FAR SUPERIOR to this Bumblebee.
This robot was a real let down. This is why I didn't get it right away, I knew I would be disappointed. I was right. But, surprisingly, the Stalker figure might be the better half of the package even though I'm not interested in having any limited swivel neck only figures. (That's so "1984.")
This robot form is really hard to play with. There's some human like movement but the tires get in the way, the roll-cage is annoying and pointless, and the mid-section doesn't "snap in" to hold the torso form, all creating a very wonky robot figure that has you spending more time correcting the robot form or fighting conflicting parts.
This mid-transforming mode is just so all over the place but it's not to far off the way the robot just gets loose while playing with it.
The vehicle mode, once you finally cobble it together, kind of holds form fairly well, though. This is the better form of this Transformer.
As a G.I.Joe vehicle fan, more so than the figures, there's a lot more that kind of really does "upgrade" the A.W.E. Striker. To a point. But also has many points that make it so much less than a regular A.W.E. Striker.
Where it could have been a much cooler package would have been the inclusion of another accessory. Another Transformers weapon or something, there's usable space right here.
Let's not get into how this should have just been the Transformer Beachcomber. Even in a darker blue and gray, this would have been a much more cool G.I.Joe vehicle. But the easy stick to the same old formula of rinse and repeat pattern seems to be acceptable to everyone else out there. In Beachcomber blue/gray/black, a really cool variation of a "night striker" A.W.E. Striker with some new accessory armaments would have been so cool.
The original A.W.E. Striker does not have a folding brush guard or blue lights, so that's a plus 1 point here.
Non-steering front wheels take that plus 1 point away just like that, however.
The pivoting antenna holders are the single best improving feature ever. I always had my A.W.E. Strikers antennae off the vehicles. On the shelf or in a rubbermaid storage box. I didn't want this getting bent.
Having this position changing feature on a regular A.W.E. Striker would be great. But it's almost pointless as these antenna are really easy to pull out and plug right back in.
The seats are separate pieces and look more padded compared to the traditional one-piece bottom of the A.W.E. Striker. This is a huge plus.
The plus is taken away form the see-through floor somewhat, though, it's not horrible, so maybe a 1/2-plus take away.
The first A.W.E. Striker with tilt-steering is a really neat detail.
That's also the most action the remote recoilless rifle control has ever seen on an A.W.E. Striker. No hoses or wires, so we can only assume this is a wireless control.
The people who make this Transformer probably didn't know what that was anyway. It's a thing that was there, so they just stuck it back in there to play up the 1985 look-a-like thing.
All-in-all, it's a better A.W.E. Striker than a Bumblebee.
The "ride on the back of a robot" stand thing is just lame. Having that figure stand on the back in vehicle form would have been more fun. Or incorporating a roll-cage strengthening part on the back that can double as a third gunner seat would have been a little to much to ask, I suppose.
I won't buy any more of these G.I.Joe Transformers unless I can get it for almost nothing. And even then I'm even now just contemplating maybe trading this one for something else. Even though it's opened and the "value" now really diminished, I'm just not feeling the "staying power" of this thing.
The big H needs to step up the effort. There's no need to replicate the past over and over and over and over again just because it's easy. Take some elements and start making good products again.
People who buy this simply because they made it and think it will lead to "them making more" need to also upgrade their standards. Some things were really better back in the day and they are not better a few decades later at all.
