Name: Buzz Saw
Series: Beast Machines
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Aerial Reconnaissance
Alternate Mode: Technorganic Wasp
Thanks to Morkus for loaning me Buzz Saw, making this review possible (I have since acquired Buzz Saw).
WASP MODE
Height: 5cm Length: 14.5cm Width: 11cm
A yellow wasp with green legs, transparent yellow wings, a transparent orange abdomen and extensive black paint applications. The head, wings and feet all feature black paint while the head also sports transparent orange eyes and green antennae. There are elements of Beast Wars Buzz Saw in this colour scheme, and the bio links the two toys together. There's a green stinger in his tail rounding out a fairly organic colour scheme. The transparent plastics work better on Buzz Saw than on many other Beast Machines Maximals, since they fit into his citrus colour scheme rather than fight against it.
There are some really interesting design elements here, and while they're not revolutionary ideas, they are ideas we don't normally see amongst Transformers. The transparent yellow wings are actually the robot boots, which means they disappear into the robot mode better than the wings of pretty much every insect Transformer. There's a spring between the thorax and abdomen, putting perhaps an inch of space between the two body segments. There's no actual gimmick linked to this spring, mind you - it's really just an aesthetic thing.
There's not too much play value here, but Buzz Saw does have some poseability. The wings have ball joints at the base and hinges just near the base. The legs aren't really poseable, but the green plastic is quite soft so Buzz Saw will stand low to the table yet look natural. The head can swing side to side a little, the "tail" formed from the spring and abdomen can rotate while the stinger can retract.
A fairly simple wasp mode with some interesting ideas and a well worked colour scheme. There's no real gimmick here, but I don't mind since it's a solid beast mode. There's some poseability here, and while the legs don't really move as such, Buzz Saw's soft legs are preferable to a toy that has to be delicately placed on legs which want to collapse. I appreciate the innovation here, and while he's hardly spectacular, Buzz Saw has a nice beast mode.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Swing the tail out to the left and the hind pair of legs to the right. Swing the beast head down and through 270°, fold the back of the beast (with the wings attached) down, forming the groin. The beast head is now a robot chest, the robot head has been revealed and the legs are more or less in place. Straighten the wings to form his legs. Swing the hindlegs down to form his right arm, swing the tail down and rotate to form the left arm. Open the abdomen to forma sort of claw, push in and stow the stinger. Fold back the remaining four beast legs on his back.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 12cm Width: 10cm
The black elements come into play more now - the torso is based on yellow while the boots are black at the front with transparent yellow behind this. His head is green with silver mouthparts and red eyes. The right arm is a mixture of black and green, the lower arm is basically the hind legs of the beast mode. The left arm is a spring with the orange claw in place of a hand. The colour scheme is darker now, which I guess belies his Predacon heritage.
I'm impressed by the boots - they really look like boots, not so much like wings anymore. They're actually shaped like stiletto boots - most likely coincidence. Conversely, the right arm is quite poor. The claw on the other side looks pretty good considering it moonlights as an insect abdomen. There's an orange spark crystal inside the claw, which is easy to miss since it's the same colour as the claw itself (but a separate piece of plastic). The head has a somewhat sinister feel to it, again hinting at his Predacon heritage. The beast head on his chest works very well. Most of this robot mode is well thought out - other than the notable exception of the right arm.
Again there are no gimmicks, only poseability. The head and right shoulder are ball jointed while the left shoulder swings, with a hinge next to this. The right elbow is hinged, although I don't know that moving the insect leg achieves much. The claw itself sits on a rotating wrist and opens and shuts. The spring can be turned, although it can't hold poses (not that you'd expect it to). The hips are ball jointed while the high-set knees are hinged. The high heel part of his "stilettos" are actually quite effective heelspurs, which round out a well articulated toy.
AQs with the beast mode, this is a pretty strong mode with good colours and no real gimmicks. The right arm is a mess but everything else works. The transformation makes good use of various beast parts, leaving Buzz Saw with little kibble. While the dud arm means this is his weaker mode, it's still worthwhile.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of.
OVERALL
An innovative if simple toy, Buzz Saw makes better use of transparent plastic than most BM toys, and has a good colour scheme overall. The beast mode and transformation feature some really interesting ideas, while the robot mode is a fine effort. The right arm in robot mode is his main flaw, and sadly drags this toy down a bit - 7/10
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