Tag Archives: Cyberverse

Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Cyberverse Dinobots

November 7, 2021 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Just when everyone thought that Cyberverse was over, it’s managed to get in one last gasp of life. Dinobots Unite has just aired on Youtube – a special where Grimlock finally gets all of his Dino-buddies together – both on screen and in their combined mode – Volcanicus.

As such it means new toys to go with the associated media, and who doesn’t love getting more Dinobots eh? So I was very keen to pick up Swoop (with Bumblebee), Warrior-Class Snarl and Ultra-Class Sludge.

Snarl

Robot Mode

Without the large majestic split tail adorning his shoulders, which made the G1 Snarl my favourite Dinobot to have in robot mode, he very much resembles his G1 Action Master counterpart. Whilst this takes away from some of the majesty of his appearance, he still looks pretty good for a Warrior-class figure with decent proportions and a G1-inspired colour scheme. His head looks great and I’m a real fan of the spikes on his chest and legs. He has decent articulation with movement in the knees, hips, elbows and shoulders.

Like all Warrior-Class figures, Snarl comes with an attack gimmick – in this case a Power Slash. This is achieved by taking the detached… er…. Stegosaurus arse and putting it on a peg on Snarls back. By manipulation of this peg it can make Snarl’s sword arm swing.

Cybertronian Stegosaurus Mode

Looks really good with the yellow backplates and head, making him look more like the G1 cartoon than the G1 toy. Personally I would have liked to see less yellow on his flank but it is forgivable. He has limited movement in his legs and sadly none in his neck, tail and jaw.

A downside to Snarl is that the designers have taken a big shortcut by making the tail and arse of his dinosaur mode detachable where it serves little purpose other than peg manipulation for the robot’s gimmick, so there is no real sense of accomplishment when you convert him to dinosaur mode. However as an interesting side note, the dinosaurs head comes together in a way which is reminiscent of the Age of Extinction Snarl toy.

Sludge

Robot Mode

Very faithful to his G1 counterparts design as Cyberverse is want to do. His large shoulder fins are now at waist height but swing out of the way to prevent major irritation. Like Snarl I am a fan of the new spikes they have attached to the upper body and it is overall a well proportioned figure. He has decent but limited articulation.

For Sludge’s battle mode his detached tail can become a spear for him to wield and he can deploy Energon Armour which takes the form of translucent blue armour that flips out of his back to cover his head and torso. An interesting choice to make the helmet armour an analogue of his Brontosaurus head which my son thought was very cool.

Cybertronian Brontosaurus Mode

I think making Sludge Ultra-class was a very good call in this case, as in comics Sludge is often portrayed much bigger than the other Dinobots when transformed, and by giving him a bigger class size this works well with the likes of Cyberverse Grimlock and Snarl for scale. Like Snarl he has limited movement in his legs but at least comes with a jaw that can open and close. Whereas Snarl has a bit more colour in dinosaur mode than I’d care for, I think Sludge could have stood to have a bit more colour to break up the panels of grey. Overall however a very sweet looking dinosaur, made that bit more bad-ass by having big spikes coming out of the tops of his legs.

Swoop

Robot Mode

Very nicely coloured and proportioned, Swoop resembles his(her) G1 cartoon incarnation rather than the toy. The tail of the Pteradon mode becomes a weapon. Swoops arms wont bend forward which is a major disappointment and a detraction from the figure, making decent posing all but impossible.

Pteradon Mode

The Pteradon mode comes with a big black spot on its head for some reason which you take to be a cockpit until you see the eyes on the side of the head. It’s not a bad looking figure with a decent wingspan but has no articulation to speak of.

Bumblebee & Bumbleswoop

Swoop and Bumblebee can combine together to become Bumbleswoop, in much the same way some figures did in the RID(15) toyline. It looks OK and actually has better articulation that its separated characters (Bumblee is actually even worse than Swoop is!), though for me personally its not my kind of combiner at all.

Transformations

Snarl & Sludge: Given these toys are A: from Cyberverse and B: Warrior and Ultra classes, their transformations are exceedingly simple so easy for young kids to get the hang of and my son did both without any instructions. Like said previously, the detachable backside of Snarl is somewhat of a disappointment. Also both toys are stand alone, so neither are designed to combine into Volcanicus.

Swoop: Arrgh! Swoop transforms via a spring to his Bumbleswoop mode and then you need to reverse it to lock it in place for him to be in his normal modes. Guess what – after only two transformations the the arm clips came out on mine so he was permanently in Bumbeswoop mode! I was not impressed.

Thankfully fellow Transformer Fan Michael Vella was able to figure out what you have to do. There are two clips on each arm, one at the shoulder and one at the bicep. All you have to do is reattach the clips at the bicep and he is good to go again. However it’s pretty crap this is happening on so many of this figure. This earns Swoop Big Angry Trev’s trophy for shittest toy of the year! Haven’t seen one this bad since Rescuebots Quickshadow.

Worth Getting?

Whilst neither Sludge not Snarl’s figures fall into the ‘cheap’ category, they aren’t overly expensive either and I felt I got my money’s worth for both my purchases. Like most Cyberverse characters and toys they are very heavily influenced by Generation 1 and both manage to adhere to this style extremely well. Recommended for younger fans, Cyberverse fans and, like me, Dinobot fans everywhere. Bumbleswoop – overpriced and the arms unclip too easily, I say avoid this pile of crap at all costs!

Got something to say about these two figures? Pop it in the comments section below!

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Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – Cyberverse Iaconus

November 27, 2020 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Titans are becoming a larger (no pun intended) part of Transformers lore. However for the most part they have remained in the Generation One universe with its associated comics and toylines.

Cyberverse became surprisingly popular as the cartoon progressed through the seasons, it was a very G1’esque universe, and indeed featured two brand new Titan characters – Croaton and Iaconus.

Iaconus was actually a pretty cool character – a War Titan under the command of Alchemist Prime (MacAddams) he was responsible for smashing a lot of alien planets, before going dormant back on Cybertron. The city of Iacon was built on top of him and the only part of him that remained above the surface got turned by Alchemist Prime into MacAddams Old Oil House.

Well this Titan has managed to get a figure in before the Cyberverse line comes to an end. So lets have a look at Ultimate Class Iaconus.

Robot Mode

Pretty big and impressive. Lots of plastic detail in the shins and shoulders to show his city origin and overall pretty faithful to the cartoon. Colour scheme works quite well too. However his articulation is severely limited, hampered by his various built in gimmicks so his poseability is limited to his arms and how you affix his sword and shield.

One of these aforementioned gimmicks is the flip-over armor. This makes his head (in shape if not colour) resemble how he looked in the cartoon.

City Mode

‘Errr… I’m a sort of Turtle-Base that flies backwards through space?’

I hate to say it, I really hate to say it, but what a pile of shit! OK, he had a pretty basic city mode in the cartoon, just a sorta nondescript squat green base, but this still looks worse.

There is stuff here that makes no sense! Why are there thrusters on the front? Does he fly backwards through space? Why are the wings and turbines underneath instead of on the sides or top? Frankly it looks a mess, like one of those stupid half-transformation toys that came out in earlier waves of the Cyberverse toyline. This mode has almost no play value except for the spring gimmick that makes him transform automatically back into robot mode.

Worth Getting?

I got this figure on sale for only $30(AU) and to be honest despite his big size, big weapons and multiple gimmicks I have trouble justifying even that price. He has almost zero articulation, his transformation is simplistic and crap and his alt-mode is one of the most awful I’ve ever seen. Seriously, those thruster’s on the front of the city mode instead of the back really piss me off. So unless you are a diehard Cyberverse or Titans fan, or this is for a younger fan, this figure is an easy pass.

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Games & Competitions, Transformatorium

Game Review – Transformers Battlegrounds

November 6, 2020 Big Angry Trev 1 Comment

Transformers Battlegrounds is the first Gaming Console game released by the Transformers brand since Devastation several years ago and takes a much different tack to its predecessors.

Whilst previous Transformer console games have been primarily 3^rd person shooters such as War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, or hack & slash like Devastation, Transformers Battlegrounds is a strategy turn-based game where you (as a hovering human) control a group of bots below to work your way through levels until you have the obligatory ‘boss battle’ at the end.

Right from the outset you can tell this is a Transformers game aimed at younger players. The game is based on the recent Cyberverse cartoon which itself was aimed at younger fans. The controls are simple and easy to pick up and the gameplay follows a very simplistic style. Older players who are looking for an in-depth turn-based game with hundreds of options are going to be disappointed, but the game is a good entry point for your younger player who doesn’t want to get too burdened with choice. So lets take a look at the different facets of this game.

The Levels

The graphics are very faithful to the cartoon, which is both good and bad. The cartoon had very simple 3D animation with smooth bots with minimal details and the environments they inhabited were even more so. The game reflects this and you work your way through environments such as identical looking towns, deserts and even Cybertron itself – none of which look particularly impressive.

Once again, the makers of the game had to stay true to the source material but when we were treated to such visual marvels back on the PS3 in Fall of Cybertron, its kind of disappointing for so little potential of the PS4 to be utilized here.

The Characters

The game contains a decent variety of characters from the show. In the main campaign you play as the Autobots and take control of such characters as Arcee, Windblade, Grimlock, Wheeljack and the obligatory Optimus and Bumblebee. There are many opponents from the Decepticon cast of the show as well; Seekers such as Starscream, Slipstream, Acid Storm, Thundercracker and Thrust, as well as other characters such as Dead End, Strika, Megatron and Shockwave with his drones. The Decepticon cast is also fleshed out by several characters that never appeared in the show but did in the Generations toyline such as Battletrap and Offroad. Several of the Decepticon show characters are also playable in the Multiplayer mode so you get a chance to play both sides of the conflict.

The characters look faithful to the show, but once again the game designers have made little use of the PS4’s capabilities. Characters are very limited in their animations and any cutscenes simply show speech blocks at the bottom of the screen rather than bothering to make the actual characters lips move. They did get the voice actors from the show in which is a plus, but in some situations the characters say things that aren’t applicable. For instance, in ‘Capture the Flag’ the character with the flag often says ‘I’m damaged here!’ or ‘I’m leaking Energon!’ even if they haven’t sustained any damage. Also, in the main game lots of the female Seekers give distinctly masculine grunts. Rather than this being a gender-swapping scenario like Acid Storm in the cartoon, it comes across as simply lazy by the designers who didn’t bother to match up the voices to the characters correctly.

Gameplay

As mentioned the gameplay is very simplistic, with you herding your group of bots through different levels. Each character has different abilities which can be upgraded throughout the game. Each character gets three action tokens to use per round and these are used for either travel, attack or healing other bots. There is some strategy to this game, for instance using your scout characters to herd Cons towards your tank characters to get taken out, with healer characters ready to either snipe or heal as needed. But the depth is minimal and any experienced gamer will soon grow bored.

Multiplayer

Here is the main reason that I personally purchased the game, so that my son and I could sit on the couch next to each other and finally play a Transformers game together. Before this Transformer console games have either been single player or online coop, with no options to sit and play with your buddies. There are five different multiplayer options, some of which you can play as Cons, ranging from taking out as many enemies as possible in a limited number of turns, to games such as Capture the Flag. The latter was by far the most fun to play with my son as one of us would steal the flag while the other provided cover or heal. But, like the main game, the lack of depth was disappointing and despite my sons young age we both found ourselves growing bored.

Overall

While this game opens up a new style of gameplay for Transformer games, it’s simplicity is also its downfall. Lackluster graphics, overly-simplistic and repetitive gameplay and an uninspired storyline relegate this release to a niche that will only appeal to younger and less experienced gamers. For older gamers, and even younger gamers who have spent a lot of time with a controller in their hands, this game will become very dull very quickly and only appeal to the most die hard of Transformer fans.

Got a comment about this game? Pop it in the comments section below.

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Toys Review – Cyberverse Deluxe Class, Wave 1

April 20, 2020 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

The Warrior Class toys from the Cyberverse line had gotten a reputation for being pretty poor, and for the most part that rep was deserved. The simplistic paint jobs, transformations and lacklustre modes have made many of these figures an easy pass for most collectors.

However thankfully, like the cartoon which got pretty damn good in seasons 2 and 3, the powers that be decided to improve the Cyberverse toyline too. And they have done so by introducing the Deluxe Class. This class is used by the Generations line and usually involves a higher degree of sophistication in all facets when compared to the Warrior Class, and of late has included blast effects that can be attached to characters weapons.

So lets have a look at the first wave of the Cyberverse Deluxe Class figures – Bumblebee, Optimus, Megatron and Shockwave.

Bumblebee

Sigh, it wouldn’t be a Transformers toyline without about a 150 different versions of Bumblebee would it. Thankfully this Bumblebee is quite good. He looks very screen accurate, comes with a lot more detail than the preceding Warrior Class figure, and comes with his stinger as well as a gun. Very nice!

The vehicle mode is ok. Quite compact with a decent amount of detail. However this is one case where I would say the Warrior Class looks that bit more impressive.

Optimus Prime

Once again, a vast improvement on the Warrior Class toy that came before. Optimus has good articulation, good proportions and it’s always appreciated when you can open an Optimus toys chest to find a Matrix inside. And you can use this one to (simulate) blast the big baddies, just like in the cartoon!

The vehicle mode is ok, not bad but nothing special to write home about. Perhaps a bit better than the Warrior Class due to the better paintjob (always irritates me when Optimus has red smokestacks).

Megatron

My son doesn’t own the Warrior Class Megatron so we had to compare him to another from the Cyberverse line which equated to no comparison at all. Megatron looks very good here – very cartoon faithful and well articulated. I particularly like the head sculpt. Would have been nice for him to have an Energon Morningstar but I guess you can’t have anything.

A pretty decent looking Cybertronian Tank, full of nice angles and Megatron’s arm cannon taking centre stage as the tank turret. Small but feisty and very cartoon accurate.

Shockwave

Shockwave has gotten nearly as many Cyberverse toys as Bumblebee, having a figure in nearly every size. And unlike many the Shockwave toys haven’t been half bad. This Shockwave is good but doesn’t particularly stand out from any of the others, though its nice to see him get his arm cord back.

The beauty of having multiple Shockwave’s is that you can convert your other ones into the crab-tank modes to represent the army of drones he has in the cartoon. Once again, this toy doesn’t particularly stand out from any that have come before, though there are multiple ports on the tank mode to put his extra blaster in, giving you more options.

Maccadams/Alchemist Prime Parts

Part of the lure to get these figure is that each character comes with a body part that, when combined, form Maccadams. It’s very tempting as there has never been a toy of the famous bartender before. If you end up with multiple Shockwaves you can always use both legs, which looks a bit odd but saves you buying other figures down the line if you don’t want them.

Cyberverse Deluxe Class – worth getting?

Well they are for the most part the best Cyberverse toys we have gotten so if you are a big fan of the show then you may want to pick them up. If not then you can always bypass them. I found these figures for a staggeringly cheap $12(AU) each on sale so I was more than happy to pick them up at that price. And of course, the temptation is now there to get the next four in order to make Maccadams.

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Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – Cyberverse Gnaw

September 17, 2019 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Sharkticons. In G1 they worked for the Quintessons. In IDW they worked for the Junkions. Whatever the place in the Multiverse, it always seems to be the fate of the Sharkticons to be the serving class – rotund warriors who turn into savage shark… thingies.

Gnaw is to this day the only named member of the Sharkticon race, whereas even the Junkions have grown their named-character ranks over the years. But given their appearance in The Transformers: The Movie in 1986 and then in multiple episodes of G1 Season 3 thereafter Sharkticons – and therefore Gnaw – are instantly recognisable to nearly any Transformer fan on the planet.

Gnaw got his first new toy in thirty years with his 2016 Titans Return figure. It was much beloved, especially since he was so small and cheap that you could by a ton of him! Well now three years after that Gnaw is taking his first steps into the Multiverse with a bigger (if somewhat similar figure). So let’s chomp down on Cyberverse Gnaw.

Robot Mode

Cyberverse Gnaw Big Angry Trev — “Call me ‘Humpty Dumpty’ again. I dare you – say it one more time”

Tubby fragger isn’t he! But he conforms perfectly to how the Sharkticons looked in the G1 show and how they may/probably look when they debut in the Cyberverse cartoon. The articulation isn’t too bad for a Warrior-Class CB figure, with some actuation in his shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and neck. With a neckline covered in teeth and a light grey, light blue and pink colour scheme you would be hard pressed to mistake this fella for anyone else.

Mace Mash

By pushing the shark fin situated in the middle of Gnaw’s Back you make him do a Mace Mash spin, akin to the gimmick that the Cyberverse Acid Storm sports. It’s kinda fun I guess, certainly aimed at a younger demographic. Certainly adds more play value than simply pressing a button like on Alpha Trion. I do like how his mace has a big kink in it, something to give it a bit more visual appeal.

Sharticon Mode

Half-Frog, Half-Shark – all ugly! Yup – he ticks all the boxes. This is for the most part simply an upscaled version of the Titans Return version, in fact their transformations are nearly identical. Sadly this Gnaw has no articulation in his arms which is a bit of a letdown as was something they could have been easily included without compromising the Mace Mash gimmick. But it’s a small quibble, on the whole he looks great. Ugly yes – but great.

Worth Getting?

Multiverse Gnaw Cyberverse Big Angry Trev — Gnaw’s on parade

Well, I reckon so. As only the third official Gnaw toy we’ve had in the last 33 years, people would have been over the moon if this had been released before the Titans Return figure existed. As it is he is worth getting if you are into Cyberverse or the character in general. Given the $29(AU) price point I can’t see many folk using him to army build. Given his size however, which is half way between the other two official Gnaw figures, he will add some nice variety to your Sharkticon displays.

Got anything to say about this figure? Pop it in the comments section below!

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Transformatorium, Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – Cyberverse Alpha Trion

September 11, 2019 Big Angry Trev 1 Comment

Season 2 of Cyberverse has just started to air in Australia and more Cyberverse toys are hitting the shelves. One of the latest ones is a character who ironically died in a flashback back in Season 1. So let’s have a look at that grand old sage, one of the Original 13 and Matrix-babysitter for hire: Ultra-Class Alpha Trion.

Robot Mode

Alpha Trion Cyberverse BigAngryTrev — BEEFCAKE!

Ol’ Alpha is looking pretty beefy here for an aging bot. Really strong and stocky, looks like he should be pounding iron rather than babysitting baubles. I really like how the wings of his alt-mode become a quasi-cape and he has the big spikes on the shoulder that the character did in the G1 cartoon in the Evergreen style Cyberverse has adopted – I believe he is the first Alpha Trion figure to be sporting them. A decent beard on him as well. Otherwise he is pretty simplistic looking, suffers from very limited articulation and sports no weapon whatsoever.

Vehicle Mode

Alpha Trion first sported a Space Cruiser alt-mode in the Timelines toyline which also carried over into his Titans Return toy. This seems to be the go-to alt-mode for Alpha now as he sports it again here. Like the Titans Return version, the Space Cruiser mode is severely plain, his paintjob consisting of big unadorned patches of red and purple with a small cockpit at the back. From the top and sides it looks OK, but don’t look from the bottom as it reveals how simplistic the Transformation is (i.e – you can see its just the robot hunched up and Trion staring at you angrily).

Laser Beam Blast

Well, it makes more sense than Slipstream’s helicopter-out-the-back-thingie power I guess. By pushing down on at the back you can make giant lasers flip out from both wings. It’s kinda cool, but there is a paint deficiency on the outer front halves of the lasers, making them a streaky pink instead of a solid one. Will add a little bit of play value for the younger fans.

Worth Getting?

Cybververse Alpha Trion BigAngryTrev — I’m one of the Original 13 Primes – damn well buy me! …… please!

To be honest, at $39(AU) I would have to say no. The fairly decent looking robot mode does not make up for the cheapy feel, lack of articulation, less than inspiring alt-mode and the simplistic transformation. Add to that no accessories and this is a figure you can easily bypass. Frankly I only got him as it was the first time in a long time I had actually seen a new Transformer toy on the shelves of the only department store that’s within 50km of where I live. However if you are a fan of the Original 13, Cyberverse or want what is probably the most G1-looking Alpha Trion toy we have ever had, then he may be worth picking up if you see him at a discounted price. Considering Alpha Trion is already dead in the cartoon, if you want a Cyberverse representation of him don’t wait for a better toy to come along as you are unlikely to see it.

Got something to say about this figure? Add it to the comments section below!

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Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – Cyberverse Soundwave

July 10, 2019 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Good old Soundwave, after having a break for many years he got revived for the Cybertron series and has been a staple ever since. Animated, Prime, RID(15), Movieverse – he’s been in them all. It should not come as much of a surprise then that Soundwave has cropped up in the new Cyberverse series, ensuring he gets yet another new toy. So lets take a look at Cyberverse Warrior-Class Soundwave.

Robot Mode

I kinda like the style of it. Somewhere between the G1 and Animated Soundwaves. The blue is quite vibrant, the yellow stands out well on his chest with the Decepticon Symbol in the middle, the soundwave patterns on his shoulders, the shoulder cannon – all good! Good to see the cassette-player symbols on there too despite the fact that’s not what he transforms into. He also has an extra little satellite dish that can flip out from the side of his head.

The articulation here is better than most other Cyberverse Warrior class figures too with the elbows and knees bending, the neck turning and the leg and shoulder connections being able to swivel.

The only letdown is how bare his legs look, much like Cyberverse Prowl, they look far too plain due to making up the back half of the vehicle mode.

Vehicle mode

Quite a letdown. A survellience vehicle is a good alt-mode choice for him but this is just way to bland. Some different colours on the lights and grill or even a stripe down the side would have helped break up this big box of blue. Once again you can flip out the satellite dish which makes sense for the vehicle, whereas the cannon definitely does not.

The Laserbeak Blast

‘Laserbeak: Eject. Operation: Attend Rave Party’

This made me laugh the first time because I didn’t mean to activate it, I was just seeing if his head swiveled. By turning his head & cannon you make Laserbeak (who sadly can’t detach) pop out of his chest compartment at a surprising speed! But that colour – translucent neon pink?! Haven’t seen a Laserbeak this pink since he was pretending to be a Bumblebee copy in DOTM! It’s kinda fun and it’s kinda quirky – it would have just been a lot better if Laserbeak popped all the way out.

Laserbeak can also pop out the back of the vehicle. I can’t figure out if this works in the figures favour or not. On the one hand it forces Soundwave’s head to be uncovered and the overall effect is weird. On the other hand the back panel dropping down like that and Laserbeak shooting out makes it looks like Soundwave is getting tailed and is deploying Laserbeak out the back of his vehicle – could make for some interesting play options.

Worth Getting?

I’d say that this figure is worth getting for the price tag, but only just. The robot mode is really nice (if small) and has replaced Shockwave as my favorite Warrior-Class bot. However the vehicle mode is definitely lacking. Pretty simplistic transformation too. It may simply be a case of how amusing you think you or your kids will find the Laserbeak gimmick. But it’s easy to say this is definitely one of the much better Warrior-Class Cyberverse figures.

Got anything to say about this figure? Pop it in the comments section below!

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Toy Review: Cyberverse Slipstream (Ultra)

June 9, 2019 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Slipstream – the female Seeker fatalle.

Introduced back in Transformers Animated as a female clone of Starscream, Slipstream became very popular very quickly. Not only having the distinction of the only official female Seeker ever, but also one of a small number of female Decepticons all up.

Fans loved seeing another female baddie and combined with her cool attitude and colour scheme it meant that Slipstream soon started turning up in other Transformers Universes. In the Aligned Universe via novels, video games and a Timelines figure (recolour of TFP Starscream) and was retroactively introduced into G1 via a Legends toy (retool of Legends Windblade).

Well now Slipstream has shown up in the new Cyberverse cartoon. Not only was she the main antagonist for the first season of the cartoon, but it has finally after all these years given her well overdue original toy that’s not simply a redo of someone else. So let’s check out Ultra Class Cyberverse Slipstream.

Robot Mode

Aesthetics

I reckon without a doubt this is the best looking Slipstream we have ever had! Not a recoloured Starscream, not Windblade with an Animated-style head stuck on. No, this is Slipstream all the way! The proportions, the colour scheme, the arm cannons, the face with the plum coloured lipstick, she looks exactly like she does on the cartoon. If it wasn’t for the fact you can see a big purple panel hanging down behind her thighs I’d say she was perfect.

*Jet black hair and plum lipstick – I AM the emo girl you lusted after in High School*

Articulation

Of course, while her looks are great, her articulation is not. No knee articulation, no neck and head movement and the few places where she does have articulation (hips, shoulders & elbows) the movement is quite limited. So unless you want her very purposely striding somewhere or doing the splits, you will feel let down here.

Jet Mode

Aesthetics

Once again, you can tell this figure was meant to be Slipstream from the start, the jet mode looks just like it does on the cartoon. Whilst a tad plain for my tastes, it certainly does the job of recreating the onscreen look. She has landing gear that pops down but the cockpit is simply painted on. The only real letdown to this mode is the very visible hands from the robot mode, it would have taken so little effort for the designers to make them fold into the hollow forearms.

Sonic Swirl

*WTF?! Well I suppose….. no seriously – WTF?!?*

Sigh… look, I understand why these gimmicks get put in. While I as an adult would prefer they get left out so as to put more effort into the rest of the toy, they are very appealing to little kids. My 6 and 4 year old had great fun squeezing the jets guns together to activate the ‘Sonic Swirl’. My question is – what the hell is the sonic swirl supposed to be?! It makes some panels pop up off her wings and flip behind her to briefly twirl. But why? It can’t be propulsion, she is already a jet. As it’s sonic, maybe it causes some kind of noisy vortex behind her to deter pursuers or something? For me it just seems to be a bit of useless gimmickry that the toy could have done without. But yeah, I guess I’m not the key target demographic.

Ultra Class Slipstream, worth getting?

Hey – I look better than Starscream at least!

Depends. Aesthetically she is by far the biggest and best looking Slipstream figure we have ever had from any continuity. Articulation wise she isn’t much better than the KRE-O version. The vehicle mode looks great but has a couple of glaring issues. That combined with the very simplistic transformation (9 steps) means that your more serious Transformer fan will happily bypass her. But for young kids, Cyberverse fans or Slipstream & Seeker fanatics (which I am) she is worth shelling out some bucks for.

Got anything to add to the review? Pop it in the comments section below!

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Transformer Toy Reviews

Toy Review – Cyberverse: Acid Storm

January 1, 2019 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

The relatively short first season of the Cyberverse cartoon has come to an end, but new toys are still turning up on the shelves. I must admit I am eschewing most of them but when I saw Acid Storm in a local store I couldn’t help but pick him (or is it her?) up. So let’s have a look at the characters first foray outside of the Generation One universe with Cyberverse Warrior Class Acid Storm.

Robot Mode

The wing shape over the shoulders is reminiscent of the characters Thrilling 30 toy. And the colour scheme? Well the colour scheme is very G1 reminiscent, ya gotta give it that. We are talking green here. I mean, really green. Besides some grey on the torso & thighs and a yellow cockpit there is very little to break up the overpowering green to be found here. This may be case of where being a G1 homage might be taken a little too far.

Toxic Slice

The gimmick here in robot mode is to swivel the entire upper body around a couple of times and let it go, making it spin and the coloured end sections of the wings spread out. It doesn’t work, which is to say it works too well. Acid Storm spins so fast it’s just a blur and you can hardly make out the wing segments at all.

Jet Mode

Pretty stock standard with little to recommend it above the litany of other TF jets out there. The backs of the legs are visible from above and the annoying thing is you can’t take out Acid Storm’s landing gear without having to reverse the transformation somewhat. A bit of a let down overall.

Is He a She or She a He?

There is a bit of confusion over the gender of Acid Storm. In the cartoon Acid Storm’s first appearance on Cybertron portrays the character as male. Yet on Earth the character is definitely portrayed as female and appears in multiple episodes as such. Yet when one looks at the toy, the toys box art and the official Cyberverse website Acid Storm is once again male. Therefore we are forced to conclude that the character was intended to be male, but the writers at some point after the initial Cyberverse episodes arbitrarily changed the gender.

Worth Buying?

To be honest, not really. The transformation is uninspired as is the jet mode and colour scheme and the whole toy feels cheaply made. The Toxic Slice gimmick is also a joke. However it isn’t a completely horrible figure and it’s nice to see Acid Storm finally get an outing in a non-G1 toy line. So if like me you are a Seeker enthusiast, you may wish to pick this guy (or perhaps gal) up.

Got something to say about this figure? Pop it in the comments section below!

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Toys Review – Cyberverse: Grimlock & Shockwave

September 3, 2018 Big Angry Trev 1 Comment

With RID disappearing into the sunset, leaving most fans with a ‘yeah, it was alright I guess’ taste in their mouths, many have been anticipating the new Cyberverse cartoon and toyline. However if what one reads online is to be believed, fans are already being put off with what they perceive to be overly simplistic figures.

On Father’s Day I received two from the new line, and both characters I obsessively collect. So without further ado let’s take a look at Cyberverse: Warrior-Class Shockwave and Ultra-Class Grimlock.

Shockwave

Robot Mode

Though small in stature, Shockwave comes in a really vibrant purple with pink highlights via circuitry lines on the arms and the hexagon on his chest. He has shoulder, elbow and knee articulation though his head is immovable. His proportions are quite good and he has his signature blaster on his left arm.

I really like the head on this Shockwave. I think because you only see the bottom half of his eye so it makes him look far more angry than usual.

His ‘Wave Cannon’ weapon sits behind his right shoulder. Moving it up onto the shoulder makes the pink laser fire automatically pop out. Personally I prefer to leave it behind his shoulder but it adds a lot of play value for the kids.

Cybertronian Spider-Tank Mode

Really, this is the first alt-mode of this kind we have seen in a Transformers toy. There was Thunderhead from DOTM which had treads so perhaps this is the first walking spider-tank in the Transformers line *. That novelty value alone made me want to grab Shockwave. It looks odd but fairly good overall. Really they needed to find a way to shorten Shockwaves thighs so that the two back legs were the same length as the front, and have a bit more detail and variety in colour so it’s not one big block of purple. It’s nice to see that they have kept with the theme of Shockwave not having an Earth mode, and this makes a nice variation on the Cybertronian Tank form he has been rocking for the last few years (such as in Energon, Animated, Prime and DOTM). Since all 4 legs are able to be positioned in different ways, both on the horizontal and vertical axis, it means this toy is great to set up on battlescapes with uneven terrain.

*I have subsequently been reminded by Laine from Melbourne that in fact ‘Scrapmetal’ from the Cybertron series can be considered the first ‘walking spider-tank’. Thanks Laine! I actually own this toy so I feel particularly silly for forgetting this figure 😉

The laser turret on top of the tank can once again activate his ‘Wave Cannon’ for pink laser fire but only one pops out. There is an Ultra-Class version of this character coming out in subsequent waves where the laser turret resembles his Prime incarnation more.

Grimlock

Robot Mode

It is a big bulky and solid looking Grimlock. Despite being depicted in the shots of the cartoon as having a mouth (like in RID) they have given Grimlock back his faceplate and overall a much more G1 head than the ‘teddy-bear’ look he was rocking in Robots in Disguise, which I was not a fan of. He is well proportioned and has a very G1/Evergreen colour scheme. This figure has minimal articulation, his shoulders and elbows both have a small amount of movement but he has no knee or head articulation whatsoever. The front half of his Dino-mode folds down the back of him and goes all the way down to his knees; the figure could have benefitted from this folding in half so that it formed a backpack, but I guess that was not possible due to the figure having to accommodate the ‘Rocket Roar’ feature that the robot mode doesn’t use. I quite like Grimlock having missile pods on each shoulder, it’s something new for the character and makes up to a small extent him not having any other weapon such as his signature Energon-Sword.

Cybertronian T-Rex Mode

*Look at my raised eyes, scientists must have put frog DNA in me*

It’s an interesting look, very distinctive with the raised eye sockets and the way it leans forward is quite indicative of the Animated version. The spikes on his back, forehead and tail are quite interesting too. A black tail instead of the usual gold but it still sorta works.

By pressing down on one of his back nodules (the foot from his robot mode) you activate the ‘Rocket Roar’ feature which not only shoots ‘fire’ out his mouth but also causes it to flare up from his back. It looks pretty cool and it will be interesting to see if this happens in the upcoming cartoon as I think it would look quite boss for his back to be spouting fire as he breathes it at Cons. My only gripe is you have to lean Grimlock even further forward in order to get the nub that activates the switch to be in the right position, meaning Grimlock has to be virtually horizontal for this to work.

Transformations

Both this figures are very easy to Transform, in particular Shockwave whom my 5-year old can do with his eyes closed. Didn’t take too long for him to figure out Grimlock either. Not much challenge for the adult collector but then that’s not who these toys are aimed at.

Overall

Look, I have to put my hand up to say that I’ve been feeling fairly negative about this new line from all the images I’ve been seeing online. But now having two in my hands I gotta say they are a lot of fun! I received these two for Father’s Day and I think my son played with them more than me and he had an absolute blast! I think given the relative simplicity of these figures that their price tags are a tad steep and feel that set at about 2/3rds their current cost would be more appropriate. However that said, if you are a fan of these two characters or you have kids that are really into Transformers they are both worth picking up.

Got anything to say about these toys? Would love to read it in the comments section below!

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Toys Review – Cyberverse: Grimlock & Shockwave

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