Zobovor
2024-12-17 23:51:04 UTC
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PermalinkRoad Pig), but somebody on Twitter posted that Ferak was selling on the
Walmart web site on deep clearance for $10.08. They were practically
giving him away. Like, I've paid more than that for add-on parts, let
alone an entire Voyager-class toy. Even if I threw the toy away and
kept just his gun, it was still a pretty good deal. Beats the $34.99
that Hasbro Pulse is still charging!
If they were going to spend the money on a Cyclonus remold, I kind of
wish they had taken the Kingdom toy and resculpted the outer surface to
more closely resemble the original Floro Dery design, which is also what
the original G1 toy from 1986 was based on. The original design
appeared in Marvel Comics and also in select third- and fourth-season G1
episodes, so it would have been cool to get a movie Cyclonus as well as
a "Rebirth" Cyclonus. But, we didn't get that.
Ferak is the name of a background Decepticon character from Marvel
Comics, but he transformed into a vehicle shaped like a flying wing. It
wasn't until the character was appropriated for IDW comics that he was
depicted as looking like Cyclonus. There was a BotCon version of Ferak
in 2014, a white version of Reveal the Shield Cyclonus, but the Star
Raiders toy is the first to be mass-marketed at retail.
He comes in the package in mini-Ferak mode, with his legs transformed,
so that he fits somewhat better in the packaging. His rifle and
wing-guns are strapped to the inner cardboard tray along with Ferak. He
comes with the same handheld weapon as Cyclonus, molded in light grey
plastic, but the wing-guns are new. They can plug into the tips of his
wings for robot mode, using little rectangular-shaped tabs. This
changes his silhouette slightly, but not significantly, making him only
a little less Cyclonusey.
Obviously, this toy is a remold of Kingdom Cyclonus, who we first got in
2021. He's predominantly a light grey color, which seems to be
approximating his Marvel Comics color scheme (in which he was depicted
as light blue), with some sparkly gunmetal paint and plastic used for
his forearms and upper legs. There's a really striking orangey-red
color used for the paint hits on his face and knees and toes, and it
really makes the toy pop. Interestingly, the remolding done to his head
and chest does seem to strongly evoke the original G1 toy, so maybe at
one time there really was a plan to do a retro inspired G1 toy version
of Cyclonus.
Transformation is mostly the same as Cyclonus, though his nosecone only
telescopes once instead of twice, so he has one less piece that unfolds.
The finished vehicle mode really doesn't strongly resemble his Marvel
Comics look, even with the wing-guns in place. There aren't too many
useful secondary options for the wing-guns, either. Although they do
have five-millimeter pegs, so you could theoretically plug them in under
the wings or on the sides of the arms or legs in robot mode, the pegs
seem like they're just slightly too small, and tend to be loose and
wobbly wherever I try to plug them into place. The only spot they
really work is mounted to the tips of the wings.
I don't hate the toy, certainly, but it really does feel like a case of
"hmm, how can we sell this toy to consumers yet again?" instead of a toy
that really strongly needed to exist in the world. Getting a grey
version of Cyclonus certainly wasn't on my bingo card for 2024, but he's
not the worst thing, either. But, he clearly isn't the most popular
Transformers toy in history, especially considering how little Walmart
is selling him for. They must be desperate to try to liquidate their
inventory before Christmas, for some reason.
He's still only $10.08 as of this writing, incidentally:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Transformers-Legacy-United-Voyager-Star-Raider-Ferak-7-Action-Figure-8-Walmart-Exclusive/5285700004
Zob (at that price, how could you NOT get him?)