Transformers: Earthrise Airwave Is Something That Exists

While I have both emotional baggage and philosophical objections in relation to the Earthrise line, there were bits of it I enjoyed. I'm predisposed to like the more oddball aspects of any given Transformers series, and these usually aren't the Primes and Bumblebees. Airwave is one such example. I recently took him out of storage, and having recently done a write-up on Magneous, I felt a retrospective was in order. Which would end being released much, much, later.

 

The 1989 Transformers Airwave Micromaster Playset

Airwave is a Modulator, and an example of Earthrise’s play pattern, the A.I.R Lock system. This was a spin on base playsets, the idea being that you could build up fortifications and roads for your toys to fight over. Airlock toys are usually identified by a specific connector on ramp pieces, which actually meant the gimmick had an uncredited introduction in Siege with Astrotrain and Omega Supreme. While examples of the gimmick were found at every pricepoint, deluxe Modulators such as Airwave were the banner bearers for it, an evolution of the Weaponizers from Siege. These were technically G1 characters, but not really. Most were based on Micromaster playsets, upgraded to have robot modes, but taking the name of the Micromaster that oversaw the playsets, whom were omitted, and shuffled into exclusives. The whole Airlock thing is basically forgotten these days, except as a minor feature of larger toys, and there's several reasons for that. First off, Hasbro only ever made two actual Modulator moulds in the deluxe slot, with Fasttrack being a Siege throwback. They honestly needed more, and maybe they should have been backwards compatible with Titans Return toys, whom had done something similar. Then came the matter of the little guys to go on the playsets, and this is where things objectively get a bit pants. This meant the Micromaster two packs, which were deservedly unpopular, and the new spin on Battlemasters. They took a pricepoint that was about little dudes that turned into weapons, and made them turn into transparent bits of road. Did it work out? Of course it bloody didn't, and even if the Pandemic hadn't kicked us all in our collective teeth, the idea was half-baked from the outset.

So, with Airwave here, I'm kinda writing about the best Modulator mould by default. It's a very small group, with a few exclusive repaints, and Ironworks had a few QC issues, but I admit there's not much in it. I'm starting with the robot mode here too, rather than the altmode, as he technically has 4 of those. So, robot mode. Airwave's robot mode look seems to have been made from whole cloth, not unusual by itself, but he is definitely unusual on his own terms. He resembles the love child of Shockwave and Seaspray; the former in the face and gunarm, the latter in colours and general dorkiness. Airwave has long legs, a torso like a pizza oven, decepticon badges for shoulder pads, and head with a mouthplate and 3(?) eyes. Keen-eyed readers will also recognise some minor pieces reused from Siege Brunt, specifically the hips and a flip-up peg on the chest. As a robot, its fairly distinctive, but also a little anonymous, which is kinda what you want for a potential army builder like this. Articulation is OK, but not great. There's ankle tilts and such in those lengthy legs, but the arms end up limited by the forearms interfering with the elbow swivel. He's a bit of a marmite, maybe? But its not without charms. 

 

 

Some unpegging and reassembly later, you get this airport setup, evocative of the original playset. Here the pizza oven chest finds use as a building or terminal, with his forearm gun now a control tower. The legs have folded out for a substantial runway, although, in what's gonna be a recurring weakness here, the arms are just kinda there being orange. Otherwise this fits well with any tiny jets you may have, and makes the best case for being a static location of what we're looking at today. 

 

The gun emplacement by comparison is kinda weak. Its got the form factor and appearance of the G1 version, but how you get there is radically different. The orange arms are sticking out and there's no obvious place for a Micromaster or ramp to get involved. It's also reliant on joint friction, so your mileage may vary. Moving swiftly on. 

 

 

The tracked aircraft carrier form is undoubtedly a highlight of the toy. The left arm comes good as the front end, those legs become a believable flight deck, tiny castor wheels come into play, while the torso passes muster as superstructure. It's not a great roller, but it is more clearly something than any preceding weaponizer and such. As other people have commented, it's like if Metroplex was a deluxe, and it's pretty good.

So, in conclusion, is Airwave worth your time? I'd say yes, for the most part. This toy was dealt a bad hand from the start. It's strongly connected to the failed Micromaster toys, which is a mark against it. It's also a substantive deviation from the G1 toy, and while I feel that's a net improvement, G1 accuracy is overdone, some may disagree. Less subjectively, colour choices do highlight weaknesses in the mould, and the toy may well have been better off with its hands switched. A big orange fist towards the front of an altmode breaks the illusion, ya know? Despite all that, there are good ideas here. Airwave is fun, that counts for much, and there's a few recoloured versions knocking about if that appeals.

Oh right, the armour thing that isn't in the instructions? But was in the instructions for Hothouse? OK, let's take a look at that too. I honestly didn't realise that this was thing until researching this toy, and maybe it has a bit of the fan mode about it. It is however something that exists.