Cheetor (BW)/toys
From Transformers Wiki
Being the yellow kid-appeal character of the Beast Era, Cheetor gets a lot of toys!
Toys
Beast Wars
Left: Ol' Blue-Eyes is... rare.
Right: From robot... to brick.
Right: From robot... to brick.
- Cheetor (Deluxe, 1996/1997)
- Takara name: Cheetus
- Takara ID number: C-3
- Accessories: Tail-gun, "quasar canon" water-squirting gun
- Known designers: Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy)
- Part of the first wave of Beast Wars Deluxe toys (sort of, see below), Cheetor transforms into an organic, big cat-like creature somewhat resembling a cheetah. As such, he is yellow and covered in spots. In robot mode, he is armed with a rifle made out of his hindquarters and tail, along with a second water-squirting "quasar canon" formed out of his stomach. As with most early Beast Wars toys, he features a "mutant head" that replaces his face, although because the entire head is mounted on a cabinet-style vertical swivel, it is difficult to keep the mutant head set in position.
- There are several minor but noteworthy variations of this toy. The initial wave-1 "rocky bubble" release features blue cheetah eyes and was incredibly hard to find due to delayed shipping; he only shipped in later, short-run "revision" cases of wave 1. The "smooth bubble" release later in the year gave him red cheetah eyes. He was released again in 1997 (what with being a popular show character) in Beast Wars' second year, this time with bright green cheetah eyes, and the gold robot eyes of the previous two versions were changed to green.
- Takara released two different Cheetor toys; one that was the same as Hasbro's red-eyed version, and a running change version in January 1998 that not only has various color tweaks to make him slightly more show-colored (including dark green cheetah eyes, a gold head crest instead of blue, and red robot eyes), but also has a slight mold tweak to keep the beast head pointed forward in robot mode, based on Hasbro's initial release of Tigatron, which has been retained on all versions thereafter.
- This mold was later redecoed for a "Fox Kids" version, as well as both the Hasbro and Takara 10th anniversary versions of the character.
- This mold was also used to make Shadow Panther/Tripredacus Agent and Tigatron. It was slated to be used for Universe Nightprowler, but that toy set was canceled.
| Beast Wars mold: Cheetor | ||
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- Saisoku no Taiketsu: Cheetus VS Waspeeter (VS pack, July 1997)
- ID number: VS-3
- Accessories: "Laser Shot" tail-gun,"Laser Shot" water-squirting gun
- In Japan, Cheetor was available both separately and in a "Quickest Showdown" (最速の対決 Saisoku no Taiketsu) VS pack with Waspinator. Both toys are identical to their original releases.
- Currently, it is unknown if the latter "show-like" version of the two toys were ever released in the VS set.
- Gold Cheetus (Multi-pack "Lucky Draw", 1998)
- Accessories: "Laser Shot" tail-gun,"Laser Shot" water-squirting gun
- A one-of-a-kind, all-gold version of Cheetor was awarded in Japan for a TV Magazine contest. Where he was part of a set of other gold Beast Wars toys of the 5 main Maximals characters. Presumably, his softer joint-plastic and water bladder were unchromed gold, while everything else was blindingly gold-chromed.
- Cheetor (Transmetal Deluxe, 1998)
- Takara name: Metals Cheetus
- Takara ID number: C-42
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- As with most first-wave Transmetals toys, Cheetor's beast mode is entirely robotic, but his robot mode has organic elements in its design. In beast mode, two rocket boosters can be flipped out (and extended, which the cartoon failed to show) of the sides of the cat torso to create a "flight mode", plus his tail rotates 180 to provide a "stabilizer" fin. In robot mode, his removable tail becomes a spiked whip, but he has no ranged weaponry, though you can put his two-fingered hands together to simulate the "gun" he used on the show. He also features an energon chip applied to the inside of the left wing. The toy suffers from a design flaw where the breast plate's hinges that holds both arms up in beast mode suffers from a lot of stress, and, over time, can't hold up the cheetah head properly anymore.
- The Takara Beast Wars Metals release of the Transmetal Cheetor toy features a number of small but notable changes from the Hasbro version. The most immediately noticeable is that the "CHEETOR" tampograph on his beast mode was changed to "CYBERTRON" and the Maximal faction symbol. The other changes make Takara's version closer to Cheetor's show appearance than the Hasbro version: green robot mode eyes (Hasbro's version has light blue), painted cheetah teeth (Hasbro's are unpainted), and the gray plastic is more blue-hued than the Hasbro version's semi-French-gray.
- This mold was used as the basis for the non-toy character Cataclysm.
| Beast Wars mold: Cheetor (Transmetal) | ||
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- Hayate no Taiketsu: Metals Cheetus VS Metals Waspeeter (VS pack, September 1999)
- Takara ID number: VS-42
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- Once again Cheetor was packaged in a "Gale Showdown" (疾風の対決 Hayate no Taiketsu) VS pack with Waspinator, this time in their "Metals" forms. Again, both toys are identical to the individual releases.
- Cheetor (Transmetal 2 Deluxe, 1999)
- Takara name: Metals Cheetus 2
- Takara ID number: C-49
- Accessories: "High-powered missile launcher/leap-thruster", missile, tail-whip
- Known designers: Aaron Archer (Hasbro), Yuichiro Hira (TakaraTomy)
- Transmetal 2 Cheetor is the first major departure from the usual Cheetor styling, but maintains the standard "stand up cat"-style transformation, for which the robot mode is essentially the beast mode standing on its hind legs. Transmetal 2 Cheetor transforms into a saber-toothed tiger-type big cat with a large rocket engine grafted into his back. In robot mode, this rocket engine becomes a spring-loaded missile launcher.
- In order to give your Cheetor toy a little more show-accuracy, Cheetor's upper arms need to be popped off and swapped around. The forearms are already in the correct configuration.
- As with all Transmetal 2 toys, he features a spark crystal, a small, clear-colored ball with a vacuum-metalized faction logo inside. Cheetor's spark is placed on his left hind leg.
- "Metals Cheetus 2" in Takara's Beast Wars Metals line is identical to the Hasbro release. A "presale" version sold in conjunction with 1999 Summer Toei Anime Fair has one difference—the dark gray present on most of the body was changed to a bright silver.
- This mold was later redecoed into Tripredacus Agent. (Notice the pattern yet?)
- Cheetor (Fox Kids Deluxe, 1999)
- Accessories: Tail-gun, "quasar canon" water-squirting gun
- In 1999, a redeco of the original Cheetor toy was released, with "Fox Kids" branding on the packaging to advertise the show's move from syndication to a network. Aside from changing the black spots on his fur to a strange maroon color, at first glance, FK Cheetor seems identical to his original counterpart. However, a closer look shows that both the blue and the gold robot parts were all replaced with a metallic blue trim.
- Product listings gave this toy the name "Jungle Roar Cheetor",[1] but that name never made it to packaging.
| Beast Wars mold: Cheetor | ||
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- Cheetor (Fox Kids Transmetal Deluxe, 1999)
- Takara name: Metals Cheetus Silver
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- Shortly afterward the prior toy's release, Transmetal Cheetor received a "Fox Kids" redeco, released along with a redeco of Transmetal Tarantulas. This red-and-dark-green version of Cheetor proved to be hard to come by, as this assortment did not ship for very long at all. Shipping lists listed the toy as "Mech-Tech Cheetor",[2] but that name never made it to the packaging.
- In Japan, this toy was released as a JafCon convention exclusive, under the name of "Metals Cheetus Silver", along with the "Fox Kids" versions of Transmetal Airazor and Transmetal Rattrap.
- This version of Cheetor was repurposed as Cataclysm in the Beast Wars: Uprising story "Derailment".
| Beast Wars mold: Cheetor (Transmetal) | ||
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Beast Machines
- Cheetor (Mega, 2000)
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- Known designers: Yuichiro Hira (TakaraTomy)
- Part of the first assortment of Beast Machines Megas, Cheetor transforms into a super-lean technorganic cheetah. In keeping with the early Beast Machines design trend of "articulated features", turning the beast mode head causes its jaw to open and close. His left foreleg has a gear-spring horizontal "swiping" action activated by pushing a section of the above shoulder-armor towards his body.
- In robot mode, his head has the same feature; turning it left or right opens and closes his Muppet-like jaw. The "swiping"-action arm—now on his right side—is still available in this mode and can be used to swing his tail-whip around. Because of Cheetor's unusual body proportions and very small feet, he has issues standing up properly in this mode, especially with his legs positioned in the proper cat-like digitigrade style.
- Cheetor (McDonald's Happy Meal, 2000)
- McNumber: 1
- This tiny, softer-plastic representation of Cheetor is great for the yung'uns. As one of nine toys in the McDonald's Beast Machines Happy Meal promotion, it features an incredibly simplistic transformation with no removable parts. Why does he have that sideways articulation at the knees? Why are the fins on the back of his legs oversized, making his cheetah mode look even more ridiculous than it has to? These are the questions that burn in our nightmares.
- Cheetor (Supreme, 2000)
- Accessories: Tail-sword, 2 missiles
- Known designers: Yuichiro Hira (TakaraTomy), Tim Bradley (concept artist)
- One of the largest Transformers toys, nearly as tall as Fortress Maximus in robot mode, Supreme Cheetor was heavily hyped as an "ultimate" toy. Aside from having the most show-accurate sculpting of any Beast Machines Cheetor toy, he features electronic lights and sounds in both modes, articulated jaws on both his beast and robot mode heads, and raising "hackles" on his beast mode back. Each arm contains a gimmick as well. His left arm has a geared up-and-down "slashing" movement, with extending fingers (yes, fingers) that can spring out of his hand. His right arm contains a spring-loaded twin missile launcher that fires two missiles out of his palm when the arm is pulled back at the elbow. Disappointingly for such a large and well hyped figure, these gimmicks sharply limit his arm articulation. Even with his wide and rubber-padded feet, like Mega Cheetor he has balance issues in robot mode thanks to his top-heavy construction and oddly jointed legs. His teeth-clenched grin in robot mode is also somewhat off-putting.
- This toy was an ultimately inauspicious start for the Supreme price point. It shelfwarmed pretty badly and ended up in blowout sales at online retailers discounted more than 75% off its original price tag.
- Night Slash Cheetor (Deluxe, 2001)
- Known designers: Takashi Kunihiro (TakaraTomy)
- Part of the first wave of the rebranded "Battle for the Spark" Beast Machines Deluxes, "Night Slash" Cheetor is a much more angular and mechanical-looking version of the character, with a more show-like face sculpt. Each bicep holds a spring-loaded sword attached by a brace that flips into his waiting hands when released. He has a Spark Crystal mounted on his upper back between his shoulders, and just behind that, a pair of thrusters on his back as well. His interior chest has a red and silver column that spins within a reflective silver dish when his Spark Crystal is pressed, meant to show the power of his Spark. However, this does not work terribly well given the opacity of the transparent plastic that normally covers it.
- This mold was used to make CatSCAN.
- Cheetor (Jollibee Kids Meal, 2009)}}
- Accessories: Container in Disguise
- Cheetor was available as one of three figures in a Jollibee promotion. The toy is a greatly simplified version of his Beast Machines Mega toy.
Transtech
- Cheetor (Deluxe?)
- A new (seemingly Deluxe scale) version of Cheetor was designed for Transtech, the proposed follow-up to Beast Machines, which would have turned into a Cybertronic F-1 race car with a cheetah motif. It made it at least as far as a resin hardcopy, seemingly with near-final engineering. Aside from featuring a launching, spring-loaded front bumper, it is uncertain what gimmicks it may have had. The toy was ultimately scrapped alongside the rest of the Transtech line.
- An earlier version of the Transtech Cheetor design was the basis for the Transcendent Technomorph version of Cheetor.
Proceed on your way to oblivion. |
Beast Wars Returns
- ID number: BR-02
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- In 2005, the Beast Machines Mega Cheetor toy was released as "Cheetus" as part of the Japanese Toys"R"Us exclusive Beast Wars Returns line. It does not appear that any significant changes were made to it. Reportedly, this item had a run of only 4000 pieces.
- Cheetus Black Version (Mega, 2005)
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- "Cheetus Black Version" (チータスブラックバージョン), otherwise known as "Perfect Choice Cheetus", was the original Mega Cheetor toy redecoed in black and silver as a special Beast Wars Returns promotional contest prize. By ordering the cartoon series through the digital cable provider, you were automatically entered in a drawing for the toy, along with several other smaller merchandise prizes. All of the gimmicks from the first version are retained in this one.[3]
- It is currently unknown how many "Cheetus Black Version" prizes were awarded.
Universe (2003)
- Night Slash Cheetor (Deluxe, 2005)
- A redeco of the Beast Machines Night Slash Cheetor toy, the Universe Autobot version gives Cheets a predominantly orangey-yellow coloration again, but this time with a lot of dark red and some super-dark blue accents. All of his gimmicks from the previous version are retained.
- This toy was one of the last toys in the original Universe toyline sold at normal wide-release retail.
Beast Wars 10th Anniversary
- Cheetor (Beast Wars 10th Anniversary, 2006)
- Accessories: "Laser pistol"/tail, "water-squirting cannon"
- Known designers: Marcelo Matere (packaging artist)
- In 2006, Hasbro redecoed the original Cheetor toy for their Beast Wars 10th Anniversary line. He was cast in a different shade of yellow, and unlike most of the other toys in the line, he was actually further off model than his original toy, the biggest difference being that the newer toy lacks the gold paint on its forearms and feet found on the show model. His right beast mode shoulder was tampographed with a Maximal sigil. He came packed with build-a-figure Transmutate's torso and a DVD disc containing the episode "Equal Measures".
- At this point the mold for the gut gun had degraded somewhat, and a new mold had to be made.
| Beast Wars mold: Cheetor | ||
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Timelines
- Dawn of Future's Past (Multi-pack, 2006)
- Timelines "Axalon Cheetor" is a redeco of Cybertron Scout Class Clocker, transforming into a low-ridin' Cybertronian race car with a large Maximal sigil on his hood and a cheetah-pattern deco for his upholstery. Stylin'! Inserting a "Golden Disk Key" into the slot on his back pops up a pair of gun barrels, which can be held in robot mode as his pre-beast Quasar gun. His head is also retooled from the original body to represent his Beast Wars head more closely, making his face even more show-accurate than the original toy's.
- He was available only as part of the BotCon 2006 "Dawn of Future's Past" box-set, with "Axalon" versions of Optimus Primal, Rhinox, Rattrap, and "Darksyde" Dinobot.
- This toy—with the retooled head—was used to make "Unit 2". The original version was also used to make Cybertron Swerve and movie-verse Clocker. It was also the basis for many many non-toy Maximal Command Security Force members.
- Knight Alpha Trizer (BotCon 2014 add-on)
- Accessories: Two swords, transforming blade/claw, beast-foot/claw
- Part of a Knights souvenir set that included Apelinq and Flareup, Timelines Alpha Trizer is a redeco of Prime Voyager Class Thundertron, transforming into a mechanical lion that homages the never-made Alpha Trion redeco out of Beast Machines Snarl. His right robot mode foot can detach to reveal a bladed "peg-leg", with the original foot converting into a claw-weapon. Like his mold-mate Go Prime, Alpha Trizer also comes with a redeco of the twin swords that originally came with Kenzan, which he can hold or plug into his beast mode's hip/wings. The toy also includes Thundertron's original weapon, a claw with swing-out sword-blade, though the electronic light-up feature has been removed.
- This toy was also redecoed into Leo Prime.
Beast Wars Telemocha Series
- Cheetus (Deluxe, 2007)
- ID number: TM-03
- Accessories: "Laser Shot" tail-gun,"Laser Shot" water-squirting gun
- In 2007, Takara did the 10th Anniversary thing for the Beast Wars Telemocha Series line, except much more show-accurate than Hasbro, with a high number of paint applications in order to be show-accurate.
- This release came with a DVD of "Convoy Disappeared", the Japanese dub of "Chain of Command" which was an episode that didn't feature Cheetor in any sort of meaningful way, despite episodes that do being easy to come by.
| Beast Wars mold: Cheetor | ||
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Titanium Series
- Cheetor (Cybertron Heroes, 2007)
- Accessories: 2 scimitars, display stand
- Known designers: Don Figueroa (concept artist)
- Part of the sixth wave of Titanium Series Cybertron Heroes, Cheetor is based heavily on the design of Cheetor seen in the Beast Machines cartoon, albeit with some differences, notably much thicker limbs, making him far more stable in robot mode. His twin scimitars can peg onto his hips for storage and are made of softer, rubbery plastic. His die-cast metal is limited to his shoulders, torso, and thighs.
- Care must be taken when transforming Cheetor into beast mode. His robot head must be pushed back into his beast mode's neck until it clicks. Failure to do so will cause his robot mode head to get stuck inside the chest after the cheetah mode's neck is pushed into it, and may require disassembling the torso to get it out again.
- This figure is the first transforming toy commemorating the Beast Machines story, designs, and faction symbols. According to Titanium Series concept designer Don Figueroa, making Titanium Cheetor use the BM body was his idea. It seems he was told simply to make "Cheetor", but his Hasbro supervisors never specified which Cheetor to make. Aaron Archer corroborated this, saying Hasbro had not meant to produce a Beast Machines figure: they had simply put Cheetor's name on a list, and the toy ended up being, as Archer put it, "the wrong one".
- Like most Titanium Series Cybertron Heroes, Cheetor includes a display stand.
Universe (2008)
- Cheetor (Deluxe Class, 2008)
- Series: Beast Wars Series
- Accessories: "Battle Club", "Triple-Bladed Battle Discs"
- Known designers: Bill Rawley (Hasbro), Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy)
- First available in the fourth wave of Universe Deluxes, this version of Cheetor is based on the original Beast Wars Cheetor, transforming into an organic cheetah that's much closer in proportions to the real animal than any previous attempt, with a robot face sculpt based much more on the CGI show model. Alas, the compromise is that he has a far less show-accurate robot mode due to a markedly different transformation scheme that involves his entire beast-chest ending up as a huge hunchback in robot mode. When a lever is pulled on his beast mode back, the cheetah head's jaw opens and the cheetah's eyes change colors from green to red, a bizarre homage to not just the differing eye-colors the original Cheetor toy went through in its many releases but also to how his cartoon model's cheetah head had green eyes in beast mode but red eyes in robot mode. His tail becomes a whip-weapon, plus he comes with a pair of triple-bladed throwing stars that store in compartments on his legs.
Henkei! Henkei!
- Cybertron Cheetus (December 27, 2008)
- ID number: C-12
- Accessories: "Battle Club", "Triple-Bladed Battle Discs"
- Henkei! Henkei! Cheetor replaces some of his yellow plastic—including his arms and stomach among other parts—with gold plastic. He has more elaborate and varied paint applications, including painting the insides of his beast mode kibble for a greater contrast. As with all Henkei toys, he has vacuum-metalized plastic parts, specifically his entire head and the bodies of his throwing blades.
Device Label
- Device Cheetus (May 29, 2010)
- A redeco of Device Label Ravage and Tigatron, Cheetus transforms from a working USB 2 gigabyte thumb drive into a yellow mechanoid cheetah.
- Stored on the USB drive is an installable program called "Transformers Desktop Defender". When the Cheetor device is plugged in, a Cheetor avatar appears on the screen, transforming from thumb drive to cheetah mode as the program is activated. The program's setup allows you to rename your cheetah to anything you desire, alter the avatar's movement speed and his personality, decide whether he eats your desktop icons, and view his function, mission, and tech spec numbers. Whether he appears as Cheetor, Ravage, or Tigatron can be selected as well.
Kre-O
- Cheetor (Kreon Micro-Changer, 2013)
- Collection: 3
- Bag number: ***** 59
- Accessories: Stand brick, small pistol, katana
- Known designers: Ed Masiello (Hasbro)
- As part of the third wave of blindpacked Kre-O Micro-Changers, Cheetor is a Kreon that can be rebuilt into a beast mode very very vaguely representing a cheetah. He reuses the animal helmet which debuted with Razorclaw's team. His handgun originally comes from Bumblebee while his sword used to be Bludgeon's. Amusingly, his gun forms his beast mode tail, evoking the "tail gun" from the original toy and show model.
- This Micro-Changer assortment was the last one to appear at Target, with later waves showing up only at Toys"R"Us or drug/discount stores.
- Cheetor (Kreon Micro-Changer, 2017)
- Collection: Collection 3
- Accessories: Logo plate, small pistol
- In 2017, the Collection 3 Micro-Changers were re-released in a whole new production run, first appearing at Walgreens stores in the US. These releases use the almost-entirely-retooled 2015 Kreon (making most parts incompatible with older Kreons), with slightly-differently-hued plastics than the originals. Cheetor gained a new tampograph on his back, adding black spots so his beast mode looks more cheetah-y (what you can see of it anyway).
- Sadly, this release has no individual-identification code on the bag, requiring you to use the feel-through-the-bag method or just buy blind and hope.
Masterpiece
- Cheetus (Beast Wars) (February 25, 2017)
- ID number: MP-34
- Accessories: 3 cheetah heads, 3 cheetah eyes, 3 robot faces, Laser Shot A, Laser Shot B
- Known designers: Yuki Ohshima (concept artist)
- Masterpiece Cheetus transforms from a show-accurate cheetah to a show-accurate robot, albeit taking a few shortcuts (such as using a faux cheetah head for the robot mode torso). He comes with two different guns: his traditional "gut gun" and his secondary "rump gun" which saw sporadic use in early Beast Wars episodes. Additionally, he sports three different robot faces (serious, angry and smiling), three different cheetah heads (neutral, angry and shocked) and three different pairs of cheetah eyes (looking straight, looking left and looking right). Both weapons can stow on his backside. His hands are completely removable at the wrist, which makes it much easier for you to put his "rump gun" in his hand.
- He takes show-accuracy to a dedicated extreme, including having fuzzy, dotted spots on his cheetah parts to mimic the stretched textures of the cartoon CGI model. This is also the first beast-mode Transformers toy to implement realistic whiskers, though the nature of the figure's transformation scheme means that these whiskers are prone to deforming. Unfortunately, the figure is known to suffer from paint chipping.
- Preorders supplied by Hasbro Asia come with a die-cast Optimus Primal minifigure, as opposed to the collector coin typically accompanying Masterpiece releases from Hasbro Asia.[5]
- At some point earlier on in development, two comlink accessories (one for beast mode, the other for robot mode) based on the episode "The Web", were planned to be included with Cheetus, but were ultimately scrapped.[6] These pieces eventually found release with Masterpiece Shadow Panther.
- This figure was reissued by TakaraTomy on March 31, 2019 to coincide with the release of Masterpiece Beast Megatron.
- As briefly mentioned above, Cheetus was redecoed into Masterpiece Shadow Panther.
War for Cybertron: Kingdom
- Cheetor (Deluxe Class, 2020)
- Hasbro ID number: WFC-K4
- TakaraTomy ID number: KD-03
- TakaraTomy release date: March 27, 2021
- Accessories: Tail-whip, Golden Disk card
- Known designers: John Warden and Mark Maher (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy), Dennis Chan (sculptor), Ken Christiansen (concept artist)
- Released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Beast Wars, War for Cybertron: Kingdom Cheetor transforms from a robot accurate to his appearance in the first season of the Beast Wars cartoon into a realistic (if extremely bright yellow) cheetah. Unlike the Masterpiece figure, he has molded fur texture rather than full-body printing. Cheetor's tail can detach to become a whip, similar to his Transmetal toy. His beast mode legs can unfurl to form longer legs in robot mode, giving him a look reminiscent of his Beast Machines appearance; whether this was intentional or not is unclear. In cheetah mode, his jaw can open and close to adorably change his expression.
- A major design flaw is found within the cheetah’s neck. The plastic used there is extremely thin - you can actually see the paint on the other side - and it is commonplace for specimens to develop visible cracks around the pins at the base of the neck as soon as they are transformed. In addition, the small plastic tab meant to secure the head/neck of the cheetah into the back is prone to breakage. Hasbro issued a running change to address the latter problem, making the tab smaller and sturdier.
- Cheetor comes with a Golden Disk card that "reveals a possible destiny of a key character", with each character having three possible destiny variants.
- This figure was retooled into Shadow Panther, and then redecoed into Legacy Nightprowler. The mold's robot and beast mode legs were also reused on the Hasbro PulseCon-exclusive War for Cybertron Trilogy "Covert Agent Ravage".
War for Cybertron Trilogy
- Cheetor (Deluxe Class, 2021)
- TakaraTomy ID number: WFC-18
- TakaraTomy release date: March 26, 2022
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro)
- Promoting the Kingdom season of the War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon, Cheetor is a redeco of his Kingdom toy, closer resembling his Beast Wars animation model. As such, his yellow parts are more of an orange-gold shade, and his blue parts/paint are a darker and metallic blue. For closer accuracy to his Beast Wars animal mode, his cheetah eyes are now green and he lacks the blue paint on his legs, at the cost of having unpainted, yellow shins in robot mode. For unknown reasons, his whip lacks all blue paint and his crotch-plate is only partially blue. Much like his Maximal compadres in the wave, Cheetor features no toyline-staple battle damage.
- The design flaw present in the original Kingdom release is still present. The running change in the neck tab of the original feature has also been found in this version of the figure.
- This toy, like most of the Netflix War for Cybertron Trilogy toys, is a Walmart exclusive in the U.S. and Canada. Like the rest of its Deluxe Class wave, Cheetor was found in Walmart stores on March 13[7] before an official unveiling.
Vintage Beast Wars
- Cheetor (Reissue, 2021)
- Accessories: Tail-gun, "quasar canon" water-squirting gun
- In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Beast Wars, the original 1996 Deluxe Class Cheetor was reissued under the Vintage Beast Wars lineup. Cheetor features all the same accessories and functionality as the original toy but differs slightly in deco: most noticeably, the cheetah eyes are green while the robot eyes are orange, which is a combination not present on earlier releases. The shoulder joints have also been mildly reinforced from previous releases.
- Bizarrely, the second set of Hasbro stock photography, which is the one used on the cross-sell, is of the Beast Wars 10th Anniversary toy instead.
- Much like Vintage G1, Cheetor is packaged in a "rock bubble" blister card styled after the original Beast Wars toy packaging, package art and all. Also similar to Vintage G1, the time disparity since the original release has the toy reasonably set at double the price of the toy's 1996 release, $20 versus $10. This version of Cheetor was exclusive to Walmart in the United States and Canada, but sales ended up being so poor that unsold stock was eventually sold on clearance as low as its original $10 price.
| Beast Wars mold: Cheetor | ||
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Authentics
- Cheetor (Titan Changer, 2023)
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- Part of the fourth wave of Authentics Titan Changers, Cheetor is a 28cm figure with a very simple conversion from robot to mechanical cheetah. The tail comes off to become a whip.
- The design of this toy has a striking resemblance to the early concept/toy designs of Rise of the Beasts Cheetor, and would also be repackaged for that movie's toyline.
Beast Wars Again
- Shunsoku no Taiketsu (October 28, 2023)
- ID number: BWVS-03
- Accessories: Tail-whip
- Known designers: Hisashi Yuki (TakaraTomy), Hidetsugu Yoshioka (packaging artist)
- Released as part of the Beast Wars Again line, the "Instant Showdown" (瞬速の対決) set contains Cheetus and Waspeeter. Cheetus is a redeco of Kingdom Cheetor in more cartoon-accurate colors, featuring painted pupils for the beast mode head, but opting to paint the eyes red instead of green unlike the Netflix toy. The tab on the cheetah neck that proved so fragile on prior releases has now been removed altogether.
Legacy
- Cheetor (Core Class, 2024)
- TakaraTomy name: Cheetor (チーター)
- TakaraTomy ID number: TL-71
- TakaraTomy release date: 2024 September 28
- Accessories: 2 swords
- Known designers: Evan Brooks (Hasbro), Shuhei Umezu (TakaraTomy)[8]
- Legacy Cheetor is based on his Beast Machines design, and transforms into a relatively show-accurate cheetah. He comes with two swords, that can combine into the double bladed configuration used in the Beast Machines episode "Fires of the Past".
- Cheetor was first spotted at Colombian retail, without any prior announcement from Hasbro.
Merchandise
Beast Wars puzzle
- Beast Wars Transformers 200 piece puzzle (puzzle, 1996)
- A 200-piece puzzle from Milton Bradley featured art of Cheetor fighting Megatron and Iguanus. It was very chrome-foil-y! [1]
Beast Wars sweatshirt
- Beast Wars Transformers sweatshirt (1996)
- A sweatshirt depicting a jovial Cheetor, in robot mode, crouching behind some rocks and firing his gut-gun. His beast mode's head is drawn behind him, the Beast Wars logo layered over the explosion that is leaving his gun's barrel, and the name "CHEETOR" is spelled out at the bottom of the image.
Beast Wars magnet set
- Beast Wars magnet set (1997)
- The original cast of ten from the Beast Wars cartoon was rendered in adorable super-deformed style for a set of magnets. Awwwww.
Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game
- Beast Wars Transformers Mutating Card Game (1997)
- Cheetor was one of the 24 beast warriors to receive a battle card representation for the Beast Wars card game.
Kabaya
- Cheetus (candy toy, 1997)
- A tiny plastic Cheetor figurine molded onto an irregularly-shaped stand was released by Kabaya. Labeled toy 4 of 6, the other characters in his wave were Dinobot, Rattrap, Megatron, Optimus Primal, and Rhinox. As always, terrible candy is included.
- Cheetus (candy toy kit, 1997)
- Accessories: Gut gun, tail gun
- Part of a set of four Kabaya candy toys, this version of Cheetor, based on the original toy, is an unpainted and unassembled plastic kit that transforms (and partially re-assembles) from cheetah to robot mode, though much smaller (and cheaper) than the original toy. It is cast entirely in pale yellow and grayish-tan plastics, as are the other three toys in the set: Dinobot, Rattrap, and Terrorsaur. [2] A handful of paper decals are included for some small amount of detail.
- Cheetus (candy toy, 1997)
- A tiny superdeformed Cheetor was also available from Kabaya. [3]
- Cheetus (snap-together model with candy, 1999)
- Kabaya released a set of models based on Metals characters, of which Cheetor was one. He came with candy! He also came in translucent plastic, if you wanted it.
- Cheetus (figurine with candy, 1999)
- A tiny statuette of Metals Cheetor on a rectangular stand was available with candy, alongside other Metals characters. [4]
First 4 Figures
- Cheetor (
2006/2007unreleased)
- This was to be a 7-or-8-inch tall resin bust of Cheetor released as part of a Beast Wars tenth anniversary series by model company First 4 Figures. Cheetor would have been sculpted to be accurate to his Beast Wars cartoon design, and would likely have been depicted from the waist and upwards on a base or pedestal. Unlike most of the other mini busts in this range, Cheetor's sculpt has never been shown publicly, with the figure's existence only being known due to First 4 Figures allowing BigBadToyStore to solicit him for sale.[9][10]
- Mini busts in the planned Beast Wars line were designed to reflect the scale of the characters as seen in the cartoon, and each was set to be limited to 1,996 pieces, in a nod to the franchise's year of origin.[11] Unfortunately, Cheetor and the rest of the Beast Wars bust line were cancelled, with First 4 Figures citing a challenging marketplace and lack of retailer interest.
Proceed on your way to oblivion. |
3D Battle-Card Game
- Cheetor (3D Battle-Card, 2007)
- A 31-point character in the 3D Battle-Card Game's "Energon Wars" expansion, Cheetor "transforms" into a Transmetal 2 cheetah. He uses the same parts layout as Ravage and Rampage.
Robot Heroes
- Cheetor & Blackarachnia (Two-pack, 2008)
- Known designers: Bill Rawley (Hasbro), Marcelo Matere (concept artist)
- Part of the first wave of Universe-branded Robot Heroes, Cheetor is a simple, yet well-detailed two-inch tall figurine with exaggerated, cartoony proportions. He is depicted in a running pose and is articulated at the shoulders and neck. He has a Maximal faction symbol on his butt.
- He was only available in a two-pack with Blackarachnia.
- This mold was also used to make Tigatron.
- Cheetor & Tankor (Two-pack, 2008)
- Known designers: Bill Rawley (Hasbro), Marcelo Matere (concept artist)
- Cheetor is part of the fourth wave of Universe Robot Heroes and is designated as from the "Beast Machines Series", along with his packmate Tankor. His sculpt and color scheme is derived solely from his television show appearance. Cheetor has articulation at the neck and shoulders, though his left arm's large sword inhibits movement.
- Rather than using the Beast Machines Maximal and Vehicon symbols, the embossed faction logos on the top of the Cheetor/Tankor packaging are the pre-existing Beast Wars Maximal and Predacon symbols found on Beast Wars-themed Universe Robot Heroes packs.
Tiny Titans
- Cheetor (Tiny Titans, 2016)
- Series: 6
- Number: 4/12
- Part of the fifth assortment of Tiny Titans blindpacked figurines, this version of Cheetor is a very small, soft-plastic figure of him in his robot mode from the Beast Machines cartoon.
- He includes a collectible card that renders him in the 2015 Robots in Disguise styling. The card includes a scan-badge for the Robots in Disguise mobile game, which unlocks a random amount of Energon "currency" and a randomized bonus power-up item.
R.E.D. [Robot Enhanced Design]
- Cheetor (2021)
- Accessories: 2 sets of alternate hands, 1 "tail blaster", 1 Energon crystal, 2 blast effect accessories
- Known designers: Dennis Chan (sculptor)
- Released as part of the second wave of Transformers R.E.D. toys, Cheetor is a non-transforming 6-inch action figure akin to the ones from the Marvel Legends and Star Wars The Black Series lines. He features 26 points of articulation and extensive paint operations in an attempt at show-accuracy, though he owes much to a concept art design by Ken Christiansen, which had also inspired his Kingdom toy and War for Cybertron Trilogy animated series appearance.
- Cheetor's cheetah head chest plate can be removed to reveal details meant to represent his "inner workings". He comes with three pairs of hands altogether: two closed fists, two hands for holding weaponry and accessories, and two clawing hands. He also includes what his product description calls a "tail blaster", though it is more closely based on his traditional "gut gun" quasar rifle, with two compatible translucent purple blast effects. Finally, he also comes with a small Energon crystal accessory.
- As with all R.E.D. toys, Cheetor was a Walmart exclusive in Canada and the United States, and was later made available on Hasbro Pulse in limited quantities.
Jada Toys
- Transformers Series 2 18-pack (4 cm Die Cast Figure Multipack, 2022)
- Released by Jada Toys, Nano Metalfigs Cheetor is an incredibly small die-cast figurine molded doing an action pose. He has a little base attached to his feet for balancing reasons.
- He is marketed as an Autobot instead of a Maximal and comes in an impressive multipack with seventeen other figurines.
ReAction
- Cheetor (2023)
- Accessories: gun
- Released in the seventh wave of Super7's line of multi-property 3.75-inch "retro" action figures, ReAction Cheetor is a non-converting figure based on his season 1 Mainframe character model, with 5 points of articulation (swivel neck, shoulders, hips). He includes his traditional "gut-gun."
- Cheetor comes packaged on a small cardback that mixes the design of the original Beast Wars packaging with some nostalgic elements resembling Kenner's Star Wars action figures from the late 1970s to early '80s.
Transformers Character Card
- Released as part of the twelfth wave of the e-HOBBY exclusive Transformers Character Card series, this pair of holographic trading cards depict super-deformed art of the "Cheetus" and "Waspeeter" along with character profiles and tech specs.
Notes
- The first Cheetor toy was originally intended to be part of the first wave of Beast Wars Deluxes released, but experienced a delayed initial release, coming several weeks afterward. This was likely due to a change made to his "tail gun", which on the toy is much different from the version glimpsed in catalogues, commercials, and toy packaging cross-sells. The prototype gun is held via a handle on the top side of the tail rather than underneath the haunches and has a small blue gun barrel that flips out. Why this change was made and whether it was the actual cause of the delay are currently unknown.
- Cheetor's design art seems to indicate he wasn't originally designed to be a cheetah... or was at least designed to be generically big-cat-like enough to be other types of feline.
- Transmetal Cheetor's torso panel hinges went through several iterations during development. The resin hardcopy prototype started off with the panels' hinges being on the inside of the hinges connected to the torso. The second iteration in the test shot phase swapped this orientation, having the outer hinges be on the panel and the inner hinge be connected to the torso. By the final point of development, the hinges were kept the same as the second iteration, but were reinforced at the base to prevent breakages.[12] Coincidentally, some test shot copies of the toy were molded in colors similar to that of the Armada Cheetor retool which was released six years later.
- Transmetal Cheetor's engineering was reused for Stampy, though the two toys share no actual parts.
- An earlier unreleased prototype deco of Transmetal 2 Cheetor, dubbed by fans as "Feral" Cheetor, based on his first appearance in the "Feral Scream" episodes of the Beast Wars cartoon, replaces most of the yellow plastic used on the original figure with a paler shade that included a metallic swirl in it. The main body, thighs, robot and beast heads were also replaced with a burnt red plastic with a slight golden swirl. The paint colors of this variant don't seem to be 100% finalized, as the paint apps are almost identical to the regular retail version, minus the gray paint apps which were a lot darker. This version was only a pre-production sample and very few were made. It would seem as though this could have been the colors the figure would've been released in originally had the burnt red and pale yellow plastics not been swapped out with the all-yellow plastic on the final figure.[13]
References
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.toys.transformers/C30fV9dqOK0/gPO8D3N_PAUJ
- ↑ http://www.soundwavesoblivion.com/japanesebeastwarsreturns.html
- ↑ "Cheetor and Tiagtron were easy picks, though Wolfang was originally proposed before they opted for Tigatron. An abandoned idea was for Tigatron to come in Stasis Pod packaging. See those and the final products below."—Joe Moore, Twitter, 2021/03/11
- ↑ TFW2005 Forums discussion, 2 February 2018
- ↑ Images of an in-hand Masterpiece Cheetus prototype- Primal Sabbath on Facebook
- ↑ War for Cybertron Trilogy Wave 3 found at US retail
- ↑ March 21, 2024's Hasbro Pulse | Transformers 40th Anniversary Fanstream | March 21, 2024 on YouTube, with Ben MacCrae, Mark Maher and Evan Brooks.
- ↑ "Update from BigBadToyStore.com: Transformers and G.I.Joe Statues and Busts!!!" on Seibertron.com
- ↑ BigBadToyStore's listings for First 4 Figures' busts (archived)
- ↑ "First4Figures Limited Transformers Statues and Busts Info!" at ASMzine.com (archived)
- ↑ Various Transmetal Cheetor prototypes in a display at an unofficial fan convention.
- ↑ Report from BotCon's official Facebook page
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