Dave's Deluxe Transmetal Rant: Rhinox Tarantulas Cheetor Packaging note: These come carded on the biomechanical "eye" symbol seen on the Mega Transmetal boxes. The bubbles are molded in a techie pattern and all have stickers saying "DELUXE TRANSMETALS" with the second word in holofoil. CAPSULES Rhinox: Looks good color-wise, but is kinda blocky and unposeable in all modes. Some interesting bit in his transformation. Mildly recommended. Tarantulas: A bit garish, but otherwise well-colored. A little unstable in some modes, although this may be due to the unclear instructions (I'm still looking for a way to make his shoulderpads more stable). Recommended. Cheetor: Sleek and impressive in beast mode, passable flight mode, and really cool robot mode (aside from his backpack). Strongly recommended. RANTS MAXIMAL: Rhinox Function: Strategic Defense Transformation Difficulty: 5 (Intermediate) Quote: None Following the quantum surge, Rhinox emerged in the form of a massive mechanized rhinocerous. He soon discovered that his new beast structure gave him an added conversion: a heavy-treaded all-terrain vehicle. To a big, powerful and slow Maximal like Rhinox, the enhanced mobility is like a dream come true. He perfected new battle moves like pulling wheelies and devastating Predacons at high speed. Also, a new animalized robot mode improves his fluidity and skill on the battlefield. STR 10 INT 6 SPD 7 END 9 RNK 5 COUR 10 FRP 8 SKL 7 Avg 7.75 First off, his SPD is misprinted on the card, they dropped the decimal point and gave him 70, which is a bit much. Second off, I dispute the stats, he should have more INT and RNK, but (since he no longer has the Chain Gun of Command) lower FRP. Finally, he really can pop a wheelie. (Insert joke about popping Wheelie like a zit.) Beast Mode: 3.5 inches (9cm) tall at the shoulder and just under six inches (14cm) from horn tip to tail. Rhinox is light chrome blue on his back, a warm grey on head and upper legs, and dark brown-grey lower legs and horn. This is a much better balance than seen on Primal. Like all Transmetals, he has his name printed on him, but it's on a foreshoulder, not his chest. Not very poseable, but rhinos aren't known for flexibility. Vehicle Mode: Skids flip over the bottoms of his feet, his lower hind legs fold into storage behind tank treads as his rear thighs rotate down to form the motive treads. Not bad. Be warned, however, it's a real bear to get the rear lower legs out again. Transformation: Not too hard once you figure out the order of everything, but quite complex...lots of stuff to flip out, rotate, fold, spindle, etc. Robot Mode: Rather stocky and afflicted with a major backpack, Rhinox stands 5.5 inches (13cm) tall. On the plus side, he has no bizarre chrome breakouts (like Primal's kneecaps) interrupting the semiorganic image. On the minus side, his arms aren't very poseable and his sword looks stupid (it looks a little better turned upside down as the Sickle of Doom). He retains a little of the samurai motif from the original version, but is more of a sumo or Oni (Japanese demon) now. His chest panels flip open as part of his transformation, or to reveal his energon chip. Kinda Matrix-like, yes? If you leave his skis undeployed, his legs won't bend at the knees, as the skis get in the way, so let him ski, I say. His feet (with or without skis) are long enough to support some poses despite his backpack. Overall: About as cool as the original Rhinox, maybe a little better, but the weakest of the three Deluxe Transmetals in this shipment. PREDACON: Tarantulas Function: Ninja Warrior Transformation Difficulty: 5 (Intermediate) Quote: None (but should involve lots of maniacal laughter) There are few Predacons spinning webs of violence and deceit as skillfully as the eight-legged ninja warrior Tarantulas. After the quantum surge, Tarantulas was delighted to discover himself as a meched-out arachnid with motorcross vehicle-like capabilities. Instead of constantly relying on stealth and suprise [sic], Tarantulas now races into battle on his wicked new wheels, converting into a new animalized robot mode that makes him virtually unstoppable in battle! STR 9 INT 4 SPD 8 END 6 RNK 5 COUR 7 FRP 7 SKL 8 Avg 6.75 INT 4? Gimme a break. At this point, it becomes bleedingly obvious that whoever wrote the techspecs didn't bother looking at the cartoon, despite the references to the quantum surge. Beast Mode: A rather impressive spider which is actually capable of standing on its own eight legs (although getting it to stay up is a little tricky). 6.5 inches (17cm) from pedipalp to spinnerette, his colors are a mix of dark blue, maroon, chrome gold and accents of silver and dayglo green. The abdomen section looks like an engine block, which is quite cool. His pedipalps are a bit too big to be proportional, since they're formed from his lower legs and feet. Vehicle Mode: His rear wheel's a bit hard to deploy, since it's easier to snap it into its halves than get it into position, but the front wheel's easy (just be sure to note how it's inserted before pulling the gun out!). By extending the spiderlegs as outriggers, this motorcycle more can even stay upright. Rolls pretty well on the floor (but not necessarily on MY floor...now I gotta pick all the hair and dust out of the wheel...time to sweep again). Transformation: Like Rhinox's, it's got a lot to do, but it's not too stubborn once you figure out all the bits...except for the robot arms. I *finally* found the little tab and slot for stabilizing the shoulders, and it takes a bit of effort to wrench everything into exactly the right place...the fact that the tab is dark blue, the slot is black, and both parts are in shadow doesn't help. The spiderleg backpack is a bit tricky, but mainly for reasons of bulk and "get-in-the-way"ness. Robot Mode: Pretty poseable, stands 5.5 inches (13cm) tall at the shoulders, higher at the spiderlegs. Because of the backpack, he usually has to be hunched over or he'll fall over backwards. His head will cheerfully flop backwards out of reach, requiring some fiddling to get it back out. This problem can be solved by folding the gold headscoop down on top of the head, something not shown in the instructions but implied by the picture of the robot mode. Moving the arms too much will dislodge the shoulderpads. The color balance works out pretty well in robot mode, except for the gold feet. Overall: Most of the problems this toy has can be laid at the feet of an overly ambitious transformation scheme, but better overly ambitious than boring, eh? A good toy. MAXIMAL: Cheetor Function: Robotic Jungle Patrol Transformation Difficulty: 5 (Intermediate) Quote: None Following the massive quantum surge, Cheetor emerged as a cybernetically enhanced cheetah. Meanwhile, his robot form inherited the organic traits once attributed to his beast mode. Now Cheetor prowls the jungle with more agility and power than ever before. Flip-out cyber-thrust wings provide enhanced speed and limited flight while in beast mode, making him part jet, part mechanical cheetah. STR 8 INT 6 SPD 10 END 9 RNK 7 COUR 9 FRP 8 SKL 8 Avg 8.125 Too bad they didn't have room to give any mention of a personality or motivation. I guess they figured this would be the default of the line, and put the exposition on him twice (there's a blurb about the quantum surge on every card). Beast Mode: THIS is a SWEET robo-cat. The designers definitely learned from the faults of the previous Cheetor body style, among other things giving the rear legs an extra joint so they could bend in the right places for each mode, rather than trying to compromise. 6.5 inches (17cm) long from nose to tail tip and 2.5 inches (6.5cm) tall at the shoulder, Cheetor looks like a powerful big cat poised to pounce when in the right pose. Very dynamic, the pose is far more organic than most beast modes. Vehicle Mode: Jets flip out from his sides and lengthen slightly. So-so, and it leaves him with a big hole through his stomach. In this mode, his wingspan is a little over 4 inches (11cm) and his "Super-Cheetor" extended legs pose makes him 8 inches (20cm) from front paw to rear paw. Transformation: Mostly simple, the root is once more "cat stands up on its hind legs." However, turning the cat head into the robot arms is a bit tricky the first time (actually, it's the reverse transformation to head which is harder). His tail pulls off as his whipsword weapon, which can also be turned upside down as a sort of axe. Robot Mode: Very poseable, he even has a waist swivel despite not needing it for transformation. His heels and toes are independently poseable and quite stiff, not flopping around at all. His hands are more like claws, and look quite cool. He's also got a backpack, like the other two Deluxes, and it includes his beast mode forelegs, but it hugs his body close enough to not be a serious balance problem. About the only real problem is that the chest doesn't snap onto anything, so when raising an arm on Cheetor, the chestplate tends to rise instead. Cheetor can't bring his arms together to do the "energy blast from the cat head" trick he's done in the cartoon unless you transform him partially back to beast mode, "dislocating" his shoulders. Overall: Like most toys, he has some problems, but the coolness of his beast mode and some of the better parts of his robot mode counterbalance this and more. If you only get one Transmetal of the five which have come out so far (the three here, plus Optimus and Megatron), get Cheetor. Dave Van Domelen, glad he optimisticly cleared room on his desk this afternoon....