BEAST
MACHINES: TOY REVIEW
Name: CHEETOR
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Warrior
Beast Mode: Technorganic Cheetah
Average Price: 40 USD
BEAST MODE
In Cheetah mode, Cheetor is 49cm long from head to tail.
His major colour scheme involves yellow in most places but is sometimes
a light orange. Also, his spots are a dark bluish purple. In few
places there are dark orange/almost red parts including his wrist, ankle
and shoulder blade armour. All this is complimented by some clear green
plastic on his haunches, underbelly and chest along with two clear red
cones on his shoulders and some clear orange on the top of his head and
his eyes. Very sleek-looking indeed. His hind legs are a bit exaggerated
and his tail weapon can clearly be seen in this mode but it looks good.
The neatest part of this mode is the gimmicks. One includes the left claw
coming out in a almost Wolverine (from X-Men) style in a swipe action.
Number two gimmick is the rotating knob on the back which turns the head
from side to side which in turn opens and closes the jaws. Finally the
third and most impressive gimmick is when the back switch is pulled, three
hair clumps raise as if Cheetor is going on the defensive, his chest and
eyes light up with red and green
lights respectively and he growls... I guess. Oh
yes just a little advice: If you get this toy make sure, after you
are done activating this gimmick and putting it back on your shelf, that
you push the switch all the way back in. I learnt the hard way that
if you do not do this, lights in the chest and the head continue to blink
and run the battery down.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Now with a 49cm toy you would think, 'Wow this guy is going
to have the greatest transformation ever'. 'Fraid not kiddies. Sorry
to disappoint but here it is. You stand him up like the cat
is flying. Rotate his arms down to the sides. Rotate the legs down, then
bend and position as you like (there's two joints and three sections
to the leg not including the ankle or the foot.). Finally - and this
is the sad part - you lower the two chest pieces down, rotate the middle
one around to the back (must be to cover up the back hair) and open
the chest cavity. As you do, you will see a face peering out at you. Rotate
that up and the cat head down. Close the chest cavity and pop the
head and chest into place. That's ALL! No more twisting. No
more turning ANYTHING. It's like one of those secret identity Power
Rangers toys where the head flips up and WOW he's transformed.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 46cm
Points of Articulation: 30
Suddenly the old saying, 'Size Doesn't Matter' comes
to mind. At 46cm this bot tops at least the Beast Wars and Machines
(nd pretty close in the G1) height class (this toy
is by far the largest original-moulded post-G1 figure. The largest toy
released in 2000 was Brave Maximus which is essentially just a re-release
of Fortress Maximus. This toy currently holds the record for the largest
Transformer at an impressive height of 55cm - Goktimus) and yet
has one of the most simplistic and boring transformations excluding the
quick transformations which some of the early Beast Wars Basics had and
of course, the McDonalds Happy Meal toys, although its a close contest.
This guy looks like a marionette but I must say, surprisingly stable. He
actually has RUBBER soles on his feet. I guarantee that he would stand
in almost any position and not fall over and shatter. Either way.
But let me get on to this technological wonder. His colour scheme is basically
the same except for the huge green jaw this guy has. And I guess since
they had to make him electronic they had to cut out about half the things
they could have put into him. And let's see what our electronic buck
gave us in this mode. Cheetor is one of the only Beast Machine Maximals
who shoots missiles or anything for that matter. Optimus
has that little dung flinging action but it doesn't work that well let
me tell ya. Oh, but Cheetor doesn't even fire missiles. They're actually
"Energy Bolts" in his right arm (uuh, what I think
he means is that they're not mechanical missiles with explosive warheads.
An energy projectile is still technically a missile. And if it can still
spin along its own axis [which it should, since it travels along a straight
line], then it's still technically a ballistic missile. A javelin is also
technically a ballistic missile, but I digress - Goktimus). There's
two of them and when you raise his poseable fingers and thumb, push the
arm back, and let it go there is a blast sound and one of the missiles
is released. The second time you do this the second missile is released
and the same sound effect is played. Impressive. Probably the most impressive
gimmick in the entire toy and that's sad. The swiping claw action is also
available in this mode. One unfortunate thing about these gimmicks
is, while they are semi-cool, they limit the arm poseability immensely.
This is the worst toy to limit the arm movement in
because of the fact that he has his tail sword (or what looks to me like
an axe) to deal with. Due to this, he can only move his arms vertically
and thus couldn't really defend himself in any battle. Finally, there is
a switch on the back of his robot head that, when pushed down, changes
his eye colour from clear orange from his brain to
a neon green and opens up his jaw.
SPARK CRYSTAL LOCATION
If you haven't read the review for Longhorn, Buzzsaw, Optimus,
or most of the Vehicons, I suggest you do and read where the Spark Crystal
is located. They're all concealed. But our boy Cheetor has got his
right in the open. It's on the left shoulder under that purty clear red
plastic.
OVERALL
I'm sorry for anyone who spent 40 USD (or your regional equivalent)
or more for this guy. If you desperately want a Cheetor for your collection,
try the Mega Version. Recommended only
for hard-core fans, otherwise you will be sorely disappointed.
***************
Toy review written by Dinobot00
Editted by Goktimus Prime
Toy pictures courtesy of Benson Yee
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
I agree that this toy is quite simplistic
in terms of transformation. Effectively, the beast mode just stands up,
torso shrinks in and the heads swap around. Nothing spectacular.
That being said, I must also confess
that I was absolutely astonished at the size of this thing. Supreme Cheetor
is a very BIG boy.
Also, Mega
Cheetor's transformation kinda suffered because its chest cavity was
too small (causing the muzzle to scrape with the inside of the torso each
time it was pushed through -- that stage of transformation was akin to
action figure childbirth in a way).
I must admit that the right arm
missile launcher is a sort of fun gimmick -- to just line up a Vehicon
and shoot 'em with a pump-action arm is kinda cool. However, the novelty
wears off fairly quickly and I do agree that I would prefer that they sacrificed
this gimmick for greater poseability in the arm. Although I can understand
why they didn't include a right wrist joint, I don't see why they couldn't've
given it an extra elbow swivel joint like on the left arm. Still, it's
a very small complaint. Also, I must admit that the right arm is very well
done for a gimmick arm. Unlike Mega Cheetor
and Optimus Primal, this arm does not
greatly hinder poseability. It's only two joints less articulate than the
left arm, and best of all, it can maintain whatever pose you put it in,
whereas Mega Cheetor and Optimus
Primal's arms always flick back since they're spring loaded. Supreme
Cheetor does not suffer from this!!.
Overall, I think that it is a
very good toy, much better than the Mega
figure, although one would expect more complexity and detail for
such a large toy. But as Dinobot00 said, at 99 AUD, it's really recommended
for the more dedicated fans. More casual fans are better off just sticking
to the Mega figure.
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