Yes, this is the signature flying Dinobot of the group, but he's not Swoop, he's Strafe-- I guess to justify the whole "two heads and tails" thing. I'm not sure where exactly Hasbro got that part of the design from but I do have to admit I like it. As with most TF toys with a pterodactyl (or pterodactyl-esque) alt mode, the beast mode tends to suffer a bit since the transformation is basically lengthening the legs and compressing the wings while folding out the arms and head. (And yes, that's how Strafe transforms-- honestly, it's so easy I really don't see the point for a Power Battler version of him or even a One-Step Changer). When looked at from a mostly top-down view, this mode looks AWESOME. The jagged wings have quite an impressive wingspan, the two heads are pretty well-proportioned, and the segmented tail is nice and long as well. The mold detailing is also nothing short of fantastic-- there's little ridges EVERYWHERE on the figure, from the front parts of the wings to his tails. There's also a fair amount of spikes on his legs, too. Unfortunately, some robot extras are pretty obvious in this mode if you're not looking at it from a top-down view-- the robot arms are VERY obvious underneath the wings, the legs are a bit too long (as a result of being the robot legs folded in on themselves), and the top of the robot head is somewhat visible in between the two beast necks, though particularly if you mount a weapon on the 5mm peg above and to the rear of it this helps to hide the head in the shadows. The color scheme also looks good-- it's fairly basic, being mostly dark blue and black with some silver to add a significant light color in the mix. By itself this doesn't sound all that impressive, but it's a pretty attractive shade of dark blue, and there's LOTS of silver paint on this guy, from the lines leading down the center of his beaks to his claws to some nice "spray" paint apps on his wings and tails. (It should be pointed out here that, due to safety reasons, Strafe's tails are made of the very rubbery kind of plastic, so they can get permanently bent into a certain position if you're not careful.) On top of all this great silver, there's also some wicked-looking "metal scrape"-style patterns on the wings, which really make Strafe look even more wilder and "out-there" than most of his fellow AoE Dinobots. Finally, there's a bit of electric blue used for Strafe's eyes, which looks good against the black heads. Strafe's robot arms are connected to the bottom of his wings, which are attached to the body by a hinge joint, allowing Strafe to flap his wings up and down in this mode-- and it's a nice, solid joint, so they stay in their positions easily. As for the rest of articulation in this mode, Strafe can move at the mid-point of each wing, at the base of his two tails (as one piece), at each neck (at three points), at each jaw, at the hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and slightly back-and-forth at the foot claws-- thus, he's surprisingly poseable in this mode. For weaponry, Strafe has two spear-guns (take your pick, depending upon how they're mounted)-- which I usually put on the underside of the wings (there are two different 5mm ports on the underside of each wing, so you can arm him up more if you want to). There's also a jagged crossbow weapon, meant to plug into a 5mm port in the middle of his back, which has your standard push-missile launcher.
    Strafe's robot mode is pretty much just the underside of his beast mode with a few things flipped out-- as such, so much paint and mold detailing is shared between the two modes I don't feel he's quite "different enough" in this mode. That said, the tails piece stays out of the way, and the wings behind his back can compress to an impressive extent, looking more like a billowing cape. The pterodactyl heads look okay on Strafe's shoulders, though they stick out a bit too much on the top, and I wish there was some tab for them to peg into to secure them on said shoulders. The core proportions of Strafe's robot mode are very good-- the middle of the legs are a bit skinny due to the transformation, but otherwise he's pretty solid in this respect. The mold detailing in this mode looks more akin to carapace-like armor as opposed to the spiky emphasis in dino mode. His headsculpt is excellently done, looking like a curved knight helmet with a pterodactyl crest on the top-- certainly fitting, and the light electric blue makes for a nice visor. The chest also has a fair amount of silver detailing, but other than that his robot mode-specific parts are paint-free-- which honestly isn't that bad, given how many paint apps from his beast mode are still quite visible here. For articulation, Strafe can move at the neck (at two points), shoulders (at three points), elbows, slightly inwards/outwards at the wrists, rotation at the waist, and movement at the hips (at two points), and knees (at three points). His wing backpack can get in the way of backwards movement of the appendages, but otherwise he's able to pull off some pretty awesome poses (though I wish the hollow part of his lower arms didn't stick out if you have his lower arms rotated with the hands sticking up).
    AoE deluxe Strafe may not have a particularly original or impressive transformation, and his beast mode does suffer a bit proportionally for that. I also wish there was a more effective way to get some of his beast parts out of the way in robot mode, and that his two modes were a bit more different from each other. That said, he largely looks awesome in both modes (but especially the robot mode), with excellent articulation and an eye-catching color scheme (even if it's not movie-accurate). He's also quite easy to transform-- if you want a Strafe toy, there's absolutely no reason to go with any other mold, given how simple this one is.

Review by Beastbot

*Toys "R" Us released an exclusive "Evolution of Strafe" 2-pack, though the version of this toy released in that 2-pack is exactly the same as this (mass release) version; it is also packed in with an unaltered Dark of the Moon Rav (now Strafe) figure, as well.

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