Wow...kinda surprised so many dig this one. It like like amateur hour at hastak design studios to me.

More power to you guys...someone has to love the stuff

 

I got him today and I think he's pretty neat. Definitely better than a lot of BW figures I own.

My only real gripe is how awkward his beast mode legs are. I feel like his neck needs to lift higher and he's just staring at the ground.

 

Now there's a nicely balanced response! I salute you, good sir.

I generally though the same from the pictures, but I haven't been able to find any Lazerbacks in my area, despite spending the better part of the afternoon searching. I'm rather excited to finally get hold of a new beast figure once I find one, though, even if it is a tad simplistic. The robot mode seems to have plenty of personality to make up for it.

 

Can someone post pics with him, Thundertron and/or Leo Prime?

 

Here's some crummy photos with Thundertron.

Tried taking a pic where Lazerback didn't seem so gigantic next to Thundertron in beast mode, but it kept turning out that way. Their shoulders are about even, but Thundertron is overall larger, of course





My opinion on Lazerback is I LOVE the little jerk. The bio on the really nicely designed instruction sheet helps a bit with that. Avoiding SPOILERS for the story that continues throughout the instructions(and I assume other media), I'll just say that this guy straight up hates everyone so it adds to my appreciation of his design. He looks like a scrappy brawler itching for a fight. And his dragon mode is kind of cute while also looking like it's ready to pounce at any moment.

That said, this figure is not for everyone. For several reasons that I will point out and forgive. Out of love.

1) This guy gives me a huge Beast Machines vibe, including the limbs-to-limbs aspect of the transformation that was mentioned. What I like is that his design and engineering succeed where Beast Machines often failed due to way too many gimmicks crammed into figures and often a sort of unfinished feeling to the toy. This guy does it better. That unfinished feeling lingers in the bit of tail that doesn't become his flail. It raises and lowers for each mode, held perfectly fine by its own tight joint, but in both modes it doesn't quite go up or down enough or clip in any way that streamlines it with the surrounding areas. It's not awful, but you'll just want to push it more, hoping it will incorporate flawlessly into either mode instead of just well enough. You'll also wish you could rotate the dragon claws under his arms backwards under his elbows. They don't work that way since the ball joint is designed with the dragon's movement in mind.

2) If bits of soft plastic piss you off for some reason, this isn't your guy. His detachable tail, ear fin things and opening gun flaps are soft. I personally appreciate that the soft plastic here and on Dreadwing's fins allow for thin pointy bits that aren't going to break off. They all hold their shape well without drooping or anything. I don't love it on the tail because I wish the thing was jointed so the axe flail had more options. I don't often use it since I really like the sculpts of his hands.

3) The dreaded new point of rage and debate in 2013 WILL be the marble swirl plastic, and with legitimate reason. The swirls are random, so some figures will look asymmetrical. Lazerback's just got it on his black ankles, so it's no big deal that one ankle on mine has almost no swirl. The swirl is a light gray, so at first I was all "STRESS MARKS! WTF!??!?" and you might get that impression for a moment as well.

4) The whole yellow frame that holds his collar, both heads and a little arm for the gun to plug into is another sort of weird thing in the engineering. It's held in by a little clip and mine was unplugged out of the package, but it's still held on by a slot thing on his back and I didn't know what was going on. It's not bad, just kind of odd.

5) Spring loaded missile! Now that's a proper Beast era feature right there. Just like the Beast era, be prepared to chase this missile around after accidentally launching it due to the Beast era hair-trigger button. I the how the double-tipped missile looks peeking out of the cannon.

Overall, I think he's fun and I look forward to more beasts in the Prime style. He's got some personality and attitude and he poses and stands well. I dig the unusual angles and proportions. I flip his shoulder pads out in bot mode since they have a joint that isn't used otherwise. You can twist the feet around to sort of make less beasty feet, as seen in the next photo, but he loses some height and they don't look great.

I didn't care at all about this toy and I only got him since he was a new mold and there was a sale. Now? The goofy monster does enough right that I'm excited to see what's next. I find that irritating, since I wasn't planning on getting into this line.





Oh, did I mention? Lazerback and Thundertron are HOMIES 4 LIFE.

 

This is terrible news because I was hoping to avoid the line as well, and dammit, now you made me want him. He was looking better and better as more reviews came out and the last thing I need is a glowing review from somebody who loves beastformers. I'm not escaping the year without dumping a ton more cash on TFs, am I?  

 

Nope, you are not.

But really, I'm confused with this figure. I don't even know if I'd call it good, but as soon as I messed with him for a few minutes I started to wish I'd bought the other 3. And the other 3 are just extra-insane versions of stuff I have. There's a goofy appeal here that I can't quite put my finger on.

I didn't even love Beast Machines, so much as I bought most of it since that's what was available and I'd just gotten back into TFs not long before it started. I found a lot of it interesting with all of the action features, chrome and translucent plastic, but they rarely ended up being as good as I wanted them to be as figures. Lazerback looked terrible to me, but I actually find him pretty fun.

Lazerback: a small reward for Beast Machines fans. I prefer to think of him as a direct apology for RID Bruticus.

 

YESSS!!Now Thundertron can have a second crewmember (For some reason I put my Prime Dead End under his command)

 

Thanks, looks like he'll fit right in with Leo Prime.  

 

Okay, I must admit he is extremely uninspired but I still really love him all the same. A few people have mentioned a Beast Machines vibe, and that's what I get from him as well, especially with his colors. Somehow he also reminds me of those simple scout Beast Wars figures, like Spittor, and that is a great plus.

Yes, he's remarkably simple and not that exciting in transformation, but both modes look good and fun, and the less complex a toy is the less room there is for error, in my opinion. I'll probably pick him up.

 

Pretty much worse than initial pics suggested. Such an easy pass for me.

Bring on more FoC IMHO.

Edit: The ONE thing I do like about Beast Hunters in general is the return to spring loaded weapons. Those add a LOT of play value IMHO and I'm really glad to see them come back. Now if we could only get them with actually good molds.

 

It isn't appealing to me as much as it did during the reveal in New York Comic Con. Easy pass.

 

Agreed. It makes sense for TFs to have spring missiles...I just get pissed when they pack in a spring weapon with GIJOEs that are as big as the figure itself. Spring weapons are welcome compared to the powerizer crap.

 

Little of Beast Hunters outside of the CV stuff does much for me, but between this thread and Emgo's video, I might actually spring for the little gargoyle. I don't mind the simple transformation, and I don't have a lot of beastformers anyway - and none from the actual BW/BW era proper either.

Wonder how this fellow would look in a gray-black-copper scheme, indeed closer to a stone gargoyle...

 

Okay after watching a video review, that ankle joint is a deal-breaker. If he was overall solid and stable he's an instant buy but I'm not risking for a toy that could topple over.

 

Which ankle joint? The hind legs, I assume? If you mean the ball joint, that's an easy with with a dab of Future or several other methods. Not that you should have to do that, of course.

Mine stands pretty well, but the ball ankle move freely enough that I can see how a sample even the slightest bit looser can be a real problem. His goofy chicken legs certainly wouldn't help, either. On the plus side, if you get tight joints or tighten them yourself, those big-ass feet are great for holding him up.

 

Beast mode reminds me a bit of that old Firecon, Flamefeather. Probably just because of the eagle head.

Fond memories of that toy, my best friend had it and we used to play with it all the time. This toy actually doesn't look bad..but I'll probably jump on it if it gets a Flamefeather repaint.

 

Yes he cold be done as another Firecon to follow on from the previous Botcon one I suppose.

 

I just picked up this guy earlier today, hes different and I like him. Wasnt sure if I was gonna or not. But he looks really cool, to me, in person. I havent seen in mentioned, so Im guessing its not much of a common problem, but I guess one might wanna keep an eye out. The rubbery ear things, mine had 2 right ones on him.