Venin (Transformers - Age of the Primes) Review

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Venin (Transformers - Age of the Primes) Review

Venin
Transformers - Age of the Primes (Hasbro)Not gonna lie, this one bugs me a little.
So, Venin (nee Venom*) is the leader of the Insecticons; they were kind of an autonomous collective at first, until HasTak got their hands on some Beetras molds and decided more bugs were in order. This guy is so paranoid about his position, in fact, that he self-sabotages constantly trying to defend it.
This guy hasn't had a proper toy since the original, really. Which this toy is trying it's damnedest to ape. The proportions are nearly spot on, just the old toy with more greebles and good articulation. Green and orange with grey are quite a choice, but it works here. The massive helmet moves fairly well this time around, looking a bit less like a heatproof suit. For the most part, it's the usual Deluxe spread of joints, including a waist (not always a guarantee). The bug legs on the back look nice in a few positions, but the balljoints are worryingly stiff.
The wings came out of the kidney area on the old toy, and they did very much look like crap. Hasbro has dutifully done the same here, but opted to use mushroom pegs instead of 5mm ports. Which means we don't have the option to put them on, say, the ankles or forearms. Someplace they don't look terribly awkward. You can sort of sweep them back like coattails, but that's a stretch. It's kind of baffling.
The weird part is, they did stick a 5mm port on the butt of his classic green blaster, so the classic "axe" (with basically no handle) can just plug in there and become a proper weapon. I guess one innovation is enough.
Transformation is decent. The legs do have minor issues lining up, but there's a clever bit of deformation in the shoulders at least.
The cicada mode is just as blocky as it ever was, but that's not a knock against it; the easiest way to make bugs look more robotic than they already do is to square them off a little. That said, the colors really pop here. I can't nail down a specific species, but they're planthoppers; surely there's one this bright somewhere. The robot mode visor is, as it was, smack dab in the center of the bug face, looking like a cheerful mouth.
Articulation is limited to the hinged proboscis (rostrum?) and the aforementioned wings and legs. Said legs are indeed strong enough to support the toy's weight, at least. The accessories plug into the sides, somewhat concealed by the wings. The blaster fares better than the axe, of course.
Well, I gotta say "old toy, but bigger" works better with GI Joe than Transformers. That said, it's solid work, just with a few niggling issues that could have been avoided if they'd been less committed to the vintage aesthetic. But that's the Insecticons in a nutshell (WfC notwithstanding), so I guess it'll blend in at least. Besides, this one isn't in an absurdly expensive box set.
*Obviously Venom is no longer an option for non-Marvel toys, so they just ran with the scary half of "antivenin". It feels both correct and incorrect at the same time. Much like his also-toxic leadership style.