Transformers Kingdom Blackarachnia review

Blackarachnia is a great example of making a femme fatale in fiction. She's hot, deadly, poisonous, but she's a very cunning Predacon that could turn against you if you're not careful. I mean just take a look at how that turned out for Starscream when he possessed Waspinator. Despite that, she was a Maximal protoform that became a Predacon because she was reprogrammed. This also alludes to her feelings towards Silverbolt, a Maximal with the heroic tendencies that make him stand out compared to the rest of the good guys. She'd eventually join the team and remain devoted to the Maximal goals, especially during the Beast Machine days. So a fan-favorite for sure, and while we got a Legends version retooled from the Animated line as well as a Masterpiece, it was now time to see what the Kingdom version would offer (while hoping the writers of the Netflix show don't fuck up her character).

Here is Blackarachnia in her spider mode. It's one hell of a creepy-crawly in terms of design, and I think Hasbro captured the look wonderfully! As far as details go, it's got some nice bumpy textures to give it more of an organic feel, especially fitting for how uncomfortable a black widow spider is. Some robot parts are revealing but it weirdly fits how the design looks. Maybe the legs could be gold instead of black, but it makes sense for a realistic spider mode (which isn't a bad thing since the spider-mode isn't going to look exactly as cartoony as the BW one). The weapon can be stored underneath the rest of the spider mode.  In terms of articulation, the base if the legs each have a hinge and 8 ball-joints for the pieces...though I posed it looking like just got crushed.

Transformation is quite intricate for this figure, which is not a bad thing for me. I was expecting a figure that would be kibbly and have pieces left from the beast mode, but I think the toy cleaned up quite well. There are things of the toy that make it a little more involved, like the spider-legs and the boobs tabbing in, and the way the arms transform. The robot mode is quite spot-on to the CG model once again, albeit with some honey tellow plastic rather than using gold paint. I like the proportions she has, and while her spider-legs are left like that, they are correct in terms of accuracy. I also love her claws for how deadly they look, and her beast mode abdomen makes for a nice and clean backpack that even if not 100% screen accurate looks good nonetheless. 

Head sculpt does look like Blackarachnia as it should, though the eyes and maybe the mouth make it look slightly off. I think the Masterpiece and Legends versions tackle it better, but what I find weird is that the lips are painted in a different color than the rest of her face. As for the ariculation, it's the same as with every WFC figure, but while she lacks a waist swivel, she makes up for it with her double-jointed knees.

Her only weapon is the same crossbow gun used in the show, which doesn't fire any missiles but looks nice nonetheless. If you thought that wasn't enough, you can spin the spider-legs around and have them become her guns. May not seem like enough but with a few effect pieces you can make her come to life with the blasts.

Let's go over the only reuse of the mold so far: the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line featured a surprise multipack of the Worlds Collide figures, which broke up all the yellow of the subline with Fangry, Nemesis Primal, and a toy-accurate Blackarachnia! This figure is given a crazy deco that reflects the show-inaccurate appearance she was given in the line. While many would likely focus on the cheetah pattern on the boobs, her head is retooled to reflect the toy head she had instead of the mutant head Tarantulas was known for. Some would want to switch the spider-legs of this release with the regular one to make her show accurate, but I don't think the orange would match up with the yellow of the Kingdom release.

And for a Takara repaint that makes the figure even more screen-accurate, this is the Beast Wars Again version of the character, being more metallic and even featuring the bronze spider legs. Stuff that I like to see on a figure if it weren't for the price tag. She is part of the Tenacious Showdown set featuring Tigatron.

Here is a comparison between Kingdom's Blackarachnia and her past versions, like the old toy, the Legends version, and the Masterpiece. The old toy, even with the accurate colors, can't even match how Blackarachnia looked in the show. Those proportions are made for Tarantulas. Now I just hope we get a new mold that has the shell designed to look like him while keeping a similar transformation. The Legends version, being a retool of the Animated figure, does manage to look a lot more unique than the figure it's reused from; it looks more like a stylized take on the figure that has some liberties to it like with Rattrap, Rhinox, Waspinator, Dinobot, and the shitty Cheetor figure from the Universe line. The Masterpiece figure already looked perfect, but that's from the cost of a Transformer that you'd pay at a price higher than the norm. While the Kingdom figure is priced around $20, the Masterpiece is nearly $140!!!!! So you can tell which is superior, but keep in mind that you'd pay nearly 2 Leaders and a Voyager for what you'd pay for that. It's a quality vs quantity thing.

Let's compare Blackarachnia next to her other figures in the line. She seems to scale nicely with Cheetor and Blackarachnia, which is good if you ask me. And of the three other characters we have so-far, I think she is my favorite figure as of now. If the way the figure turned out and her transformation being fairly unique won't convince you, then perhaps the fact that this figure being better as a fembot toy than either Chromia or Arcee should. Seriously, while Chromia had an assload of kibble and loose leg joints, as well as Arcee feeling cheap feel and her gimmick being stupid, Blackarachnia has no real bullshit to compromise her. Definitely get her if you can.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Kingdom Cheetor review

Cheetor is one of those characters that fill in the child-appeal characters that mature over time as the series progresses. Not a bad thing if you ask me, but he kinda began those tropes that is later seen with Side Burn, Hot Shot, and some versions of Bumblebee. He's reckless, he sometimes gets in trouble, but his heart is in the right place. He changes appearance every season and eventually matures, to the point where he's less like a kid-appeal character in Beast Machines. Now he's back in the Kingdom line, and while the character may be written like Bumblebee or Mirage in the show (to the point where he'd sound like them), we at least have a figure to review!

Here is Cheetor in his, well, cheetah mode! It captures the anatomy of the character design quite well, and it allows us to appreciate how it changed from the original Cheetah toy. It's nice, sleek, and captures the anatomy of the animal quite well. I love that the deco used for the fur on the chest and mouth, and while some parts of the robot mode are exposed as well as the hinges, I can happily say that this guy captures the look of the beast mode very well! It's even got some articulation, with an opening jaw, front legs that move from and back as well as in and out, forelegs that bend up and down, hindlegs that hinge outwards, hind legs that move front and back, and every paw is ball-jointed. While the neck looks like it could swivel, it cannot (or at least mine can't), and I fear that any attempt at swiveling it will break it.

Transformation is solid though as mentioned with the plastic of the neck, part of this toy's plastic is somewhat brittle. Not like it's going to crumble in your hands like Randy from Beast Wars Neo infamy, but still bad. There are tabs that are thin and could snap off without you knowing, much like the piece that connects to the head. As for the actual transformation, it's not too shabby, with the hind legs becoming the shins, the head using a few more hinges to make the chest transform interestingly, and whatnot. The robot mode we end up with is pretty solid, with the proportions and design cues found in the robot mode that one would expect from Cheetor. I love how he turned out, though I feel the colors of the toy are a little inaccurate. There should be plenty of gold around the toy like the forearms and the helmet while the blue should be a metallic navy blue. This feels more like a Cheetor toy with incomplete paint apps and prototype joints.  

Head sculpt is faithful to the character design, but the light blue face and lack of gold for the helmet make it feel more like a Playskool deco than it should be. Like the face sculpt looks good, but it just needs a little more of that sharp Cheetor essence from the colors used. Articulation is par for the course with the WFC line, as his head is on a ball-joint, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out (though hindered somewhat because of the cheetah parts behind them. Biceps swivel, elbows bend, and wrists bend. Waist swivels, hips move front and back, in and out, thighs swivel, knees bend, and the ankles pivot.

His sole weapon is groundbreaking, as it's a tail that can be yanked from the beast rump and be used as a whip or sword...just kidding, it's pretty much something I expected and is pretty dumb. I'd honestly prefer if we got one of the guns based on the toys (especially the stomach gun from the G1 toy). It can be held in two ways but the curved shape of the tail and the paint apps likely being scratched off would mean don't do it.

Here is the current reuse of the mold, which is the Netflix WFC version of the mold. It's got green cheetah eyes, a shinier shade of yellow, metallic blue replacing the lighter blue, and weirdly removes the paint apps on the legs and tail weapon. And for some reason, the stock photo shows that the spots are left intact on the tail in robot mode yet are missing in beast mode. This figure looks better than the regular one, but I wouldn't immediately say it's an improvement because of the missing blue paint.

While not specifically Cheetor, this is Nightprowler! He is pretty much Cheetor but with the yellow replaced with gray, though there is some yellow left on the crotch plate, shoulders, and head to have some color break up. This is in homage to the canceled Universe 2003 repaint of the original Cheetor mold.

For full-on cartoon accuracy, Cheetor (in this case, Cheetus) was repainted as part of the Instant Showdown set from the Beast Wars Again line made by TakaraTomy. He features more paint apps to better match the cartoon model and basically makes for a more complete set. Get him only if you want more paint apps while he is discounted.

And here we have a slight retool and all-black redeco, Shadow Panther. The guy himself looks rather slick in his beast mode, and the silver paint does make the toy feel rather premium, especially with the retooled mutant head (which lacks the actual gimmick of the old toy but whatever). I love the added Predacon logo, which shows that this guy may either be a clone of Cheetor as an undercover agent or one of the earlier bodies of Ravage during the Beast Era. If you can't get Covert Agent Ravage, this guy may be a decent stand-in.

Here is a comparison between him and his other counterparts. The original Cheetor figure is pretty dated for how blocky the proportions are and how unrefined the design is (though the plastic is denser than this toy is. The Universe figure is wasted potential thanks to the gimmick and inaccurate design. And now we've got the Masterpiece, which is pretty much the CGI model stepping out of the TV show. So of course people would probably think the Kingdom figure is inferior because it's not a mini-MP, but I think it works well on its own as a balance between being a realistic beast mode and a cartoon-accurate robot mode. I just wish the colors would be even better.

Here he is next to Rattrap! These two look great together as part of the synergy shared with the Kingdom line compared to most of the prior versions in the Generation line. Like the T30 Rattrap was solid compared to Universe Cheetor, but these two look like a duo of synergy. These two are shaping up to be part of the WFC line's best breath of fresh air; 2 years of G1 boredom I'm happy to see how the Beasties turn out in the line. Rattrap is already a nice take on the guy for his bite-sized perfection while Cheetor's a better CHUG interpretation of the character than the Universe version is, even if he feels a little cheap.

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

Transformers Earthrise ranked

It's time to revisit the Earthrise line once again! This was not a fun line to collect. At least with Siege, I was able to get the ones I wanted with no problem, and then I would go back and collect what is missing effortlessly. Now with Earthrise, I got all of the ones I wanted from Wave 1 no problem, then I got some of the Seekers, but Wave 2 and 3 were hard to find. I got Snapdragon, Arcee, and Doubledealer with no problem, but I only found Airwave in a Walmart, and only found the Wave 2 Deluxes in Walmart and at Aldi ONCE. They were never at any other store, and the same goes for ANY of Wave 3. I was lucky to get the Netflix stuff and Bluestreak no problem, but the fact that the main stuff was hard to find was inexcusable. And then there's the Amazon stuff, which is a pain in the ass. I already talked about my thoughts on distribution and the like, so now let's move on to the ranking.

20. Arcee mold: I already talked about how bad this figure is, which sucks because it looks good at first glance. The problems come from its functionality. It's more of a shellformer than the T30 Deluxe, the plastic feels cheap, there's no real use of the WFC ports on her, and the transformation is pretty lazy. The surfboard gimmick could have been cool had it not been for how it looks on her back and for how crucial the piece is because you won't have a complete toy if you SOMEHOW lose it. And to make manners worse, Arcee's missing paint for her face, which the Paradron Medic did have but that doesn't justify the rest of the toy. Elita-1 is probably the best of the trio, but that doesn't say much. I don't want to buy more repaints of the mold because 3 is enough.

19. Quintesson Judge: Probably the best version of the 5 Faces of Dorkness, but that's not really saying much. It's got a decent heft to it and the 3 articulated jaws are nice; the throne and stand are cool touches though the former looks and feels kinda cheap. I just wish it'd be handled better. The peg doesn't go all the way into the hole of the stand, and the gimmick works well though is annoying to hold it properly while making it spin. Also, I think the tentacles are finebut they could be poseable. The altmode sucks, and it ruins the point of having it transform. So yeah, not that great.

18. Allicon: Better than the Quintesson Judge, but I admit he is a little boring. Like you turn him from a stumpy guy into a theme park mascot. Mindblowing. I guess the army-building potential is there as well as his weapons looking fine, but I need more from this guy. Also think his height's incorrect, though I may be wrong. Either way, not too special.

17. Ironhide/Ratchet: This could have been the perfect version of the Ironhide/Ratchet character design, especially with the Siege figures already being great. Sure, that mold felt somewhat cheap, but at least the transformation and both of the modes worked well. Here, this toy ends up feeling more like a mixed bag, whether it's in Ironhide Red or Ratchet White. The figures each have enough retooling to make them look good, but they don't go all the way with certain parts of the vehicle mode belonging to the Siege toys. The roof shield is a nice concept, yet much like with Classics Optimus, lose that piece and the vehicle mode is ruined. I'm happy to say that I got these at the regular price without any of the bullshit others faced, though that doesn't make them any better.

16. Airwave: He may look a little odd, but I think he has some neat aspects to him. Robot mode has some personality with a bit of blockiness to it, and the partsforming aspect is kind of cool. That being said, only the aircraft carrier altmode works well, with the airport bridge mode feeling kind of meh and the anti-aircraft mode being pretty weak (it doesn't even hinge up that easily!). I like the asymmetry with the arms, with the right arm having the cannon and the left arm being plates from parts of the mode.

15. Snapdragon: Some fans might not like the Horrorcons for their design choices and for feeling like "carryovers" of the Titans Return line. Admittedly, there are parts of certain figures that feel like carry overs, but while their gimmick is the same as with the TR figures, they trade the pieces that bulk their heads in favor of making their Titanmasters a little more special: integration with the beast modes heads. The only thing I don't like about this guy are the forearms being limited, but the rest of the guy works well. Maybe he's a little too parallelogram-ish in robot mode, but he's a bit underrated if a little less special than Apeface.

14. Sunstreaker: This guy is great to have in order to complete the Countach Brothers, but he's not all that perfect; the shades of yellow clash with each other badly, the proportions aren't quite right, and his weapon being the engine block is kinda lazy. I'm also not sure about the spoiler not being included because it'd complete his look and make him more distinct from Sideswipe (he even has ports that would complete the look and I wouldn't mind if they were on the robot mode). So definitely the weaker of the two Countach bros, but not awful.

13. Astrotrain: Why does this guy justify the Leader Class price tag? Sure, he's got some beef to him and the modes are kinda tough enough to bash someone's skull, but the robot mode height doesn't really make him fit, and the same goes for his tender and guns. I'd say he has more in common with the Battle Pack guys like Hotlink and Soundwave. However, you can get him at cheaper prices. I didn't get him at $17 dollars as I initially wanted to, but I did buy him at $35 like I did with Jetwing Optimus Prime, which is fine.

12. Hoist/Trailbreaker: These guys do scream "G1 with Knees", as these guys are Deluxified versions of the G1 toys but with some added articulation. At least they pose well and have some aspects of the transformation that I do like; what I will say is that I like Trailbreaker more, as he looks better and has the best kind of partsforming; it's there but is at least not mandatory because it otherwise gets hidden away and the back piece being a shield doesn't work anyway. Might as well glue it! But yeah, Trailbreaker is better than Hoist.

11. Fasttrack: While he's a little more unusual for a Weaponizer, what with his basic design (which vaguely resembles Optimus Prime) and the orange wheels looking out of place with the gray, but he does have a good amount of articulation and has solid modes. Him turning into Scorponok's spear is neat, if a little unwieldy because of the lack of designated tabs. That being said, he'd look better as Black Roritchi.

10. Megatron: This figure was cool in the Siege line, though the ER version is kind of a mixed bag. Like the retooling is neat, and the head sculpt is not as bad as people say, but what I don't like is how blockier that backpack is, and they traded a bitchin' sword for a goofy-ass barrel with a sword glued on it! How does that work? And if you want to make him look less like an H-tank, you've got to keep that random piece on him or else it's incomplete...even though it'd be cooler if Hasbro somehow used the feet to fill the gaps. At least the figure looks nicer in the G2 colors, though the peg on the fusion cannon and the hinge on the peg of the barrel are looser than I'd like. 

9. Optimus Prime: At first, I was a little harsh on this version of Prime because the amount I paid for the Siege version felt great! It was a solid take on the guy that didn't dick-ride the G1 version too hard! Then the Earthrise version came out and I was going to give it a shot in spite of the proportions and it being too close to G1, and while the vehicle mode looked great and the robot mode a little iffy (the Matrix is a nice touch), there are some things I don't like about the set at first, mainly the missing paint apps on the figure like the lack of blue on the legs or the missing silver face, but what upset me was how undercooked the trailer felt. It feels cheap, there aren't any stabilizers or paint, the drone head looks bad, and there's no Roller or Energon Axe! Those had to be obtained with a fucking repaint of Brunt! At least Netflix Prime feels a little better-done. The blue joints and gray windows aren't ideal for me, but I like the better-painted face, and if the trailer's not going to be needed, I'm happy that he's got two Battlemasters to make up for it; Eneraxe is pretty cool and Sheeldron works as an homage to the shields used by Movie Prime and Cyberverse Prime!

8. Wheeljack: He's had two past figures in the Generations line, the first of which was loved by many for being a good mold of the guy. That being said, I felt the old Wheeljack was a little too stumpy and wide for him, which made him feel too much like someone that needs to get in shape. At least with this guy, he's got the perfect proportions of the MP figure, and while his wings are too short and his shoulder cannon more stumpy than I'd like, I can at least say his transformation is solid and his vehicle mode looks good! The type of white is a little odd (as are the shades of red and green), but it kind of works. Love them decals, too!

7. Battlechargers: Wow, you two! You go from shitty old toys to repaints of 2011 Wheeljack to being a repaint of Combiner Wars Blackjack, and now they have new Deluxe molds! Their vehicle modes look cool, transformations are not the same from Wheeljack or Sunstreaker, and the weapons aren't too shabby. I like Runabout more for his deco and extra gun, but the new head is an even nicer touch! I'm glad to have them together than getting one but not the other (especially with Wave 3 never showing up at ANY of my stores as well as Runabout being scalped badly).

6. Ironworks: At first, I wasn't sure if I'd like this guy or not because of how unnecessary he felt, but I ended up liking him! The tower mode is meh, but the crane mode is kinda neat, and the robot mode looks industrial yet solid. I like his crane arm on one side and his fist on the other. So cool if you ask me. And as much as he'd warm pegs in some stores, I like having him with me because he's an underrated gem in the first wave of WFC figures.

5. Smokescreen mold: Sure, it was annoying to have to get these characters again, but I'll be honest and say the Siege versions weren't that great. Too thin at the thighs and not much going on with the chests; on top of that, they're very low in the vehicle mode profile. These guys feel mode defined and proportionate; even if I don't like the other two had to be obtained elsewhere, I'm happy that Smokescreen, previously a store-exclusive, is now the first guy we get. This mold is solid, and I'm happy to own the trio and now Barricade since he came in a 2-pack with (Counter)Punch!

4. Cliffjumper/Bumblebee: This mold is growing on me. It may not be 100% perfect but it's one I have more respect for after revisiting the two MP Bumblebees. Like their Classics versions were good, and I think better for the bang for your buck than these new guys, but if we were to compare these to the MP figures, especially with Bumblebee, they're cheaper, they have good vehicle modes, their articulation is good, and both modes look great! Sure, they're not "100%" accurate to the cartoon, but I'd rather this guy look a bit like this than look like the new version of MP 2.0 Bee. This Bee could probably replace the Autobot insignia placement on his chest, but it works well. So Bumblebee is quite good, and Cliffjumper is as good as he is. Surprising that CJ is the first one we get, and Bumblebee is the reuse.

3. Seeker mold: I'm surprised I own 5 of these guys. This guy may be similar to the Classics Deluxe, but what I like about this figure is how much more refined he is like with Studio Series Starscream. The figure has new details, more robust joints, and better plastic. Admittedly, he's not 100% perfect with the chest tabs and the articulation being less than what the Siege version had, but he's not as stiff as the old Deluxe and works well with the thinner weapons and wing joints. I'd say this figure beats any of the Masterpiece guys! The Skywarp and Thundercracker 2-pack is hard to obtain but when you get it you'll be quite impressed with the new heads. Thrust is somewhat easy to obtain, Sandstorm was somewhat easy to obtain, the only bad thing is how annoying it is to get Ramjet and Dirge because they're fucking scalped by those scalping scum.

2. Doubledealer: You'd think this guy would make it at number 1, but I'll get into why it's not the case. I like how beefy he is compared to most of the WFC Voyagers, and his height also makes him have the value for money that Astrotrain wishes he'd have. He's also got plenty of weapons, but they add to his look rather than make him look worse like with Astrotrain. The anti-aircraft truck looks great with its design and its missile, and the vulture mode is kind of neat if a little blocky. I even like the swappable faction symbols on him, though no Mercenary faction symbols. The only thing he'd need is just two of the Spy Patrol guys that were in that 4-pack. Knok and Skar could put this guy up at number 1, but that's something our number 1 would learn how to solve...

1. Soundwave: ...because despite being 10 dollars more than a normal Voyager, this Soundwave is not only complete but also wins the Earthrise ranking! This guy is infinitely better than the Siege version, as he has an actual alt mode that looks good and comes with two of his partners (which is fine by me). I'm fine with him having Laserbeak and Ravage because they're two of the famous partners he has, and they're an inseparable pair if you ask me. On top of that, while Soundwave may be the true form of G1 with knees, he at least has the excuse of going with it because if Siege Soundwave can't make it work with an altmode that sucks, then the tape player mode shall do it. Also love the heavy-retooling used for him, which makes me appreciate this guy quite a bit!

And that covers my look at the Earthrise line! If that was all you wanted to read about, glad you made it! I'll see you in my next review! As for those that want to learn more about what I've got to say, let's talk about why I'm not too happy with the Earthrise line: Firstly, the exclusives are a pain in the ass. Some are hard to obtain, others aren't easy for you to get because you can't control how your preorder can work. I've seen stories about how people can't obtain certain figures; and either Hasbro or whoever sells these things should be responsible for tackling bot accounts and scalpers because I know the coneheads, Bumblebee, and Soundwave were hard to obtain. And then there's stuff like the mainline having distribution issues. I've seen Wave 1 no problem, but all I saw from Wave 2 for a good while was Doubledealer, Snapdragon, and Airwave with no problem; Arcee, Smokescreen, and Allicon were never found in-stores until one day where I walked to a different Walmart that had an assload of Wave 2 Deluxes, which somehow disappeared. 

And then there's Wave 3, which didn't show up at ANY of my stores. I had to get all of Wave 3 online, which is something that shouldn't be the only option for figures that are released at mass-retail. And if anyone wanted to defend that because of the Coronavirus, then explain why Hasbro can release the Studio Series and Cyberverse lines with no problem during the pandemic and all the other crazy stuff in the world but do jackshit with the Earthrise line. If the less-important stuff like Cyberverse or any niche merchandise was given reduced distribution, I'd get that argument if Earthrise was not important to Hasbro, but you know fans would go crazy for them even if they'd want to run to a store and find those toys.

And then there's the toys themselves. I mentioned how some figures like Megatron or Arcee have questionable aspects of them, with the former's weapon and the latter's partsforming, but things like the distribution of parts for certain figures or releases pissed me off. Sure, you don't need to get other figures just for specific accessories, but at least have the figures themselves feel complete. I mentioned that Doubledealer needed Skar and Knok, but he at least is otherwise complete. Optimus Prime's trailer could hypothetically not need the stuff that came with the Centurion Drone, but I'd at least want the trailer on its own to be good, but it feels underwhelming as it is with its faint paint apps and lack of stabilizers or other accessories to make it feel more complete.

All of these problems as well as the devotion to G1 left me with a pretty sour taste in my mouth, especially since I thought Siege was a strong line save for some bullshit like Chromia. That being said, I'm excited to talk about the Kingdom line, because it's about time that we have a breath of fresh air when it comes to the Generations line's inclusion of more Beast Wars characters. Next week will be my review on the first wave of guys (minus the Core Class trio I covered a while back).