Review – Transformer Fighter Insect Robot

I couldn’t tell you when this toy was first released. The packaging has no dates at all (and the back is completely blank), I can’t find a date anywhere on the toy itself, and online searches aren’t helpful. I suspect it’s not actually all that old, but if anyone has some details on this toy’s original release date please comment away. I’d love to know where/when this came from.

Packaging

A very simple single-sided card, this package is your only guide to transforming the toy; there are no instructions and the back is completely blank. The packaging is going straight to the trash because it’s not at all special, but I wish there had been a date somewhere on the card.

Insect Mode

I’m not sure exactly what sort of insect this is meant to be. A wasp? A cicada? I suspect that it’s not really any one bug but just a weird bug-like robot design that someone put together. Cicada looks about right, but the coloring is all wrong. But do we really care what type of bug it is meant to be? I don’t. All I care about is that this ugly bug toy transforms into an even uglier robot.

Robot Mode

About 3-inches tall, I didn’t follow the photo exactly when transforming the toy because I thought the insectoid legs looked better folded in on the toy’s body. The transformation process is simple and all of the joints are tight and work great. In fact, even the plastic feels more durable than I expect from cheap transforming robot toys. It’s not a spectacular work of art or worth chasing down, but it’s a robot that feels like it can withstand some rough play. I’d likely recommend tracking one down — these are pretty cheap and not too tough to find online — if it had hands that flipped out of its arms but as it is it’s just a little too simplistic to get a recommendation.

Paint

Insanely cheap paint apps on this toy. It’s molded mostly in yellow (the legs and black plastic, the wings are green plastic, and the arm connectors are grayish blue plastic) with a few black painted bits and some red. It’s an adequate amount of paint for such a cheap toy but don’t expect anything amazing. At least the paint was applied fairly neatly to the eyes.

Closing Thoughts

The Transformer Fighter Insect Robot is a cheap transforming robot toy that feels better than I expected it to. The paint is cheap, the sculpt is simple, the transformation process is uninspired, but in the end the $1 price on this toy was actually less than it is worth. And it adds some real color to my shelf of cheap transforming robot toys.

Philip Reed has more transforming insect robot toys to open and play with. This may not be an Insecticon, but if someone painted this in black, purple, and yellow it would fit in fairly well as part of an Insecticon army.