With
the Los Angeles area facing potential traffic mayhem this weekend, I tried to work through which Transformer I hadn't already featured (but which I had available) might be an appropriate match to the situation. I decided that the recent Transformers club exclusive toy,
Animated "TransTech" Cheetor, deserved some attention. Of course, I doubt that Cheetor would be any better at handling a traffic jam than any other Transformer. Indeed, he'd probably
cause them more than most.
Cheetor uses the
Animated Blurr mold, which itself is said to have been designed to pay homage to the Cheetor design that would have been part of the
Transtech line that would have followed the
Beast Machines franchise. Of course,
Transtech was cancelled, and the Robots in Disguise line was created (almost entirely using pre-existing molds) to give Hasbro a few years to come up with something new (with the
Armada line).
Cheetor sports a remolded head, which itself has been a source of some controversy among fans, as it just doesn't convey the character (as seen in the two-dimensional images used to promote the toy) as well as might be hoped. At least one factor that contributes to this is the lack of black outline around the eyes and "face mask." If you were fortunate enough to be able to buy Cheetor at BotCon 2011 (and, unlike me, still had the toy with you when discovering the relevant booth in the dealer room), you could have had your Cheetor toy detailed by a skilled customizer using a magic marker, better conveying the Cheetor appearance that many fans were hoping that the figure would achieve.
As of the time of this writing, I'm still not entirely sure how many Cheetor toys were produced. The folks behind the club have promised to reveal this number once the toys have sold out, but unlike
G2 Ramjet (which was put up for pre-order at the same time as Cheetor),
Cheetor is still available at the club store, so help a
datasheet coordinator out and buy your Cheetor today!
With the Los Angeles area facing potential traffic mayhem this weekend, I tried to work through which Transformer I hadn't already featured (but which I had available) might be an appropriate match to the situation. I decided that the recent Transformers club exclusive toy, Animated "TransTech" Cheetor, deserved some attention. Of course, I doubt that Cheetor would be any better at handling a traffic jam than any other Transformer. Indeed, he'd probably cause them more than most.
Cheetor uses the Animated Blurr mold, which itself is said to have been designed to pay homage to the Cheetor design that would have been part of the Transtech line that would have followed the Beast Machines franchise. Of course, Transtech was cancelled, and the Robots in Disguise line was created (almost entirely using pre-existing molds) to give Hasbro a few years to come up with something new (with the Armada line).
Cheetor sports a remolded head, which itself has been a source of some controversy among fans, as it just doesn't convey the character (as seen in the two-dimensional images used to promote the toy) as well as might be hoped. At least one factor that contributes to this is the lack of black outline around the eyes and "face mask." If you were fortunate enough to be able to buy Cheetor at BotCon 2011 (and, unlike me, still had the toy with you when discovering the relevant booth in the dealer room), you could have had your Cheetor toy detailed by a skilled customizer using a magic marker, better conveying the Cheetor appearance that many fans were hoping that the figure would achieve.
As of the time of this writing, I'm still not entirely sure how many Cheetor toys were produced. The folks behind the club have promised to reveal this number once the toys have sold out, but unlike G2 Ramjet (which was put up for pre-order at the same time as Cheetor), Cheetor is still available at the club store, so help a datasheet coordinator out and buy your Cheetor today!
I did my good deed...I bought both of the toys as soon as the pre-orders went live!
ReplyDeleteAs did I. I actually bought a 2nd Cheetor as available at BotCon in a moment of impatient weakness, and don't really need two. Having done that, I really wish I'd taken advantage of the free detailing! I don't trust that my own hand would produce satisfactory results.
ReplyDeleteI always forget how many of the RiD toys were reused molds till someone mentions it - I guess because I mostly stuck to the newer ones. Do wish I'd bought Scourge though.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get really into Animated but I have to say Animated Cheetor does look pretty cool.
I think the number of truly "new" molds in RiD can be numbered on one hand (The Spychanger-sized versions of Scourge, X-Brawn, Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, but there might be another one or two). Most molds started out from the Japanese "Car Robots" line, even if they weren't used in America already.
ReplyDeleteYeah when I say new I'm referring to the original CR molds. Technically my Magnus and Prime are the Car Robots God Magnus and Fire Convoy, but I waited till RiD came out to finally get the Autobot brothers and Megatron/Gigatron. I meant to pick up Rail Racer but for some reason never did.
ReplyDelete