So... Studio Series Airazor

I. LOVED. Rise of the Beasts. I've seen it four times now, and though I do have some critiques, for a large part I find the movie way more fun then it is bad. And the crown jewel, for me at least, was Airazor. Beautiful, badass, fire-breathing giant bird Airazor. She was incredibly well-acted and animated and just generally such a beautiful addition to the film and such a gorgeous rendition of one of my favourite characters.

Howeveeeeeer I did have some beef with what they did with her, namely the lack of a root mode. Rhinox didn't even have any lines, and he got an absolutely stunning root mode!! Luckily, though, the entire cast is getting Studio Series releases, so we get a little peak at what Airazor's root mode might have looked like in the film.

And. Well. It looks bad.

Okay, no, it doesn't look *awful*. I'm a fan of the general shapes, the sculpt on the legs is really cool. I'm not a fan of the colors, I think the green is kind of gross and out of place. The wing setup basically only looks good in a straightforward pose (see the way it clutters the sillouhette below). But my biggest beef is that I *hate* the headsculpt.

It looks so clunky and awkward compared to past Airazors, and the feather blocks don't look good. It could've been an opportunity to use the green color more, but it just kind of looks clunky as is. Her eyes are also really small which I think makes the whole helmet look awkwardly large, and bad at any angle other than straight on. 

It's a cool design, but kind of a cheap toy. At least it's only twenty-four dollars.

But I can't not show you the bird mode, because, well.

beautiful. beautiful. literally all they changed for her legs is having her squat. beautiful. 

I understand why the toy can't be as sleek or beautiful as the movie, but oh my god. There's no good way to pose this thing on a shelf. Ultimately it just doesn't seem worth getting, which is a shame, because I would've loved to have something of her.