Dave's Transformers Armada Rant:

     Laserbeak

     Okay, I'm weak.  I bought it at the first TRU I've been in since June,
despite it being three bucks over MSRP there.  But I drove 60 miles each way
to get to that TRU (well, the TRU and a bunch of other stores) in Topeka, I
wanted to come back with a Transformer.  (Also got the Master Gundam and
Mobile Horse at Target, which was a bit disappointing, but hey.)

CAPSULE

     Laserbeak: Well engineered, but small, and suffering greatly from
numerous safety regulations.  Probably not worth the bother unless you're a
completist.  $17.99 at TRU.


RANT

     Packaging: This is on a blister card like the SuperCons, but bigger.
12" (31cm) wide, 8.5" (22cm) tall, packaged more or less in bird mode.  Five
twist-ties hold it onto the bubble, and two more hold the partly open wing
into position around a plastic spacer.  Two rubberbands hold bits together,
and another keeps the bundle of comic and instructions closed.  Comes with a
sticker card like the other larger sets, and no techspecs.


AUTOBOT: Laserbeak
Altmodes: Bird, camera, gun
Function: Spy, bodyguard
Quote: "I will protect you."

LASERBEAK is a protective companion for the Earth kids who become involved in
the battle between the TRANSFORMERS.  Given to the children by OPTIMUS PRIME,
LASERBEAK records information in his spy bird mode and can launch fireblasts
in his stun weapon mode.  He is always alert to his surroundings, scanning
for threats.  What will LASERBEAK discover during his spy missions that will
help the AUTOBOTS defeat the evil plans of the DECEPTICONS? 

STR 7  INT 6  SPD 6  END 7  RNK 4  COUR 7  FRB 5  SKL 6  Avg 6

     Okay, I'll get this out of the way at the top of the review.  Yes, it's
horribly, horribly orange.  Because of actual cases of kids being shot by
police because they waved toy guns around at the wrong time, laws have gotten
stricter and stricter over the years.  Any toy that looks like a gun must be
safety orange, bright light blue or some other neon-y color that slips my
mind.  I'd have preferred neon blue over orange, but I suppose Hasbro already
had plenty of orange plastic around.

     Camcorder Mode: Just over 5" (13cm) long, the main bulk of it is a bit
shorter and fits in the palm of my hand.  It's on the small side for
camcorders, more like a digital type, although it's probably just scaled down
for kiddie hands.  The thing is almost all safety orange, with some medium
blue accents and a bit of black and gray here and there.  The viewfinder is
gray and black and folds out like a real viewfinder, including rotation to
adjust for users.  The viewfinder has a sticker of Optimus Prime in slightly
grainy LCD screen style.  A sizable Autobot symbol is molded onto the back of
the camcorder, and unlike most faction symbols in Armada, it's not solid one
color.  Only the symbol parts are red, the background remains gray, allowing
for lines between the elements of the symbol.
     The wrist strap has been modified since the version shown even on the
packaging (which was color corrected for the new orangey version).  The strap
is short, too small to even go around my hand...but a clasp has been added.
Two blue bits that peg together so you can snap it open and closed.  This
actually lets me wrap it around my wrist, although it's too short for me to
hold the camcorder properly while strapped on.  My guess is also that this
clasp was added to avoid choking hazards or something, to let the strap
breakaway.  Yeah, sounds dumb, but you never know with these federal safety
standards.  
     The front barrels actually have clear plastic lenses, a detail that is
sadly wasted with the new bright color scheme...you can barely tell the
lenses are there.  I may paint the rims the gray shown in the card art to see
if that brings out the lenses more.
     There are two buttons on top to activate sound gimmicks.  The front one
cycles between a humming sound I suspect represents the bird mode's flight,
and a camera shutter click.  Yes, it's a digital videocamera, and it makes a
shutter click sound.  D'oh.  Well, I suppose they didn't have a choice,
digital camcorders don't really make sounds.  The rear button cycles between
an energy blast sound and a bird screech.  It would have been nice if
transformation told it to only use one set of sounds or the other.  But no
matter what mode it's in, the sounds cycle the same way.

     Gun Mode: Pull down the grip, and you have gun mode.  Whee.  I suggest
popping out the bird head and repositioning it as a longer barrel, giving a
gun mode 6.5" (17cm) long.  The handle is gray, otherwise the colors don't
really change from camcorder mode.
     This mode really shows that the designers made a mistake in scaling.
The only humans I've seen lately with hands the size of the grip on this gun
were infants.  Seriously, the grip is 1.75" (4cm) long.  Granted, if they'd
made it closer to real camcorder size, it would have cost $20 ($25 at TRU),
but still, it's kinda frustrating to have to hold it with just one finger
(the index finger having to push the firing button, and not being usable for
grip).  Even putting the firing button on the side, allowing a better grip
from the index finger, would have helped.
     Pulling the trigger results in a satisfyingly loud parent-annoyer
blasting sound.  The other sound gimmicks, as mentioned before, work just the
same in this mode.  So you can get an alternate firing noise every other
time, and a weird screeching sound otherwise.  }->

     Bird Transformation: Pushing a button ahead of the sound buttons on top
flips out the bird head, if you didn't already deploy it for gun mode.
Rotating a gear/dial forward causes the wings to autodeploy, although
sometimes excessive force is required.  You have to pull the legs down by
hand.  And you may need to push the viewfinder back down, as it sometimes
flips up some during autotransformation.

     Bird mode: 7.5" (19cm) wingspan, and if you count from tip of lenses to
end of strap-tail, it's 13" (33cm) long.  A lot more blue is revealed in this
mode, as well as the gray of the gun grip.  Springs hold the wings in
position, but the head can be raised and lowered on a hinge, and there's
hinge ankles and swivel hips.  The tail is the camera strap, but because of
how it's attached it tends to sit over to one side rather than coming out of
the middile.  The head does not turn, alas, so most good spying poses are
out.  The leg joints are smooth, not ratcheting, so you can generally get the
feet both level for stable standing.
     Do not display this toy in public in bird mode with the gun grip
slightly lowered.  Trust me on this one.

     Mini-Con Interaction: None.  This toy is supposed to be "real life
size", so there's no connectors are hardpoints.  However, you could use it to
scare the crud out of your Microman figures.  Or as a flying mount for one.

     Overall: It's little, orange, different.  But probably not worth the
$15-20 it's going for.  I only really got it because I'm insa...er, a
reviewer.  

     Dave Van Domelen, clarifies earlier statement by saying he likes Master
Gundam a lot, and the Mobile Horse is good, but the Master Gundam just
doesn't ride the horse well at all, the bridle doesn't stay in, and the whole
thing isn't worth the $20 charged for it.