Beast Hunters Lazerback

Discussion in 'Transformers Feedback & Reviews' started by Twin Cast, Dec 22, 2012.

  1. Thelonicon

    Thelonicon Well-Known Member

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    I picked him up yesterday along with Soundwave (who I only got because I had a bunch of Toys R Us reward certificates that were expiring.) I was shocked when I saw how large the plastic bubble was compared to the remolded PRID deluxes. It is nearly an inch deeper and really makes the figure stand out on shelves.

    Anyway I opened him up today and was fairly surprised at how much nicer he seems to be compared to my PRID deluxes. The plastic feels like it is slightly higher quality (although he is still plagued by the soft plastic that is likely the result safety or figure breakage issues when dropped.) His transformation is pretty typical for a Beast Wars era deluxe beast, but I like the way his beast head actually fits inside the chest rather than sticking out. My only real complaint is that a couple of pin joints in the lower legs will likely wear out pretty quickly, and he can't really hold his gun very well (although the back mounted configuration is pretty nice.)

    As others have stated, he has a nice powerful brawler appearance and if he is any indication of what we can expect from the Beast Hunters deluxe beasts I'm looking forward to them!
     
  2. Feralstorm

    Feralstorm Good Morning, Weather Hackers! TFW2005 Supporter

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    Pros:
    . Feels quite solid and sturdy compared to the average Prime deluxe.

    . Transform that hides the beast mode head is pretty clever.

    Cons:
    . While I normally like things that remind me of Beast Wars toys, this repeats a lot of the things that bothered me about them - Arms and legs change little between modes, chunks of beast mode come off to make lame weaponry, animal feet hanging off the underside of the arms.

    . The rubbery plastic on the tail and back 'flaps' is annoying.

    . The hand transformation leaves gaping holes in the forearms (and doesn't really hide the hands in beast mode either)

    Overall: While there are positive aspects, Lazerback reminds me a bit too much of the less savory "Transmetal 2" toy designs to appeal to me very much.
     
  3. Nope

    Nope yscohb

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    Sculpted, not light-piped, eyes...ah, feels like BW all over again.

    Great figure.
     
  4. rego0012

    rego0012 Well-Known Member

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    picked him up tonight. hate the robot mode like the beast.
    i will never transform it from beast ever again...i hate the robot mode that much
     
  5. PlanckEpoch

    PlanckEpoch Red and black red and black

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    I hate Beastformers.

    I really do.

    I can't stand that concept. I do not understand, nor do I want to understand the concept of a robot transforming into a beast. I only make exceptions for Dinobots since dinosaurs are pretty awesome from a biology standpoint, but still.

    I hate Beastformers.

    That being said, I bought this as my second beastformer. My first was Thundertron, and he's surprisingly good. Then today I decided to give Lazerback a try. I find that I like him more than I thought. The beast mode has some nice poseability with the way the limbs are designed, so he can look a lot more dynamic than what Thundertron was capable of.

    I think the robot mode looks pretty good. Pretty typical "Stand beast up on rear legs" kinda deal, but I'm in love with how the beast head disappears in the body. The colors look great on the guy too.

    Small, middling problems exist here, such as the blatantly obvious hands, the lack of detail on the 'bot head, and the lack of articulation on the beast head.

    All in all, not bad...good, actually. I doubt I'll be getting any more Beasts, but I'm glad I got this one.
     
  6. Driftx3

    Driftx3 lord of all things robot

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    I dig Lazerback.

    I find him to be reminiscent of TransMetalsII Cheetor, but that's not a bad thing, in fact, far from it. And his "Laser-back" gimmick is pretty cool.

    A few people have bitched about his robot mode, but I think it has a lot of personality.

    A great little WTF (i refuse to call this a dragon, it's more an amalgam of various woodland creatures) and a well-done beast overall.

    Also recommended.
     
  7. Fallout

    Fallout Banned

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    i love this toy. beast mode is a monster and the posable mouth makes it that much better. robot mode is nice and chunky, kind of boring though.
     
  8. Ravenxl7

    Ravenxl7 W.A.F.F.L.E.O.

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    Out of curiosity, could someone who has this figure look closely at the instructions? It probably would have come-up by now, but I'm wondering if the prototype they used to shoot the instruction sheet has any retooling done to it. Specifically if it has a different beast-mode head.

    I was looking through the images of that booklet that came-out before Toy Fair, and I realized that all but one of the Predacons represented by sketches in there had a toy representation. Only one that doesn't, yet, is Scourge. Who's sketch has him as a retool of Laserback. Only difference being the beast-mode head.

    Would seem odd for them to use the mold three times in one line, especially if there really are only three more Deluxes to be revealed, but I wouldn't be too surprised. Also, while it's not really a huge difference, there's something about Scourge's beast-mode head that I really like. If he gets a toy I'm definitely going to get him, but if not I might just get the Vertebreak repaint.
     
  9. highlander3000

    highlander3000 Jump around!

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    I bought this figure last week. When I transformed it, the belly panel popped off and wouldn't fit back in securely. It kept falling off every time it got jostled a little. The paint on the face was terribly done too and the plastic felt thin. I felt like I had bought a knock-off toy. It was very disappointing since I was looking forward to collecting these dragons but now I'm put off by the whole line. Did I get a dud or are these problems others have had? Many of the reviews here seem generally positive but my experience was not.
     
  10. Ravenxl7

    Ravenxl7 W.A.F.F.L.E.O.

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    Sounds like QC issues to me. I wouldn't let this affect your view of the line as a whole, or keep you from exchanging your Lazerback for a new one.

    Anyone?...:tumbleweed: 
     
  11. BB Shockwave

    BB Shockwave Behold, Gagatron!

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    Anyone has problems inserting the tabs on the yellow "neck collar" that has his frills into the beast head? Mine simple won't stay inside, thus there is always a small gap between the collar and the head, it is frustrating.

    Nope... and you can actually find scans of his instructions on this site, so this is not exactly news. They used the mold with this head design to make the instructions, I wager Scourge will get a different sheet.
     
  12. Snake_eyes1975

    Snake_eyes1975 Well-Known Member

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    Yes...jeesh mine is the same way. I REALLY like laserback, but that part has the ocd in me going nuts. Sounds stupid but I have him in bot mode just because I can't ft that lined up all the way. Does not appear like anything that needs "trimming" either...
     
  13. Mechafire

    Mechafire Shadow Broker Moderator News Staff

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    Mine has the same problem. In fact I don't think I've seen a single pic of it fully pegged in, so I think it's just a general issue with the mold rather than a QC thing.
     
  14. Fallout

    Fallout Banned

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    when i had mine it didn't peg in either. also that yellow bar that everything is attached too literally wouldn't stay in place in robot mode. it just wobbled around.
     
  15. Galaxy Convoy

    Galaxy Convoy Well-Known Member

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    Picked one up today and I really dig it. He's not the best, but that's okay. And yeah, the beast mode head on mine won't peg in either.

    The problem seem to be that the pegs on the yellow collar thing and the peg holes just simply don't line up right. Seems like the beast head should flip up higher than it does, but doesn't, so the pegs and peg holes are uneven with each other. Robot mode head getting in the way maybe? Or something lost in translation between the prototype and final product?
     
  16. Karis Mahid

    Karis Mahid My fiancee is the avatr

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    Love the mold hate the colors
     
  17. Galaxy Convoy

    Galaxy Convoy Well-Known Member

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    Meant to ask this before, but how well did cutting the pegs off work out? Does the head go all the way back into that recessed spot like it's supposed to? Strongly considering cutting off the pegs on mine too, as like snake_eyes, that gap between the head and collar thing is bugging the OCD in me too.
     
  18. Brawlastator

    Brawlastator Well-Known Member

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    Picked this duder up at Target for seven bucks. His colors remind me a lot of RID Bruticus, except this toy is not absolute trash.

    In fact, he's quit the opposite of absolute trash. He's quite good, very beefy and weighty. Both of his modes are pretty radical and he makes for an excellent short bruiser type dude.

    Highly recommend him if you can pick him up on the cheap. You could also wait for Vertebreak if you don't dig the colors, awesome little guy regardless.
     
  19. Philister

    Philister Teutonicons Rising!

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    [​IMG]
    For more pics, click on the image above


    Robot Mode: Laserback - in no way related to Laserbeak - is a pretty big robot for a Deluxe-class figure, though he's more wide than tall. He's a stocky, powerful-looking fellow. His legs and the beast claws on his forearms leave little doubt that he transforms into something beasty, though it's not readily apparent what kind of beast he becomes. Articulation is pretty much standard for a modern figure, meaning pretty good. His double-jointed legs take some getting used to, but they provide a stable stance nonetheless.

    Whether you like Laserback's mostly-red paint job with its yellow, black, and purple highlights is, of course, entirely subjective. Me, I like it. He's got little yellow thingies on either side of his head, remnants of the beast mode head, and while the instructions say to leave them pointing up, you can also fold them down if you want to. His broad shoulders also feature moving pieces you can fold up (see 7th picture), but the instructions don't feature those, either. Third strange feature: his missile launcher, which he can either store on his back and shoot over his head or hold in hand can be opened up with red rubbery pieces folding out like bat wings... but I'm not sure why. Anyway, lots of possibilities here.

    Speaking of weapons, aside from the pretty cool missile launcher Laserback also wields half of his beast mode tail as a close quarter weapon. I'm not a big fan of tail-weapons, but it's okay. So bottom line: a pretty good robot mode, though on a personal note I will probably leave this guy in beast mode most of the time. Not because the robot mode is bad, bust because the beast mode is better.

    Alternate Mode: The Predacons in the Prime toyline all become dragons, more or less. In Laserback's case it's a four-legged kind of dragon. The transformation from robot mode isn't quite as straight-forward as it looks, but it's still bascially the robot going down on all fours and switing from one head to another. The missile launcher now forms part of the back. Just two little things I don't like here, to get them out of the way: one, you can see the robot mode hands on the front legs and two, the beast head is pretty static and can't be raised up.

    Otherwise, though, I love this guy's beast mode. All four legs are nicely articulated, so no problems here. The beast head can't move, but it can open its mouth. And the missile launcher on the back can be raised up and even swivel around to track targets. Whether you fold out the red "wings" of the launcher is entirely up to you. Worth mentioning: the yellow missile the launcher shoots is very long (in order to conform to current safety standards), but the extra length is accomodated by a hollowed-out portion of the tail where it can rest when the launcher is tugged in. Nicely done. So all in all a very nice beast mode. I love this guy and I will leave him mostly in this mode, I think.

    Remarks: I admit I kinda missed the mark when I called this guy "Fido" in the Beast Hunters Optimus Prime review. His real name is, of course, Lassie. You know, Lassie, as a short for Laserback, but also the most famous dog in the history of ever? You know, Lassie? Damn it, look it up on wikipedia! Man, kids these days. I give up. Anyway, no appearance by Laserback in the Beast Hunters cartoon as of yet, but if the short story part in his instruction sheet is to be believed, he's gonna be more of a rogue who is out to kill everybody instead of following either Predaking's or Megatron's lead. We'll see if that's how it will go in the cartoon.

    Anyway, many thanks to my buddy Caked-Up who sent me Laserback here as part of my birthday present. He's only the second Beast Hunters figure I've held in hand so far. In Optimus Prime's case I mentioned that the plastic quality seemed to be somewhat cheaper, but the same can't be said here. Laserback is solid and still a bit bigger than previous Prime Deluxe-class figures. So bottom line: a very nice figure. Unless you're completely turned off by him having a beast mode, he's definitely worth a look.

    Rating: B+
     
  20. SPLIT LIP

    SPLIT LIP Be strong enough to be gentle

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    This toy is way better than I thought. Big, beefy, and much like Ripclaw represents a break in visual stereotyping by essentially filling the "Starscream" position despite lookig like a dumb, squat brute. (he's actually taller than Riplclaw, however) Head aside his beast mode poses amazingly, with the most realistic crouching/prowling poses I've ever seen from a beast TF. The Transformation, while nonexistant in the legs and basic in the arms, is very fun and satisfying. Little things like folding away the ears and having the chest widen and hips come closer together really amount to a solid switch. He achieves a lot with a little. The way the chest just absorbes the head and his back fills in without the gun is brilliant, and the flip-up shoulder pads suprised me (I never see those flipped out in pics) and help set the modes apart. I also love the colours. I look at my shelves of movie, Prime and the like and see rather dark and muted palettes. These are really eye-catching and bright, a much needed breath of fresh air. I just like this guy a lot. His robot headsculpt is also great and the head itself has lots of motion.

    If his legs did a bit more (as much as I like the way they look in robot mode) and his beast head had more rnge, I'd say he'd be amazing. As it is he's just really, really good and the best example of a "standing up" beastformer out there.