The first of the Warbotron toys, Air Burst — really, he’s not the Transformers Combaticon Blast Off — is completely amazing and definitely one of the best third party Transformers toys of 2014. I’m shocked by how great this toy is and I cannot wait to see how the other members of Warbotron’s not-Combaticons team turns out.

Packaging

Air Burst comes in a beautiful box with great artwork. The slipcase over the interior box (the slipcase is the silver box shown at left, above) is as attractive as the interior box and this is clearly a professionally-designed box. Nice!

Space Shuttle Mode

At right about 8-inches long, Air Burst is much larger than I expected and is very much Generation One-inspired coloring. This isn’t exactly the original 1986 Blast Off, but it is close and looks great.

The blasters can snap onto the sides of the space shuttle or the underside of the wings, and with everything locked in place Air Burst can hold all of the parts in space shuttle mode; no loose or extra pieces! And in space shuttle mode the toy feels durable and is truly more impressive than I expected. (I know I said that, but it really was a shock because this is the company’s first release and things feel like these guys must have been making transforming robot toys for years.)

Transformation Design

Now this is how I love to see Transformers toys designed. To test out the transformation design as I write this review I transformed Air Burst from space shuttle to robot mode in roughly four or five minutes. No problems (actually, the hands took a little more effort to flip out than I like) at all with getting things flipped out and into place. If the other members of the Warbotron team are as fun to transform as Air Burst then I may have found my current favorite third party Transformers toy line.

Robot Mode

Air Burst stands 6.75-inches tall in robot mode and is gorgeous! I am a fan of the blockier Transformers toys (which is why the TFC Hercules team makes me so very happy) and as the photos show Air Burst is as blocky as they come.And that head? I don’t know what it is about that style of head design with the mouthplate, but those are usually my favorite Transformers head designs. (I like my robots roboty and prefer no face or mouthplates to robots with a mouth.)

Articulation

Even with the space shuttle nose hanging off his back, Air Burst’s articulation and balance is strong enough that the toy doesn’t topple over unless I push it to an extreme pose. Many of the articulation points on Air Burst are related to the toy’s transformation design, but even keeping that in mind I’m quite happy with the articulation.

Let’s run through the parts of Air Burst’s body:

Head – Ball-jointed neck.



Ball-jointed neck. Torso – Swivel waist.



Swivel waist. Arms – Swivel shoulders that are also hinged to swing back, outward swivel biceps with a swivel just beneath the bicep, and hinged elbows.



Swivel shoulders that are also hinged to swing back, outward swivel biceps with a swivel just beneath the bicep, and hinged elbows. Legs – Swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs, hinged knees, and ball-jointed ankles.

Closing Thoughts

I’m really trying hard to not say “best third party toy of 2014!!!” so please forgive me if some of that seeps through, but Air Burst really stands out and I cannot wait to open the next release in the Warbotron series. The size, plastic quality, heft, articulation, and transformation design of Air Burst is all top-quality work and I cannot see how any third party company can top this not-Combaticon toy.

If you’re at all a fan of the Combaticons then you need this toy. Seriously, even if you have never bought a third party toy before then you need this if you collect the Combaticons. Just keep in mind that not all of the third party toys are as amazing as Air Burst so beware; if you buy this you cannot expect other releases to be as incredible as Air Burst.

I have got to open the next Warbotron toy right away.