Transformers Henkei!: Cheetor C-12

Transformers Henkei! is Takara Tomy's version of Hasbro's Classics/Universe line of Transformers.  In typical Takara fashion most of the figures received premium paint applications and some of them had chromed pieces.  I went a little crazy and imported near the entire line.

Hasbro released new deluxe molds of the Beast Wars characters Cheetor and Dinobot under the Universe banner.  Takara Tomy opted to include these characters in the Henkei! line, albeit at the end of the line.  Neither of the toys sold well for Hasbro.  While Dinobot can be fairly expensive on the secondary market these days, Cheetor is a little more affordable - no matter which version you go after.  Up until the recent Generations voyager Rhinox toy was released, I really had no where to display Cheetor.  So once I acquired Rhinox I wanted to snap some shots of him w/ Cheetor...and Dinobot if I can ever find a decent priced specimen.  Initially I didn't care either way for Cheetor, but after messing around with him for this review I have to say I have a new found appreciation for this new mold.

You'll have to excuse me skipping over the packaging.  His blister card packaging is packed away and I just didn't have the time to go digging it out.  One of the things I hated most about the original Beast Wars Cheetor mold was the fact that the beast mode was fat!  Cheetahs are some of the fastest land animals and as a result are pretty lean animals.  Takara remedied this with a new Cheetor mold.  I know a lot of people just don't like this toy, but if you give it a chance it has a lot of good things going for it.

In beast mode the toy features several points of articulation.  It's no secret I'm not the best when it comes to posing my TFs, but here you can see how Cheetor can get low to the ground as if he's ready to pounce on a Decepticon or go running across the landscape at break neck speeds.  Shoulder, hip, knee and toe articulation give you free range of motion to pose him however you'd like.

Cheetor does have a large chest in beast mode as you can see from the above picture and especially from a side view.  That aside I personally think the beast mode looks a lot like an actual cheetah.

Cheetor does feature one "action" element.  On the back of his neck is a button that sits flush with the body.  When depressed his mouth opens and his eyes change from green to red.

If you don't know, the red eyes are a homage of sorts to the original Beast Wars mold.  Both Hasbro and Takara originally released Cheetor with red eyes, but as a running change later made the eyes green.  Perhaps this was done to better match his CGI counterpart on the television show.

While I don't normally care for action features, this is a subtle touch and one that doesn't necessary detract from the toy overall.

Cheetor carries his slender and sleek look over to robot form.  If I'm being completely honest with myself there are several aspects of robot mode that I don't care for.  While the over robot looks pretty good, it's hard to get past his his robot arms carry beast mode leg kibble and his large paw feet.

And oh, did I mention his honkin' huge "backpack"?  Thankfully his feet are large enough to help balance the robot where he can stand un-assisted.

Takara opted to chrome Cheetor's head where as Hasbro went with a flat colored plastic.  The gold chrome does stand out, but surprisingly it doesn't look gaudy in person like I thought it would.  I like how the feline traits carry over to this robotic face as well.

Located on each side of Cheetor's legs are these unsightful "pouches", however they do serve a purpose.  Each pouch opens up to reveal a shuriken like throwing star.

Pull out one "blade" and the others fold out simultaneously.

I prefer Cheetor's beast mode over his robot mode any day, but he still blends well with the new Generations Rhinox no matter how you pose him.  I can't wait to complete this pair w/ the new Generations Rattrap coming soon.  Just as I opted for Takara Tomy's versions of Cheetor and Rhinox, I too will probably go for the "premium" deco Takara Tomy's version of Rattrap will most likely sport.

This updated Cheetor toy is far from flawless, I get that.  What I don't understand is the extreme hate from a lot of the fandom over this mold.  In my opinion the most show accurate Cheetor toy to date is still the first Beast Wars Transmetal.  I didn't care for this Transmetal 2 look or Beast Machines.  I've heard some think that Cheetor might not receive a new mold in the near future, but I'm OK with that.  I can overlook the weaknesses of this mold and focus in on the excellent, well articulated beast mode.  Thankfully whichever version of this mold you may go after neither are terribly expensive on the secondary market.

Transformers 3rd Party: FansProject - G3 Trailer

QUICK INFO:

Name: G3 Trailer
Line: n/a (third party Transformers accessory)
MSRP: $79.99 
Year: 2009

The the popularity of all things Transformers one should not be surprised that everyone wants a piece of the pie.  Let's face it - both Takara/Tomy (of Japan) as well as Hasbro have a cash cow in the Transformers brand.  It's hard to believe the Transformers brand has been around for 25 years now and there is no denying it's growing popularity, especially with the 3rd live action movie coming this summer.

The whole third party companies slowly penetrated the Transformers scene over the years with small add-on sets for official licensed toys.  One of the first (and best companies IMO) that entered the third party market is FansProject.  Now they are known for their awesome City Commander, Protector armor add-on sets as well as the equally impressive Crossfire sets.  I'm not sure how I missed the release of their G3 trailer for Classics Optimus Prime / Henkei! Convoy, but now that I've held it in my hands I can say this is another fine addition to the FansProject line-up.  Lets just say there is definitely more to this trailer than meets the eye!

I would be doing this set a disfavor if I didn't take a few moments to talk about the packaging so we'll start there before opening up the box and taking a closer look at the trailer itself.

The front of the box is beautiful and made from a nice white card stock.  The colors are primarily a metallic silver and blue - the same colors of G1 Prime's trailer.  Just like the City Commander box this release too shares the Parallax name.  More on that later.  The name of the set, G3 Trailer is very prominent on the box.  Above the name is a nice large window showing off the majority of the trailer.  What I didn't first notice upon receiving this toy is the area to the left of the window.  This section is actually perforated allowing you to remove it if you wish.  Underneath this cardboard expands the window and allows you to show off Optimus Prime in truck mode attached to the trailer.  This is a very nice touch for collectors who like to display their items in the packaging.

As if the trailer itself wasn't cool enough FansProject also included several nice shiny chrome weapons that are all viewable on the top of the box.  There are 4 different guns in different sizes and one sword.  You can also see the new and improved Roller.  We'll look at these closer once the box is opened.

The bottom of the box has the story that FansProject has built around many of their releases.  I apologize that I didn't make this photo larger so you could read the paragraph.

On the back of the box you get a better idea of what is inside.  It shows off the various features of the trailer - repair bay (vertical position), stealth mode, repair bay 'bot, launching Roller and included weapons.

Slide the inner plastic tray out of the box and you'll see the area where you can insert your Optimus Prime figure.  The tray that houses Roller and the weapons is a separate tray that fits on top of the trailer's tray.

The cardstock insert also acts as a portfolio for the trailer's instruction & sticker sheets.  This is another nice touch as the pocket firmly holds these papers in place so they don't slide around inside the box.

 

In past FansProject releases the instructions have been printed in the form of a comic book.  This time around it is a simple black and white sheet.  The instructions do a good job pointing out the various features.

The sticker sheet seems fairly simple.  I didn't take a long look at the sticker placement map on the instructions, but I do plan on applying these at some point in the near future.  After all this toy will be proudly displayed on my Classics / Henkei! shelf.

The trailer is beautiful and an excellent upgraded homage to the original Generation One version.  The colors are spot on as is the over design.  Notice the small blank square on each side in the blue stripe?  Get yourself a set of reproduction Autobot symbols and you'll be all set!

 

The original G1 trailer did have some support to hold the trailer up when Prime wasn't attached.  This version does as well, but better resembles a real world trailer's support.  The silver legs at the trailer's nose fold down as do the small silver support braces on each side.

   

On the left is the front view of the trailer.  Right is the rear view of the trailer.  I should point on that the rear tail lights are cast in a red translucent plastic.

Open the back doors and fold down the ramp and a peak inside reveals the repair bot 'bot in the back.  This is where you can also insert and store Roller if you so wish.

One of my favorite parts about the trailer is the ability to store one deluxe sized Transformer inside!  Here you can see the new Reveal the Shield version of Tracks fitting inside just fine.  I love how the doors open and the extending ramp.  I also tried Classics Sunstreaker, Prowl and Reveal the Shield Jazz and they too fit inside the trailer without any problems.

Owning several different versions of this Optimus mold I grabbed the first one I put my hands on...being the Hasbro version.  Whether you attach this version of Prime or Takara Tomy's Henkei! version you can't go wrong as both versions mesh very well with the trailer.  The trailer's wheels even share the same design as Prime's which again is a very nice small touch.

To transform the trailer into base mode / repair bay is very similar to before.  Separate the halves and fold down.  Open the rear doors and fold down the ramp.  The repair bay 'bot is basically the same as the original G1 version.  This one however replaces the fold up radar with another articulated claw arm.  The sides of the trailer before had small command consoles that were signed for the original Diaclone figures.  This time around there are rows of pegs molded into the trailer along with various mechanical details.  These pegs can be used to store the included weapons.

The upgraded Roller can fit into the base of the repair bot.  If you push Roller into the base far enough you'll hear a click.  Pull on the trailer hit underneath will cause Roller to be launched out.  I was surprised at the strength of the springs as I was able to launch Roller completely out of the trailer and down the ramp!

Roller is simple and yet I love the new look.  Both the head lights and cockpit are cast in the same red translucent plastic as the trailer's tail lights.  All 12 wheels are free rolling.  There is a hole on the back that allows you to insert a weapon of some sort.  I didn't try but I believe one of Prime's guns will fit in this peg hole.

Roller himself also transforms...kind of.  Apparently there was a piece that was included with the repainted City Commander armor that fits down inside Roller allowing you to attach additional weapons.  To transform Roller simply extend the back end portion, fold back the blue block that has the peg hole and fold down the silver pieces on the side.  You now have a rectangular area to fit this module from the other armor set.

Here is a close up from the instructions regarding Roller's transformation.

The included shiny chrome weapons come attached to little frames.  It is extremely difficult to remove these weapons as the material used is thick and hard to cut with scissors.  I basically had to saw them with my pocket knife until I had cut in enough to twist them off. 

Each weapon has a hole somewhere on it that allows it to be attached to one of those pegs inside the trailer.

Another nice feature about this trailer is the additional set of wheels that are used to attach the City Commander armor or it's repainted version.  This assembly simply folds down from underneath the trailer and then rotates to the back.  Flip out the wheels and flip up the panel to reveal the trailer hitch.  You do have to lift up the rear bumper to deploy this rear trailer hitch assembly.  I only own the City Commander armor and it's attached to my Classics Ultra Magnus so I apologize for not being able to supply pictures of this armor attached to the trailer.

There is one other feature that I should mention - stealth mode.  I'm not sure I completely understand how this is supposed to work however.  I noticed the side and top panels of the trailed seemed a little thick.  You can flip down the top and sides to expose a mirror like covering that completely covers the whole trailer.

The mirror surface does have a protectant covering that you must peel off.  I'm leaving it intact as I just don't see the purpose of this mode.  How is a large rectangular mirror constitute as stealth?

I figured that this trailer would be a worthy purchase since it was released by FansProject, but I'll admit my expectations were rather low.  After all its only a simple trailer.  Doing this review however has blown me away.  I can't wait to finish reorganizing my Classics / Henkei! shelf so I can display this awesome trailer attached to one of my Prime figures.  This trailer was released a year or so ago and I'm not sure what the going price is anymore, but do yourself a favor and hunt down this toy.  Your Optimus Prime figure is naked without it!  Try TFSource for price & availability.

Transformers Henkei! / Gentei!: Ghost Starscream

QUICK INFO:
Name: Ghost Starscream
Line: Transformers Henkei! (Japan)
Company: Takara Tomy
Year: November 2009
Price: $79.00 USD & up
Info: Transformers Generations 2009, Vol. 2 mail-away exclusive

Today we have the latest mail-away exclusive from the 2nd volume of the Transformers Generations book. In order to obtain this toy in Japan you had to buy the book and fill out an included order form to send away. If you didn't live in Japan you had to go through a 2nd party re-seller and it wasn't cheap as I've seen it being offer for as much as $120.00 USD! Is it worth your hard earned money? Hard for me to say, but let's take a look at one of the most iconic Generation One characters, Starscream.

Starscream comes packaged in the standard Henkei! style blister card, however as you can see the package is done in blue monochrome. I was a little surprised to see that the image used of Starscream is actually the translucent version and not simply a monochromed shot of the regular toy. The included tech spec trading card features the same product shot as the front packaging, only a full body shot with the power ratings on the reverse side.

I normally don't care for translucent toys, Transformers or not. The use of the translucent plastic this time around makes sense though and it works really, really well. Ever since Megatron returned as Galvatron and obliterated Starscream in the classic cartoon fans have wanted a ghost version of Starscream in toy form. Granted this is not the first version of Starscream in his ghost form (e-Hobby did a translucent version of the original G1 toy a few years back), this is argubaly the best version to date. I don't have many complaints about the toy in jet mode. I was a little disappointed that the Decepticon emblem is not tampographed on the underside of the wings. Small gripe granted, but it doesn't really take anything away from the rest of the toy.

The toy looks great under regular lighting, but it really shines (no pun intended) when exposed to natural light. I used a little sunlight in these pictures to show just how ghostly the figure can look. The only solid plastic used are the thighs and the silver chrome around the tips of his missile launchers. The rest of the body is fully translucent, even his head!

Here is good comparison shot of the toy in natural light (sunlight) and regular lighting (florescent).

This toy is wonderfully done and would make a great addition to any Transformers Henkei! or Classics collection. Because of it's exclusive nature and price it isn't for everybody. If the price tag scares you away then I highly recommend you track down the regular Henkei! version of Starscream as you see in this last comparison picture. It is much more G1 accurate than Hasbro versions. A fellow collector friend of mine brought to my attention that this mold surprisingly doesn't appear to be suffering any mold degradation. Seeing how Takara Tomy has used this mold approx. 11 times (Classics, Henkei!, Botcon uses) prior to this release one would think the mold would start to show some signs of where. All the joints are very tight which is really nice since there are a lot of points of articulation in the figure. Of the 4 Gentei! figures released thus far (the other 3 being Mirage, Wildrider, Strafe) I have to say Starscream is tied for being my favorite. Takara Tomy hit a home run with this release and I can see it being very popular with the fandom for years to come.