The universe may hate Wazzpinator, but the fandom certainly likes him enough where he got into the Hall of Fame, which was probably a major factor in poor Waspy getting a brand new deluxe toy! This toy is heavily based on his more well-known original Beast Wars version, and in wasp mode Waspinator generally looks pretty good. He's got the proportions of a wasp more or less down pat (sure, the wings and legs could be a tad bigger/longer, but they're a nicely-sized compromise between this mode and not sticking out too much in robot mode). I love how much more bulbous and round the main body is on this toy, more accurately replicating a wasp's proportions compared to his relatively flat-looking original BW toy's alt mode. His insect legs are actually on strong enough joints for him to stand on them as well, which is always good. (The front leg on each side and the back two legs on each side can be rotated at the point where they meet the body, but they don't move otherwise-- with is probably a good thing, since more articulation on the legs would've made it harder to stand Waspinator up, here.) I do have an issue with the rather obvious robot mode extras in this mode-- the robot arms, in particular, are VERY obvious, just sticking out on the sides, though at least they peg into their set positions solidly. His robot feet also stick out from underneath his head a bit and are another small eyesore, and you can see just a TOUCH of his robot head behind and below his insect head if you're looking at the right angle-- this last one is being nitpicky, though. The color scheme is classic Waspinator, but with the various greens done really well. Both light, medium, and dark shades of forest green are quite prevalent on Waspinator (especially in robot mode) and complement each other well, and his yellow-and-black stripes back end and brown legs and antennae provide a good bit of contrast against all that green. His wings are a clear shade of plastic-- appropriate enough for insect wings, to be sure. His eyes are painted a nice silvery blue, in a color pretty close to how they appeared on his show model. (On a side note, I love the drooping antennae, like Waspinator is cowering-- it fits his character perfectly.) The mold detailing is pretty accurate to Waspinator's show model, with relatively minimal, curvy detailing on most points, but a couple of insect-like "spike-hairs" here and there, and enough detailing here to make it look like he does indeed have a carapace. Waspinator has a pretty good action feature in this mode (and in robot mode, too)-- pushing the brown slider on him back and forth allows his wings to move up and down-- and it's done in way where you can move his slider back-and-forth quite quickly, allowing him to "buzz/hover" around a bit. I wish the slider were in a place where you didn't have to be so careful to avoid your hands getting in the way of his wing-flapping action, though.
    Waspinator's robot mode, as it was in the show, is more or less his wasp mode standing up with a headflip. It's a bit more complex on this version than on his original Beast Wars version, with a rather neat waist rotaton involved on his underside and a bit of "automorph" involved when you press in on his shoulders (which causes his insect head-chest to split apart slightly), but it's still hardly a complex transformation. The end result is admirably accurate to Waspinator's show model-- the only real extras here being the longer, larger insect legs hanging off of his lower arms and ankles, but I don't see how this could have been avoided. Waspinator's overall proportions are very well done-- my only SLIGHT issue here is that his arms are just a bit too small, but eliminating this problem would have made them even more obvious in beast mode, so I can live with it. Waspinator's headsculpt is incredibly well-done and spot-on, complete with his insect-like mandibles, and painted yellow antennae and headcrest. (That said, I don't like the clear plastic light piping used for his eyes-- for show accuracy, transparent blue plastic should've been used there.) His upper legs have the black-and-yellow stripes to help break things up from all the green, but some really nicely done show-accurate yellow paint apps on his lower arms and legs provide even more contrast to this mode. Just like on the original toy, the back end of Waspinator's wasp mode can come off to form a stinger-gun, though on this version unfortunately it doesn't fire any missiles. Waspinator's articulation is at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist rotation, and movement at the hips (at two points), knees, ankles, and heels. Given how many of these are ball joints, this means he has pretty darned good articulation. His heels are quite sturdy and keep him well-balanced despite being slightly back-heavy, though the flip side of this is that the knee joints on most copies are a little loose, so they can't hold up his weight quite as well as you'd think.
    Generations deluxe Waspinator is an excellent "modernized" toy of the popular character, and has a wonderful color palette, a well-done robot mode, and enough paint apps where he doesn't look boring at all in either mode. Beyond the obvious arms and feet in wasp mode, my only complaints about this toy are inherent in the design (i.e., I wish his robot mode was a bit more unique compared to his wasp mode), but realistically, unless we get a "Masterpiece Waspinator" sometime in the far future, this is about as good a toy of ol' Waspy as you're going to get. An easy recommendation for Beast Wars fans.

Review by Beastbot

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