This is Transformers Prime Beast Wars Voyager class Predaking. While not a combiner, he has the color scheme of the G1 combiner team of Predacons which combined to become Predaking. Beast Wars Predaking is a large dragon. As is appropriate for a creature like a dragon, his wings and tail make him appear bigger than he actually is. The toy is fairly well articulated and is very detailed. The dragon mode is less articulated resulting in some limitations on posing. Hasbro obviously spent its time on this toy rather than on Beast Wars Optimus Prime. There are a lot of spiky bits that are mainly molded in that rubbery stuff Hasbro has been using lately.
The sword has no good place to go in robot mode, except to be held in the hand. There are pegs on the sword hilt that fit into the hand. The way the sword fits into the hand makes it unable to be held straight. It looks like it is twisted a little in his grip. The sword is the end of the dragons tail. If it were to be mounted on the robot mode, it would be sticking up directly over his head. Because the hands/feet are molded in that rubbery stuff, they do not hold the sword securely.
The dragon mode is nice. It is long and has a nice wing span. The pictures on the box show paint applications on the wings, but there are none. Predaking would have looked a lot better with a little more paint. The head is very well detailed, but because it is all in black with no paint, the detail is lost in darkness. On casual inspection the eyes are not visible. In theory I like the color black for the dragons head, but in this case, dark red (or orange, maybe..) with a black wash to show off the details would have been much better. The orange and black color scheme is a nice homage to G1 Predaking but Beast Hunters Predaking would have been a much better toy with a slightly different color scheme.
Unfortunately, all the black does not show detail well in a picture.
The jaws open and close and the neck has one swivel joint at the base and two places it can bend at the neck and back of the head. The overall transformation is done well, except for the toes of the robot on the dragons back and belly. I am glad the robot is not just the dragon standing up with the neck folded back to reveal a head. That is one reason I am wary of transformers with animal modes. They have often been either lazy with the transformation, or the animal was just a plastic shell around the robot, every animal part becoming kibble. But Predaking is not like that. He was the first Beast Hunters toy I opened up, and I was fairly impressed with his size and overall look. But after opening a few deluxe class Predacons that are nearly the same size as Predaking, as well as the Beast Hunters Oprimus Prime, which seems slightly bigger and definitely bulkier, Voyager Predaking seems a little small for a giant robot dragon. I heard that a leader or Ultra class Predaking will be released. That should be much more size appropriate. One thing I have not shown here is the two dragon head missile launchers. They can attach to the dragon on either side of the neck to make a three headed dragon, but they don’t blend in to look like a real part of Predaking. I did not like them, so back in the box they went. Overall, this is a nice toy and has whetted my appetite for a larger version, as well as seeing him on the cartoon.
Beast mode: 8
Robot mode: 8
Posability: 7 ( no body or tail articulation in dragon mode)
Playability: 8
Durability: 7 (one wing kept coming off, but it was easily poped back on)
True to Cartoon: ?
Overall: 8 (this score is almost a 7, and might be depending on how he looks in the cartoon)
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