There’s this really specific archetype that shows up in almost every Transformers series, that of the kid-appeal character. They’re always someone who’s some combination of younger, brightly-colored, smaller, faster, associates with the show’s main humans more than the rest, and is maybe a bit impulsive and rebellious. Since 2007, Bumblebee’s near-constantly held this role, but before that, it was more of a rotating cast of characters.
Like this guy.
Cheetor was the version of this archetype on Beast Wars , and represented an important step in the evolution of this character, melding the yellow color and horned head of the original Bumblebee with the hot-blooded, rebellious nature of Hot Rod.
And a big gun, because it was the 90s.
His original Deluxe Beast Wars toy’s one I actually owned (today, I have the 10th Anniversary reissue of it, since my original broke), and, at least in robot mode, is still pretty decent.
It’s like a cheetah drawn by a 90s comic book artist.
It’s nicely poseable, and modestly show-accurate, if a bit on the bulky side compared to the show’s more streamlined take. But that cheetah mode was way too big and bulky of a big cat to ever be a cheetah, working way better for Tigatron and other repaints. In fact, the need to make a version of Cheetor’s first form that changed into an actual well-proportioned Cheetah has dogged the previous two attempts at an update. First, there was the Universe 2.0 version in 2008 that was just….a conceptual mess, changing into a decent Cheetah, but a weird, lanky, hunchbacked robot.
It’s the ninja stars that make the least sense, here.
Then, there was the Masterpiece, which took it the other way, trading a good-looking robot mode for a complicated transformation and Cheetah mode that was proportionate, yes, but very messy and unstable (and I say that as a former owner).
That cheetah mode’s panels would split in the middle the second you picked him up.
So, this Kingdom one’s got a tall order to fill, since for my money, the original mold was, until now, the best version of the design, and any modern version that’s trying to be somewhat show-accurate and still have a slim Cheetah mode’s got a challenging task ahead of it.
Robot Mode
Like a lot of Beast era designs, Cheetor’s got his cat head on his chest, and his animal arms hanging off his back (which you can cross into a X for show-accuracy).
The instructions don’t show any particular way to hang these, but this is how they looked on TV.
He mostly looks like a cheetah got molded into humanoid form, but with sculpted tech details on panels across his body. Also, he’s still got that weird pelvic plate that looks like it has a yelling face on it.
Cheetor is confused by his screaming crotch.
It’s funny how the mind’s eye remembers things, because my first thought upon seeing pictures of this guy was that he looked nothing like his TV show appearance. But actually seeing side-by-side comparisons with the hyper-accurate Masterpiece figure, I realized that they actually got it closer than I thought, with most of his details still being present.
He looks like he redistributed his strength stats into speed and agility.
His proportions are way different from his show model, though. He’s skinnier in the torso, bulkier in the lower legs, and he has a lot more beast-mode shell on his shoulders and forearms. Closer than I thought or not, he’s still the least accurate Kingdom beast figure by default. Still, he’s not bad, just different, and miles better than the Universe figure.
Family photo time!
Another thing that’s more accurate than I thought is the head, a prime example of me remembering it wrong. He’s got those Bumblebee-like horns, and even tiny sculpted cat teeth in his mouth. He is missing the stripes on his face, though, but he does have a tiny Maximal logo stamped on the crest between his horns.
Speaking of colors, technically speaking, some of his hues are weirdly off. He’s mostly a proper yellow, with a pile of painted-on spots, but he has sky-blue robot parts, which were dark blue on the show and original toy. This may be a case of the phenomenon called “Citogenesis,” which previously affected the Quintesson Pit of Judgement’s Bailiff. Basically, official Transformers creators use the Transformers Wiki as a resource, and sometimes, inaccuracies from the Wiki come through. In this case, his lighter blues may be based on the art being used for his main image on the Transformers wiki.
The culprit behind the colors: His current Transformers Wiki article photo.
Oh, also, this figure doesn’t differentiate between the original’s yellow and gold parts, making the whole thing yellow.
But, digressions aside, it’s not a bad-looking shade of blue, or a bad-looking set of colors. The colors suit the character just fine, and the whole thing is just a bit more remixed than the rest of the line. All the broad strokes are there, and, again, the spot detailing all over his body is pretty impressive. Oh, and the cheetah eyes on his chest are orange, to match his show model, again.
An unsung advantage of those bulky lower legs is he probably kicks real good.
In hand, everything on Cheetor stays solidly together, and despite his skinniness, doesn’t have that airy feeling that I expected. Despite Cheetor’s tiny feet, he’s also more stable than you’d think, and can support most poses. Speaking of poseability, we’re looking at the full Siege suite, including wrist swivels, and not just ankle tilts, but forward and backward foot motion, perfect for running poses. However, the shape of his pelvis is such that his legs don’t want to tilt straight back for that perfect running pose, and need to fan out a little bit.
The best run I can get him to do.
Speaking of that whole region, strangely, you can lift up his pelvic plate, like on the original toy, but it was used for transformation on the original, and doesn’t seem to have any reason to do that on this version, since it’s not blocking anything, either. Weird. Less weird, and more welcome, is the fact that those beast parts hanging out on his back don’t get in the way of anything, and you can slightly tilt the two big flaps they’re on out of the way, if needed.
He’s a little under-armed for the occasion.
So, another unusual choice for this figure is his lone accessory. Every other Kingdom figure in this line so far has had the weapons the characters used on the TV show, but Cheetor’s traded in his iconic Quasar Cannon weapon for a whip with a blade on the end, made from his tail. Presumably, this is so that his cheetah form could stay skinny, without having to stash a gun on his person. Plus, the sculpt is nearly identical to the whip weapon that came with his second, Transmetal form, down to the same bend, and the same spiky blade. That’s a fair design call, but I personally find it to be kind of a drag.
I just picture his opponents using the Indiana Jones solution on him.
The specific shape of the whip means the blade is always too far back to be used for striking, unless it’s meant to hit an opponent on the backswing, meaning he holds it backwards. Maybe if the head of the whip could swivel or something, it would work better. Alternately, I can’t help but feel like they could have sculpted this like some kind of gun anyway, maybe doing the little chunk at the end as a pistol, with a big tail hanging off of it, and putting its handle where the blade was. It’s not a figure killer at all, but it’s still kind of a misfire to me. Plus, his hands are too big to hold the weapons that came with the original toy. I have heard that his currently-available non-transforming RED Series action figure has a show-accurate gun that fits in his hand, though, but the RED Series doesn’t really appeal to me, and I’m not about to purchase a whole figure for a single accessory (unless you’re Optimus Prime.) Oh, like many of the Kingdom figures, he marginally has War for Cybertron Weapons Port compatibility, again, limited to the bottom of his feet.
Cheetor, sir, this isn’t going to go very well.
See?
Transformation
This is a fun, fluid transformation, and it’s a highlight of this figure for me. Out of all the Kingdom guys I’ve handled so far, this one’s probably the most intuitive, solid conversion. There’s no fiddly bits, nothing confusing, no excessive force is needed, it reminds me of those slick Titans Return transformations. I’d say the trickiest bit is making sure his robot head’s angled the right way to slide into his beast head like a glove. And for an additional kick, this version of Cheetor also actually transforms the way his character model did on the TV show (standing up and splitting his stomach into his arms and backpack) something no previous version has really done.
Basically, he does this, which, believe it or not, his toys generally don’t.
That being said, he also has another weird Tiny Tab Situation like Blackarachnia does, in that he’s got a millimeter-thin tab that, like it or not, will break off, but is also sort of a non-issue, because it isn’t really needed. In this case, that thin tab is right behind his cheetah head, which hypothetically helps plug it into place in both modes (but is, again, actually not needed), and came out of the box already on the verge of snapping. So, it’s not really a bad thing, just an odd “why did they do that” kind of thing.
Beast Mode
Okay, this is a really good cheetah mode. It might be the best he’s ever had, honestly, including the Masterpiece.
A unilateral improvement.
Sure, like most Kingdom and Beast Wars toys, he’s got panel seams all over him, and small bits of robot colors sticking out here and there (mostly on the backs of his legs), but the silhouette is right, and he snaps together more stable and solidly than Optimus, Blackarachnia, or Rattrap.
He just emits that whole cat personality vibe.
Just vibin’.
Both in paint and sculpting, it’s a real good cheetah mode, save for those aforementioned robot bits, plus some hollowness on his legs. His colors are the same (but less blue), and this mode puts his mountains upon mountains of painted-on spots on display. I just wish his beast-mode pupils were painted on, but that’s the only thing I’m missing.
I know, cheetahs aren’t housecats, but he has that whole vibe to him.
He’s also, surprisingly, not a statue in this mode, but has articulation on his jaw, and more importantly, three joints on each leg, which even include outward motion.
TFW you’re a cat and you stumble across a bug.
He’s also nice and stable, meaning you can make him run, jump and pounce with ease. I do wish he had some head articulation, especially since it looks like he has a joint cut for his neck (he doesn’t), but it’s locked in place, and is definitely something I only miss because the rest of him’s way more jointed than I was expecting. Really, this is better than this form’s ever been for him.
What peak performance looks like.
Overall
A Kid-Appeal Convoy.
Cheetor took me by surprise, and I wasn’t expecting to like him as much as I did, assuming I was getting him mostly to finish out the Beast Wars cast. But this figure’s more than the sum of his parts. There’s a lot of criticism I had off the top, mainly focusing on the look of his robot mode, and his choice of weapon, but between how he feels in hand, how nicely he transforms (the best transformation of the Kingdom beasts thusfar), and how good his cheetah mode came out, the whole thing synthesizes into something great, and it’s honestly the best Cheetor that’s been released yet. So, if you like the character, like cats, like Beast Wars, or just want a nice Deluxe, this is your guy.
Handsome Boy!
One extra thing: It’s worth noting that there’s going to be a repaint of this figure released in the Wal-Mart exclusive War for Cybertron Trilogy (aka Netflix) line, that trades his lighter blues in for darker, more animation-accurate ones, and gives him green cheetah eyes to match the animation’s beast mode more.
He’s in that odd grey area where he hasn’t been officially announced, but we have samples in the hands of leakers, pictured here.
That being said, it’s also missing the blue on his lower legs, making it plain yellow, again for the sake of a better cheetah mode. It’s sort of a give-and-take, because I like most of those changes, but the unpainted legs just look bad to me. That, and the Trilogy line’s been so poorly-distributed in my part of Canada (and not nearly as available online due to its exclusivity) that I decided to go with the version that would be easier to get. Still, the tooling itself is solid, so whichever version you go with, it’s a winner.
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