Here are the four figures in the line, consisting of Bumblebee, Blackarachnia, Nemesis Primal, and Fangry. The first three molds were already covered in length previously with Earthrise's Cliffjumper as well as Kingdom's own Blackarachnia and Optimus Primal, so any differences regarding cosmetics and new tooling will be covered only. Fangry will be saved for last due to his status as a heavy retool of a figure I haven't covered yet.
Let's get Bumblebee out of the way. He's essentially a yellow Cliffjumper in vehicle mode, with his blue clear plastic replaced with black as well as having the engine intake painted on the front in a not-so-consistent manner. Honestly, the slight seams of yellow on the toy's black lines look kind of cheap and remind me of when anime would have its characters with incompletely drawn mouths that look odd and put me off. I'll give Bee some credit for having the insignia on his rooftop, something that most versions of the mold don't have. That being said, this guy feels boring. The yellow being unpainted plastic pales compared to the nice coats of paint that the other versions of the mold received. I don't have all of them because of my current buying plans prioritizing other lines, but compare WCBee to regular CJ, Netflix Bumblebee, and Gen. Selects Bug Bite; they all have a nice shine to them thanks to the paint applied to make the toys look consistent in vehicle mode. I wouldn't mind the lack of paint for this guy if he at least had something to make up for it. Racing stripes to match the movie figure would be neat! As a result, he looks like a less-polished Hubcap.
I don't like how cheap this toy feels, too. Maybe it's the mold-degredation kicking in, but I swear he doesn't feel as nice as the others without his coat of paint for the other parts of the figure. It also washes out some of the details that were decently present on the other versions of the mold. I also noticed a crack on one of the door hinges of the left foot, which is not an issue I encountered with the other figures. It's probably a rare QC issue, but I swear this all would have been prevented if Hasbro actually made the paint job lift the figure in a higher quality than it currently is. And next to the other versions, he looks fine but I don't think is as interesting as the other figures. Admittedly, he fulfills the digibashes fans made of an Earthrise Bumblebee simply by existing, but as mentioned before, something new to distinguish him from the other Bumblebees would be cool. That green cannon isn't enough in my opinion. I think he could go for the aforementioned racing stripes or maybe a masked facesculpt, reusing the Goldbug head in Bumblebee colors to homage the Movie guy and make for a unique companion piece with Earthrise Barricade.
Next up, it's Blackarachnia! Based on the original toy colors the character received, it doesn't really scream black widow spider like the cartoon color scheme did. That being said, this is the kind of deco I really like since it's something I never thought we'd get due to Hasbro initially wanting to go for a toy-accurate look for G1 stuff constantly and not so much for Beast Wars. This has begun the approach for HasTak to begin going for the toy-colored Beasties as we've seen on leaks for Scorponok as well as characters that were initially toy decos like T-Wrecks and Grimlock. The difference in color is especially striking for the legs and the abdomen, with the former being an orangey color compared to the solid black while the latter has a blue metallic sheen that makes it look more like the kind of spider you'd find at a rainforest. Even the green underneath the mandibles (which are the robot shoulders) adds a more toxic vibe to this color scheme, I swear it fits so well.
I have to say that the robot mode color differences make the figure much more dynamic and wild compared to the more dramatic and mature use of golden yellow and black on the regular figure. It's especially worth bringing up since toy Blackarachnia has the inclusion of more green and now purple to go along with the other colors shown in beast mode, the cheetah fur pattern on her breasts compared to the subtle gold highlights on the normal toy, and the new robot head better matching the toy head sculpt, which certainly looks better thanks to the mouthplate not having the gap from the neck hinge used for the mutant head gimmick. Admittedly, these colors are much more vibrant than the muted deco on the original toy, but I think it works as a great way to juxtapose it from the original version's cartoon colors. This Blackarachnia can be seen as the pure Predacon version while the cartoon version can remain as the Maximal-Protoform-Turned-Predacon character we all know and love. It's worth mentioning that the tab that connects the breasts is shortened to prevent breakage on the new version while my original figure has its tab broken off. It does make the talent not lock in place but at least it doesn't act as a major detriment. Some have opted to switch out the spider legs with the original release for a more cartoon-accurate look, but I'm sticking with the standard look for both of them.
After that, we've got Nemesis Primal, who was initially a repaint I was also not that thrilled by at first glance in a way similar to Bumblebee. Given how Optimus Prime already had a dark color scheme, I didn't really see much of the potential from Nemesis at first glance. However, the beast mode at least made his fur an even darker shade of black compared to the original figure (at least from what I'm seeing), and his bare skin is now in purple while his eyes are red, giving the illusion that this guy can also resemble an artificially made gorilla instead of a naturally organic one. But that's where the robot mode differences lie...
...because his deco certainly makes him stand out even more in robot mode! The chest is more thoroughly painted this time around (though the panel is a little floppy), the swords have blood-red blades for a more frightening look to them, the biceps, thighs, and cannons have metallic teal and some silver highlights here and there, and the headsculpt is not only newly molded to have the mouthplate and angrier eyes, but the helmet is painted black to make the details pop more in comparison to the flat blue plastic used on Optimus Primal, which, while cartoon accurate, does look drab by comparison. These details made me go from not wanting Nemesis Primal to then being happy that I own him. It also made me want to go out and get T-Wrecks in spite of him not having the correct retooled head.
And last, but certainly not least, we have Fangry. This guy makes for a really awesome surprise for those who never thought we'd get a niche toy like him, even if he's in a boxset with figures that are mostly repaints with new noggins. This guy is a retool of Twinferno, aka Doublecross, from the Titans Return line. The heavy retooling is extremely helpful as it makes him feel like a different toy all around, the same way it worked for Studio Series helicopter Drift compared to chopper Dropkick. Just about everything except for maybe the beast legs is new, and I can always appreciate how well-done the sculpt work is for the hands and the beast head; sure, it's a little more stylized than the Kingdom Beasties prioritizing realism, but at least it looks much more impressive than what the original toy had. His color scheme is accurate to the source material, and his articulation consists of wings that flap, a jaw that opens (which makes the beast head even more terrifying), shoulders that move front and back, in and out, bicep swivels that are kind of hard to move in certain angles, elbow bends, hips that move front and back, and knees that bend.
His Titan Master, Brisko, fits inside the chest compartment (though it can always be stored on the back with the Titan Master pegs), As for the little guy himself, he is essentially different from the Titans Return figure by not having the vehicle accessory in favor of having his face painted better. Otherwise, he looks the same in head mode.
Transformation is much simpler than the other guys due to the Prime Wars engineering not being as intricate as what we got from the new molds of the War for Cybertron trilogy. For a figure design like this, it at least doesn't bother me too much. While the arm transformation is kind of silly as it replaces where the forearms face as well as the hands while the wings and beast head remain tucked on the back, the way the beast legs become the feet of the robot is pretty cool if you ask me, with it feeling more like a unique trick that makes transforming the legs a little neater. As for the robot head, the Titan Master port seems a little snugger than I'm used to with other figures, but maybe that's on my copy. As for the robot mode, it certainly looks like a modern Fangry toy. Blocky proportions to give off that G1 but Deluxified look compared to the more refined designs of the War for Cybertron trilogy, he definitely stands out compared to the other figures in the line, even more than Apeface and Snapdragon! I can at least say that the chest design is neat to break up the mostly pink torso, and I like that the speed, strength, and intelligence tech spec tampograph is there to make it more like a normal Headmaster design from the past, with it being a way to help the toys of the past stand out further. One annoying thing is that because of his bac kibble, his stability is not only pretty weak for the heels but his knees are very loose on all copies.
Head sculpt is very accurate to how Fangry's face would generally look, down to the color-blocking green face. The rest of it that isn't pink is pretty nice. His articulation is pretty much the norm for the line, even if it's slightly less impressive than the standard of the WFC trilogy. His head is on a ball joint thanks to the Titan Master neck, the shoulders have the same articulation, there is no waist swivel, the hips move front and back as well as in and out, though the skirt panel has to move up, the thighs can swivel, the knees bend either loosely or tightly, and the ankles don't pivot but swivel due to transformation. He annoyingly doesn't come with any accessories, though his concept art did give him his own gun. I wouldn't mind if he had the same Titan Master vehicle accessory he had in the line.
And that covers the set. Overall, this line-up of figures is very interesting if you ask me. We've got a Bumblebee that's fairly mediocre in terms of execution included with a toy-accurate Blackarachnia that looks even better than the old toy colors, a Nemesis Primal that's surprisingly good with its teal, silver, and purple, and a Fangry that, while flawed in some areas, does make for a pretty cool addition to the line in spite of being behind a buy-the-rest-to-get-this-guy type of paywall. I personally don't think you should get the set just for one figure only. Only get this set if you really want more than just Fangry. I bought it because Fangry was a neat addition to the Decepticon ranks while Nemesis and Blackarachnia looked like pretty cool repaints of molds I already got. That's 3/4 figures that got me sold on the set, and I honestly think that's a good way to approach the final verdict. If you want all four of them (including Bumblebee if you never got him in any other form), then go for it. If you want 3 of the figures, that's not too bad to an extent. I'd be hesitant if you only wanted half of the set while buying it at full price, but don't go for the eBay stuff and just by Fangry on his own unless you find a really good deal for him or the set s a whole.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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