Transformers: Cyberworld, Snarl is Naruto
- Thread starter LordGigaIce
- Start date
Just a semi-copy from the other thread to get this in the right spot.
There is so much about this toy that's bizarre. The head and arms are symmetrical, till you get to the hands, but the paint and lower-arm sculpts make for a great TM2 asymmetry illusion even though they aren't. The upper legs are each their own mold and AREN'T identical on the front, though the back is the same. Actual paint is well done, the legs are Beast Wars Basic level while the arms are single piece, though he DOES have wrist articulation due to the tail on one side, and there are NINE 5mm ports though I don't know what they're for, including the one the tail, which has its own port, plugs into. Five of these wind up on the top of the shark-car, one of which is positioned like a whale's blowhole, and one is on the robot's back.
And the wheels are just odd. No plastic snaps, they're actual metal-pinned, and painted. Shark-Car-Byte rolls better than many car-bots in the modern era.
It does seem so much like a homage to that odd Hot Wheels Shark car that always seems to be on the shelf no matter what year or store it is.
There is so much about this toy that's bizarre. The head and arms are symmetrical, till you get to the hands, but the paint and lower-arm sculpts make for a great TM2 asymmetry illusion even though they aren't. The upper legs are each their own mold and AREN'T identical on the front, though the back is the same. Actual paint is well done, the legs are Beast Wars Basic level while the arms are single piece, though he DOES have wrist articulation due to the tail on one side, and there are NINE 5mm ports though I don't know what they're for, including the one the tail, which has its own port, plugs into. Five of these wind up on the top of the shark-car, one of which is positioned like a whale's blowhole, and one is on the robot's back.
And the wheels are just odd. No plastic snaps, they're actual metal-pinned, and painted. Shark-Car-Byte rolls better than many car-bots in the modern era.
It does seem so much like a homage to that odd Hot Wheels Shark car that always seems to be on the shelf no matter what year or store it is.
Episode 3 (Non-geo-blocked).
So, I found Megatron, Sky-Byte, and Snarl this week to add to the collection. They feel like a much better value for the money than Galvatron did. I do wish they had elbows; Sky-Byte in particular feels like he would benefit from the extra flexibility.
That said, they make decent little figures, and the designs feel largely fresh and interesting. Seems like each figure has at least 5 or more 5mm ports for adding weapons, which is cool.
From what (little) we've seen from the web series, though, that makes me wonder if there shouldn't be some kind of blind-packed weapons assortment to kit these guys out. I don't recall any solicits for such a thing, but with the upgrade box we see in episode 3, it seems like there's a lot of untapped potential to arm these dudes with a myriad of randomly packaged weapons.
That said, they make decent little figures, and the designs feel largely fresh and interesting. Seems like each figure has at least 5 or more 5mm ports for adding weapons, which is cool.
From what (little) we've seen from the web series, though, that makes me wonder if there shouldn't be some kind of blind-packed weapons assortment to kit these guys out. I don't recall any solicits for such a thing, but with the upgrade box we see in episode 3, it seems like there's a lot of untapped potential to arm these dudes with a myriad of randomly packaged weapons.
Saw Grimlock at Target. He looks a lot better in person than in pictures. Still don't think he's worth full price to me, but if there's a good sale......
Thinking if I do, I'll make him a new character. I'm thinking Grimshot, in honor of his gun arm.
Thinking if I do, I'll make him a new character. I'm thinking Grimshot, in honor of his gun arm.
I see Sky-Byte with wheels, and I think this:
Well, the local target that just put Cyberworld toys up on the pegs a couple of days ago is down to one lonely Optimus, so that's a good sign.
Watch CyberWorld become a runaway hit. And Bull Megatron and Goatee Dragon Galvatron become the new standards.
I wonder if SkyByte will have a red repaint now.
Sonic the Hedgehog runs like that too, as do lots of other characters.
Even Sailor Venus ran like that in the live-action series.
I wish the toys had articulated elbows. The legs have just enough articulation and the shoulders are already ball joints.
Snaruto
I wouldn't mind the lack of elbows so much if the alt modes were more accomplished, but aside from Sky-Byte they don't look finished. And Sky-Byte has the advantage of being silly enough that there's very little that could have been wrong with it. I do like how the transformations work, but they just don't do enough.
Finally managed to get Optimus Prime and Megatron, so I guess I’ll post my thoughts:
Cyber Changers compare…favorably (?)…to stuff like the older, pre-2024, Authentic Bravo class (probably the closest overt comparison). For about a $4 difference, the general build and deco quality is much improved over Authentics, and the use of metal pins and fewer ball joints actually make each figure feel more “robust” than Authentics, even if CyberChangers don’t features as many articulation points. I’m leaning to that being an intentional design approach.
I’m bemused that, while ostensibly replacing One Steps, some of that ”design DNA” is still in there, with both figures having torsos that “fold things into place”. I’ve also observed that, in hand, many of the “issues” seen in promo renders is lessened. At their size and cost, deco and sculpt work is pretty solid, though Optimus suffers the most by the lack of deco, especially in vehicle mode.
I ended up liking Optimus less. Not from a core design standpoint (I LOVE the toy-etic nature of the design), but in execution. Between the two, Optimus ended up being the one that “got in his own way” with a lot of what I’d call ”support points” that end up fighting with other kibble. I can tolerate lesser articulation, but it bugs me when the figure’s own design fights with what articulation it has. The lack of a weapon is also notable since all the other wave 1 figures comes with some sort accessory (by virtue of being part of their alt mode).
Megatron was fine. The tail/ax gave me some issue because my brain was wanting to peg it into the torso (where a gap seemingly exists for that purpose) instead of simply slotting it into grooves on the bottom of the bot feet (there were several grooves, so it wasn’t immediately obvious that a particular pair were for the weapon). To me, Megatron felt the most straight forward in design and execution, and he has that great look.
Is this a line I’m going to go all in on? Nope. But it’s one that just feels “refreshing”, albeit in its infancy. From what I’m seeing, the deluxe figures aren’t quite worth the premium to me…but that might change. The nature of the shared engineering means that if you are curious, you can get a few “examples” and be pretty well exposed to the depth of the engineering. The numerous ports are BEGGING for accessories, but there isn’t much to facilitate that with the line at the moment. Given the “video game” nature of the cartoon, I’m utterly shocked we don‘t have mystery box “Energon cache” at retail with accessories like blasters, shields, axes, or just Energon itself.
My hope is that some of these complaints will be addressed in the future (as Star Wars Epic Heroes shifted from 5 POA figures to full 9 POA figures in year 2). More diversified engineering and more exploitation of obvious play potential could really make this line shine. And, for us old farts, maybe leverage that ending Earthspark deluxe assortment to drop a few of these designs at a higher level of detail and design?
Cyber Changers compare…favorably (?)…to stuff like the older, pre-2024, Authentic Bravo class (probably the closest overt comparison). For about a $4 difference, the general build and deco quality is much improved over Authentics, and the use of metal pins and fewer ball joints actually make each figure feel more “robust” than Authentics, even if CyberChangers don’t features as many articulation points. I’m leaning to that being an intentional design approach.
I’m bemused that, while ostensibly replacing One Steps, some of that ”design DNA” is still in there, with both figures having torsos that “fold things into place”. I’ve also observed that, in hand, many of the “issues” seen in promo renders is lessened. At their size and cost, deco and sculpt work is pretty solid, though Optimus suffers the most by the lack of deco, especially in vehicle mode.
I ended up liking Optimus less. Not from a core design standpoint (I LOVE the toy-etic nature of the design), but in execution. Between the two, Optimus ended up being the one that “got in his own way” with a lot of what I’d call ”support points” that end up fighting with other kibble. I can tolerate lesser articulation, but it bugs me when the figure’s own design fights with what articulation it has. The lack of a weapon is also notable since all the other wave 1 figures comes with some sort accessory (by virtue of being part of their alt mode).
Megatron was fine. The tail/ax gave me some issue because my brain was wanting to peg it into the torso (where a gap seemingly exists for that purpose) instead of simply slotting it into grooves on the bottom of the bot feet (there were several grooves, so it wasn’t immediately obvious that a particular pair were for the weapon). To me, Megatron felt the most straight forward in design and execution, and he has that great look.
Is this a line I’m going to go all in on? Nope. But it’s one that just feels “refreshing”, albeit in its infancy. From what I’m seeing, the deluxe figures aren’t quite worth the premium to me…but that might change. The nature of the shared engineering means that if you are curious, you can get a few “examples” and be pretty well exposed to the depth of the engineering. The numerous ports are BEGGING for accessories, but there isn’t much to facilitate that with the line at the moment. Given the “video game” nature of the cartoon, I’m utterly shocked we don‘t have mystery box “Energon cache” at retail with accessories like blasters, shields, axes, or just Energon itself.
My hope is that some of these complaints will be addressed in the future (as Star Wars Epic Heroes shifted from 5 POA figures to full 9 POA figures in year 2). More diversified engineering and more exploitation of obvious play potential could really make this line shine. And, for us old farts, maybe leverage that ending Earthspark deluxe assortment to drop a few of these designs at a higher level of detail and design?
I agree that packing weapons and such with each character makes perfect sense for this line and story. They could do something like what Spin Master's 4 inch DC stuff does, with iirc blind-packed extra weapons with each figure.
This clearly hasn't been how they've launchrd, but I wonder if we'll see Bunch Of Accessories as a pack-in thing later on. Optimus Prime refresh or redeco with a crate of 3-5 weapons, and so on. Maybe at the Armored Cyber Changers price point. Or a battle pack with two figures and a bigger handful of weapons between them. Hasbro seems to tend to prefer that approach rather than selling the accessory kit by itself, at least over the last couple of decades.
But I agree, 5mm weapons sold as cheap bundles in blind boxes (that last part begrudgingly, from the guy who was at one point stuck with 3 Blokees vehicles he didn't want or need) would work. Make them only sorta blind, like Botbots or even the Fortnite weapons crates that had codes, and they'd be a great impulse buy to arm Cyberworld stuff and, even better, decades worth of toys.
This clearly hasn't been how they've launchrd, but I wonder if we'll see Bunch Of Accessories as a pack-in thing later on. Optimus Prime refresh or redeco with a crate of 3-5 weapons, and so on. Maybe at the Armored Cyber Changers price point. Or a battle pack with two figures and a bigger handful of weapons between them. Hasbro seems to tend to prefer that approach rather than selling the accessory kit by itself, at least over the last couple of decades.
But I agree, 5mm weapons sold as cheap bundles in blind boxes (that last part begrudgingly, from the guy who was at one point stuck with 3 Blokees vehicles he didn't want or need) would work. Make them only sorta blind, like Botbots or even the Fortnite weapons crates that had codes, and they'd be a great impulse buy to arm Cyberworld stuff and, even better, decades worth of toys.