I have to say that this figure had alot of potential, but was somehow overlooked by the team at Hasbro. The tailfin hand was not a good selling point, and offering a different version of Air Raid stateside than was offered in Japan was disappointing.

Since Air Raid was one of three F-35's in the DOTM video game, it would have been more practical to offer the same type of figure stateside. The E-767 could have been a good figure, if they had chosen to use a different character for it.

I'm satsified with the Japanese version, and wish that Hasbro would begin to take notice of the quality and collectibility of items being offered by Takara-Tomy.

But that's just my pov.

 

I wouldn't call Takara's no logo Leadfoots or Chromia repaint particularly collectible. I'm also fairly sure Takara solicited that same green AWACS plane too.

...and there may well be a few people in Japan who wish Takara had turned out Space Case. They both get it wrong sometimes.

That said..... i do find the toy somewhat bewildering. I don't know if it was submitted like that, or if cost cutting removed something from it.

 

I just got this guy in the mail today and I quite like him. He's got a fun and unique transformation for all his quirks I think the figure looks very nice.

I wish the mace were a detachable type weapon (meaning I wish he had two real hands) but as it is I don't mind it as much as I thought I would. With it permanently attached, the lack of articulation in the mace "chain" is kind of a drag. I had thought for certain that it had at least one additional joint (I actually expected 2) to allow movement front to back in addition to side to side relative to the elbow. An actual chain would have been awesome and Hasbro proved they can still do it with HA Leadfoot but it would have been impractical in such a small figure scale and difficult to hide in vehicle form. All that said, I also wish the mace itself did a little bit more transforming so as to become more convincing. If even just the dorsal fin were able to split and pivot out allowing for an X configuration it would have been a much nicer effect.

Quality on my figure was top notch with the exception of a very loose wrist joint for his shield baring hand.

 

After playing with him a bit more I have another comment to add:

His upper arms bug me. I can't tell from the official pics or the instructions which way they are supposed to be oriented. If you rotate them with the slot (where the grey piece connects to the shoulder) facing inward like on most figures then the tops of his forearms are the smooth plane body and he has much limited elbow articulation. If you rotate the upper arm with the slot facing outward (which looks worse due to the visible slot and the visible peg holes) then you get the forearm detail on top and a full 90 degrees of elbow rotation. The second way looks to me like it is visually correct as far as the elbow and forearm are concerned and the range of articulation is purposely limited by the molding in the elbow joint here which further seems to indicate that it is correct, but that dang visible slot in the upper arm is an eyesore.

Initially I thought maybe the upper arm pieces are just backwards and needed to be transposed giving you an inward facing slow but the full elbow and detailed forearm but looking at the transformation I don't think that works. Anyone else tried anything with this or have comments?

 

I got mine today and my opinions of him haven't changed. A crappy bot mode saved ONLY by an amazing looking alt mode. It's a shame 'cuz the transformation is pretty nifty...but he still should've been a voyager.

He just looks too long and lanky in a bad way. There's NOTHING you can do with his legs and they just scream E-767 fuselage. Barrel chest and super thin waist, a useless right arm...This robot mode is just....terrible.

Alt mode? I love it. It's a good representation of a Boeing E-767 AEW&C aircraft with some other features, such as what appears to be air scoops on the fuselage. Aside from the barrel chest seen on the alt mode, the only other bad thing is just that goddamn hand that sits out of the aircraft.

A great alt mode totally ruined by a terrible bot mode. Hasbro never should've green lit this thing as a deluxe...Air Raid deserved to be a voyager. Unless you really like the E-767 AEW&C plane(which I do) then steer way clear of this and just go for Darksteel instead.

 

Actually he's a 737. There are AWACS 737's, but their radar isn't the disc like the 707 and 767 have. Hasbro kind of made a hybrid.

Boeing 737 AEW&C - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I see I see. Either way the only way I can think of that will make him better is a grey USAF or JASDF repaint. It'll be super easy to do also.

 

Dotm dlx Airraid

Picked him up today, honestly, haven't had such low expectations for a figure in a while. Surprise features were the mech tech ports on the underside of the wings, making an xtra Topspin almost nessesary. Paint apps are decent even though the sceme itself is far fetched at best.

The cons for me are his one hand, it just hangs out back in plane mode ...guess you could put a tail gun there. And that he only has one. You are pretty much forced to have him in bot mode with his mace always deployed. The radar dish makes a neat shield but an awkward gun. Weight distribution in the plane is poor as well. It wants to sit back on its tail because of the radar dishes weight. The radar dish is too heavy for his arm in bot mode. He's pretty small, and so skinny I'm guessing he'll fit right in with the upcoming Prime toys.

Pros, new character, new mold, no transformation cheats. The light piping is great, it actually has sculpted pupils. The head sculpt reminds me alot of Bulkhead, and as I already said I think he could look great alongside the upcoming Prime toys. Albeit a little too plain to really fit in the Bayverse.
He's a neat toy, you can reverse the normal position of his lower arms to get a better range of motion in the elbow. Minor issues aside I dont regret buying him I'm just not sure which line he fits in best.

Also, sorry for the pics I used my droid and its not rotating them properly during the upload.

 

bah! Someone beat me too it, I think its time for glasses cause I couldnt see it

 

Meh, still don't want it. They're going to have to make up a clever repaint to make me get this mold

 

Yeah..I'm taking an extra rotf Arcee head, resculpting the chest and making him into a Beast Wars homage Airrazor.

 

That sounds neat. MAYBE I'd buy a Decepticon repaint

 

These are actually flattering pics, makes Air Raid look very nice.

I think I'll wait for a repaint, don't like the green very much.

 

I got Air Raid ONLY for the alt mode. I'll probably never transform him except for when I do a repaint. Pretty awful toy all around. GREAT alt mode but face it...you don't buy a deluxe figure and never transform it, right? Terrible, terrible robot mode. The repaint will make the alt mode awesome though.

 

Nice jet mode, horrible bot mode.

 

Well then I can't wait to get mine.

So why get a voyager? Remember Stratosphere? What an ugly POS.

 

Stratosphere had his faults. The feet were the worst offenders on that figure, but it's hard to argue against the fact that the rest of him was great. Air Raid is WORSE in that regard. Stick figure limbs, barrel chest....totally poor proportions and a dopey looking head. As a voyager he would've at least benefited from better engineering, and his legs probably wouldn't look like blatant plane fuselage halves.

 

I guess that's true, though I dig his looks a lot. But I choose my TF's in terms of stability.
If Air Raid is stable then he is mine. If he's all wobbly and clunkety-loose like Blazemaster then...I'd rather save my FB TF coupons on...say...Jolt!

 

^ You might need to tighten his hip joints, but he's stable. Everything not supposed to move has a solid place to go.

 

Picked him up, the green looks much better in person.
He definitely has a gladiator-vibe going, and the right hand makes for an awesome mace. Absolutely love the irony of transforming into a defense-orientated aircraft.

Air Raid looks nice with Cyberverse/Legends Powerglide and Springer, and I'd imagine with Stratosphere too.