Injector is one of the deluxe Fuzors releases for 1998. He is also one toy that caused a fair amount of confusion among Transformers fans because earlier publicity releases had named this toy "Aquasting". Unfortunately, the name had already been snatched up by another company, so they had to do a quick renaming.
Beast Mode:
In beast mode, Injector is a fusion of a lionfish and a bee. It is no exaggeration to say that this is one odd fusion. However, the result is a brilliantly colored and weird looking toy. His color scheme is mostly a transluscent red plastic. This makes up most of his beast mode head and his wings. Yellow, black and dark purple make up the bulk of his body. His head is colored with many yellow spots and the center has a large yellow horn sprouting out of it. It is elegantly designed complete with molded gills and organic looking "fans". There is a very strange type of beauty to this toy as it harks back to creatures that may have appeared in old low budget science fiction films.
In beast mode, Injector has eight points of articulation. This includes his wings and an attack feature which allows the head to swing forward and lash out with poisonous "spikes" mounted on top of the beast mode head. The beast mode mouth can open and close, and contain two rows of very nasty looking teeth. His wings do swing up and down and can be positioned so that he looks like he is in flight. Using his robot mode legs, Injector is able to look like he is standing on his insect legs in this mode.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
Injector's metamorphasis begins with the removal of his posterior "bee" piece. It can be set aside and will ultimately be his missile launcher. His insect legs swing to the back and his arms swing out to the sides. The beast mode head then swivels around to face opposite from the back (where the insect legs are). His legs then straighten out and feet fold out. From the mouth of his beast mode head, pull down the top row of teeth and his robot face will reveal itself. His weapon can be placed into either hand and Injector's transformation is complete!
Robot Mode:
Injector's robot mode appears almost as strange as his beast mode. His color scheme remains the same except he has a bit of red on his waist and his robot eyes are neon green. In this mode, Injector has twenty one points of articulation. This includes waist articulation, mouth articulation and upper leg rotation. Injector's detailing is interesting. Look closely and you'll note his gun and arms are actually not smooth but "bumpy" and more organic. The patterns of his wings go all the way down to the hinge which the wings are on. These are nice subtle touches that could have easily been ignored in production but were not.
Injector is not for everybody. For anyone who wants smooth or lithe toys in both beast mode and robot mode, Injector just does not deliver. However, if you want a freaky Fuzor, this toy is for you! B+
Updated Thoughts (January 30, 2022):
I remember a time when I would visit Toys R Us in the 90's and there were literally dozens of Injector figures on pegs just warming them for months on end. When this figure first came out I also remember a lot of people making fun of it, and in retrospect it's a shame. This figure definitely embodies a lot of the absolute weirdness that Beast Wars could represent. The beast mode is ugly as sin - and that's great I think the sculpt is beautiful and the deco is outstanding. I have hard time imagining a Deluxe getting lavished with this much sculpting detail and deco nowadays. The robot mode is pretty darn ugly too but it's supposed to be and that's part of the fun. I still think this is not for everyone, but to me this is a fun figure.
