The Energon Pub

[blackeyedprime]

Cool and jetfires tank looks to be a diff colour to the initial images.

[william-james88]

Fellow Seibertronian Kanrabat spotted the new Cyberverse Spark Armor figures at Toysrus in Laval, Canada. Both Jetfire and Starscream were found for $20 CAD (on sale)

Correction. At 20$CAN, that is the FULL PRICE. No sale.
So it's definitely the better deal compared to the "deluxe" fast-action-battlers that are priced the same. The Armor guys feel like genuine transformers and I'd buy more at full price without any hesitation. Hell, I may get them all! (Except that giant Optimus)

Forgot to mention that the had of those bots don't turn and only Starscream have a waist joint due to transformation. No wrists swivel too, but that was expected.

EDIT:
Heeeeeeyyyy……………. I can legit be that ass that claim "FIRST"!

But yesterday, all tfs at toysrus were on sale, these were exceptions?
And, can you mix and match the armor between bots?

[-Kanrabat-]

But yesterday, all tfs at toysrus were on sale, these were exceptions?
And, can you mix and match the armor between bots?

The price was marked 19.99$ in bold black on the shelf without any sales labels.

As for the armors...



Well, I say they are 75% compatible. The threads of the vehicles are clearly meant to fit the legs of their specific bots that have different leg wings. So the thread can only rest in front of the wing rather than the wing going inside the thread. The shoulder/mask/chest part is 100% compatible.

As for looks, Starscream look way better with Jetfire's armor.

[LE0KING]

But yesterday, all tfs at toysrus were on sale, these were exceptions?
And, can you mix and match the armor between bots?

The price was marked 19.99$ in bold black on the shelf without any sales labels.

As for the armors...



Well, I say they are 75% compatible. The threads of the vehicles are clearly meant to fit the legs of their specific bots that have different leg wings. So the thread can only rest in front of the wing rather than the wing going inside the thread. The shoulder/mask/chest part is 100% compatible.

As for looks, Starscream look way better with Jetfire's armor.

I'm hoping to use this jetfire instead of iron factory's super expensive legends scale one. Any chance of a comparison with a legends scale figure?

[-Kanrabat-]

I'm hoping to use this jetfire instead of iron factory's super expensive legends scale one. Any chance of a comparison with a legends scale figure?

Here you go my friend.




Jetfire is a pretty solid toy on it's own, but if you have a fancy 3P scout display/collection, he will be out of place with his limited paint aps, limited articulation points, and especially his hollow back.

But in a normal legion legend collection/display? That Jetfire will ROCK.

[LE0KING]

That is perfect. Thank you very much.
This is definitely on my buy list now.

[-Kanrabat-]

That is perfect. Thank you very much.
This is definitely on my buy list now.

You won't regret it.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

Thanks to Ham-Man Review, we have our very first in-hand impressions of the new upcoming Transformers Cyberverse Ark Power Optimus Prime!

This Optimus got a lot of people excited with his reveal, seeing as how he is a very big and seemingly very posable (for Cyberverse) figure that comes with a miniature Ark figure that forms some pretty wicked armor for him. Well in Ham-Man's review, we get some interesting insights into this figure. While the arms are carrying a standard articulation package that we are used to, with full posability minus a wrist joint, the legs are very basic. The only bit of articulation in the legs at all is a small amount of front to back and some sideways movement at the thigh. There are no knee joints on this figure, and the legs don't compress for truck mode either, leaving us with some very lame and basic legs.

The Ark armor does make for a very nice figure though, but the front of the Ark that forms the head and chest armor can be a bit fragile and difficult, so be careful with those bits.

Check out the review below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

[Skritz]

What is it with Cyberverse allergy to articulation?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

What is it with Cyberverse allergy to articulation?

I don't know, but that is so dumb to not have knees or collapsing legs on a guy that big

[Jelze Bunnycat]

What is it with Cyberverse allergy to articulation?

To increase sturdiness of the figures, like back in G1 post 1986

Anyway, now TakaraTomy has finally decided to release Cyberverse according to scans in Figure King #257. And needless to say, having every character in every size class makes the lineup a tad messy, especially with the One-Steps:

TCV-01 Turbo Change Bumblebee: new-mold One-Step Bumblebee
TCV-02 Turbo Change Optimus Prime: new-mold One-Step Optimus Prime
TCV-03 Wing Slicer Windblade: Warrior Class Windblade
TCV-04 Launcher Strike Starscream: Ultra Class Starscream
TCV-05 Stinger Sword Bumblebee: Ultimate Class Bumblebee (What? Why not the Warrior one? )
TCV-06 Matrix Attack Optimus Prime: Ultimate Class Optimus Prime
TCV-07 Fusion Cannon Megatron: Ultimate Class Megatron
TCV-08 Turbo Change Megatron: second One-Step Changer Megatron
TCV-09 Turbo Change Wheeljack: One-Step Changer Wheeljack
TCV-10 Burning Flame Grimlock: Ultra Class Grimlock

[william-james88]

What is it with Cyberverse allergy to articulation?

Here is Cyberverse once you give it some Claritin:

[Stargrave]

What is it with Cyberverse allergy to articulation?

Here is Cyberverse once you give it some Claritin:

That looks like it could easily pass for a smaller Jungle Planet Cybertron figure dang

[william-james88]

The Cyberverse line has been rather underwhelming for collectors by not providing any class that is not gimmick ridden or simplified. The Bumblebee movie line at least had some character designs show up in the Studio Series line but the awesome designs from Cyberverse do not have an equivalent. However, the Spark Armor battle class toys do offer something more familiar. While there is a gimmick involved, it is armoring up the bots via 5 mm ports, same as the COMBAT gimmick in the Siege line and like Siege that means the transformations and proportions are not affected by the gimmick (unlike the rest of Cyberverse). The battle class toys are slightly taller than legends class toys, as you will see in the images below. So it offers a cheap alternative if you want bots in this scale. That still begs the question though, are these toys any good? Well let’s take a look at Transformers Cyberverse Spark Armor Battle Class Skybyte.









Skybyte is a fan favourite and it’s fun to see non G1 characters in this heavy G1 based line. His design is very much RID Skybyte, and it uses the Generations idea of having the shark head be the chest. The robot mode looks good and has a lot of the articulation you would expect from a legends class figure. I would of course prefer more hip rotation (not always present on this class) and it’s too bad the head does not move. The head sculpt is very nice though with the right paint apps on the robot and shark heads. My biggest issue though is with one of the plastics used. The light blue plastic is excellent. It’s a gorgeous and glossy blue that I don’t think we have ever seen used on a TF before. It feels very sturdy, along with the yellow. But the dark blue plastic is the kind I just hate. It’s the very cheap light KO type. The one where you see the sprue circles and that feels rough. It’s really too bad that they use this plastic on his arms.













The armor is fine but doesn’t really do anything for me. The big drill is not tightly latched onto the smaller vehicle and while the transformation into armor is neat, there isn’t really anything cool about it aside from the helmet. The drill tank threads don’t look good as armour, since there is no weapon element to them. This is a far cry from the clear armour we had with the RID battlepacks.















The armour is interchangeable with the other smaller bots since it’s just 5mm based. Here is a mash up with Prowl’s armour.











The Transformation to shark mode is great. I really like how the legs are just the right shape to become the shark body. It’s the perfect complexity for a toy this size. As for the shark mode though, it’s too bad the lower jaw doesn’t really look like a jaw and not everything tabs in properly. There are still 5 mm ports in this mode so you can plug in weapons as you wish.













In the end, while I like the look of the base figure and I am glad the gimmick is far from as obtrusive as other gimmicks in the Cyberverse line, I don’t think it adds much either. With the Siege line you can take it or leave it, but with these the armour comes with the toy so you pay extra for an aspect that you may not care for.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I kinda want him just to have an tiny Sky-Byte

[Lunatic Prime]

He looks amazing and that in Scout class scale. He's a must to me. And the armor will end up as parts for customs
Maybe we'll get some good Cyberverse figures in the end. Only got the Battle Base Trailer so far (for my SIEGE OP). The rest of the line to this point is not my cup of tea. Warrior Soundwave and Shockwave look pretty good in their bot modes at least but I have too many way cooler Soundys and Shockys and I was thinking about getting Ultra class Bumblebee and Shadowstriker only for their alt modes but gladly I ended up realizing that they are not worth it and I'm at the point now where my collection is big enough that I only want to buy figures that I really want.
And third of this line to me will be Elite class Cheetor.

[-Kanrabat-]

I NEED that Sky-Byte.

[Dr. Caelus]

Maybe we'll get some good Cyberverse figures in the end. Only got the Battle Base Trailer so far (for my SIEGE OP).

How does that work??

[ZeroWolf]

I've seen a few people do this, don't know if the connection actually works

[Lunatic Prime]

Maybe we'll get some good Cyberverse figures in the end. Only got the Battle Base Trailer so far (for my SIEGE OP).

How does that work??

You mean the Battle Base Trailer for SIEGE OP?


But it's not as good in reality as it looks in this picture. The angle the picture was taken from is pretty charming for what's actually going on. In theory just flip up his feet and "peg" the trailer ontop of them. But then the front of the trailer sits too high so it's at an angle. What I want to do now is remove the sides of the part where the feet "peg" in.

[william-james88]

But it's not as good in reality as it looks in this picture.

eeesh, and that pic doesnt even look good

[william-james88]

The Cyberverse line has been rather underwhelming for collectors by not providing any class that is not gimmick ridden or simplified. The Bumblebee movie line at least had some character designs show up in the Studio Series line but the awesome designs from Cyberverse do not have an equivalent. However, the Spark Armor battle class toys do offer something more familiar. While there is a gimmick involved, it is armoring up the bots via 5 mm ports, same as the COMBAT gimmick in the Siege line and like Siege that means the transformations and proportions are not affected by the gimmick (unlike the rest of Cyberverse). The battle class toys are slightly taller than legends class toys, as you will see in the images below. So it offers a cheap alternative if you want bots in this scale. That still begs the question though, are these toys any good? Well let’s take a look at Transformers Cyberverse Spark Armor Battle Class Prowl.





I will start by saying that at least this toy looks better than the warrior class which has a very out of proportion chest. However, aside from getting a G1 styled prowl in pseudo legends class, there isn’t much to love here. The articulation is much more limited than Skybytes since the knees are more for transformation than for posing and the arms don’t have a bicep curl due to them being on a hinge rather than a ball joint. At least I have no issues with the plastic used, as I did with Skybyte.













I prefer his little drone buddy over Skybyte’s. It makes for better armour since the sleek cybertronian ship offers the armour a better look and added weaponry for the arms. The helmet you get out of it is fun for Prowl. Also, the armour has some poseable shoulder cannons, giving homage to the classic Datsun staple.









The armour is interchangeable with the other smaller bots since it’s just 5mm based. Here is a mash up with Skybyte’s armour.









The Transformation to police car is one we have seen countless times. It’s basically the same we got for the Cyberbattalion Prowl. It doesn’t feel as simple in this size class though, but it feels as unimaginative. It’s hard to get excited from another police car alt mode though I must add the sad note that there is black plastic that clashes with the white. It’s the same problem we have been seeing since the Dead End mold.









In the end, I find it too bad that the articulation is lacking here. It could have made up for the lackluster transformation. I do like the little armour partner buddy though, it works much better than Skybyte’s. Still, this is a very standard figure for Prowl that doesn’t add much to the character’s legacy apart from the armour.

[Lunatic Prime]

But it's not as good in reality as it looks in this picture.

eeesh, and that pic doesnt even look good

Not by default, no. But if you want to mod him so his legs fit completely under the trailer feel free to do so. But I can tell you right now you will have to remove the gimmick of the spring-loaded cannons.

[-Kanrabat-]

I'm going to skip on Prowl but I'll definitely getting Skybite.

BTW, Will, are you getting Starscream and Jetfire?
Maybe not Starscream but Jetfire is really, really good and you shouldn't miss out.

[william-james88]

I'm going to skip on Prowl but I'll definitely getting Skybite.

BTW, Will, are you getting Starscream and Jetfire?
Maybe not Starscream but Jetfire is really, really good and you shouldn't miss out.

Yeah, but I will wait for a discount. $20 CAD is expensive. The RID Battlepacks were $15 and those toys were better.