While Burger King has offered a promotional set of toys for the new Transformers: Cyberverse Toys based on the new Spark Armor line here in the US, thanks to TFW2005 Boards member prime roller, we now know that other parts of the world have some new Transformers Cyberverse Power Of The Spark Toys, coming from McDonald's instead.
A McDonald’s display in Taiwan revealed a new set of Transformers Cyberverse toys of Optimus Prime, Jetfire, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Prowl, Megatron, Starscream and Shockwave that are inspired by the Spark Armor gimmick. Each figure, like in the main line, comes with a little vehicle that can separate into parts that can be attached to the figure as weapons or armor. These toys do not transform, but the last fast food toys that actually did were way back in 2008, so there's no surprise here.
It is still unknown whether these toys will be offered in the US, but these figures have also been spotted in Peru, Japan, and India too.
Keep your scanners peeled for any more sightings, and always post your findings in the Sightings thread. As always, stay tuned with Seibertron.com for more updates.
For those not in the know, the Cyberverse line finally got decent. It's still targeting a younger kids, of course, but it has been releasing toys that feel less compromised and that anyone could enjoy with the Spark Armor toys. Ratchet, in particular, was rather interesting for fans since getting a new mold for a G1 style Ratchet with an earth mode is something rarer than chicken with teeth. The last time we got an earth mode ratchet who actually had a real window chest from Hasbro was 10 years ago and it wasn't good. So is this one any good? Well, you'll be the judge. Below are images of the toy at multiple angles. It comes with a Snowmobile which becomes armour.
For a quick review, the toy is mostly fine for the size (a tad bit bigger than scout) and while it has painted windows all across the alt mode, on all sides, there is some obvious deco missing from the robot mode. The EKG designs on the shoulders, for one. While those are painted on the renders, you'll see that the toy's final deco is very different to what we first saw. The other issue is the lack of a head rotation and bicep/thigh swivel. Though previous generations toys of this size class were also missing some of those articulation points, these are always fun to have. Skybyte is still the best in that regard due to his use of ball joints (a nice beast era homage it would seem).
Amazing car mode though, and a really nice and meaty Optimus Prime like transformation that I hope gets revisited in later Ratchet toys.
Below are images I took and a few video reviews (along with a review of his case mate Shockwave). Enjoy!
Man the lines geared at younger audiences have really evolved. I mean the fact that the armor even works in some capacities with the Siege line, brilliant. What a 'why not' kind of touch. If they put just a head rotation in there, maybe just a little more articulation I'd be more into these. Like 100% sold.
But I think more than any review or set of images what's stuck with me is when you compared them to the Legends scale from previous lines. When I looked at it that way I felt like I went well duh, and kind of let down my guard against the toys for younger fans stigma.
These toys are advertised as being for kids 6 years and up. The Transformers Animated line was advertised as 5 years and up; at least the deluxes. There's a huge difference in quality between these Cyberverse toys and Animated. Our standards have fallen if we think these designs even remotely pass muster for a kids' line. Like Animated, they should strive to really entice adult collectors.
Problem is costs have risen, animated Deluxes would cost the same or higher than what we pay for Siege Deluxes now. These are made for a lower price point.
Yeah these were designed for a pricepoint with a gimmick. Animated was right at that point right before the economy dipped and the size classes shrank. We can't do that anymore unfortunately.
I loved animated, and while these are different, the spark armor figures are still really fun
Thanks to the mighty Ham-Man we have a new video review of Transformers Cyberverse Power of the Spark Elite Class Spark Armor Grimlock with Trash Crash! The Elite size class is offering some interesting articulation and takes on characters including the exclusive Cheetor figure sought after by many long time Beast Wars fans. Aside from the gimmick of the integration of the Spark Armor components this version of Grimlock takes several cues from his larger Ultimate class figure including a toothy detailed mouth and sculpted shoulder rockets.
Enjoy Ham Man's review and share your thoughts in the forum. As always stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!
Fellow Seibertronians! Are you on the look out for Grimlock and his transforming Garbage Truck? Then we have good news for you! Fellow user and Podcast Host, ScottyP, found a listing on Amazon.com for Transformers Cyberverse Power of the Spark Elite Spark Armour Grimlock! The best part is (at time of writing) he's in stock and shipping out!
Heres some of the promotional photos for you to gaze at while you decide if you need this version of everyone's favourite Dinobot in your life.
Will you be hunting down this Grimlock? Do you think we need more Garbage Trucks in Transformers besides Animated Wreck-Gar? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!
Fellow Seibertronians! While the new Transformers Cyberverse Power Of The Spark line has been steadily pushing out new figures for younglings (and adults) to enjoy, Hasbro still intends on selling at least one more release of their old Warrior class figures. Thanks to SoloJones1985 on Discord, we have our very first sighting of this 2 pack at retail. This 2 pack was found at a Tesco store in Lichfield, Staffordshire. For those who are unaware of this, this 2 pack is an unchanged release of Warrior Class Optimus Prime and Starscream in Power Of The Spark packaging. While this 2 pack has been revealed for quite some time, we haven't had any news on it until today.
Curiously, the 35th Anniversary logo that was present on the stock photos is missing from the actual retail release.
Are you UK fans interested in getting this 2 pack? Or will you (likely) be skipping this release? Tell us in the discussion below, and as always, stay tuned for more Seibertron news!
Finally got the chance to mess around with Ratchet more and take him to work.
The Spark Armor figures are really really good. While Ratchet could use a neck and upper arm swivel, he is still really good. Transformation is really unique, and the snowmobile is just so cool.
Great set, None of the Spark Armor figures i got disappointed