Beastwoman.

Huh, now this is neat. A burly dragon that turns into a burly woman! Never thought I’d see a fembot that turns into a dragon but here we are.

I got Ripclaw in a lot with a bunch of other Prime figures for cheap. It’s about time we look at another fembot anyway.

Alternate mode

Ripclaw is a dragon. A dragon with a scorpion tail. That’s absolutely metal.

The colour combo seemed weird to me at first but it works and gives Ripclaw a lot of life. Also, it’s great that there’s no robot mode kibble and everything is nicely proportioned. The massive tail has a neat trick; if the gun/claw/stinger isn’t attached it’s molded to look like a regular stinger.

If you lose the accessory, Ripclaw’s tail still looks threatening without it.

Ripclaw has a lot of posability in dragon mode. Her head is on a ball joint and her mouth opens. Her legs are all ball-jointed at the hips with bending knees. The front legs can rotate below the knees and the back feet are ball-jointed. Ripclaw’s tail has a bunch of joints but since there’s a springy string going through it, it can really only hold one or two poses.

Oh right, her wings can flap.

Transformation

The transformation is simple but it’s more involved than I thought it was gonna be. It is the standard “stand beast mode up and reveal robot head” transformation but there’s tricks in the arms, legs and chest that make it way more fun than you’d think. Almost everything packs away nicely in robot mode too.

Almost everything.

Robot mode

You know with all the complaints about figures like Earthrise Arcee and Power Of The Primes Moonracer, it’s nice to see a female Transformer with a reasonable backpack. However, even though there’s no massive backpack, Ripclaw’s massive tail just always sticks out far from her back.

Ripclaw doesn’t have the typical fembot body type. She’s much more burly looking than the likes of Arcee and Moonracer but she’s not as thicc as RID Strongarm. Also, her head is scary looking if you stare at it too long.

Ripclaw has a good amount of posability but she’s a bit limited in some places. Her head for one can barely look up and down or side to side. Her arms rotate as well as go in and out at the shoulders. She bends at the elbows and her forearms rotate below the elbows. She has a waist swivel. Her legs rotate as well as go in and out at the hips. She has thigh swivels and bending knees. Her feet are ball-jointed.

Gimmicks

That massive stinger weapon on her tail is also a claw. It can be removed and be handheld like a gun in robot mode. When the stinger in the middle of the weapon is depressed, the claw clamps down into place.

It’s a simple but effective gimmick.

About her tail, it’s rubbery insides mean you can use it like a scorpion tail. You can flick it forward and it’ll go back to normal by itself.

Toy or collectible?

Both.

Ripclaw’s got two fun modes, a simple transformation and is available at reasonable prices new or used. She makes for a good toy for the kids.

As a collectible, she’s an obscure character and figure from a decently old toyline. She’s also one of the better female Transformers figures out there and that’s impressive for a toy of a brand new character that doesn’t appear in the cartoons.

Closing

Ripclaw is a unique Transformer and while she does have her flaws, she’s definitely worth a look. Honestly, if her robot mode head had more posability and her tail was less obstrusive in robot mode, Ripclaw would probably be the best fembot Transformer period.