Review – Warrior Type-R and Type-F

So after drooling on the Shadow Warrior toys for several months I finally broke down and ordered the Type-R/Type-F two pack (mentioned here). And I can say with confidence that these two third-party Transformers, while expensive, are fantastic and if you’re a classic Transformers fan you’ll want at least one of these for your collection.

Packaging

The two pack comes as two separate boxes — one red and one blue — that are almost identical. They’re decent enough boxes, but there’s nothing exciting here that makes me want to save the boxes for any reason besides a place to store the unused accessories. I would have loved artwork, or even a comic like we saw with the Autoscout (reviewed here), but at the very least we should have been given an instruction sheet for the toy. That’s right, there aren’t any instructions so I was on my own figuring out how to transform the toy. This review on YouTube was helpful and you’ll wanna watch the review for a closer look at the basic toy and the transformation.

Gun Mode

The toy’s gun mode is fantastic, with every joint tight and the gun mode locking together nicely. I don’t have the toy this was intended for — the Fans Project Shadow Commander (see pics at tformers.com) — but after looking at the toy for a few minutes I suddenly realized that I’ve got several Transformers that can hold one of the toys in gun mode. Bam, instant Targetmaster Skywarp!

Robot Mode

At about 2.5-inches tall, the Warrior is slightly smaller than the Generation One Rumble and Frenzy toys but the reduced size doesn’t bother me at all. The toy’s plastic feels great, every bit as good as what we get from most official Transformers from Hasbro and the ball joints at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees give the figure a hell of a lot better articulation than the originals (see my Frenzy review).

Piledrivers!

The gun barrels pop apart and snap into place on the arms, making the toy look like Rumble/Frenzy with piledrivers deployed. The photo below shows the Type-R with the barrels attached, and I can’t decide which mode I prefer, piledriver arms or robot arms with weapons. Fortunately with two of these I can display one in each mode; these two look great when displayed with my Soundwave.

Paint

Most of the color is the plastic, but both toys have some paint details that look decent. The paint’s a little rough in spots, which is frustrating when the two pack runs $70, but it’s only noticeable when you pick up the toy and stare at it so for a shelf display the paint isn’t an issue. Still, anyone who gets annoyed with a smudge on a $10 action figure is going to be better off avoiding these two toys.

Targetmaster Soundwave

If you’re bothered that these Rumble and Frenzy-styled toys don’t transform into cassettes then I think you’ll be really happy to see the photo above. That’s right, these two fit great in your Generation One Soundwave’s hands so we’ve effectively got a Targetmaster Soundwave that can carry a weapon in each hand. I don’t know about you, but it makes me really happy that Perfect Effect worked to make sure the gun mode’s handle fit with Soundwave. It’s almost like the handle was designed just for Soundwave’s hands.

Closing Thoughts

Yes, these are expensive. Too expensive, in fact. At $35/each these are about $10 too expensive and I cannot recommend that anyone but the most insane of Transformers fans buy both figures. These feel like professional works, but you may have problems with a ball joint or two — one of the feet on my Type-F pops off whenever I transform him — so if you get one be careful playing with it.

I’m a bit torn on whether or not I suggest you order one today or wait to see if they go on clearance at TFSource or Big Bad Toy Store. On the one hand, these are neat, expensive toys and it’s likely that once they’re gone they will not be created. But on the other hand these are very likely priced too high and will wind up on clearance.

I’m happy I have mine, but if I had played with them before placing the order I think I would have waited to see if they go on clearance. So what do I recommend? As I said at the start of this review, they are fantastic and hardcore Transformers fans should have one in their collection. I’m sticking to that, but you’ll have to decide for yourself if you’re a hardcore fan or not.

If there’s any doubt in your mind at all then I say pass on these.

Philip Reed now wants an upgraded Soundwave to go with these two toys. Maybe these will work well with the upcoming War for Cybertron Soundwave.