Name: Cheetor
Function: Warrior
Motto: "Quick action equals quick victory!"

Formerly hot-headed and inexperienced, Cheetor is growing up fast on Cybertron; still remains Optimus Primal's strongest supporter in the Techno-Organic war against Megatron and his Vehicons. His beast mode offers cheetah-like speed, agility and endurance. Sharp, powerful claws and jaws. Robot mode has enhanced, frictionless body surface that causes energy pulses to glide right off. Cheetor can accelerate particles around his aerodynamic form to create a vacuum useful in knocking down opponents.

Cheetor returns to action as a mega sized toy. In keeping with his new role as second in command of the Maximals, Cheetor's new form is large, sleek and powerful. Utilizing one of the principles of the Beast Machines toy line, this toy shows a lot of personality in its design, and not just a standard cool two mode conversion.

Beast Mode:
In beast mode, Cheetor is a techno-organic cheetah. Thin, sleek and lithe are the best words to desribe this mode. Cheetor is a good representation of the general design scheme for this series of Maximal toys. Although obviously based on a cheetah, his body parts are very exaggerated, and technological components peek through in an elegant fashion. The most interesting design exaggeration in this mode are the rear beast mode legs, which angle backwards very sharply.

Translucent green plastic is used liberally on Cheetor, offering up an effect resembling an "inner glow", a crucial story point in Beast Machines for the Maximals, who transform by finding their mystical "center" and transforming while glowing. These parts can be seen on his sides and all four beast mode legs and his beast mode head, where the translucent plastic is red and makes his eyes look like they are glowing under direct light. The rest of Cheetor is yellow with black spotted patterns. Cheetor's beast mode head is mostly made up of gold colored chrome with black detailing. Cheetor's Spark Crystal can be seen on his right forearm's shoulder.

In beast mode, Cheetor has twenty one points of articulation. This includes his rear beast mode legs with five points of articulation each, his beast mode tail, which has two points of articulation and a mid-body joint, a rarity among most Transformers toys. In this mode, pushing the upper part of his left forearm activates his "slashing" mechanism which causes his lower left forearm to "slash" at enemies.

Transformation to Robot Mode:
Begin Cheetor's transformation by detaching his tail. Next, straighten out the main body and then push the chest component down to the "hip" area. Fold down the gold chrome piece on the underside of the beast mode. Fold out the second, smaller gold chrome piece. Now flip back the upper chest section. You will see Cheetor's robot mode head peeking out from its compartment. Flip out the robot head piece and lock it into place. Now push in the beast mode head. Be careful not to force it. Rotate the beast mode head upside down so you don't scrape the gold chrome off. Now fold the entire chest gold chrome piece forward to form the robot chest. Flip down the gold chrome piece with four green ovals on it. Swing the two beast mode forearms forward to form the robot arms. On his back, fold up the curved gold chrome piece to cover up the beast mode head.

Next, pull on the robot mode leg feet to extend them out. Then position the legs so that he stands. This can be tricky, but have patience, it's not as hard as it seems at first. Finally, place his weapon in his hand by inserting the peg into the holes in the hand and clasping the thumb over it. Cheetor is now in robot mode.

Robot Mode:
In robot mode, Cheetor stands an impressive 9.25 inches tall! Taking a cue from the Beast Wars Neo series, Cheetor's robot head has influences from his beast mode. Like his beast mode, his body is very lithe and thin, immediately giving a strong sense that this is meant to be a swift character. Detailing such as sharp angles on his shoulders, near his elbows and the sharp points on the various green detailing on him all adds to this. The liberal use of gold chrome plating is nicely executed here and is present on his chest, back and robot head. An interesting feature is his robot mode head. Turn the head from side to side and his mouth actually opens and closes!

Cheetor's color scheme from his beast mode carries over into the robot mode, but a lot more gold chrome can be seen. It is interesting to see that the detailing on his gold chrome is either metallic green paint or green translucent plastic, keeping the colors consistent.

In robot mode, Cheetor has seventeen points of articulation. His beast mode "slashing" action carries over into the robot mode, but instead of slashing, it looks as if he is defending himself with his tail weapon.

Cheetor is an impressive action figure in many ways. It looks nice and has fantastic detailing. The primary drawbacks relate to how he appears on the CGI television show. Cheetor's toy differs from its CGI model to an extent, although nowhere nearly as much as his fellow release, Optimus Primal. Also, the packaging advertises his weapon as a sword, but it really appears to be more of a whip. In the CGI show, there is now question his weapons are swords, here, it is a bit ambiguous. Although these features may seem a bit small to pick on, they affect the overall "feel" the toy gives. Instead of thinking you have a representation of what you see on the screen, it feels more like you're getting an interpretation of it. Hard core collectors proably won't mind this, but younger children who have collected Beast Wars for three years, getting what they saw on screen, just might. Cheetor is highly recommended with minor reservations. A-