Unexpectedly, Beast Machines joins Energon as one of two major franchises to FINALLY get representation in the Legacy line. Veteran fans and those who make annoying video essays for clout new fans learning about the franchise know that both entries are known for having negative reception back when they first came out, but while Energon was notorious for being poorly dubbed and outright incomplete in terms of animation in some instances, Beast Machines was criticized for its depiction of most Beast Wars staples changing personality greatly, the darker tone lacking the humor of its predecessor, and its approach being too thought-proviking for a kids show. Oh, and people whined about the designs but that's the point of the Maximals being technorganic in-universe. Cheetor getting a new figure makes sense since the character is already popular among fans, on top of his design being pretty easy to tackle as we'll get to. I'm surprised we didn't get figures of Optimus Primal or Megatron, or any of the Vehicons since we did get a Tankor back in 2014. But one actually alarming thing worth mentioning would have to be the possibility of the Core Class line being discontinued next year. It sucks badly as someone who looks forward to miniature versions of existing characters and characters who already make sense to be made in a smaller size, but I have a feeling Cheetor will be one of the best molds of 2024, and possibly on the same tier as Mohawk from the Studio Series line. Let's review him!
Here we have Cheetor in his beast mode. A technorganic design this time around, the design is fairly accurate to the CG model, though it isn't quite as 1:1 to the source material as one would expect. The cheetah mode is an even skinnier iteration of the animal than the Beast Wars version, with the what will be the robot forearms and lower legs being mechanical. As a result, this figure falls short (har har) given how much can be done with both replicating the Beast Machines aesthetics AND working with a Core Class budget, though there was an effort made. I do appreciate the cheetah spots being purple on some parts of the figure, though not all of them are present on this toy if compared to the in-show design. And while the shoulders are stuck looking like how they do in robot mode, the swords make them more noticeable like how the hands are always present no matter what. While he has the shoulders and hips tabbed in place, you can still pose the limbs if you want to make him look a little more dynamic.
Transformation is so simple, it's summed up as straightening the arms and legs, flipping the beast head and paws back, and rotating the head around. Oh, and don't forget to tab the body in the pelvis as well as flip the tail away. At the very least, the robot mode is done very well for what HasTak is aiming at, especially at this size. I know people would look at the figure and think it's comparable to the old McDonald's Happy Meal figure, but let's be honest, that set was a very good selection compared to the other McDonald's Transformers sets we got since then (apart from Armada's but still). The proportions here are close to the CG model of the character, the stability is much better than with previous Cheetors, and while the figure isn't as detailed as it should be, we at least get the "necessary" details on the torso, from the green on the pecs along with the spots to the gold paint apps on the stomach with the waist line below it painted in orange. The head sculpt is especially well-detailed, with the trims for the lower face, nose, and eyes being picked out along with the pupils. His feet could use more details beyond the ankle guards.
His articulation consists of a neck swivel, ball-jointed shoulders, elbows, and hops, thigh swivels, and hinges for the digitigrade legs. He can hold both swords individually or combine them into a sort-of dual-bladed sword. I'd still take this over the garbage arm-swiping gimmick of the Mega Class figure or the numerous gimmicks on that crappy Supreme version.
Here he is next to the Kingdom Cheetor mold, which towers over him obviously when it comes to both size class on top of Beast Wars being better received than Beast Machines. Still, I felt like giving a dedicated review to this guy rather than wait for Core Class Starscream or Steeljaw from Studio Series to pop up. Especially since we'll likely never see anymore from this size class after Legacy ends. While I prefer regular Beast Wars over Beast Machines, I still like how Cheetor turned out in this size class. If we don't get anything in the Deluxe and up size class, at least Hasbro was willing to acknowledge this series with a new mold since 2014's Tankor. So expect a toy of Botanica in 2034!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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