Review – Transformers Heroes of Cybertron Skywarp

Released in 2001, the Transformers Heroes of Cybertron series was a set of small soft plastic non-transforming robot toys that gave us several classics in a collectible and easily displayed size. I recently ran across a few of these toys at a flea market, and as you can see it’s time to look at the Decepticon Skywarp, the purple “seeker” that Hasbro just had to make.

3-Inches Tall

The Heroes of Cybertron Skywarp (at site sponsor TFSource, at Amazon.com*), like the other standard figures in the Heroes of Cybertron line, stands 3-inches tall and looks more like his cartoon design than he does his original Generation One toy design. All this means is that the figure looks awesome . . . but let’s go “by the numbers” and run through the three key parts of an action figure.

Sculpt

As I said, Skywarp looks awesome, and about 75% of the reason for the toy looking so remarkable is the fact that it has a good sculpt at its core. Wider and beefier than the Generation One toy, Heroes of Cybertron Skywarp looks like the sculptors followed the model sheet from the old cartoon. I’ve got no complaints at all with the sculpt, which is a good thing since so many other characters in the line were based on this exact same sculpt.

Paint

“Minimal but acceptable” is the way I’ll describe Skywarp’s paint apps. There’s not all that much in the way of detail, and some of the edges are less than razor sharp, but in general the paint is fine and doesn’t detract from the toy. A wash to bring out details would have been nice, but what we have here looks good on the shelf and is generally just fine.

Articulation

If you needed proof that the Heroes of Cybertron series was just a simple line of toys then the articulation — or, I should say, extremely limited articulation — delivers that proof. The arms swivel at the shoulders and the knees swivel 360-degrees on the legs and that’s it. And it’s just a post and socket system; not any true articulation but a simple way to attach parts to the toy that just happens to allow some movement. A waist and neck swivel would have been a nice touch . . . but that isn’t here.

Closing Thoughts

The Heroes of Cybertron Skywarp (at site sponsor TFSource, at Amazon.com*) is best as part of a collection of “Seekers” or on a shelf of other Heroes of Cybertron toys. I paid $7 for mine, which felt a little high, but is is also over a decade since the toy was released so maybe $7 wasn’t bad at all.

I’d love to see Hasbro take a stab at this concept — small, poseable robots — but with just a little more articulation. And yes, I know I have complained about non-transforming Transformers toys in the past (as far back as 1990’s Action Masters), but my feelings and thoughts on the idea have changed over the years. Kinda just like my thoughts on statues changed . . . but that’s a conversation for a statue review in the future.

Philip Reed will have to keep his eyes open for more in this line when he’s at Botcon next week. Who else will be at Botcon?