General Information:
Release Date: June 2018
Price Point: $16.99 (depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: Blaster, Prime Armor, Prime Armor cover
Official images and text below in italics are from Amazon and the Official Transformers Web Site:
The Autobots and Decepticons use Prime Masters to wield the incredible powers of the most legendary bots in the universe: the Primes. Prime Masters carry the spark of a Prime, allowing them to share a Prime's godlike ability with other bots. How will the Terrorcon shock trooper wield this epic power? Anything is possible and everything is at stake when the Power of the Primes is unleashed!
Transformers Generations Power of the Primes Deluxe Class figures are 5.5-inch-scale figures that come with a Prime Armor accessory. Insert a Prime Master figure (not included, each sold separately) into the accessory, attach it to the figure's chest, and imagine Terrorcon Cutthroat wields the power of a Prime.
Figure Specs:
- Deluxe Class Terrorcon Cutthroat
- Modes: robot, hawk
- Converts in 11 steps
- Includes Prime Armor accessory and collector card
- Also works with Prime Master figures (Not included. Each sold separately. Subject to availability.)
- Includes Deluxe Class Terrorcon Cutthroat figure, Prime Armor accessory, cannon accessory, collector card, and instructions.
- Deluxe Class Terrorcon Cutthroat
- Converts from robot mode to hawk mode in 11 steps
- Comes with a Prime Armor accessory and a collector card
- Also works with Prime Master figures (not included)
- Wield the Power of the Primes with the Terrorcon shock trooper
- Figure scale: 5.5 inches
- Ages 8 and up
- WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD - Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.
In Generation One, the Terrorcons were one of the more unique Combiner teams released. Each member transformed into a fictional creature with some nods to critters from either real life or fantasy. Cutthroat appears to have at least partially been influenced by a Pteranodon and birds of prey like hawks, making for a fun toy. However, it took many years before a character inspired by him popped up again. In "Beast Hunters", the character Windrazor was clearly based on Cutthroat with a heavily modified design. Now the original G1 version of the character is back with an updated figure. This figure is a heavy retool and redeco of the "Power of the Primes" Swoop figure so you may want to check out that review as well. This review will focus on the changes made to the base design for this release.
Packaging:
The Deluxe Class figures for "Power of the Primes" are packaged in a blister bubble glued to a card. The card continues the current trend of having a red Transformers logo set vertically on the right side (if you are facing the card) with the "Generations" logo above it. Most of the card is covered in character artwork. In Cutthroat's case his artwork shows him in beast mode flying. The figure is in robot mode inside the bubble with the accessories to the side. The insert inside the bubble has the "Power of the Primes" logo on it with the character's name. The back of the packaging shows Cutthroat in his various modes including with the Prime Armor attached. On the right side it shows the Prime Armor attached with Megatronus inside the Armor. The cosells are the first wave of Prime Masters (Megatronus, Solus Prime and Quintus Prime).
The "Power of the Primes" figures from Legends Class up come with collectors cards. However, unlike the "Titans Return" cards which featured tech spec stats, these focus on what ability the character gets if they connect to a specific Prime Master Spark. This means there are thirteen potential card variations per character (one for each Prime)! In my copy of Cutthroat I received an "Liege Maximo Cutthroat" card indicating he can make enemies tear their own circuits out!
It is also notable that the name Cutthroat has been reacquired by Hasbro for use with Transformers toys. When a figure inspired by G1 Cutthroat was last released as part of "Beast Hunters", he was named Windrazor instead.
Accessories:
Cutthroat includes two accessories. The larger one is his "Prime Armor". This piece is cast in a light purple plastic. It is designed to connect via 5mm peg to either Cutthroat's chest or back as armor. There is a light beige plastic panel in the middle that you can remove to attach either a Titan Master in head mode or a Prime Master in "Spark" mode. The Prime Armor features spikes on the bottom. These are actually the "knuckles" for the Prime Armor's hand mode for Cutthroat's combiner limb form (more on that later in this review). Unlike most other "Power of the Primes" figures Cutthroat's Prime Armor does not use a giant peg to attach to the figure. Instead, it uses the clips on the "thumbs" to connect to the chest or back.
The other accessory is a blaster based on G1 Cutthroat's blaster. It features two barrels and two handles. On one side is a 5mm peg. On top is a smaller 3mm peg. This allows the weapon to be held by either larger figures or Prime Masters. This piece is cast in the same purple color as the Prime Armor.
Robot Mode:
Cutthroat borrows the core engineering and a few parts from Swoop, but for the most part this is a new figure. The only parts to carry over from Swoop are the arms, the back of the waist area and the thighs. His lower legs, wings, torso and both heads are all newly sculpted parts based on G1 Cutthroat's design. These details include the design of the head with it's semi "blocky" style (originally acting as the connection point for the Combiner mode), the shape of the wings, the rectangular designs on the torso and the vertical knee armor. Some of G1 Cutthroat's designs were rather generic such as the blocky arms, so the reuse of Swoop's arms here is not a huge deal. Any G1 fan will recognize Cutthroat right away.
There are three primary plastic colors used on this figure. The torso and lower legs are green. The thighs, arms, beast mode head and robot head are a bright shade of beige. The rest of the parts including the wings and fists are purple. There is a lot of deco on this figure, which surprised me (even though it really shouldn't, "Combiner Wars" had nice decos for the most part so why shouldn't this figure?). Silver is used heavily on this figure. You'll find it on the face, chest and lower legs. Green paint is used on the wrists. Light blue paint is used in concert with purple and black on the lower legs, replicating some of the sticker details on G1 Cutthroat. Red is used for the eyes and details on the waist area. A Decepticon symbol rounds out the deco on the bird head on his torso. I really love this deco, especially the parts that replicate G1 Cutthroat's stickers. The figure looks fantastic.
If you count the wings, there are twenty two points of articulation in this figure. This includes four in each arm, three in each leg and even waist articulation. Each forearm has a 5mm port, allowing you to attach weapons or the Prime Armor as a (admittedly very thick) shield. Each fist also has 5mm ports. The Prime Armor can be attached to the back for storage (tabbing into the back of the wings) or you can wrap it around the beast mode head in the front (tabbing into the grooves on the "cheeks" of the bird head). Power Cutthroat up by removing the beige panel on the Prime Armor and inserting a Prime Master! There is plenty of play value here, and the figure looks great when you pose him out. Thanks to his rather wide feet, he is also quite stable.
Transformation to Beast Mode:
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing each fist into the forearms.
- Rotate the forearms around so the purple fists face front.
- Push the arms into the sides, tabbing the wrist area into the corresponding slots on the sides of the torso.
- Swing each lower leg out to the side and up over the thighs.
- Connect the halves of the tail in the back, then swing it down.
- Swing the beast mode legs on the lower legs forward slightly.
- Swing the crest on the beast mode head forward.
- Swing the beast mode head up over the robot head.
- The blaster can be attached to the base of the wings using the smaller peg or you can attach the Prime Armor to the back with the weapon attached.
Beast Mode:
In G1 Cutthroat was a robotic bird-creature, and this time out is no different. While he has many of the features of an organic bird including wings, a head with a distinct beak and clawed feet, all these parts are very angular and sharp looking. Cutthroat is clearly a machine and not a techno-organic creature. That said, he still looks very cool. G1 Cutthroat was somewhat sleek looking for that era, but by today's standards he's really blocky looking. This sculpt takes that basic, blocky design but makes several parts more sleek such as the wings, tail and head to give it a nice, modern spin. Add to that lots of small details such as panels on the wings and layers on the claws and this is really one cool looking beast mode.
All the colors from the robot mode carry over here since most of the robot mode parts are still very visible in this form. The green and purple take center stage with the beige adds nice contrast on the beast mode legs, the sides and head. The claws are painted silver and the eyes are painted red. Most of the detail on the main body of the beast carry over directly from the robot mode including the silver, black and light blue details from the robot legs. One fun detail is uncovered in this mode. The middle of the chest has a Decepticon symbol on it with a silver block around it. This is intended to pay homage to the G1 heat sensitive "rub symbols" and it is really neat (though I would have of course preferred an actual heat sensitive sticker).
There are twelve points of articulation in this mode. This includes two on each leg, the head, mouth and tail. There are 3mm ports on the back of each wing. The back of the figure also has four pegs for Titan or Prime Master mini-figures. On top of all that, if you swing the wings up, you can uncover the 5mm ports from the robot arms, allowing you to attach additional weaponry!
Transformation to Leg Mode (Starting in beast mode):
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Swing the lower beast mode legs up.
- Swing the wings forward so they wrap around the sides. There are clips on the shoulders that connect to slots on each wing.
- Swing the beast mode head down.
- Swing the beast mode tail up.
- Swing the Combiner connection piece up.
- Attach a foot piece to the bottom of the leg.
Leg Mode:
While many fans may consider "blocky" being a bad thing with Transformers figures, in the case of serving as a Combiner's leg you want a bit of bulk so the limb looks like it can properly support a gigantic robot. In that sense Cutthroat delivers. He is wide and thick enough to make a convincing leg mode. Unfortunately, you cannot really attach extra weapons to the sides to give Abominus more firepower, but the limb does its job and that's what matters.
Transformation to Arm Mode (Starting in beast mode):
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Swing the beast mode legs up.
- Swing the beast mode tail up.
- Swing each lower leg piece out and down, connecting them together to form the forearm.
- Rotate each of Cutthroat's arms around, and swing the forearms up. Attach the tabs on the arms into corresponding slots on the sides of the chest.
- Wrap the wings around the sides.
- Swing the beast mode head down.
- Swing the Combiner connector piece up.
- Rotate the waist to the left or right depending on which arm you want to create.
- Attach one of Abominus' fists to the port on the bottom of the feet.
Arm Mode:
Just as the leg mode needs to have some bulk, the arm mode needs to have a certain level of sleekness to it. Thanks to the design of the robot waist/thigh section this form manages to do just that. Between the thin "elbow" section and the angled wings wrapped around the upper body, this winds up looking like a solid arm mode. The Combiner connector section is nice and tight, but the thigh and knee joints are not quite tight enough to hold up a Legends Class figure in weapon mode. However, it should be able to hold a weapon from a Voyager Class figure without an issue.
Final Thoughts:
Cutthroat is a fantastic update of the G1 Terrorcon. He looks great in each mode and while he is a retool of the Swoop sculpt, the designers changed a lot of parts to create this figure. The deco is also great, and I appreciate the continued ability to connect extra weapons and Titan/Prime Master figures. Recommended!
Pros:
- Lots of new parts were worked into this retooling.
- Good deco.
- Faithful to G1 Cutthroat's design with nice, modern touches.
- I appreciate the way the wings are given good articulation along with the figure itself.
Cons:
- The Prime Armor accessory cannot turn into a full foot accessory.
- The waist and hip joints could be a bit tighter so the arm mode can hold heavier weapons.
