Here we have the four toys in their alternate modes. We got a Cybertronic tank, a strange crab-like monster, an orange arachnid, and a red muscle car. They all look pretty good if you ask me, but it's better to see how they each turned out when compared to their prior reuses, with Squeezeplay being more of a highlight after the reviews are taken care of.
Cliffjumper is a retool of Chase from the Rescue Bots series, and both it and Prime are part of the Aligned continuity. Changes include the addition of horns on the hood, the removal of the siren, and paint apps for the Autobot insignias, rims, and exhaust pipes. I do like how some of the vents and headlights are picked out in areas where they were absent from the original use of the mold, and the black-tinted windows further complete the personality overhaul of the mold. Going from a fairly toyetic cop car into a semi-realistic custom muscle car is always a treat to see, even with the proportions not exactly matching the TFP look.
The robot modes also prove how retooling Chase into Cliffjumper makes sense. I didn't think they'd have comparable design traits individually, what with the different aesthetics and animation styles, but seeing these two sharing the same mold proves me wrong when they share a unified aesthetic. I always wanted to see CHUG-styled versions of the Rescue Bots to go well with my Prime collection, which gives Chase a surprisingly strong redesign given how non-G1 franchises other than Armada tend to be redesigned to fit with the line. Cliffjumper, meanwhile, still feels closer to his TFP design than even the Skyquake/Dreadwing mold. He captures the same physique, and design traits, and doesn't have the simplistic aesthetics found in G1 designs.
Here he is next to his First Edition counterpart. While I prefer that toy more for being accurate to the cartoon, the Legacy version still feels like a better choice as a TFP Cliffjumper than the PRID version. With comparable proportions, a possible way to make an arm cannon with the smokey grey weapons, and the head sculpt not being a reuse of the Gamer Edition CJ, this guy manages to win a lot more points than I expected.
And finally, here we have Arcee next to her boyfriend to further show how NOT to do a Legacy version of a TFP character; Arcee feels more like a disgruntled Geewunner liking the design of Arcee but hating how it was called Arcee solely because of her being blue and a motorbike, with fan art making her a new character unrelated to the G1 version. Meanwhile, Cliffjumper feels more like an alternate design of the TFP character during production, possibly one that'd have forearm hook weapons like how I would display my copy.
Tarantulas is a redeco of himself, this time now in orange. While the average person would question the character being orange, this is in homage to the prototype meant for the character seen briefly in the commercial for the first wave of Beast Wars toys. I believe a collector trading card had him vaguely colored orange, but he was originally meant to be translucent as well. This repaint, leaving him as opaque, might make the orange fairly dull in beast mode but at least prevents fragility issues seen in the WFC Trilogy and Legacy lines. The gray legs do make him more of a prototype than expected.
The reason why Tarantulas changed from orange to purple was for more color variety in the line, since Dinobot was tan and Cheetor was yellow; Scorponok and Tigatron were also going to be orange, but one became black and the other became white. The robot mode mostly replaces any black plastics with gray and the purples with oranges. Still, the lower legs are interestingly distinct given how they are gray yet were originally green like on parts of the original Tarantulas. What is new for this Tarantulas is a head sculpt themed after the old toy mutant head gimmick where the line would allow kids to display the toys with either robotic or mutated faces. The original version of the character depicts him with the mutant mask that became a signature character trait for the cartoon, yet this version instead gives him the mouthplated robot head that would be a vague influence for Blackarachnia's head in the cartoon.
Speaking of, he goes quite well with Blackarachnia from 2021's Worlds Collide line. The two molds are distinct from each other instead of being repainted like in the old days, but the almost matching colors and altered head sculpts make them look like twin siblings. They'd likely attempt to overthrow Megatron and take over the Predacons, that is unless they start backstabbing each other. Tarantulas may be the weirdest repaint out of the set and possibly the weakest, but that doesn't make him a bad inclusion regardless. Maybe if the orange was more metallic, it'd look a little better. Oh, and you could pretend he is a drone of the original Tarantulas named Tyrantulas according to a Hasbro rep.
Tarn, naturally, is a redeco of himself. Instead of being from the G1 universe's vast IDW continuity, he instead represents the Perfect Decepticons Megatron X created, and the deco differences are certainly telling with how much darker and richer the palette is on the Cyberverse guy compared to the more washed-out G1 version. Not that one is better than the other, but I don't really know which one I like more than the other. They both represent different versions of Tarn, yet I like the decos on the two uses equally as much. They're functionally the same, though, down to still leaving the robot fists exposed and not having wheels for the tank treads.
The robot modes have me feeling conflicted about which color scheme I like more even further. Design-wise, the Cyberverse version doesn't quite match the bulkier proportions of the character model from the show, but damn the colors look great. I love the darker thighs and forearms to help make the toy feel more complete, deco-wise, rather than leaving them be a flat light gray. The cannon stands out more with the richer colors applied, notably the black barrels with a few golden paint apps as well as a purple block holding them both. The head having red Joker-like lipstick marking may be off to some, but it is accurate to the show. That being said, the show depicted Tarn with a scar on his face as well as having his left arm missing, so you can instead have this be a Perfect Decepticon for your troop-building needs. Have fun with the extra Cliffjumpers and Squeezeplays, though!
The sword did not belong to Tarn, initially, as it instead comes from Bludgeon, a retool we got before this Tarn but after the original, I didn't get him at first, but a discount changed my mind at Target, and what a steal for nearly $20! The sword isn't painted like on Bludgeon but it could be like a lightsaber Megatron used in the 86 movie, though Tarn and Mace Windu are way cooler than G1 Megatron.
Now for the new-ish mold of the set, and why I wanted to review everything in the first place. Squeezeplay is a weird crustaceous monster that has the typical colors from many post-1987 G1 toys, some of which look more ridiculous than a G2 toy. The hot pink, blue, and beige all contrast the standard color scheme of Cliffjumper and the elegance of Tarn. Hell, Tarantulas feels more normal than Squeezeplay is. His design also screams "late 80s toy" with how absurd the design proportions look, on top of how weird the Decepticon Headmasters got after 1987, though the robot thighs being shoulders of sorts for the beast mode makes them wonky as hell when you remember that the forearms will become the robot legs. The back of the beast mode has the typical tail-weapon storage that isn't anything new. We'll go back to the gun in a moment.
For a beast mode comparison, here he is posing his arms next to Fangry, who also represented the wonky late G1 design logic by being a somewhat organic-looking beast mode if you notice the head and wings. They also share hot pink as a common trait, but Fangry's beast mode is a little more believable. By a smidge.
Before we get to the robot mode, here we have the Titan Master included with the set. Thankfully, with the inclusion of plastic windows intact, we won't have idiots stealing this like they have done with a bunch of LeBron James toys in 2021. The color breakup is always great, especially compared to the old Titans Return offerings from 2016/7 Hasbro, especially with the painted visor. That being said, it is annoying how the thighs are not pinned in, meaning that the legs detach easily. BTW, his name is Lokos, is not the same as the Titan Master version of Squeezeplay, and it looks like Cancer, the Headmaster Junior from Super God Masterforce.
Transformation is similar to that of Titans Return Mindwipe, though his lower legs won't have the wings explode given how no cheap plastic is being used. Still, the hinge holding the beast mode head doesn't have a pin inserted through it, so be sure to keep that in mind. The robot mode looks about what I'd expect from a highly refined version of the old toy, even if the back kibble feels like it's no different from the old days in a way. The upper body looks mostly typical of the blocky G1 designs we've seen, but the lower legs having the claw feet and more rounded aesthetics comparable to the beast head are details I do like. One complaint I do have is much like the primary color lights in front of Hasbro's Beast Wheeler Zord 5 years ago, the paint apps on the chest look very faded and transparent.
His head sculpt is not the same as the Titans Return version as expected, instead matching the old toy and Masterforce appearances. I don't mind either way since I never had an attachment to either character and just want the figure as it is. The articulation gives us ball joints for the neck and shoulders, swivels for the biceps and thighs, hinges for the double-jointed elbows, knees, and ankles, and universal hips. His weapons can be held in either his hands or forearms, but that gun needs to be talked about.
The back pieces can hinge if you so want, but that pistol is a surprise addition in the form of Browning! He was a Takara-exclusive character that never had any Hasbro release, so don't expect a Core Class version of him right away. That being said, Browning is the third instance of a gunformer being used as an accessory instead of being a transformable figure, with Megatron's Walther P38 mode and Shockwave's ray gun mode being done in a Generations Selects accessory pack included with the Centurion Drone. Of note, Browning is silver like the old toy and not, well, brown like in the cartoon.
For a robot mode comparison, here he is next to Fangry, and I personally think that Squeezeplay manages to be better engineered than his fellow Headmaster due to the inclusion of ankle joints as well as coming with accessories while Fangry never did. Squeezeplay also doesn't feel super cheap, thanks to his knees not being floppy out of the box like they are with Fangry. Now to wait for another 3 years for Horri-Bull.
Overall, this is a strong multipack and the best we've got from among the four offerings we had since 2021. While I liked having the evil Predacon retools in Worlds Collide and Goldbug in Creatures Collide, and while the troop builder set was a cool idea on top of adding Decepticons, Hasbro did a tremendous job that it'd be a great way to go out if this will be the last of the 4-packs. On top of that, it's a much better value having a Voyager and three Deluxes around the $80 price tag moreso than buying them individually at $110, especially in this current economy. If you can find this set at, I recommend it highly.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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