Cliffbee.com BotCon Cheetor Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Cheetor
Series: Convention Exclusives
Allegiance: Maximal
Alternate Mode: Futuristic Sports Car

Thanks to kup for loaning me Cheetor, making this review possible (I have since acquired Cheetor).



CAR MODE
Height: 3cm Length: 10cm Width: 6cm

   A yellow repaint of the Cybertron line's Clocker with some metallic cobalt blue highlights and transparent cobalt blue plastic on his windshield and tyres. There's a big red Maximal logo on the hood, which reminds me of some of the awful logos we've seen in the TFU line, except that the guys who put together this repaint have placed it fairly well. Cheetor has a lot of yellow here, so the red also helps to offset that. The giant exhausts on either side and the winglets on his rear engine block are painted blue and there are black cheetah spots painted on the yellow seats. The colour scheme clearly reminds us of the original BW toy, even if they blue is not quite the right shade (it lines up to the 10th anniversary reissue well, mind you).

   This figure is meant to represent Cheetor _before_ he came to Earth at the beginning of Beast Wars, and I have to say this colour scheme does a pretty good job of conveying Cheetor. The spotted seats are a pretty big hint, and I have to admit they're quite cheesy but still kinda fun. It's a decent car anyway, and there are some great aspects here. He's a sleek, open roofed vehicle which fits the Maximal destined to become the fastest of mammals.

   The play value here is pretty good for a basic car without axles. Cheetor doesn't roll so well but all four wheels to turn easily. Inserting his gold Planet Key into the back of the engine block behind the cabin will cause it's sides (and the winglets) to spring up, allowing you to swing out yellow cannons, which will happily sit on either side of the cabin if you remove the key and fold the sides back down - my preferred weapon option. The engine block really impresses me - unlike many weapons that attach in vehicle mode it looks like it belongs.

   The engine block and exhausts are removable, although I've never worked out why the latter detach. Removing the engine block and exhausts leaves a somewhat bare looking convertible, which isn't awful but it's not as cool as Cheetor decked out.

   A good car mould which translates well to a Maximal who'll end up as a cheetah. The repaint is very yellow, which isn't quite ideal, but then it's Cheetor, so I'm not complaining. The cobalt metallic blue looks really good, and while the Maximal logo is a little cheesy, it's still a focussed repaint.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Remove the engine block, open the panels underneath the back of the car and flip out the back to form his legs, then close the panels again. Swing the doors down to form his arms and unfold the forearms. Fold back the front of the car, swing out his shoulderblades, rotate the head and attach shoulderblades to the chest. Give Cheetor his gun and you're done.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 11cm Width: 7cm

   A largely yellow robot with blue accents on his waist, feet and face, Cheetor has black cheetah sports on his upper arms, chest and cheeks. The head has been extensively resculpted to match his head as seen in the Beast Wars cartoon, complete with blue face, green eyes and freckles! There are some green spots on his chest but otherwise Cheetor is all about yellow, blue and black here. There's no mistaking the character now. It's quite an attractive colour scheme, anyway - and that giant red logo is now safely on his back. There is a small red Maximal logo stamped on his left knee, which is a nice touch.

   The G1 feel of Clocker is overwhelmed by the strong presence of a Beast Wars character now, but this doesn't hurt the mould any. There are still G1 elements here, of course, such as the Hot Rod like exhausts on the back of his forearms. The fist holes are the exhaust attachment points, although the gun can still fit if the exhausts are in place. Detaching them will allow you to see through the holes, but there's not really anywhere else for the pipes to go, so you might as well leave them.

   Cheetor again has good play value. The gun is fully functional, although again I recommend against leaving the key inserted. Visually it works well with the sides up or down, I prefer them up since it's a little more compact and allows more arm movement. The shoulders and hips are ball joints, the head and waist turn while the elbows and knees are hinged. The calf panels work as heelspurs, which explains why they bothered with them on a basic sized toy (they're rare even on large Transformers). The articulation gives Cheetor a lot of meaningful movement, with some looser jointing compared with Clocker - although nothing that's really a step backwards.

   The colours here are better than on Clocker, since Cheetor concentrates on a single colour with the others only complimenting it. The head resculpt really nails the character down - although to be honest the colour scheme does a fine job already. The play value here is great, even if the Planet Key is best left aside. A fantastic robot mode.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of. Cheetor was produced exclusively for BotCon 2006, and as such was likely limited to a single production run. He shares this retooled mode with a similar Tigatron repaint.

OVERALL

   A great repaint and and retooling of a really nice basic, in better colours. On top of that, this figure really captures the character of Cheetor. The play value is good - not that you'd want to play too much with a BotCon toy and he displays really well. The giant logo on the hood is my only complaint about an otherwise excellent toy. As with all exclusives, he doesn't come cheap, so I won't recommend him as such, but it's a compelling figure which I myself would love to acquire one day - 9.5/10

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