For the past few years, Hasbro’s been juggling two main lines of Transformers toys: the complex, expensive, collector-aimed War for Cybertron line and the simpler, cheaper Cyberverse line, with its kid-friendly designs and lighthearted animated YouTube series. Hasbro revealed the latest toys for each line at the New York City Toy Fair this weekend, and I’m loving Cyberverse’s whimsical designs more and more.
As delightful as it has been to have the War for Cybertron sub-lines, Siege and now Earthrise, pumping out new versions of the toys I enjoyed as a child in the 1980s on a regular basis, Hasbro’s been scratching my nostalgia itch way too hard. It’s grown raw and numb, to the point where the massive new Scorponok figure, which I’ve been waiting decades for, does barely anything for me.
Where am I going to fit another two-foot-tall, $150 Transformer? How quickly will I get over clicking and clacking its massive joints about before he takes a shelf space next to the other massive bots I’ve not fiddled with in years?
Meanwhile, in the new Cyberverse line, there’s a cowboy, complete with hat. His name is Battle Call Trooper Wild Wheel. The Battle Call Trooper bit refers to his clear armor, a new little gimmick that’s cheap but cool.
He’s not a massive figure. Judging by his hollow legs, he’s not particularly complex or weighty. But he is unique, and he’s oozing style and personality.
Cyberverse, unshackled by the need to call back to older designs, is free to do cool new critters like Thunderhowl.
Again, he’s chonky and cheap, but damn he looks impressive.
Even when the Cyberverse line does lead toward nostalgia, it does so in a much more fun way. Here is the War for Cybertron: Earthrise version of Autobot Arcee revealed this weekend.
And here is the Cyberverse version.
Both figures are just a female robot wearing a car, but the Cyberverse version is so much more dynamic and exciting. Plus she’s not standing on part of herself. Always a plus.
I’m not buying as many Transformers as I once did. I only have so much room in my house for stuff. But when I do buy Transformers these days, they’re much more likely to be $10 Cyberverse figures than $20 War for Cybertron remakes of my childhood robot heroes. The Cyberverse stuff is just more fun, like toys are supposed to be.
Check out the gallery below for more fun coming from Transformers Cyberverse in 2020.