Prefers streaking into a cluster of Decepticons to shooting at them from long range... says, "That always sparks their wires a bit". Tactically, most fearless Aerialbot ... just wants to have fun. Flies at Mach 2.5, range 1500 miles. Carries air-to-air heat seeking missiles, uses torque rifle whose beam applies 80,000 psi of rotational force. With fellow Aerialbots forms " Superion ".
First/Last Comic Appearance (US) - Issue 21, October 1986 / Issue 50, March 1989
First/Last Comic Appearance (UK) - Issue 63, May 31st 1986 / Issue 278, July 14th 1990
First/Last Cartoon Appearance - Episode 57 (Season 2 #41), November 26th 1985 / Episode 98 (Season 4 #3), November 11th 1987
Figure Details
Manufacturer - Hasbro
Toyline - Revenge of the Fallen
Additions/Mods:
- Added an Autobot symbol to the chest, covering the sculpted one
Review
Air Raid is an
Aerialbot, and one of my favourites from G1, only because I thought (and still think) than black planes are very cool. Let's see if this
Energon redeco fits in nicely on a classics shelf, even if the plane is no longer black.
Appearance (Robot Mode) 8/10
This is actually my favourite Scout class mould as a robot - it is absolutely awesome. Well-proportioned, stylish, and even the kibble integrates very nicely into the figure. He really is great, and looks even better now that I have equipped him with his
FansProject pistols. His face appears to be expressionless, but if you look closely, you can see the outline of a mouth there. He has a great big visor which lends itself extremely well to light piping. Colour wise, this does not reference the G1 original at all, which was white. I understand that with this mould the front of the plane folds over, whereas the front of the original robot was all undercarriage (white) and the back was all plane (black). So while not referencing the original very well, this is still a really great looking robot.
Appearance (Alternate Mode) 7/10
This plane is slightly messy, but looks pretty decent from a 3/4 view, things only get ugly if you look at the undercarriage as the arms just kind of sit there. There are small tabs to lock the arms in place but these do not work, overwhelmed as they are by the weight of the arms. I don't tend to fly these things around anymore, but if you were that way inclined that I can imagine the arms dangling out as gravity does its work. There are nice red accents on the jet, which is a charcoal colour - not exactly black, but close enough to the original to make the association with the Air Raid of yore.
Transformation 8/10
I'm pretty impressed with this guy, considering that the engineers needed to pack in the combiner transformation as well. This mould has a very instinctive but simple transformation sequence. The arms splay out and the chest folds over, with the shoulders clicking into place. The legs are formed from the wings, and unlike the arms, they tab into the jet mode very solidly.
Poseability 8/10
This guy poses really well for a scout class figure, and because his proportions are spot on, you can get some really good-looking poses out of him. He has ball jointed hips and shoulders, and a swivel on his head. His knees and elbows are also ball jointed, allowing a pretty nice range of movement. Unfortunately there is no waist or wrist articulation, but this does not overly affect the figure.
Quality 7/10
This guy needs to be transformed through 3 modes and I have never felt any undue stresses during transformation. However, the shoulder joints are painted clear plastic, and I do worry that over time, these joints will become brittle. Plus, to transform him to a robot, a fair amount of force must be used to lock the shoulders into position. I would not worry about these joints at all if they were not clear plastic. Still, so far, so good.
Overall - 37/50
This mould is far and away the 'superior' of those which comprise
Superion (Not much of an accolade in truth, though, considering how bad the others are) and even as a standalone figure, this little guy holds up well. He looks nice in both modes, and despite his few flaws, is an aesthetically-pleasing, compact and fun toy. I would recommend him. His new Fansproject weapons integrate much better than his garish originals, too. It's just a shame that his colour scheme isn't particularly reflective of his original figure.
