Bot Reviews: Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy Deluxe Sparkless Bot

So, how about those Netflix War for Cybertron Trilogy Transformers shows, eh? While they’re certainly an upgrade over the old Prime Wars Trilogy mess, and probably better than a few of the regular Transformers TV shows on production quality alone, they’re really….not that great. As of this writing, only Siege and Earthrise have been released, but even if Kingdom somehow sticks the trilogy’s landing, that won’t save the first two seasons from being too edgy and grim, full of convoluted, poorly-explained plotlines, and just kind of bland overall. They’re also not “anime,” despite what the marketing says.

One interesting thing to come out of it, though, has been a separate little Wal-Mart exclusive Trilogy toyline, partially consisting of battle-damaged repaints of some of the mainline’s toys, and partially consisting of some nifty retools (like a proper VW Bumblebee, reviewed here, and a good-looking repaint of Earthrise Prime, talked about here). At times, it almost felt like this sub-line being tied into the show was entirely incidental, and it was really just another vector to get more stuff out there, until the third (and probably final) wave decided to belatedly reference a throwaway idea from Siege in a really cool way.

See, in that first season, there was a plot cul-de-sac where Optimus and a team of Autobots headed out to the Rust Sea to retrieve the Allspark, and ran into a swarm of Cybertronian zombies, called the Sparkless, consisting of rusted-over versions of a few of the show’s generic character models (also, they have no bearing on the plot, are barely explained, and mostly serve to delay the heroes for a bit, and randomly fridge a female character). But, their existence DID inspire this figure, a repaint and retooling of Siege Prowl (using the new head and weapons created for its Barricade iteration).

Here’s the thing: I didn’t get this because I liked the show (I don’t), or even because I thought the whole Sparkless thing was a good idea (under-explained time-waster). I got it because as far as repaints go, this is a unique, lush idea, and, honestly, I’d rather just think of this as some kind of original character that’s just really rusty. But whatever it is, let’s take a look.

Robot Mode

This is, again, a slight retooling of Siege Prowl, so everything I said on Friday still qualifies here, but I’ll speedrun it again: This is kind of a short, stumpy-looking robot with a wide torso, and stubby legs, but it grows on you over time. For the rest of the design, it’s your standard 1984 Carformer, with a hood-chest, door wings, and trunk-boot-feet.

Siege Prowl was a solid figure with a lot of articulation and good handfeel, and this version still maintains all of that, ankle tilts, wrist swivels, and wide, stable feet included. The major bit of retooling on the main figure is the new face, which was technically designed to resemble G1 Smokescreen’s animation model head, which was a bit thicker than Prowl and Bluestreak’s.

It’s still the same basic idea, forehead horns and all, but it’s got more girth, as well as a surprising amount of sculpted-in tech details.

But enough of the core figure, onto the colors, which are the entire reason for this package. So, the Sparkless Bot is mostly cast in a few different shades of dark, slightly-metallic grey, with some black translucent plastic around the legs, and on the wheels. The big deal here is an extensive rusty paint job on its lower legs, upper torso, door wings, and forehead crests. There’s a lot of color here, a lot of different shades of brown and grey, as well as an extensive network of scratches and scouring. It’s really next-level, especially in person. I’m pretty sure that it’s not standard paintwork, but is a series of very large tampographs, at least on the larger car parts, given how intricate the pattern is. Also, there’s a little bit of texture to it, and it feels just a tiny bit grainy under the fingers.

I’ll say one thing: This doesn’t really read as a zombie to me. I think it’s because of the one other bit of color on the bot, illuminated purple eyes that look very much alive. Plus, it’s got a pretty normal headsculpt. I’ve seen other fans read it as a necromancy-type rebirth, instead of a dead zombie, or as a regular, living Junkion character, both of which fit the deco a bit more.

Personally, I think of her as some kind of junker-cobbler-mechanic, the type that’s gone rusty from being elbow-deep in scrap parts, but doesn’t care.

So, the accessories are mostly new to me. Sparkless has got a pair of weapons with long, thin barrels, and multiple handles on the end, that are designed to resemble Smokescreen’s shoulder launchers from the original animated series, to go with the head. Sure enough, they fit into a pair of unique, oval-shaped ports on either side of the Bot’s head, via a specially-shaped pair of handles.

They’re pretty versatile accessories beyond that, though. They also fit in the Bot’s hands, as a pair of pistols, or they can be clipped together via specific tabs, to make a single double-barrelled weapon.

One nifty little quirk is that when you do this, two of those handles combine into one standard, round, War For Cybertron weapons peg, so the Bot can hold it in their hands, or mount it on one of the weapons ports located on her shoulders, lower legs, and back (there’s also ones on the backs of its feet).

 

Meanwhile, the removable police lightbar makes its return from Prowl, now cast in solid translucent black. It doesn’t have much to do in this mode, but you can stash it on the Bot’s back, clip it in one of the weapon ports, or mount it on top of the combined gun, on one of the weapons ports each part also has. Use your imagination!

Transformation

This tooling’s transformation still slaps, and I was able to remember it without instructions. I don’t think I really emphasized enough in Prowl’s review how satisfying it feels. It’s the kind of mildly-shellformer-y thing that relies on a few things clipping and tabbing in, but unlike so, so many other Transformers, they all fit perfectly, and slip together with no trouble.

It just feels good to do.

Car mode

The Sparkless Bot still changes into the same extremely sleek, extremely flat-looking Cybertronian sports car, looking almost too cool for the deco it has. I’m fond of this weird racecar thing, and it still holds together perfectly, and rolls great.

But once again, the star is the remixed deco, and I’d say it shines (or rather, rusts) even better in this mode, thanks to the fact that all of the grey robot parts are now hidden, and almost the entire car body had been solidly tampographed with that complicated, lovely rust-damaged deco (with only a bit at the back left grey).

It’s only broken up by the clear black windows and wheels, and, interestingly, even those have a bit of the rusty deco around the edges.

There’s not much more to say here, except that it looks really good.

For features, aside from that rolling, you can still access a weapons port on the top of the car (meant for the police flasher by default), and the oddly-shaped ports for the shoulder guns, now on the hood.

You can mount the twin guns there, or combine them and stick them onto the top of the car instead, with the flasher on top of the stack.

I partially wish there were more ports on this car, but at the same time, doing so would have broken up that lush deco a bit too much.

Overall

Do you like this unique colorscheme? Because that’s really the main reason to get this figure. It helps that the base figure was a really strong Siege Deluxe, but really, it’s the crazy concept, and the extremely competent execution of this deco that makes the whole thing work. Heck, I don’t even care much for the fiction this is supposed to be from, but I snapped it up purely for the aesthetics, and, like I mentioned earlier, it works well as a number of alternate character concepts.

So, if you like what you see, then I can assure you, it looks just as nice in person, and sits just right price-wise as a Deluxe. Oh, there’s also a larger Sparkless figure, a repaint of the Siege Seeker tooling, with a pair of Battlemasters, but I may just pass on that due to the extra cost, and the fact that its deco isn’t really executed the way this one is.