Guest Dark of the Moon Rant: Japanese Exclusive Air Raid by Wonkimus Major Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Japan/AirLaid For the first wave of the Dark of the Moon toy line, Takara has released two figures which are exclusive to Japan. Both are repaints of ROTF figures which have been remolded to accommodate Mechtech weapons, which are included with the figures. The figures are Air Raid and Arcee. Air Raid is a repaint/remold of ROTF Thrust (which was never released in Japan) and Arcee is a repaint/remold of ROTF Chromia. I picked up Air Raid, as I'm a sucker for exclusives like this. Passed on Arcee, as I am not a fan of the mold. Dave originally gave Thrust a recommended and Chromia a mildly recommended. RANT: AUTOBOT: AIR RAID Altmode: Fighter jet Licensor: None Previous Name Use: G1, G2 (twice), Universe (twice), ROTF Previous Mold Use: ROTF (head remold) Gimmick: Mechtech weapon Function: Mile High Club team leader Motto: Let's getting busy! Price paid: 2140 yen at Livin store in Japan (51% owned by Wal-Mart) Suggested retail price is 2730 yen--that's over $30 US for a deluxe-sized figure. Airlaid is one of the most skillful soldiers among Autobots. He prefers to fly into the middle of the enemy rather than shoot-out from a distance. His technique for firefighting breaks enemy lines and finds a way out for victory. STR 5 INT 7 SPD 9 END 7 RNK 5 COUR 10 FRB 8 SKL 7 Avg 7.25 (I made up the function and motto but the garbled gibberish bio is straight off the package. Yes, he gets called AirLAID in the bio.) Arcee's is worse. I can't even interperet what this is supposed to mean: Arcee has miraculously returned from fierce battle with Fallen alive and acquired fighting skill more than ever. She defeated her enemies with her ultimate conoring force and graceful weapon play. Packaging: For the movie lines, the Japanese toys come in the same packaging as their US counterparts, usually with a sticker on the bottom with corporate information in Japanese. The Japanese exclusives are no different. The packaging is almost identical to the rest of the toys. The only difference is that there is no mention of Hasbro anywhere. It seems that the idea with this is that buyers feel like they are getting an import toy (with packaging in a foreign language) to go along with an American movie. Unfortunately this concept falls flat with the bios, which are written by Takara in English. Or should I say, Engrish, making an official Transformers product seem like a cheap knockoff. Would it really have been that difficult/expensive for Takara to have the bios edited? I'm assuming Takara doesn't actually intend for the bio to be read, English written on products in Japan often serves as nothing more than a decoration and is not meant to be functional. Just try shopping for children's clothing here. But I digress. One thing unique to the Japanese DOTM toys is that this time around they all include a trading card. The trading cards all have two parts - the card itself, and a plastic overlay which changes the artwork so that the character is wielding his/her Mechtech weapon. Now on to the figure itself. I'm not going to go into great detail here; you can read Dave's reviews of Breakaway and Thrust for more info. Mold changes: There are now holes below each wing and on top of the jet (the part that becomes the robot arm) to hold the Mechtech weapons. The Mechtech weapon itself is a remold of Topspin's, with the claw ends flat instead of pointy. The figure itself does have a Hasbro stamp on it, so it's possible that this remold could be released outside Japan at some point. Jet Mode: Light gray, with the tips of the wings, tailfins, and nosecone in red. This isn't an homage to G1 Air Raid, it's closer to Skydive than anything. Mechtech weapon an be attached either under the wings or on top of the jet. Transformation: Same as ROTF Breakaway/Thrust. Mechtech Weapon: Similar to Topspin's. Middle section is gray. Cannon and pincers are light blue. Robot mode: Looks rather bland as the light gray carries over to most of the robot bits. The head is the same color, making it difficult to see. Lower body is black with green details. Also has some black and red bits on the arms, legs, and feet. Mechtech weapon mounts on the arm. Overall: Unique in that it's a Japanese exclusive that's sold at regular retail and not black or clear. I'd only really recommend this for fans living in Japan who weren't able to get Thrust, and mildly recommended at that, due to the blah color scheme. This figure may not be worth it for fans outside Japan, especially if those who already own another version of this mold. It's a good figure but you're going to have to pay out the nose to import it, especially considering the current exchange rate. The addition of the Mechtech weapon is fun but it doesn't really add that much value in my opinion.