Review – Transformers Blastcharge Strika Drone

Every year the official Transformers Botcon convention (Amazon.com search*) has exclusive toys that are retooled/repainted versions of existing Hasbro toy molds. This 2013 Transformers Botcon Blastcharge Strike Drone* is a little more unusual than some others because this was the “Custom Class” toy for the year. Fans at the show sat down and assembled and painted these toys . . . but not this one, since this is the bagged version of the toy that was sold already assembled.

Warpath Returns!

As you can see, this toy uses the Transformers Generations Warpath* toy that we’ve seen twice already here at battlegrip.com. In case you missed the earlier looks at this mold here are the links — Transformers Subscription Service 2.0 Treadshot review here, Transformers Generations Warpath quick pics here — but the short form opinion boils down to: Great mold!

Unpainted Plastic

As the 2013 ‘Custom Class’ toy, Transformers Botcon Blastcharge Strike Drone* is completely unpainted and the only color is the raw plastics. I do wish that the toy had been offered painted and assembled, but seeing it in its unfinished state is also kinda neat since it clearly shows us what parts of the other two toys are plastic and which parts were painted.

The Transformers Generations Warpath* toy has the most detailed paint apps — and was available at retail — so if you go after only one use of this mold I recommend the basic Warpath. Even so, there is again something fun about having a variety of colorways of the same mold, and I love this overall design and transformation enough that I regret not grabbing the Timelines Strike (see the TFWiki) when I had the chance.

A Great Transformation Design

As I mentioned in my Transformers Treadshot review I absolutely love this transformation design. The Transformers Botcon Blastcharge Strike Drone* has joints that were a little tight at first, but once I popped them loose and started moving everything the transformation got easier to accomplish. If you look at the tank mode and robot mode pics you can almost see how the transformation works without even looking at instructions; in-hand it’s even more intuitive and everything falls into place quickly and without any weird alignment issues.

This really is a fantastic transformation design!

Closing Thoughts

The official Transformers Botcon convention (Amazon.com search*) often has very cool toys for Transformers fans, but I must admit that this is one of my favorite releases from the last few years because it takes a great mold and offers it in odd colors. I would have liked this even better if they had produced the toy with paint apps and detail, but as an addition to the slowly-growing army of uses of this mold the Transformers Botcon Blastcharge Strike Drone* is an excellent addition to my shelf.

Of course now I want that Timelines Strike (see the TFWiki) even more than I did before, so with luck I’ll be able to track that down at a reasonable price. I’ve not looked at what that Machine Wars box set from 2013 sells for these days, but maybe I can sell some of the earlier Botcon exclusives I’m sorta “meh” on and trade up to Strike. Wish me luck!