Transformers Vintage Beast Wars Rattrap review

Rattrap is one of the signature characters in the Beast Wars series, thanks to his sarcastic and cowardly personality as well as the voice work provided by the awesome Scott McNeil. Seriously, it's amazing how one VA can pull off four distinct character voices in the same series while the WFC trilogy cast almost always sounds the same in terms of the same young Autobot voice, the same generic Decepticon voice, etc. Anyways, Rattrap's such a staple to the show he made his debut in that it's weird to see his fame contrast his first-ever toy. Much like how some of the G1 toys were pretty character-less until Marvel and Sunbow got involved with the comics and cartoon, respectively, the Beast Wars toys were not initially made with defined characters in mind until Mainframe went in and made characters out of the handful of toys they chose to add in the show. So let's see what this rodent infestation's all about as the plastic before the computer graphics.

Here is Rattrap in his beast mode. It's a fairly standard toyetic rat with a few transformation gaps here and there, though instead of it being panel-liney, it's all from the one-step gimmick that Basic class toys had in the first year, other examples including Terrorsaur, Razorbeast, and the first versions of Primal and Megatron. The sculpted fur on the beast mode is subtle enough and doesn't look too bad for an old toy. The eyes are painted back, and the teeth are picked out in white with a snarling look to them that I guess was meant for a radical look that the 90s had. Apart from the face and nose, the rear of the rat is given a faded brown deco to go with the tail, and the feet are painted in a faint skin tone color to represent them being bare. Oh, and all four of the feet are ball-jointed while the tail is on a hinge.

For a beast mode comparison, here he is next to the Kingdom version. While the original one is bigger than the newer version, which had some fans complain about the different size vs the price points they went for, you can tell that one figure was in that size because the budget they had made him much cheaper to produce without the inflation in addition to the gimmick that the toy's built around. Also, the result of not having the gimmick for the Kingdom version makes for a more proportionate rat that's also not as exaggerated in terms of proportions than the original, especially the face. Some think he's a little inaccurate to the cartoon, but the Beasties in Kingdom were designed to be realistic while the robot modes remain cartoon-accurate.

Transformation is very simple, as you hinge the base of the tail up so the sides of the rat hinge back while the rat head forms the chest. The robot legs can then be straightened out and the arms can be untabbed from the hands that are held within the rat halves. The resulting robot mode does not look that great. Because it was designed around the gimmick, Rattrap ends up being a mess of a body without any proper definition; the arms are disconnected from their torso while also hanging low on the body. The rat head's oversized and makes the figure look fat, and the silhouette of the toy is messed up thanks to the rat kibble sticking out too much. The side of the robot mode doesn't feel too bad apart from the feet sticking out and the tail from the back not being hinged all the way up for a more flush appearance. As for the back, it almost looks like a rat was flattened with the head cut off. I know this guy was made with the gimmick in mind, but looking at the other figures with the gimmick, notably Bat Primal and Terrorsaur, did a pretty decent job being made with the gimmick in mind. I'll give the toy credit that it has some paint to break up the colors and make it look less monochromatic, but it's still not the best we've gotten.

Head sculpt is close to what Rattrap's character model would look like, but it notably lacks the bronze head paint that the character model has, making the eyes and silver brain be the only parts that pop on the toy's head. It's amusing how Rattrap's head design was made before it was refined with the CGI model. Articulation for this guy consists of ball joints on every part of the toy, from the head to the shoulders and from the elbows to the hips and from the knees to the aready mentioned rat feet. Thanks to Generation 2, Transformers articulation has been improving more and more, and Beast Wars went a step further with the cheaper figures having ball joints. While not on the same level of the War for Cybertron trilogy's level of included waist swivels, ankle pivots, and occasional wrist swivels, it's still an amazing feat that the toys had at the time. Oh, and his gun halves can be removed from within the rat parts and combine to form his blaster, which pegs on his hands with a 3mm peg.

As far as reuses are concerned, we'll not cover the original Hasbro version since it looked too similar to the current reissue, and we'll go straight to the Takara version. Their version of Rattrap has pinker feet, a gray nose, red beast mode eyes, and bronze paint for the hands and robot head, both of which don't blend in with the rest of the toy but are appreciative. Weirdly,, his teeth are not painted.

And this is Packrat, who has been given a blue makeover with the addition of white plastic for most of the joints and as well as having gold paint apps, interestingly enough. This was a Walmart-exclusive version of the toy, and I kind of want to see this deco again for the Core Class toy. 

For a comparison with his Kingdom self, you can tell how night and day the differences are in terms of the engineering, coloring, and overall accuracy for the character model. The original Rattrap is slightly taller, but he feels bigger because of the kibble sticking out more. The Kingdom version may have cost you more now than the original toy did back then, but the original toy now costs twice the price you'd pay for the Kingdom version, and 4 times the price you'd pay for the original in 1996. Overall, Vintage Rattrap is the weakest of the Kingdom releases, On top holding up mediocrely, the figure suffers from an aged mechanism for the automorph as well as having a price increase that doesn't correlate with the price he went for originally. Honestly, I get that Hasbro wanted some synergy with the Beast Wars figures that were out in Wave 1 to match up with what Kingdom had at the time, but I'd rather they choose Blackarachnia or Waspinator to have an even Maximal/Predacon balance than having 3 good guys and one bad guy. Plus, those two are more fitting for the price points and hold up better than Rattrap does. If you have to get this guy, don't pay too much for him. $20 is a little easy to stomach for Cheetor, but not for Rattrap. While I never saw this guy on clearance like the others, you can be better off finding him at a toy shop or online for a cheaper price.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Studio Series Soundwave (Bumblebee movie) review

Soundwave's design in the Bumblebee was so ridiculous. It took the already boxy AF design and made it twice as boxy. So much so that it made him look kind of obese, though not as bad as Energon Optimus. I think some poses rectified his husky proportions, but there's no denying that he was even less refined than the G1 toy. Amusingly, despite taking a design with a pre-established robot mode, he looked like he couldn't have a proper alternate mode due to the ILM designers forgetting what kind of altmode and transformation would go well with him! Hasbro had to rectify this shit because their designers know how to make Transformers more than the people who worked on Bumblebee and claimed to be G1 fans. So this will be interesting to see who's alt modes work and who's down (especially when they didn't transform on Cybertron compared to Bumblebee and the Seekers). With all that said, let's take a look and see how this figure turned out.

I normally start in vehicle mode, but much like how I decided to start off the Dragonstorm review with the robot modes of Dragonicus and Stormreign, I decided to start the review of all Bumblebee movie characters who DIDN'T transform on-screen in their robot modes just to see how successful their vehicle modes would be. As expected, the robot mode looks rather nicely done to the CGI model, I'm sure some people will say that the deco is lacking, but it's perfectly fine when the sculpted details do enough to keep me happy. The white plastic looks nice and crisp while the gray plastic is appropriately fitting for bare metal. The proportions weirdly look less fat on this toy than on the CGI model, which might be good; his arms are still stubby, though. The figure's paint apps are properly applied with no obvious misalignments, including the cassette door and the red lines around the cuffs of the wrists. 

Head sculpt is very amusing. Sometimes, you get that weird illusion where the visor looks sad when viewed from a downward angle, but here, it almost looks like the visor was made to look sad instead of threatening,  and that's part of the character design! At least it has a good amount of paint apps that are applied throughout to make it more complete, especially with the size of it. His articulation is generally the same as one would expect with the average Voyager: ball-jointed head, shoulders that move front and back on a swivel and in and out on a hinge, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows if you move the kibble around, a waist swivel with a crotch piece that flaps up for better range, hips that move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, and feet that swivel and pivot. Apart from his signature shoulder cannon, which has a hole for a specific reason, we'll revisit, Soundwave also comes with a generic rifle that is cast in blue plastic and painted a brownish-gray to go with the gray plastic of the toy. Not very character-specific, is it?

For a robot mode size comparison, here he is in-between Optimus Prime and Starscream. Obviously, Optimus Prime was done up rather well, and I do look forward to seeing how he'll turn out if we see this figure retooled for Rise of the Beasts, but it is quite clear that Optimus and Starscream did have some sacrifices to go with the transformation compromises. Optimus has some kibble and does look rather fat from the front, while Starscream has some thicker than usual wings for this design in addition to feeling rather unusually proportioned. Soundwave basically matches the CGI model very well, and I'm sure it's his strongest point for those that don't care about his alt mode or transformation...

...because the latter seems rather fan-modey as far as how it works all around. Soundwave sort of transforms vaguely like his G1 self with the legs bending while moving to the sides, his chest being the centerpiece, the arms tucking away, but without ANY of the refined altmode specifics that would make the G1 toy good. Sure, there are tabs that keep everything together, but it's still not a good transformation all around. And as for the former, by which I mean the vehicle mode, by which I actually mean the crab pancake cruiser mode, this is one of the WORST excuses for an alternate mode I have ever seen in god knows how long. Just as terrible as the alternate modes that Cybertron Metroplex and Animated Megatron's Cybertronian modes had before this toy. Literally doesn't try to pass itself as a proper vehicle mode, even when compared to MV1 Megatron and The Fallen; okay, The Fallen didn't properly transform, but at least Megatron's alternate mode had new pieces that convinced people it was a new mode, like the nosecone and the wings. Not even the inclusion of weapons can save this thing! Like, holy cow what an embarrassment all around. I know a 3P toy did a Soundwave that turned into a battering-ram type of vehicle but that kind of works since it at least changes its shape even more drastically than this thing! And then you look at this guy from the underside and it's just as lousy as opening up the windshield on the AOE First Edition Optimus Prime and seeing a lousily hidden bust driving the truck. All around, this figure of Soundwave may have an accurate robot mode, but his transformation and vehicle mode leaves a lot to be desired, and I do mean A LOT. This guy is the weakest of the Bumblebee movie characters that did not transform on Cybertron; I know Optimus didn't either because they rushed out a vague addition of a truck mode that doesn't match up with his robot mode (the same reason why Bumblebee has a half-assed Camaro bot mode that is just him with a new shirt), so it's no surprise that not even Hasbro can salvage this lousy character design.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Vintage Beast Wars Megatron review

Beast Wars Megatron is my favorite incarnation of the character to use the name. More than the G1 guy, more than the Animated guy, more than the Unicron Trilogy guy, and even more than the Movie guy! His voice, personality, and manipulative ways make him too hard to hate! Now, I already own the Kingdom version, which is a pretty awesome toy all around, though I was surprised to see that the Beast Wars Ultra get a re-release a few months later. Interestingly, he was charged for the same price you'd get for a Leader Class figure, which makes him and Cheetor in similar spots for how close their release schedule was in addition to the size class. Now, Kingdom Cheetor wins for the better aesthetics and engineering while the original won in terms of coloring and more durable plastic, so let's see how the Vintage toy wins compared to the Kingdom release!

Here is Megatron in his beast mode. Design-wise, it doesn't really fit the sort of charismatic essence his character has in the show, but this was made before we got the CGI model, as was the case for plenty of Beast Wars toys. It's more of a generic T-Rex in terms of what he looks like, so much so that one side of his face has the screws exposed! Its proportions are alright, though they're not as aggressive as his rival, Primal. The sculpted details are decent, and the paint apps do add some extra breakup to the purple T-Rex. It's not as common nowadays, but back then, people used to make fun of Beast Wars Megatron by calling him Barney the Dinosaur because of the similar deco. His articulation consists of ball-jointed dino arms, and some slight leg movement, which is hindered because of the space being hindered by the kibble; his knees and toes do bend well enough, though the mouth can open and close when using the water-squirting tongue. If you want to make it manually, you have to slightly dislodge the tongue, though the tongue is removable as part of the feature. 

For a beast mode comparison, here he is next to his Kingdom counterpart. These two are certainly comparable, probably moreso than even the two Cheetors due to the similar size and price point they're going for. The original Megatron is slightly bigger than the new version and feels more toyetic compared to the Kingdom version's realistic T-Rex look that's inspired by Jurassic Park, and you can tell just how massive of a difference there is between the anatomy as well as the sculpted details. The new version makes use out of the PVC parts to make the skin texture look more convincing, though I'll at least say that the original version does an okay job at looking like a T-Rex. Surprisingly, the decoes of the two-match more than I expected. You'll see what I mean when we get to the mold history.

And here he is next to his rival, Optimus Primal. As you can see here, the scale between the two is not too bad, because it is pretty close to what these two could pass off as in the show. Megatron was a bigger bot than Primal in general, though you'll see how the opposite turns out in robot mode.

Transformation is very complex for a 1996 toy. In contrast to Optimus Primal, the outer part of the beast mode becomes the backpack, the dino head becomes the right arm, the tail becomes the left arm, and the torso is within the dino body halves! Combine that with the ratchet joints clicking from place to place and the general use of part-shifting, and you get yourself an asymmetrical yet awesome transformation for the robot mode. Megatron's robot mode is the iconic design we know him for since 1996, but it's not as refined as the character model is. Mostly, the proportions are a little stumpier than the character design has, who was a little taller and leaner in the show. I think what's also adding to the stumpy look is how wide the toy looks, from the span between the cranium of the dino head to the outer edge of the dino tail. Maybe if those parts were a little undersized, it'd make for a more proportionate robot, but the toy does feel a little too much like an intermediate step between his Kingdom and Masterpiece toys and Neo's Guiledart. The coloring of the figure is broken up much more with the inclusion of black, though it does feel rather unfinished due to the torso being solid black without any of the additional paint apps that would otherwise make him more complete. The sides and back views show just how kibbly he is with the hip panels sticking out and the dino wings being these big chunks. Even the mutant mask halves are so prominent and can get in the way of the head articulation. Speaking of, the head sculpt does look rather nice for the character design, and it has a version of his snarling expressions he tends to have, though it leans more on the Ninja Turtles side of things instead of David Kaye Megatron levels of snarling.

His articulation is pretty close to Primal's, though with a few differences here and there with the arms. The head is on a ball joint with the mask halves getting in the way, shoulders that ratchet up and down and hinge in and out, elbows that bend, a dino head that can swivel below the elbow, a slight waist swivel, hips that move front and back, in and out somewhat, swivels above the knee, bendable knees, and some toe articulation. If you want to pose Megatron's dino head with the mouth open, you can slightly dislodge the throat of the dino head so the jaw can open with no issue. The dino tail has a lever that you can push so the tail can act as a claw, though having it hinge and open back so it's more of an attack than a capture claw. He also has the mutant mask halves form a pretty unpainted yet menacing mask, which does look kind of ominous with the eyes being exposed, and the hips' panels can become the anchor launchers.

And now, for the mold history. Here's Megatron's original release from 1996, which was more of a purplish gray, had a silver bucket head, and was generally a sign of it being made before the cartoon was made. The Vintage reissue does not resemble this, so it's more of a weird mix between toy-accuracy, cartoon-accuracy, and Kingdom-accuracy. 

Unlike Optimus Primal, who has received tons of, poor Megatron would not get a reuse until 2006 when the Beast Wars 10th anniversary line was made. Included in a 2-pack with a partially retooled Optimus Primal, Megatron received a new deco that better resembled his cartoon appearance as well as a headsculpt that better matches his personality. The best part is all of the paint apps added to the torso and thighs, making him a lot less monochromatic of a toy. 

This is the Takara Tomy-only Telemocha version of Megatron, who has a deco that is slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly closer to the cartoon as well as not including the head sculpt that was with the 10th anniversary version yet instead has the toy-accurate head. Strange how that works.

And now here is a one-off release of the toy that was for a different character, and his name is T-Wrecks! A Dinobots-subline Maximal, he is as red as all of the Power Rangers Tyrannozords since 1993. He has no new tooling, but the color layout of red, blue, and a weird silver makes for a distinct vibe for the figure. I think you should display him with the mutant mask to distinct him further from Megatron.

For a robot mode comparison, here he is next to the Kingdom Megatron, who is much closer to the CGI model with some liberties taken to go for that WFC Trilogy synergy. He's leaner, sleeker, and much more refined than the original toy, though that doesn't make the old toy look like shit. It's essentially an evolution to the character design that we'd see over the years, though it is not as significant as comparing the G1 toys to the WFC Trilogy versions or Masterpiece toys.

And here he is fighting against Optimus Primal. Amusingly, Megatron is shorter than Primal, which is quite the opposite in the TV show since Megatron was the taller of the two (and possibly the tallest Beast Wars character that isn't the Transformers shown in the Ark). It's great to own two different versions of these characters, whether it's the more show-accurate and refined WFC Kingdom figures or the chunky and fun Vintage Beast Wars toys. If you can find this guy at Walmart still, I do recommend that you get him, though I will mention that I got my Megatron for $15 before Christmas. Go me.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Kingdom Slammer review

The last wave of Kingdom was rather surprising in terms of how things were revealed. With how leakers got a hold of these figures unofficially before Hasbro made poor attempts to reveal them, many did not expect for us to have one more Weaponizer in a line full of Fossilizers! Metroplex is rumored to be in the Legacy line, but instead of being a new take on the Titan Class fella we got in 2013, he will instead be the Cybertron version, so it is interesting that Slammer is finally made in nearly a decade after his massive partner was released with only Scamper by his side! Honestly, it was fun to revisit Six-Gun once more and see how they can make this new guy turn out! But why not we see how he'll stack up as the last new Deluxe figure of the general Deluxe line?

Here is Slammer in his vehicle mode, which is a rather boxy tank than the norm. In some ways, it reminds me almost of Titanium Megatron, and while it's nowhere near as bad as that toy, it still doesn't feel like a refined alternate mode. The multi-colored layout of the vehicle doesn't have that same sort of synergy between parts, and I understand that he has to have some color breakup for the robot mode and/or prioritize the robot mode all around, but the turret looks pretty out of place with it being white compared to the predominantly light gray used throughout the toy. The bottom portion of the tank thankfully doesn't have any weird color discrepancies, but I can't ignore the design oddities like how the flow of the front of the tank works because of its torso hinge. And furthermore, is it me, or does the front of the tank look more like the front of some non-tank vehicle? Also, why is the serial number on the side of the tank mode instead of somewhere more hidden? Doesn't even look like it could work as a tank decal because of how slapped on it looks overall.

In general, Slammer's alternate mode feels like an incoherent mess, and even though I didn't expect him to have good tank modes like with Megatron or Warpath because he functions differently as a toy, that doesn't mean I don't like the stuff that he does all around. Much like how Siege Mirage's arms ruin the flow of the alternate mode, and much like how Earthrise Hoist's show-accurate design makes the front of the body feel too hollow for its own good, this vehicle mode kind of fails to work well as far as its alternate mode qualities are concerned. Sure, it looks more like a proper vehicle compared to Cog and Six-Gun, but that still doesn't stop him from having the weakest tank mode in the line. Also, that barrel doesn't stay on those 5mm pegs too well.

For a vehicle mode comparison, here he is with Six-Gun, and no, I do not have Scamper because I don't have Thrilling 30 Metroplex (yet). It's weird that these two get to come together since we never had any idea that Slammer would actually be made, but hey, they're together, waiting to reunite with their massive partner! As for vehicle mode synergy, I'll say that Slammer does look a little more passable than Six-Gun, who looks like a weird-ass Jetfire on steroids (kinda like a weird take on Energon Skyblast), but it's still not the best.

Transformation is very much the norm for Weaponizers in the WFC line, as it takes some partsforming to rearrange these parts from vehicle to robot. In short, it's the usual flip-out thighs that attach to the hips, arms reattacking onto the torso, and integration of the backpack. If anything, it's kind of a good thing this guy doesn't have any borrowed parts from anyone else, which is a treat for any newly tooled Weaponizer (aside from Six-Gun's weapons). The robot mode is rather strange, not so much because of the fact that he has one for once, but because of what it reminds me of. The head feels like a version of Tailgate's with the white helmet and big blue visor. The torso, meanwhile, feels like a mix between Ironfist's chest with the tank influence of G2 Megatron, and the arm cannon sticking out on the front is reminiscent of the Classics G2 Megatron figure with its weird arm cannon, though without a crummy spinning gimmick. As far as being an original figure is concerned, Six-Gun does a good job in making a new design for himself that his G1 toy never had. The color layout could be a little more spiced up for the robot mode like the crotch is while but the thighs and hips are not when I could imagine the latter being white to match the look better. Of note, his arms do have a similar thing to Combiner Wars Rook's forearms, where the weapons attach onto the front of the fists, though in addition to having hands this time, Slammer has posts instead of slots.

Head sculpt is generally a version of Tailgate's, which is amusing because this figure does have a somewhat rookie/youthful character feel to him. The bright blue visor doesn't help hide the Tailgate similarities, either. Anyways, his articulation consists of a ball-jointed head, shoulders that move front and back on 5mm pegs, in and out on shoulder hinges, bicep swivels at 5mm ports, elbow bends, a rather loose waist swivel on a 5mm peg, thigh swivels that feel rather tight by comparison, deep knee bends, and ankle pivots. Apart from the arm-mounted cannon, you can slide the tank treads off and have them use them as batons. One side of them is hollowed out, though.

For the Weaponizer functionality, you can pretty much remove the backpiece, treads, the barrel base, the hips, forearms, shoulders, lower legs, and barrel from the torso in order to prepare to make all of these crazy weapon combos. 

And here are his parts attached to his wave mate, Pipes, who I must say is a rather nice retool of Huffer! I have used most of the upper body and the legs as a back-mounted dual-missile pod, while the tank treads are used a wicked sawblade, and the back piece is combined with the barrel to become a new arm cannon. The arms are now used as boots for him to walk on, with the pipes now serving as thrusters. I'm happy with how this turned out, and thankfully, the missile pods can be moved around so they don't have to be at an angle because of the back piece being swiveled around for Pipes. Now for a size comparison, you can see how he stacks up next to his teammate, Six-Gun. I'm sure both of them tower over Scamper and are immediately dwarfed by Metroplex, but let's be honest, these two figures are flawed in their own right. Six-Gun's robot mode is pretty cool, even though parts of him do feel a little undercooked, while Slammer feels kind of like a mix between Tailgate, G2 Megatron, and suddenly Legacy Bulkhead the more I think about it. Thankfully, there's a decent amount of synergy between the two, as they feel like they belong in the same line all around. So overall, Slammer's a decent figure with a few compromises here and there, mainly with the tolerances of the 5mm ports and the design traits he has that clash with each other. With some refinement here and there, he'd be better than he currently is. I do recommend you get him, especially since he completes the mini-Metroplex trio, though not at the full price he's going for right now.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Vintage Beast Wars Cheetor review

We already know Cheetor at this point, as he was a main Beast Wars character that had various designs in addition to having proper development over the years, from his youthful rookie days in Season 1 to his more experienced role in Beast Machines. But before the TV shows even began, he was a toy with no defined character made in mind. At first, the toy was going to be a version of Prowl back when the Beast Wars toyline was a direct continuation of the Autobot-Decepticon war. Hell, he wasn't meant to be Cheetor but a version of the Autobot Prowl! And that would eventually lead to an Optimus Prime retool in the form of a lion (before the Primal name was going to be used for an entirely separate character); much like how that concept was passed on to an entirely different lion toy that was named Prowl with the Prime-esque head (albeit for Magnaboss), the basis of this toy was passed on to an entirely reworked character design in the TV show. With all that said, let's see how the original Cheetor holds up!

Here is Cheetor in his beast mode...which is not the best-looking beast mode all around. I don't mean that as the beast mode looking bad, but moreso the general proportions that it's left with. They're far too bulky for a cheetah, and while I'm sure some people would want to go with the chonky cat memes, they're not quite appropriate for a cheetah's sleek profile. It makes sense that they'd want to have the toy be reused for other predatory felines, including tigers, panthers, and even a snow leopard. However, it's least appropriate for a beast mode like this. On top of that, the sculpted details look passable in some areas, like the fur textures combined with the spots painted on, but other details like the feet, especially the rear feet, and the gap with the stomach where the rather unsettling placement of the water gun, makes it age like milk. The robot kibble is hidden okay from most of the areas, but the aforementioned gun and the blue robot parts do remain exposed. The articulation is certainly not what the designers had in mind. I mean, you can pretend that the hind legs can move back and the forelegs can kind of do the same, but the joints were not made for the beast mode in mind. There's not even an articulated jaw.

For a beast mode comparison, here he is next to the Kingdom version. This guy is undoubtedly a chonker as the internet would call fat cats when put next to his modern self. The new Cheetor's sleeker, faster, defined and very accurate to the real beast mode. That being said, I do like the shade of yellow that the original toy has compared to the shade of yellow that the Kingdom toy has.

Cheetor's transformation is where things get a little more interesting. Most of the time, it's a case where the beast mode becomes a robot with straightened legs and arms as well as replacing the head and removing the tail for a weapon. The original Cheetor toy has the legs straightened out, yes, but the robot feet flip out while the lower legs swivel around in addition to the waist swivel so the robot details can be on the outside of the legs. From there, the transformation gets a little more distinct than the norm, between the way the back becomes the robot arms, the forelegs go on the back, and the cheetah head swivels and hinges down. The robot mode Cheetor has...also shows its age. The arms and legs don't look too shabby, but it's the torso that kills it. I know this figure has been made with limited engineering as a 1996 toy, but it looks bad all around, and lifting the head up won't make it that much better since the cheetah head would obscure the robot face.

Head sculpt is most certainly a pre-cartoon take on the character design we're all familiar with, but without the youthful facial details that he had courtesy of Mainframe. The head crest does look kinda Prowl-like now that the comparison was made. And of course, it has the discrepancies of the mutant face as we'll get to. Until then, his articulation's pretty good. Head can swivel left and right, shoulders are on ball joints, the biceps swivel, the elbows bend very deep, the waist kind of swivels, the hips move front and back, though the thigh panels are hindered unless you do a part swap a la Runestone. The lower legs swivel above the knee, and the knees bend very well.

His weapons consist of the gut gun and the rump gun, the former being the water squirter courtesy of the stomach, while the rump gun is just the tail flipped back to reveal the barrel. Oh, and the face can be flipped down to reveal the mutant mask if you wanted, which is the inspired look more commonly seen with Shadow Panther.

As far as repaints made specifically for Cheetor are concerned, this is the Fox Kids version. Not too different from the regular version at first, but the blue is more of a greenish tint while the spots are red instead of black. You'll notice that I did not add the first version, and that is because the original and the new reissue are not that different even up close. Here, it's more noticeable all around, especially with the blue forearms and feet.

This is the 10th Anniversary version, which has a different shade of yellow and a new version of the gut gun. This figure tries to be more show-accurate, but it fails as it shares the same shade of blue from the Fox Kids version, to the point where the feet and forearms are still blue instead of gold. The figure also has the wrong eye color for both modes (and in the case of the cheetah mode, the wrong pupil shape).

And this is the Takara version, which tries to be screen accurate yet the figure has looks like he has gunmetal instead of blue. At least the feet and forearms are gold but come on! I do appreciate the robot head being painted and the same goes for the cheetah spots. Even the weapons look nice.

Back then, Tigatron used to share the same mold as Cheetor, which is not quite the case for the Masterpiece and Kingdom counterparts. The Hasbro Tigatron did not really match the look of the TV show, as the figure's stripe color layout was not consistent with what the TV show came up with. Perhaps the figure had his deco altered after it was decided to make him white tiger instead of a normal orange tiger. In any case, it's a rather unique interpretation of the formula, especially with the chream white.

Here is Takara's take on Tigatron, with more show-accurate colors all around. Does look nicer than the Hasbro version, I admit, but it is likely to yellow badly and look like the Hasbro version.

And this is the Telemocha version of Tigatron, now with metallic green as well as silver paint apps. Does look like the best version of the mold, but that's only for the deco; there was no retooling done for this guy! I remember there being intentions to retool the animal shell, but not the case with the final toy back in the 90s!

As far as separate characters are concerned, this is Shadow Panther, a Takara-original deco that was recently referenced in the Kingdom line. It's been repurposed as Tripredacus Agent when Hasbro imported the toy for online collectors, meaning this may have been a version of Ravage. I like the silver paint apps, though the yellow stands out less here than on the Kingdom version.

And finally, here is Nightprowler, who I guess may have been the intended version of a Beast Wars Prowl had he gotten a hold of this figure. It's basically a snow leopard version of Cheetor, so there's that. He would have been in a 2-pack with a Halloween-themed Transmetal Waspinator, but the Universe line made a massive glut of toys that retailers didn't want anymore.

For a robot mode comparison, I think it's quite clear one wins over the other. The new Cheetor does capture the look of the character better, from the proportions and the benefit of understanding hindsight as well as learning from previous mistakes. The original figure does win with the better colors and plastic quality, though the visual department otherwise isn't the best. So overall, Cheetor is a decent figure when you consider how the figure holds up today. It's not the best in terms of the robot mode and the beast mode is pretty bulky for a cheetah, but at least the articulation is decent, the paint apps and colors are nice, and the transformation is pretty fun for how different it works in some areas. If you got this guy at $6 like I did during Christmas, I highly recommend him. He's not really worth $22 right now.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐