Instead of continuing with their disappointing Old Soliders line, I wish TFC would consider making Voyager scaled figures of the G1 cast. Their recent combiner figures show that they do know how to engineer and design fun and playable toys, something you wouldn't have guessed from their versions of Ironide, Ratchet, and Hound.
Too bad bipedal horned sharks aren't real. The color scheme is appropriate to the character and original toy. As expected, the line work is nicely detailed, the paint application is used sparingly, and the transparent plastic serve as wonderful accents. This time, there is no gap behind his lower jaw.
His jaw is on two hinged bars with ball joints so it can open ridiculously wide. He has pretty much the same articulation as Bigbite, with a few extra hinged spiky bits. His arms are on swivels and hinges with hinged elbows and thumb claws, and his legs are on ratcheted swivels with swiveling thighs and hinged knees and toes. His tail is hinged at five places. It's not as articulated as Bigbite's because it does not use balljoints, but it still has a wide range of motion. There is only a slight swivel at the joint closest to the body. If only the tail swung side-to-side instead of up-and-down.
Transforming to weapon mode doesn't feel very satisfying since the legs kind of fold over without a clear position to peg into. The peg on the rifle seems to be too large for the port on the connector piece so I simply left it out. His jaws and hands are holding the rifle in place. The combiner foot unfolds to serve as a stand. It's supposed to be some sort of turret. I'll probably not use this mode again.
Transformation to robot mode is pretty much similar to Bigbite. The fins could have used some pegs to secure them to the legs. It's not quite Apollyon levels of annoyance, but they do flop down every once in a while.
Cyberjaw seems a little taller than Bigbite, probably because of the way his feet are designed. He actually ends up with more of a backpack because the shark head doesn't fold into the legs. At least, he doesn't have the shark-as-a-backpack look found on Unique Toys Alberich. The yellow light-piping for his eyes works very well despite the kibble.
His head is on a ball joint. His shoulders are on hinges with ratcheted swivels. He has double-jointed elbows and knees. There are ratchets in his knees. He swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, and thighs. He has fixed hands with 5mm ports. His hips are on ratcheted universal joints. His toes are separate from his feet and are on ball joints. His feet and heel spurs are on hinged, ball joints.
His accessories include a rifle, two swords, a combiner foot, and some connector pieces. The rifle is similar to Bigbite's rifle, with a flip out barrel and handle. The silver paint application is done in a teeth motif. There's also a flip out fin made of transparent plastic. While not completely identical to Bigbite's swords, Cyberjaw's are done in the same color and style. The paint application is a little sloppy on one of the swords. Both swords fit well in either of his fists, but the rifle only seems to fit his right hand. The connector pieces are for converting Bigbite into a large rifle to be held in combined mode or into a turret. The combiner foot is suitably large. I love the transparent yellow pieces on the toes. It has a little bit of toe tilt.
Cyberjaw is another fun beast figure to add to my CHUG shelf. I hope the rest of the line continues to have great beast and robot modes. A great combined mode would just be icing.
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