Tarn [Legacy United 4-Pack/Voyager Class]

I can't explain why exactly, but ending the year with a look at Tarn just felt right. Also from the Target exclusive Legacy United 4-Pack, Tarn is a recolor of his first toy that I never found. That toy was, however, made into a Bludgeon figure that I talked about during this years Halloween Hootenanny. I liked it quite a bit, so there was a lot of positivity going into this figure. This Tarn is meant to represent the character as he appeared in the Cyberverse cartoon. In which he was a Decepticon Supersoldier from an alternate reality who rose to power.This version of Tarn became the big bad guy in the final story arc of the series. Representing this character in toy form means Tarn has a brighter color palate than his prior toy's darker color scheme. I prefer this as it gives him something of a cyberpunk vibe that feels out of an early 90's CD Rom video game.

To my understanding, Tarn is largely the same as his first version aside from paint. Bludgeon was pretty similar aside from head sculpt and the additional sword. This Tarn comes with Bludgeon's sword as well... which just feels right. I love a good super robot with ridiculous melee weapon. Tarn has some large cannons that can be held individually or doubled up. I suppose if he misses his target, there's still the option to use the sword. Tarn is a larger toy as a Voyager and feels like it thanks to his design. He looks tall, you know? His Decepticon symbol mask always looked cool, but something about those highlighting colors makes it a little better to me. Transformation was less pleasant than it was with Bludgeon. I had a problem with a few parts constantly popping off while moving around. That's frustrating. Not sure if the plastic grade is different or the mold is showing some wear. So far it's been used for two different Tarn and two different Bludgeon figures. I'm sure some wear and tear has to be showing by now. It happens. Overall it's still a good toy and looks great. 2024 was a hell of a year. I guess it takes someone like Tarn to see it out. Happy New Year!

Shadow Striker (Legacy: Evolution/Deluxe Class)

Shadow Striker is a character with an oddly complicated history. She began life as a Transformer as one of the exclusive toys for OTFCC 2003 in a set with her sister Roulette. In those earlier days of BotCon/OTFCC, the exclusives were generally kept secret until the show. Something most in the fandom really enjoyed. However, click bait happy news sites did their nonsense and leaked images. One of the leaked images was a repaint/remold of Side Burn that looked like Nightracer. Pointless drama ensued and when it was all said and done, the toy was actually a new character named Shadow Striker. As time went on Shadow Striker made appearances leading up to Transformers Cyberverse. This new version was an interesting patchwork robot... and apparently was originally to be named Nightracer.*sigh*

This is a new figure of Shadow Striker as the Cyberverse character in a toy that's VERY similar to Side Burn. Of course leading to speculation that a Legacy Side Burn using this engineering (with maybe new car parts) is coming. I also wonder if a two-pack of OTFCC Shadow Striker and Roulette using this mold will find it's way out as a Generations Selects release. This new figure really cool on it's own, despite the obvious 'other bot' -ness of the design. Like I said, Shadow Striker was something of a patchwork robot in Cyberverse. I often felt like she was based on Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy. Toy wise... she didn't get much. A Scout Class figure that I always enjoyed, and an Ultra Class that wasn't as patch work like the normally is. Kinda makes me think that toy was designed when the character was meant to be Nightracer. The Legacy toy isn't as patch work looking either. Only the larger eye really stands out in that way. Maybe she got some repairs. The dark purple and red colors of the figure really look neat with the chrome and black accent colors. It's a simple color deco that looks very sharp.

Shadow Striker has a lot of carryover from the Side Burn design. You can either arrange the parts to resemble the that design or get a little creative. The car roof makes for a robot mode shield, but I stuck it on her back for a more stocky appearance. The blaster can also be held as a blade or combined with eh bumper to make Side Burn's Exhaust Bowgun. I opted for her to wield the blaster as a gun and stuck that bumper on her forearm. Transformation is pretty easy (much easier than the classic Side Burn mold... yikes). The only hard part for me was getting the car hood to attach. It's an odd connection and I was a little too clumsy with it. In alt mode, Shadow Striker is a sports car that's similar to a Doge Viper. In these colors, I'm reminded of the M.A.S.K. Manta. Ironically from a a toy line that oddly enough had a spiritual successor named Shadow Strikers. This is a great figure of Shadow Striker that makes me look forward to the eventual Side Burn toy quite a bit.

Skywarp (EarthSpark/Warrior Class)

The Cyberverse Seeker mold has seen it's fair share of repaints as Seeker molds generally do. It's a likeable toy that's unfortunately a little too simple. I've grown to appreciate it over the past few years. I haven't gotten every instance of it, and strongly prefer the Vic Viper flavored version better (really regret not getting that box set of recolors), I've still gotten quite a few. The mold, like other Cyberverse toys, has gotten re-released in EarthSpark as Skywarp. I got her a little while back as her colors are just great. Skywarp is a female character in EarthSpark following Cyberverse's female version of the character. This makes for a little fun variety since EarthSpark follows a kinda nebulous version of the events in the G1 days (it's not exactly a follow up, but the flashbacks are specifically flavored as so).

I made a point to get this toy as I like the colors quite a bit. Skywarp has always been one of my favorite seekers, partially due to that. Skywarp has her traditional colors in the cartoon, however they got a little creative with this new toy. The black and purple is swapped out for a metallic blue and black. It's very pretty looking and kinda reminds me of old Diaclone art. Aside from that, Skywarp is the same toy I've talked about here a before. I like it, but wish for some leg articulation. Skywarp easily converts to jet mode and features a spinning waste gimmick that I'm sure is entertaining for the children it was intended for. I bought Skywarp for the colors and general like of the character. I guess there's just something to a fresh coat of paint. Skywarp can hold most 5mm weapons and accessories, I can imagine some BattleMasters would liven up the toy quite a lot. 

Crunch Skull Supreme

With EarthSpark around the corner, there's been plenty of video clips and teasers to get us all ready for the show to debut. I'm looking forward to it as I'm sure some of you are. Seeing that the Skywarp toy is using the Cyberverse Warrior Class Seeker mold made me wonder if Skullcruncher will his Cybervese toy mold? It's a good figure and I think flew mostly under the radar, so why not? That brings us here today as we look at the aforementioned toy. I used the word aforementioned and feel super fancy about it.

Skullcruncher is a larger Ultra Class figure that sells for around $20 if you can still find him. A Cyberverse Ultra is equal in size to a Generations Voyager for the price of a Generations Deluxe. So you can expect a simpler and more hollow toy for the money. I'm just getting that out of the way right now. It's specifically intended for children while Generations toys are intended to be collector friendly with a higher quality. Fortunately the hollowness doesn't really effect Skullcruncher too bad. It doesn't stand out blatantly. The most I noticed it was in his lower legs, which is where his thighs fold into when transforming. He's definitely light though. That'll bother some, but not others.

Like most Cyberverse toys, Skullcruncher has a play gimmick, his being 'Energon Armor'. This is a pretty non-intrusive gimmick in which a clear green alligator shaped helmet/mask pops out and covers his head. It looks kinda neat. Thanks to the transformation, his wrists swivel and beast claws fold over the hands. With that helmet on and those claws properly displayed, you've got a Battle Beast! As you'd expect, Skullcruncher transforms into an alligator. Aside from the lack of a Headmaster, he's pretty much a traditional toy of Skullcruncher. A simplified update I guess. He has quite a bit of articulation as well. In all honestly this is a pretty good toy.

Weapons are a laser gun for shooting and a pointy tail. I'm not really quite sure what to call the tail weapon as a large blade unfolds out and Skullcruncher holds in from the tails base. A pointy traffic cone? Seeing as there's no other way to store the tail in robot mode, I guess they came up with this as a quick fix. I'd have preferred it to be a shield or a backpack. The tail weapon is my only real complaint... because I don't like it. I do have another complaint, I wish his mouth opened in gator mode. That's the only real complaint I have. The weapon is pretty subjective.

Make no mistake about it, this is a toy meant for children and not adults. So, that's something you'd have to keep in mind. I wouldn't compare it to Titans Return or the Walmart 'Vintage' Headmaster Skullcruncher toy. On it's own though, matched up with other Cyberverse figures? Yeah, it's pretty good. The simplification gives it a touch of that old school charm I've talked about before. He could have been a G2 figure in terms of construction and feel. Just needs to be a little heftier and have weird random stickers. A Decepticon or transformers logo across the tail or something. I... kinda want that now.

A day with Shockwave

 

About 2 weeks ago as you're reading this, I finally bought a Turbo Changer Shockwave. I'd been wanting this figure since it came out in Cyberverse and for some reason never got it until recently under it's re release as a Buzzworthy Bumblebee figure. I've made my love for these simple figures know often here, so I'll spare you the details, but he's a pleasantly old school vibe robot toy. A week later after buying him, and a week before you'll read this, I opened him. I've got a pretty good backlog of unopened toys and the bulk of posts here are written in advance. I'm sure I've explained that one here as well, but thought I'd repeat it in case that wasn't clear. 

I've spent all the day with this Shockwave by my side. I work at night (I'm also sure I've said that before), and it was a Monday. I woke up early to see my wife off to work and spent the day doing odd tasks between goofing off and napping. Monday's for night shift folks are like Friday evenings for day shift folks. Shockwave got transformed a million times. If you look at the delightfully buggy alt mode, you'll see those rear legs. Squeeze them to auto-transform him into bot mode, pull them apart to go back. What kind of insect is he supposed to be? Maybe one of those flat grey ones I always see on my porch?

I spent a good deal of time playing Dig Dug 2 on my Switch. By my chair was a TV tray (the one from my Instagram). Shockwave stood there next to my Galaxy Tablet. When I wasn't playing, the pro controller would sit there with the two. I really wish this toy would get re released in different colors as someone else, just so it could get a little more out there. He really feels like a lost Beetras/Deluxe Insecticon. Maybe with a new head or in different colors he could be a new one.

He was by my side as I finished the current (and sadly last) season of Pacific Rim: The Black. Overlooked the making of my lunch that consisted of some tortilla pizzas and grapes. What's a tortilla pizza? It's a little pizza you make on a tortilla instead of a crust. I'm on a low sodium diet. With the right sauce, cheese, and tortillas, a pretty easy lunch that's tasty and also nothing to worry about. He found it logical to add some Mrs Dash prior to cooking. I thought it was a pretty good idea myself. 

During another round of Dig Dug 2... have you played it? It's really fun, I like it a lot better than regular Dig Dug. But anyways, while playing I found myself thinking Shockwave would be at home in an old 8 or 16-bit video game. Probably as a bad guy in some space shooter, his design would make for an excellent general soldier. I can really see him on the cover in that old school painted art style. If this really was an old toy, he might have actually popped up in one. Unofficially of course, but there he'd be. 

I'm at work now as I write this. Just sitting at my desk working, typing out a few lines here and there between working. Sipping on my water flavored with orange-vanilla Mio. About to eat my little Ziploc baggy full of low salt Ritz crackers that I'll dip into a cup of peanut butter. It's the simple kid, not much sodium. Kind of wish I'd have brought Shockwave with me. Not sure why I didn't, there's been plenty a work night with a Bumblebee nearby. I'm not sure if you're interested in getting this Shokwave toy, but he's good company.

Desert Warrior Dynabot

 

I've got a particular attachment to Snarl. It all started when I went trick or treating dressed as him for Halloween. It was a Collegeville costume, the plastic smock and mask style that often gets lumped in with Ben Cooper costumes. Amusingly, the character was labeled Dynabot on the box. My cousin was quite impressed and asked me if it transformed, in which I told him it did as I got on all fours (with requisite transformation noise). I pulled the mask over my head and began to snarl and chomp. I understand if you're impressed, he was. He was also jealous, as I suspect you are.

Thing is, Snarl is pretty awesome looking. The way his plates and spiked tail form 'wings' in his robot mode has always looked cool to me. I recently got the Cyberverse figure (pictured above). I'd been after it for sometime now. You're aware I like Snarl, but also liked the resemblance to his Action Master box art. It's a good toy, simple like most Warrior Class figures, but still a good toy. 

Snarl's cartoon model got recycled as Armor Geist in Brave Exkaiser. I used to think the Age of Extinction Snarl toy would make a good update of that (and still do), but this Cyberverse Snarl would be a good candidate as well. Maybe with a new head. It's so true to the cartoon model that I could see it invoking the character well. Wonder if some kid was Armor Geist for Halloween and really likes him as a result? I hope so.

Robots/Monsters/Oh My

 

I got the coolest Press Release today chock full of upcoming Hasbro toys. There's some really cool stuff coming in 2022 and I thought I'd point out a few neat things that I thought might be of interest to Zone Base readers. 

Transformers: Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures Dinobots Unite Smash Changer Optimus Prime (Ages 6 & up/Approx. Retail Price: $31.49) 

This is a pretty neat looking figure. While being part of Cyberverse, it's clearly Optimus from the Bumblebee movie and upcoming Rise of the Beasts! I really dig the newer movie designs and this one's pretty tempting. That's him in the header image. 

Star Wars™ - Star Wars™ Mission Fleet Boba Fett Starship and 2.5-inch Figure Set (Ages 4 years & up/ Approx. Retail Price: $41.99) 

You guys know I've been a fan of the Mission Fleet Star Wars toys. While I didn't see a picture of this one, I'm really looking forward to it. Boba Fett is one of my all time favorites (I already have his regular Mission Fleet toy) and looking forward to seeing his classic ship in this line,

Power Rangers Dino Fury Megafury Saber (Ages 5 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $38.99) 

Tokusatsu fans love role play toys and Hasbro has a few Power Rangers ones on the way. I'm pointing out the Megafury Saber as I want to run around the back yard and swing it at imaginary monsters. Or the neighbors kid.

Marvel Mech Strike Monster Hunters (Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $11.99-$34.99)  

Holy crap! I already thought Marvel Mech Strike was pretty great, but they just made it amazing! Now we have Marvel's heroes with super cool mech suits and sci fi weaponry fighting specifically monstery versions of the Marvel villains. I am specifically excited for this, just look at that packaging! With this and the new season of Stranger Things (finally) coming soon, we've got a great start to spooky summer!

Thanks to Rogers & Cowan for providing Zone Base readers with another awesome press release.

Slug/Slag (Cyberverse)

 

Not going to lie, this is one of the most impressive figures I've seen in a while. Slug is just oozing personality and damn near impossible not to like. This is the Cyberverse Deluxe version of Slug (formerly Slag) and a real stand out. I love Dinobots (still need to find Snarl) and was all too happy to see him underneath the tree on Christmas (thanks to the Mrs!). If Cyberverse isn't your thing, then you're probably unaware just how much they nail the classic characters with a touch of stylized flair. I'm normally a big fan of the warrior class. Warrior class is a more simple figure, but in that simplicity is an accidental throwback to older robot figures. Still, I've gotten some of the Deluxes (need to get Hot Rod and Bumblebee still) as they're quite nice. As of right now, I think Slug is the best one they've done.

Slug turns into his trademark triceratops and looks 100% like classic Slag in both forms. HOWEVER, in that stylized flair I talked about above is some extra charm. They've added spikes and a facial expression that makes him look as if he walked off the pages of a Generation 2 comic. If they ever repaint this mold, I really hope it's in green or red. It's one of those things I just can't un-see. 

As a figure on his own, Slug is pretty great. Make no mistakes, I'm outright gushing. I was completely blown away by how good this figure is. If I have anything that resembles a complaint about him, it's that I had a little trouble transforming him. The robot mode legs make up the rear section of the dinosaur and arranging them didn't go so smoothly. I haven't seen any other complaints about this, so that very well could just be me being clumsy. Outside of that, Slug is well articulated and decently so in dino mode as well. Instead of a sword, he's packing a hatchet and the gun you normally see him use. The two can be combined which makes for a great cannon for the triceratops. There's also one of those action effect blast thingies included to plug onto the guns barrels. I normally don't care much for those, but in this case I actually like it. This toy is so good it sold me on something I normally don't like!

Long Neck

A few weeks ago I picked up Sludge from the Transformers Cyberton line. Ok, it's actually Energon Armor Dinobot Sludge from the Transformers: Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures line. At some point in the future the box will just be a page of text. Sludge is a really neat figure.

He's large, about the size of a Voyager Class figure, with a decent amount of articulation. There is a fair amount of hollowness, which keeps the price below that of a Deluxe Class. Cyberverse figures are generally intended for smaller children as opposed to collectors. There's going to be concessions to keep the price lower. 

Aside from the hollowness, Sludge is a nice toy. A big chunky Brontosaurus that turns into a cool super robot. Once again these Cyberverse toys feel like a toy from another time. It's almost like a G2 era mold that was unreleased. The Brontosaurus's tail turns into a big spear/club type weapon that looks like something out of Monster Hunter. Combine that with the Energon Armor and suddenly Sludge is straight out of some anime. Energon Armor? Yeah, he has that. It flips out from the backpack area and covers Sludge's face and chest. You could call it a gimmick, because that's what it is. The armor is a clear blue with a dinosaur shaped helmet. It's pretty awesome looking if you asked me. I'm assuming you did.

Cyberverse Season 4 Trailer

Score One For This Deluxe Cat

Sunday I picked up the new Cyberverse Deluxe Cheetor figure. I also got a Cherry Vanilla Coke and a Bueno bar, but I didn't want to show off. Let's just focus on the cat. Speaking of, what a good kitty he turned out to be. Normally I prefer to focus on the other classes with Cyberverse. Warrior, Turbo Changers, you know the variety. It's not that I don't like the deluxe class, I do. I also buy plenty of it in Generations and enjoy the variety. Not to mention, like I've said before, I enjoy the old school nature of these simpler toys. With the design aesthetic of the more kid friendly lines, they really take me back to older robot toys. It's something I enjoy a lot. Am I crazy? Probably.

Cheetor really works for me here. Cyberverse gave him a more angular design, similar to G1 Predacons. While I love my Beast Wars, I admittedly have always dug that angular animal look and it looks fabulous here. As you could expect from a Cyberverse toy, it's a faithful character representation in the visual style of the series. Cheetor looks like you'd expect him to and turns into what you expect. They did give him some new gear. Dual energy swords similar to the scimitars he carried in Beast Machines and cool snap on armor for beast mode. Combined with the swords, the armor makes for a cool new look on an old design. The claws and helmet can be mounted on his robot mode as well. It's a nice little extra touch. 

Cheetor looks pretty great, and is well articulated. In all he's a pretty good figure. If I had any complaints, it would be his beast mode chest didn't hold together super tight. Or at least it didn't on mine. Another point of concern is newer Transformers toys are moving away from cellophane on the boxes. I don't mind that too much, however you really have to check your figure ahead of time to assure it isn't missing anything. I'd advise looking over the toy and in the box to be sure that you're getting everything that's supposed to be there.

Fortunately the little tie downs they use in packaging hold things in pretty well, but I saw one missing a cheetah head on the shelf. With shitty people in general you can never be too careful. Take an extra second to look over your purchase. Come to think about it, with Christmas around the corner... your loved ones may not know about this. Either let them know or be prepared to do some exchanges in the future. You never know if somebody trashed a toy on the shelf or stole a part. Some people suck.

I really liked this figure. It was fun to play around with in my living room while watching paranormal TV. Cheetor is one of my favorite characters in Transformers and I try to get as many of his toys that I can. Despite my issues getting his beast mode to hold together perfectly, it was still a pretty good cheetah. It's not exact, but it's similar enough to his toys that have came before. I transformed him mostly by muscle memory from those figures and that's not something I mind. The battle armor is a welcome addition and I thought it made him a little more badass. I would easily welcome several repaints of this mold. Score one more for this cool cat.

Ultra Gear

I'm pretty partial to Cheetor. He's one of my favorites in the world of Transformers. So it's probably to no surprise that when the images of the new Cyberverse Deluxe toy of him popped this past weekend, I was pretty ecstatic. With Cyberverse toys I'm content with all the other toy offerings and hardly mess with the nicer deluxe figures. I have a few, but it's the weird way I enjoy Cyberverse in particular. 

There's no shortage of Cheetor toys lately, there's plenty. However, this one in particular really talks to me. Maybe because, like the prior Cyberverse Cheetor toy, it's something new. Sure it still looks like Cheetor, but the more angular nature of the design really works for me. He's more mechanical, fitting in with G1 style animals and I've always liked that blocky look on animal bots. 

Not that I mind the more organic look of Beast Wars, I've always liked it in fact. Just this particular Cheetor, man, he does it for me. If it were the older days of the fandom, I could and would expect multiple repaints of him. Though for no particular reason that I can think of right now, the toy I want made from this most is Jaguar from the McDonald's toys. I can just see that every time I look at these pics. It's just an insane siren song that these JPEGs have been singing. He's wonderful

Making Soundwaves

After Christmas, like many of you, I was doing a gift card shopping spree. While doing so, I lucked up upon the new deluxe Cyberverse Soundwave figure. I've liked the warrior class version of Soundwave and jumped at the nicer toy.

The design is a cool mix of traditional G1 Soundwave and Euro G1/Early G2 styling. The old school nature of the warrior class toys made him feel like one of those late G1 European toys lost in time. The deluxe is like a modern Generations update of that toy. 

Soundwave comes with Laserbeak who turns into a cassette that can be loaded into his chest. However Soundwave turns into a type of armored truck instead of a tape deck. They don't make those anymore, shit happens. I do like this truck a lot. Not sure if it'd make a good communications truck, but it looks cool.

Like I said, Laserbeak can store in Soundwave's chest. What I didn't say was he can also perch on his arm or shoulder via a peg. There's also an action effect thingy that you can plug into his radar dish or gun. That's to show a sonic attack emitting from the dish or gun. It's in his name. It's a sound wave.

Laserbeak is pretty basic and hollow. Considering he's not much more than an accessory, I guess that's understandable. It would have been nice if he was a little better. He makes me think of those trays Coke vendors have the bottles in while they refill the cooler at Circle K. Like if one of those was broken and it kinda looked like a bird.

Soundwave himself is a decent figure. He's got a good bit of articulation and his transformation isn't too hard. There's some hollow parts from storage in alt mode present in robot mode. There's also that big backpack that's the trucks roof. It's a little in the way. Honestly it just feels like he needed another pass over in the design stages. Not bad though, just could have been a little better. 

It's hard not to like this version of Soundwave, those design cues just look so good. I'd love to see some repaints inspired by his Machine Wars toy or even a Stalker made from this toy. The thought of a Ghostbusters version just popped in my head and I can't ignore it. A little far fetched... but I kinda thing it'd be awesome. Admittedly, I have Ghostbusters on my mind. As usual. Afterlife yo.

Grounds For Battle

Transformers Battlegrounds for Switch was one of many Christmas gifts from my wife. I've been wanting to play it quite a bit and it was great to finally do so. The game is set in the Cyberverse cartoon/toy line which you all know I've enjoyed quite a lot. Surprisingly the game is a light RTS (real time strategy) style game instead of the shooter or platformer you'd expect. 

I generally don't care for RTS games much (because they're boring), but when it's light I don't mind. When I say light, I mean as in I'm not managing a million things. Basic movement and attacking, similar to a board game. The game is pretty story oriented with each level having you help guide a team of Autobots fight Decepticons in various adventures.

I say 'you' as you are playing yourself. The games viewpoint is yours as you just happen to be nearby when things go down and Teletran X scoops you up to safety while having a birds eye view of everything. While you're up there you might as well help tell the Autobots what to do right? The team even refers to you occasionally as 'human', guess they didn't catch your name. I just said you a billion times.

As with most RTS games (light or boring) the action is turn based. Fortunately the turns don't take forever and it goes pretty quick, because that's another thing I generally don't like about RTS games. Nothing says fun like waiting forever for the chance to play my game.

There is a lot of story and you'll find yourself watching a lot of cinemas. They're pretty much the in game characters zoomed in talking about what's currently going on or about to happen. It really captures the vibe of the show pretty well and feels like another season. I could also say if feels like playing out a big adventure with my toys. I like it.

My Energon Goes To Work, I Hear Thunderhowl

I wasn't concerned with getting the deluxe Cyberverse figures. I get warrior class and Turbochangers then call it a day. Focusing my fancier Transformers buying on Earthrise, Siege, and the sort. Then they went and made a deluxe Thunderhowl and I couldn't say no. New characters are rare these days .

Thunderhowl is a Knight of the Primes, giving him a very neat armored look. His design is a mixture of knight armor, his wolf alt mode, and some good Euro G1 style flourish. He looks awesome. 

Being a knight, Thunderhowl has a sword and shield. The sword has a wolfs head in the hilt for a little extra style. Speaking of style, they really added some to the robot mode with various flourishes. He's got a cape and other adornments that really sell the knight theme. Not just a new character, he has a fresh look as well. It's really appreciated. Like really. 

Transformation to wolf mode is a lot more involved than I thought it would be. Instead of the generic lay down transformation, there's a bit of folding and rearranging the body. That cape in robot mode becomes a tail and his shield is the wolfs back. The arms and legs become wolf legs as you could guess, but the way it gets there wasn't the way I thought I'd go. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong.

As a wolf, Thunderhowl is angular and robotic. His mouth opens and you can arrange him into a few different wolf poses. As far as articulation goes there's a decent amount. More as a robot than a wolf. You can't roll him up into a ball, but maybe a wad. 

Thunderhowl has a few extra parts included in the box. A neato energy effect and Maccadam's head. Because he cut it off. Or if you've been collecting all the Cyberverse deluxe figures, it goes into the build-a-figure Maccadam. I haven't been, so he just has a severed head. Don't fuck with Thunderhowl. The energy effect can be either placed on the sword or on a connector in the wolf's mouth. This gives a fire breathing attack or a cool energy attack. 

 

The  effect came bent on mine, so it kinda looks like the wolf is puking. Which as a pet owner I can promise will happen. All over the damn couch. It does make for a cool energy sword, which frankly a Transformer would need. All the other dudes have guns and he's waiting for them to get close enough to whack with that thing. Needs to be a powerful whack to make it count.

Tunderhowl is a... did you see that, I made a typo. Thunderhowl is a good toy. It's nice to see a new character that's also creative. I like his dark blue and gold colors too. Nice and sharp. I hope more like him are on the way. Not that I don't like what they've been doing, just this knight wolf robot is a breathe of fresh air.

 

Hey Megatron, Nice Fusion Mega Shot

Turbo Changers, I love them. Old school robot toys sold to smaller children under the guise of 'simple'. For not a whole lot of money you can usually get a pretty great little toy that's fun to fidget with. Robot mode, tank mode. Tank mode, robot mode. 

When I saw this newer Turbo Changer Megatron toy, well I first passed. I was holding out for the black version soon to show up. Then I decided to go ahead and grab this one just case I never see the black one. If I do, then I'll just have both. That was a filler paragraph. If you like what I do, please consider ... just kidding. 

This version of Megatron turns into a Cybertronian tank as it's intended to represent him back home on Cybertron. It's kinda a typical spacey hover tank looking design. Not too bad, does kind of remind me of a door jam. A door jam with guns, gently remove it from under the door. Don't just kick it. It's got guns.

 

Turbo Changer is the newer more cool sounding name for One Step Changers. Named so because they transform in one step (give or take a few adjustments), Megaton here does just that. Simply spread his legs (don't be weird) and he unpacks into a squat, but traditional looking Megatron.

All jokes about door stops aside, it's a pretty sharp looking tank. If I had some Diaclone drivers, I'd be tempted to see if one could pilot it.

 

The action gimmick of this particular toy is the Fusion Mega Shot. Which means positioning the tanks cannon over his shoulders. I know, insane right?  It's not really bad, but seems like another name would have fit better. There's a very basic amount of articulation here, as should be expected. His arms move, that's it. These are simple toys and really it's a pleasant simple. I haven't tried it, but I'm tempted to give him a weapon. He could hold one. 

My only complaint might be limited to my figure, others may have better luck. His left leg tended to sag in robot mode not really locking into place. I found myself positioning the cannons to hold him up when taking that picture above. I'm not sure if it's a wide spread issue. Maybe.

If you don't like One Step/Turbo Changers, then you're not going to like this one. If you do, you might. It's not the best one I've had... but not the worst either. Maybe if I ever find that black one, it'll have better legs. That would improve it a lot. He looks good, it's a neat toy. A simple Megatron that looks like Megatron for not a lot of money. Not bad.

Meteorfire From Space

I had been looking forward to getting a toy of Meteorfire since first seeing the character. Thanks to a Target stop this weekend, I was able to find the one toy of him that Hasbro seems to be putting out. From the Battle Call series of Cyberverse figures, Meteorfire is a larger figure with electronic lights. 

While being a larger figure, he's still a fairly simple toy. Arms move at the shoulders and elbows with a wrist swivel. Legs are articulated at the upper thigh and knees. His head swivels around as well. 

Despite the years of plentiful articulation in Transformers toys, I still don't expect more than the basic amount. So I'm pretty pleased with his range of motion. You can't roll him into a ball or anything, but I wasn't going to anyway. 

His design is just wonderful to me. Looking like a holdover from an older time of robot toys. Like something out of late Euro G1 or Operation Combination. 

Meteorfire transforms into a really bulky jet. Not super sleek, pretty boxy. It kinda makes me think of Sky Garry a little. Not that the two jets are similar, but in that they're big bulky aircraft. With those VTOL blades on the wings, I would think he needs a little help getting that thing off the ground. 

I honestly would have made him some sort of troop transport type vehicle fictionally because of this. I can't see anything else when I look at it other than him landing and a bunch of bots loading. Like Astrotrain or Galaxy Shuttle. 

I just can't get any other vibe from it. I don't write Transformers fiction though. If I did, so many grammar errors. Probably more than here. But you'd know what I was saying. I think.

I mentioned the Battle Call thing earlier. It includes lights and sounds as well as some clip on armor. I'm going to talk about that now. Meteorfire was in a single episode of Cyberverse, this armor was not featured in that episode, but should have been. It's neat.

 

Blue and clear, the armor pegs onto the robot mode pretty easily. It gives him a pair of wrist blade things for poking. Know when you punch somebody with your middle finger out a little? Imagine if you actually did that and instead of your soon to be broken finger jutting out, it was a knife. 

There's also some extra flair for this wing tips and a chest piece that gives Meteorfire a face shield. Now he won't catch covid-19. It also adds to his appearance a little. There's some neat detail work there that you'll see right through instead of. That's a shame because it really is good looking. 

The Battle Call gimmick works in both modes, but the armor only attaches to robot mode. It does add to the light up features a little. What's the Battle Call gimmick? You flip a switch and his lights and sounds correspond with whatever noise sets it off. They say voice activated, but I opened a Pepsi and it registered. It's neat, but doesn't really add that much to the toy. I'm sure a kid would really like it though. Considering that's who this was made for in the first place I can't be too judgemental of that.

 

I really like this figure. Admittedly, I could have done without the whole Battle Call gimmick. I don't hate it, I just don't particularly care for it. It's kinda just there and once again obviously not meant for me, but a child. So I'm not going to be too harsh on it. The figure? Wonderful. A chunky old school looking super robot toy. I love these accidental throwbacks that Transformers toy lines intended for younger kids deliver. He looks pretty great and is pretty fun to play around with. I'm pretty happy I found him at Target.

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Basically Cloned To The Core

There's been talk of Kingdom lately in the Transformers world. The third part of the War for Cybertron trilogy, which has a heavy Beast Wars focus. Of course I'm ecstatic for this, but that's not what we're here today for. 

From the leaked information, the new small figure class is called core class. Sadly this looks to be taking over the smaller 'Masters' figures from the past few years I love so dearly. Though other recent news and the hope that they'll be used for a discount line like Mini-Cons formerly were. Maybe they're not completely done. 

Recently, the Decepticon Clone molds from Titans Return made a return as a two pack. They're specifically a part of the Earthrise line and with their distinctly different build than other recent WFC figures this had lead to a fan theory that I'm subscribing to.

A few years ago when the new Clone molds were introduced, many took notice that they weren't the Legends class figures that were the standard for smaller figures at the time. Small figures, yes, but their own thing. Now here we are with the Clones making another appearance before Kingdom starts. The theory is core class figures are of similar construction to the Clones. 

Now that's just been a theory without any real backbone. For all we know Core Class could have been a new name for Legends Class. After all, Legion Class was originally Legend Class and Commander Class got renamed Legends Class. Confused? Me too, and I'm explaining it. If it's one thing I wish Hasbro would improve, it's the naming system. 

Confusing class naming aside, there was nothing to say there was anything more to the theory. Then Rattrap got leaked today. Rattrap is one of the listed Core Class figures. Who indeed has a similar build to the Clones. Well, damn.

Core Class isn't a renamed Legends class after all and a new thing right? Well not exactly, older fans probably had a sense of familiarity when playing with the Clones. 

I don't mean as in a homage either, they felt familiar. It wasn't until I saw the Rattrap pictures today that it fully dawned on me why this was so familiar. Core Class is seemingly the return of Basic Class Transformers, who were a big part of Beast Wars. The original Rattrap was a Basic Class Transformer. Of course like other early Beast Wars Basic Class toys, the original had a spring loaded transformation. This gimmick was abandoned early on and if you'll look at a Transmetal 2 Basic Class figure, you'll see a strong similarity in construction. 

What happened to Basic Class? Well, by Cybertron it was renamed to Scout Class. Scout figures were phased out as Dark of the Moon toys introduced Cyberverse as the smaller class. With the then newly renamed Legions and Commander Class figures, this stuck around throughout the Prime toy line with a new Legends Class taking over in Generations. Hasbro later used the Cyberverse name, which we're all familiar with as it's still running and in it is the new Scout Class smaller Transformers. 

Somewhere there's a hole in the dimensional fabric from trying to explain that.

DAMN SON

サイバーバース：ウルトラクラス・スカルクランチャー https://t.co/UFmy5dGUHB pic.twitter.com/0LskNnr8V6

— オートベース愛知 (@autobase_aichi) August 18, 2020

Transform Squadron 23- War For Walmart

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Rob’s back for this August of 2020 edition talking about Siege on Netflix, and toys he wants at Walmart. Transformers, GIJOE, He-Man, and kaiju are all discussed as well as the incoming Halloween season. Also sneezing cats!