Combiner Wars deluxe Air Raid is a classic member of the Aerialbots, a youthful bot that smashes his way into battle. Air Raid transforms into an F-14 Tomcat fighter plane just like his G1 version, and it’s interesting to have another 1980s vehicle in the mix rather than an updated, modern designed jet; of course he also transforms into a combiner leg or arm. Aside from Quickslinger who is getting an online-exclusive release, Air Raid is the last Aerialbot to be released. Read on for the full review and photos.
Packaged: Air Raid is part of wave 2 so he ships with a copy of The Transformers comic book from IDW, it’s a reprint of Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2013) issue #15, which actually does feature the Aerialbots as Superion; the issue is referred to in publishing details inside as “The Transformers: Combiner Wars #7″. The back of this exclusive edition of the book has an in-universe psych evaluation by Rung and biography, inside that rear cover is the design desk genesis of this figure.
Vehicle Mode: Air Raid is designed similar to an F-14 Tomcat, a fighter jet that in real life the US military retired a few years ago (and infamously the inspiration for the Macross VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighter, a toy of which would get licensed by Hasbro as Transformers G1 Jetfire), with the big difference here being the use of angled tail fins borrowed directly from Combiner Wars Skydive rather than the proper vertical tailfins. Those tailfins are soft rubber, by the way. The underside of Air Raid is a boxy, folded-up robot. Air Raid’s wings can swing forward just like the F-14. Just inside the wings are 2 sculpted missiles on either side.
The deco is a heavy homage from the G1 figure, the details aren’t as fine but the colored stripes and silver borders give a very specific style to Air Raid.
The top of Air Raid has a 5mm hole to accommodate a weapon, and the underside of each wing has one as well.
Robot Mode: Transformation is par for the course with the Aerialbots, the upper body transformation borrows from Firefly/Quickslinger while the lower body is literally identical to Skydive, as they share the lower body tooling. The swing wings allow for a full range of display and can be angled back 2 stops.
Air Raid’s sculpt and deco borrow heavily from his G1 counterpart, in some ways he’s the most classically-inspired design of the CW Aerialbots. The torso’s painted details use an orangey-gold that almost get lost on the red paint below, but help define the sculpted shapes; the red paint on the legs is a nice touch. His faction logo is a small one painted on his right shoulder. Oddly, while the head sculpt is pretty accurate, the somber, almost scowling expression seems quite out of character for the fun-loving Air Raid.
Articulation is standard for the Aerialbots: ball-jointed head, shoulders, and hips; hinged elbows and knees; rotation upper-biceps, thighs, and waist. Air Raid’s accessories are the same molds as Skydive’s, twin-barreled cannon only here it’s cast in white, and the pointy hand/foot accessory that can be held in a hand. Air Raid sports 5mm holes on the outside of each forearm to hold his weapons, something that’s also a little similar to the G1 days.
Limb Modes: Air Raid traditionally becomes Superion’s left leg, transformation is like the other jet bots on the team – fold back the cockpit, rotate up the combiner joint, attach foot – but you get the added choice here of how you want the wings displayed, up or down. I think they look better down in leg mode. Due to Silverbolt’s design, you can’t turn Air Raid around to more closely emulate G1 Superion, so instead of having another red and white limb you get an all-black one, at least from the front.
Arm mode (not pictured) is similar to the other Aerialbots (seeing a theme?) except Air Raid’s arms fold out and then down to tab onto the folded-up wings, as he’s one of the only bots on the team to not have elbows that hinge both ways. Arm mode’s joints are surprisingly tight on my copy, this is a good choice to holding Powerglide as a weapon.
Overall: I like Air Raid a little more than most the other Aerialbot limbs, partly because of the swing wings, partly because his paint carries him a little further than the others on the team. The serious expression on the face may be a drawback for some, but other than that, there’s a lot of G1 credibility to this figure. As either limb mode, he’s solidly dependable. That said, borrowing the lower body and the accessories from Skydive is a little disappointing, the least they could have done was redesign the accessories to be unique.
Review sample supplied by Hasbro