 Cheetor
The "Beast Machines Universe" Is Silent
Transformers Legacy United Core
Item No.: Asst. F2988 No. F8520
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Includes: Swords
Action Feature: Transforms from robot to technorganic cheetah
Retail: $11.99
Availability: Summer? 2024
Other: Tiny
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I got Transformers Legacy United Cheetor - the only Beast Machines-specific toy this decade so far, correct me if I'm wrong - at Ross. The figures were around $12 at retail stores, but Ross had it at $2.99 (I assume the "comparable value $5.00" wasn't meant as shade... but it's astute.) The little guy is about the same size as the Happy Meal Cheetor. It's a decent size for the price class, but Cheetor was typically the tallest robot in any Beast Machines size class. The biggest figure of the line (indeed, one of the largest Transformers period) was a Supreme-class electronic toy. The Deluxe and Mega-class Cheetors towered over everybody else by a mile. Heck, this one might be "in scale" with your Deluxe or Mega-class Tankor figures.
For reasons unknown, Hasbro has given this particular iteration of Cheetor a decent amount of love, showing up in the Tiny Titans and Robot Heroes lines. He got a Titanium Series transforming figure too! He was the center of the marketing, and was on nearly every toy's packaging as its key art in the corner.
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It's not great, but it's good and a nice example of what Hasbro can do at the size. I really wish they made him a Deluxe or Voyager, because the teeny details on the face are kind of hard to see. But, hasbro did a good job painting them - there are spots, a nose, a green jaw, even whites around his eyes. It feels like Hasbro realized what they were selling for the price and approved a little more budget for paint. Each leg has two "knee" joints, and no ankles. The elbows have a ball joint, and if you stretch the legs out he's almost tall for this series.
Articulation is perfectly decent for the size, and the Maximal is probably one of the most true-to-the-cartoon in the entire line. There are no Maximal symbols, sadly, but it would probably not look great given the lack of decent flat surfaces. I didn't think I would like this - heck, I skipped it. But it was $2.99 when I was buying something else, so I went ahead and got it. And I like it.
Cheetor has two swords - like some of his other toys - which can be held in his hands or mounted in slots on his shoulders. It's kind of tight with adult hands, but they fit. It's sturdy. It's kind of unreal given the size.
Can you call a toy's transformation process "pedantic?" Hasbro wants you to do it a certain way, and there are a lot of slots and pegs to ensure you do it. The shoulders for the robot could just rotate down, but Hasbro has some very tight pegs and slots to lock them in kitty mode. The hips (and their pegs) just swivel down, and once you un-peg the tail the torso folds out and more or less locks in place. You can keep the swords in the shoulders. It's not too complicated.
His kitty mode is decent for the size. Heck, it's better than some of the larger ones. His paws are a little big, but the only comparable transforming toy at about this size previously came in a Happy Meal. It wasn't terrible, with its neon green and opaque, mostly unpainted, yellow form. This one is a bit more yellorange, with more spots, and shoulder crystals. The kitty head looks pretty good - I'd love more paint - but the lines and spots look good at this size. I don't care for the robot head's helmet jutting out of the neck. It almost looks like there should be an extra robot neck joint so it can rotate in place, but alas, there is not.
The kitty mode is a little silly, with lots of exposed hinges on his back and visible robot fists over his front paws. But it does have a lot of articulation, and it's pretty ambitious. If a non-Hasbro company made an unlicensed toy of this quality at this size, it'd probably be triple the price and some fans would be tripping over themselves to overpay for one. As an official release with proper safety testing, it went to closeout - I think it deserved a little more love. Maybe not $11.99 worth of love, but certainly $8-$10.
If you put him next to other Hasbro 4-inch kiddie figures from Marvel or Star Wars, I'd say it's comparable. They're about the same size, and about the same price. Articulation is similar, but this may have more paint and gear compared to some of the Disney licensed characters. If we lived in a world where this was marketed to kids, I'm sure Hasbro would've sold it a smidgen more cheaply - I don't know that it would have been more popular. Beast Machines inspired a ton of extremely strong opinions in fans back in 1999 and 2000 when it debuted, and it's worth noting this Cheetor came out for the 25th anniversary of that particular brand. The Evolution Revolution was not televised, and some of the more beloved Vehicons haven't received new toys in a couple of decades. I hope Hasbro continues to revisit these guys because they were weird, fun designs with cool action features. This toy has no such features, but that's what stinks about being a "toy" collector in 2025. Nobody is putting effort into making these things fun, instead all the budget goes to deco or articulation.
For $3 I strongly recommend it. Just be wary, a lot of kids are stealing heads off these guys. I passed on several over the course of months before finding one with his head intact.
--Adam Pawlus
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