Fugitive Waspinator

Chalk one up for timely announcements! Fugitive Waspinator is a descendent of The Thirteen Micronus Prime. Hmm, interesting! When Hasbro was developing the lore behind the Original Thirteen Transformers, one of the ideas they kicked around was that all current-day Transformers were somehow aligned to one of the Thirteen. This first got codified in the Binder of Revelation as "polarities," which seemed to function like zodiac signs. Unfortunately, the Binder famously tanked, and nobody had cared about Transformers' polarity even before that happened, so nothing came of it. The Covenant of Primus book turned this into "Energon bloodlines," but it still mostly went unremarked. It's been resurrected now as an excuse for why the Age of the Primes line has more figures than just The Thirteen, so its mention in Waspinator's promo copy marks the first time it's ever had any bearing on the actual toys. Age of the Primes "Fugitive Waspinator" is, unsurprisingly, a repaint of Legacy United "Animated Universe Bumblebee." I actually had that Bumblebee. Got him at the same time as Optimus. But I hadn't finished his review yet when this repaint was announced, and since I didn't want two of the same mold, Bee went back to the store and I began waiting for Wasp. The body is very accurate to the Animated proportions, and is honestly even better as a figure than the original was: the kibble on the arms is less obtrustive, and the feet are better-designed. That's what a decade and a half of general improvement will do for you! Wasp was meant to get a figure like this (even with the same trademark- friendly name) in the Animated line, but it was cancelled because it didn't have any new molds and Ironhide did. So technically we've been waiting 15 years for this toy! But this one is better, because this time it does get a unique head instead of just being Bumblebee painted green. His chin is pointed, with a piece covering the mouth instead of leaving the face bare, and he has a crest on his forehead (which hints at future antennae) rather than little horns on the sides of his head. The figure's accessories include two rocket boosters, which can be worn like a backpack, and two halves of his stinger weapon. You can combine those with the rockets to form handheld guns, or you can flip his hands around and plug the stingers into the holes now exposed in his wrists; the wrist-stumps are angled to allow the two half-stingers to plug together into one, like he's just clapped his hands together to fire one mega blast. Good thing he's got enough joints to bend his arms far enough to achieve that, and feet stable enough to support him even in dynamic poses. (Just make sure you remember to flip out the little panels in his heels.) Converting Wasp is a little rough, because some things that need to be straight or lined up want to bend out of the way. Rotate the forearms to the inside, lift the chest over the head, open the shins, collapse the heel tabs and fold the feet up, rotate the outside of the shins 180°, tuck the knee-flaps away, close the panels over the feet and press the legs together, spin the waist, fold the former legs up to under the windshield, flex the shoulders back, open the forearms, flip the hands over, press the arms up against the body, and close the flap on the back. A lot of these last steps really feel like they're working against you, where things don't want to go together unless you're really forcing them. Like Bumblebee, Wasp's altmode is based on a future-Detroit car. It's a small, stumpy vehicle with a single bump on top representing the police light on the car Bumblebee scanned. The bright yellow-green from the robot mode most disappears in this mode, just leaving the blue-green visible. The windows are purple, but they're translucent, so they look fairly dark. Like the 2010 toyline, the rockets can plug onto the sides of the car to be jet boosters, with the stinger-halves as their (oddly mechanical) exhaust. Bumblebee in the Legacy line was a nice toy, and since I never got a yellow version of the character back in the 2010s, I was perfectly fine to get that one. But to get Fugitive Waspinator, an homage to a toy that was cancelled back then, if even better - especially since I didn't pick up the insectoid Animated Waspinator, either! This is my first version of the character, and he's great. -- 05/27/25 What unmade Animated characters do you want to see? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.