Review – Transformers Henkei Classics Strafe

Line: Transformers * Manufacturer: Takara * Year: 2009

The Transformers Universe Cyclonus (review here) was recolored and unleashed in 2009 as an exclusive in Japan. When the toy was first released it was priced at over $100 but recently the price dropped to $50 (mentioned here) so I grabbed him to join my growing army of Cyclonus toys. The Cyclonus is generally a great Transformer, but ultimately even $50 is too much for this toy.

Click to expand the photos in a new window.

Packaging

Nothing special, this B&W display shows off the toy but isn’t all that attractive or exciting. I suppose a MOC collector will be happy since Strafe is clearly visible in the package, but since he’s packed in starfighter mode it’s less fun than if he had been packed in robot mode. And even then leaving the toy in the package is never as much fun as opening it and playing with it, so let’s shred the packaging and get on with the fun.

Starfighter Mode

After a bit more time with this design I’m gonna say that the vehicle mode, while it looks cool, needed some work to make it perfect. The rear section of the ship, which is made of the legs and arms, doesn’t quite lock into place and the bits of the legs kinda flop around and don’t hold their shape well. It’s not terrible, but if the legs had snapped into place better in vehicle mode I wouldn’t have any complaints about this mode. As it is it’s close to fantastic but not quite there.

Not Really Strafe

The classic Generation One Strafe looks nothing like Cyclonus — see the Transformers Wiki — so what we have here is a white, red, and orange Cyclonus with a Technobot’s name. I was looking over the design trying to think what I would have done to make the toy look more like the classic Strafe but ultimately any suggestions I can come up with would have required new tooling; not exactly something that was an option for a short-run credit card exclusive toy. So I think in the end the best suggestion I would have made had I been consulted (wow, that’s ego at work) would have been to not call this Strafe. I would have instead taken a different approach and made up a short excuse for Cyclonus to be redecorated in these colors.

Actually, I think I would have called this guy Strafe but instead of the classic Generation One character I would have instead looked to Generation Two and given the toy a camo color scheme (with blue limbs) to make him look more like the toy that was released in 1995. Yeah, this design is a lot closer to Cyclonus so that trick would have worked a bit better.

So It’s Not Strafe

In the end I don’t really care what they called him. I just think it’s great to have this toy in another colorway; as anyone who has been following my Toygraph Ghost Trooper love knows — Ghost Trooper (review here), Toygraph/Super7 Ghostrooper (review here), the Clear Red Ghost Trooper (review here, and Clear Blue Ghost Trooper (review here) –I’m a sucker for a great toy displayed in a variety of different colors. And Strafe joins my other three toys that use the same design to create a fun display.

But What About the Toy?

My Transformers Universe Cyclonus review (review here) discussed the toy’s articulation and all of that holds true for Strafe. And more than a year has passed since I wrote that review and I think I can safely say that I appreciate the toy’s robot mode and articulation more today than I did back in the summer of 2009. This isn’t just a great Transformers toy, this is a great action figure.

And it’s minor, but the lightpipe feature uses a pale blue plastic instead of the red used on Cyclonus and the effect isn’t as striking. The photo above shows the toy with light shining directly behind it and you can see how the eyes are lit but it’s a very subtle shade of blue. (The Shattered Glass Cyclonus has a much better blue color for the lightpipe, but neither blue color is as good as the red color of the basic Transformers Universe Cyclonus).

With Less-Than-Perfect Paint

If Strafe had cost me the $12 or so that I paid for Cyclonus then I wouldn’t complain about the quality of the paint. But since this was a $50 exclusive — that was originally selling for over $100 — I think it’s important that I point out that the paint has issues, especially on the head. Take a look at the photos and you’ll see spots on the head where the red doesn’t completely cover the plastic. That’s frustrating on a mass market figure and inexcusable on an exclusive, expensive toy. Takara needed to spend a little more time on the paint process; I think this one flaw is what has me suggesting that anyone who is on the fence about this toy just hold off and wait to see if the price drops any more.

To be fair, though, the metallized color on the wings looks great. Very shiny!

Closing Thoughts

Only the craziest of the crazy Transformers fans should ever consider buying this unusual Cyclonus colorway. It’s pricey, the paint isn’t as good as it should be for the cost, and the color scheme doesn’t match any Cyclonus we’ve seen before and the design doesn’t match any Strafe we’ve seen before. But if you are as crazy as I am then you may very well love this toy.

On its own it’s just okay, but in a collection of Cyclonus toys it starts to look amazing. The photo above demonstrates this effect, showing all four of the Cyclonus toys I’ve managed to collect so far. And when my Battle in Space two-pack ships (see it at TFSource) I’ll either have a fifth colorway or a duplicate of the Cyclonus that was packed with the Challenge at Cybertron* pack. (It’s hard to be certain going just on the pics online.)

I wonder if Hasbro or Takara will give us this design in some other colors. I would love to see one with translucent red wings and a black, red, and silver body. No clue what he would be called, but I bet those colors would look great.

Philip Reed now wants to find the Henkei Classics Cyclonus so that he can add another colorway of this great Transformers toy to his collection.