The Combiner Wars Deluxes have arrived in the USA – so now seemed like a great time to share a gallery of another one of these awesome toys with you. Today it is the turn of Decepticon Dragstrip, the first Stunticon in the Combiner Wars lineup.
Dragstrip retains his classic F1 look, though with a few changes to the Generation 1 design – notably, there is no exposed rear engine, which we suspect is to help with the rumored Mirage retool of this mold. That being said, the robot mode is spot on for Dragstrip, and has a fair bit of personality. As with the Aerialbots, Dragstrip sports a great range of poseability, and we also like how the foot / fist can mount on the shoulder as a shield, which together with the sword and alternate mode makes us think of the Autobot Blacker from Transformers Victory.
Dragstrip is another hit for the line. His poseability lets his strike some excellent sword-fighting poses and he captures the look of the character. Check out his gallery and see what you think:
flik68
flipping the spoiler up is only for leg mode. it stays down the rest of the time.
cant wait to get this guy in hand so I can repaint the head g1 style.
Optronix1087
Anyone else think he looks better with the feet left down making him taller? I think the folded up feet look too bulky in person. Would be nice to see a 3P company make a swap out front end with two wheels since its easy to swap.
jestermon
It won't fit in his hand correctly without that angle it looks like.
General Magnus
I know, perish the thought of anyone liking this.
LegendAntihero
I like the hand shield he's got on his shoulder
Digilaut
Weirdly enough, the two Combiner Wars figures I currently own (Drag Strip and Optimus Prime) are 'worse' than pre-CW figures in a couple of places, yet are actually better in other places as well. In my opinion.
My main gripes with Drag Strip would be his head being quite large, making him quite cartoony looking compared to other Generations toys, the screws in the front of his chest, and the shapes of his arms in robot mode – two out of three things that have nothing to do with the quality of the figure.
The grey chest piece did look silly to me at first (and yes, to be honest: there's no reason it couldn't be covered on ALL CW deluxes, just like on Breakdown and Deadend), but then I remembered G1 Drag Strip has his grey/silver engine in that exact same spot, so it makes sense.
Figures are bigger again, plastic is actually really sturdy, transformations are super simple but satisfying and the altmodes are good. Not here to convince you these figure are for everyone, but I personally was actually pretty surprised because I too at first felt like Combiner Wars was another step back.
Seeker
Great figure. I think I'll invest in these.
Jerrymiru
Sweet
rosewater
I think the quality of Hasbro's offerings has been on a solid upswing since the dark days of FOC. It's not at the level of what they sold in 2008 to 2010, but it nowhere near as crummy as FOC Jazz and Bruticus. I was also looking at some of my older figures and noticed things like hollow thighs and upper arms, none of which seemed to be a big deal or a reason for tooth-gnashing back in the day. Maybe the skins of some fans thinned with the plastic…
Sol Fury
I would counter and say it very much is, as the definition of what constitutes quality in relation to a Transformers toy is certainly a matter of opinion.
You may wish to point to, and evidence, where things like parts count, plastic density, and number of paint apps, have been reduced, and that would be a fact. A trend can be drawn up fairly easily.
But how that then correlates with quality is, I would put forward, a matter of opinion. It largely depends on expectations, which are different for every person – and I could argue that, say, compared to Transformers Armada or Energon toys, the current crop of toys are of a better quality owing to their being uncluttered by gimmicks and possessing superior articulation.
It doesn't make either one of us right. It just means we both have different views and different opinions on the matter.
I think the face is a reinterpretation of the classic face, with the visor coming from the animation / comic model, though he's also appeared in the IDW comics (Spotlight Blurr and the first arc of the ongoing specifically) which is where the shape of the helmet seems to have come from. The chin and the "tears" from the eyes are new to me, though.
Sarrow
He looks ok, but I have no idea what they did to his face. What version/source was this face sculpt from? I think it's especially confusing due to the vertical split on the chin guard piece (if I'm seeing that right). Would have preferred dual front wheels, too.
LegendAntihero
I like my BotCon Dragstrip more but this looks good as well
Darkstone
Playing the doomsayer who can't understand that other people don't give a crap unless the figure breaks or is generally unstable because of it is though.
My figures are fine so I don't care.
Underwear
Please don't exaggerate.
CrovaxNL
The general decline in quality is not an opinion.
Skyclaw
Dragstrip is great and nice looking! However I feel he needs better weapons and 3rd parties really need to step in on new hands and feet for Superion and Menasor.
I hope these figures are more solid than FoC Bruticus figures, those was terrible!!
Also, I was hoping there would be a comic book coming with these guys to explain the Combiner wars, who's involved and how it started? A little history and background goes a long way! And is this Combiner War pre or post Earth??
ljacone
As a Stunticon fan dating back to Junior High, I am super excited for these guys. Drag Strip looks great. Poseability looks pretty good, his formula racer mode looks sharp, and I really like the colors. I am champing at the bit to find Drag Strip and the other Stunticons in the wild. Thanks for the sweet gallery!
Darkstone
Yes it's unbelievable for me as well, people actually have opinions different from mine sometimes.
If you want more color wait for the Takara-release, articulation seems good enough to pull some nice poses of and aside from the hollow room for the hands to go in it's the same hollow-pattern that I don't care about, has no impact on the toy for me whatsoever.
CrovaxNL
Can't believe anyone is excited for this; hollow limbs (especially the forearms), no foot articulation, no wrist articulation, lack of paint and four ugly screws in its center.
Archzerograv
cool!