Tigerhawk [Legacy United/Leader Class]

My love for Beast Wars is probably pretty well known. Earlier today (as I'm writing this), I was watching Beast Wars on the Transformers channel as I often do. It inspired me to talk about today's toy that I haven't covered on the site yet. This Legacy version Tigerhawk was a Christmas gift from the Mrs. last year and a most welcome one at that. The original is one of my 'best of all time' Transformers and something I hold in high regard.

Tigerhawk was created when the Vok merged Tigatron and Airrazor together creating a singular being. With that in mind, the designers used the more recent Kingdom  Tigatron and Airrazor molds for parts to use on this toy. That was both a fun bit of synergy and a good way to keep costs down. This time around, Tigerhawk is very show accurate in a way I wasn't prepared to appreciate.

Original Beast Wars Transformers were pretty thick and chunky as was pretty standard for robot toys at the time. Of course those looks were often streamlined on TV, and it was just something I was used too. This new Tigerhawk has the show models look down really well, and it's impressive. Of course I'm accustomed to the chonk, so it's weirdly different... but I'm very happy that the show model is so right on. I like having my original toys and show models represented well. There's no beating that original toy to me, so the new figure being the show model is a perfect solution!

They even nailed the proper purples and copper Mainframe used. In robot mode, he looks great and is nicely articulated. The feather missiles no longer fire, but can be held in hand. The same is of those wing mounted cannons. The chain gun ends are still present, but they flip around manually to reveal static cannons. Those cannons can be removed and held as well. They even combine to form a larger gun! The wrist mounted blaster is now an removable piece that can be placed elsewhere also. Tigerhawk was always heavily armed, but feels even more so now.

Transformation is similar to the original, but has it's differences. I had a little difficulty getting the chest to close correctly. It fits around the cockpit a certain way and it's all got to be in place just right to work. After a little finagling, it finally worked. The wings have a wide range of movement and can fold forward in attack mode as the original. Being show accurate, the battle mode helmet is gone as is the hidden tank mode. The cockpit is on Tigerhawk's robot shoulder, but hidden in beast mode like in the show.

Cockpit?

Yes, Tigerhawk originally was one of the Beast Wars toys designed with a Spark Figure cockpit. The gimmick was dropped, but those cockpits remained on the figures. Here it's just for show, but I'm glad it's there. This is a really cool toy and a great update of a classic. I'm very appreciative of it's show model accuracy and enjoy the differences from the original. That original may be an all time classic, but chasing down those missiles when accidentally fired was a nightmare. Like the original, this feels like something special I own. It's not just a toy, but a representation of a cherished character from a special time in my life.

Cheetor and Tigatron [Swapticons]

When Swapticons were first to be shown off, it was today's subject that I was most interested in initially. Being a Beast Wars fan, I'm an easy sell for anything related. This set features Cheetor and Tigatron combining to form one long kitty boo boo.

Originally in Beast Wars, Tigatron was a repaint of Cheetor's toy. That bit of trivia stays on my mind with this set. Even if it's redundant right now, it's funny with the two paired up. They're a pretty neat little bots, and their wacky Swapticon faces make them look more cute than silly. They kind of remind me of Sacred Beast Legend Bioroid figures a little because of their shape. Not a lot, just a little. Obviously these are sillier toys that super serious collectors would scoff at... but there's something about them that's hard to resist. Of the four sets in the first wave, this is my favorite as you probably would guess. Of course I don't have the Walmart exclusive 5 pack yet, so I can't rule those out. It's all beast warriors, so you know I'll love it. Until then, this is the last of the Swapticons posts on the site until more are made available. Hopefully there is more, these little shits are pretty fun.

Tiger in Mutant Missions

Tigatron has been a white Siberian tiger for so long, it’s easy to forget he was originally planned to be a traditional orange tiger. Thankfully this idea was recently revisited by Hasbro as an Amazon exclusive. The Mrs. saw it and knew it’d be something I’d like… and she was right. I had thought I missed out on him before opening him up Christmas morning. Mutant Tigatron (as this version is referred too) is the Kingdom Tigatron toy with the proper colors and mutant head used as originally planned (and seen on box art). Despite how used to the traditional Tigatron I am… I kinda prefer this having it in hand now.

 

This is a recolor of the toy I’ve already talked about (with a new head), so there’s no reason to really ‘review’ him as a toy (even though I don’t really do reviews). What I’d like to do is look at him from the eyes of a fan who misses the beast era a lot and is more than happy to see a return to it. With the vintage reissue line at Walmart, Generations updates, Rise of the Beasts, and even Authentics… I’ve got plenty Beast Wars to scratch the critter bot itch. Something like this is just icing on the cake.

Now that Hasbro has ventured into concepts area of Beast Wars… what’s next? There’s Optimal Optimus and Transmetal 2 Megatron with new toys… how about those pilot figures? Those cool mythic bots that eventually became Fuzors! Or hey, updates of popular figures. I’d love a leader class Tigerhawk or Core Class Quickstrike. Of course I could sit here all day and day dream new beast warriors for Hasbro to cram into Transformers boxes… and probably will anyway. Is it weird that I’m almost thinking of Rise of the Beasts as this years BotCon? It’s odd to look forward to a movie this much, but thanks to how much I loved Bumblebee and the inclusion of Maximals… guys I’m excited.

Tigatron (Kingdom)

 

I was pretty happy to open up Tigatron on Christmas morning. He was one of the presents my wife gave me and what a great gift. I'd been looking forward to getting this new version of him since he was announced and having him is no disappointment. Tigatron is one of those great characters that I feel doesn't get as much attention as he should. The original toy was a repaint of the original Cheetor. In Kingdom he's a new mold but still definitely borrows Cheetor's engineering.

That's not a bad thing as they're both great toys. Though Tigatron is a voyager making him bigger than Cheetor's deluxe toy. That's super appropriate all things considered and feels more natural in hand. The bigger size is a definite improvement in the already solid design. His head sculpt really nails the look and once again Kingdom brings a toy that feels like it walked off the TV screen. If I had a complaint, it's that his gun doesn't work into the alt mode and merely pegs into his belly. That wouldn't be an issue if not for the fact that this is the trademark 'gut gun' and has the pink guts incorporated. I appreciate the gun being there, just wish it was worked into the toy a little better.

Tigatron is well articulated and transformed pretty easily. I can't stress just how much I appreciate him being a larger size. It's just more satisfying in hand. Even though I love smaller toys, there's nothing like a big robot toy. Some of the white parts are a different shade than others. I'm sure this is either a plastics issue or maybe the designers thought it made him look better. The white still looks great here and really contrasts well with the metallic teal of his robot parts. Tigatron has always been a really sharp looking character and that continues well here. This is one of those toys that feels more like a premium effort.

Bios- Tigatron

Appointed by Optimus Primal for northern polar sector reconnaissance. Roams the frozen tundra in animal form, but quickly converts to robot mode for battle, removing its titanium tail and converting it to a powerful quasar cannon to vaporize Predacons. Powerful and considered fearless, Tigatron is also equipped with a toxic fluid blaster that stops enemies cold, rendering their bodies useless!

That darn cat

I've been really looking forward to the upcoming Spark Armor figures from Cyberverse and early today the first looks at Cheetor figure popped up. If your dogs started barking like crazy, my bad, that was me. I am absolutely in heaven over this figure. I love Cheetor so very much and getting a new toy of him is something I'll break the sound barrier over.

Cheetor is a much more mechanical cat than his traditional Beast Wars look would suggest, and I dig that. I've always dug the mechanical look of animal based TF's in G1 and it looks great here. Weirdly enough, Cheetors Spark Armor partner is a reuse of the boat that comes with Bumblebee. I don't have any real complaint with that, it just seems odd. Bumblebee often comes with some sort of water themed gimmick as a throwback to his original special ability of being able to swim. Cheetor... not so much, but it doesn't look bad in armor mode at all. I'm guessing it has more to do with compatibility of the molds than anything.

The prospect of a Cheetor mold in a mainline TF line excites me as a fan of Transformers who fondly looks back at the beast era. I really hope for a ton of repaints. Obvious ones like Ravage or Tigatron or even something more obscure like CatScan or Cataclysm would be a great start. Actually a Shadow Panther or Panther from McDonald's Beast Wars Happy Meals would look great too. That's one of the great things about a more simple toy mold like this one, it lends itself to other things easily. Thinking about it, Tigatron with a blue jet armor would make for a great Tigerhawk.