General Information
Release Date: May 2025
Price Point: 2,750 Yen (MSRP)
Retailer: Japanese Exclusive
Accessories: Elephant head, Axe, "Aqua Energy" armor
Official images and text in italics are from Takara Tomy Mall: The characters of the web-distributed anime "Transformers Wild King" appear as toys!
The elephant-shaped Transformer energy beast "Hydrophant" active in "Transformers: Wild King" is now available! "Hydrophant" is a transformer with aqua energy, the power of water!
Transform from robot to beast and beast to robot! It can be combined (wild hunting) with Energy Master, which is sold separately! Let's enjoy your own wild hunting!
Character Profile from Takara Tomy's Site (translated via Google Translate):
A new and very powerful elephant Transformer. It uses "Aqua Energy" as its power source and can carry out various types of power. Although it doesn't have much power in the world, Light Long knows that it has an incredible power . In order to find something special , he will be summoned by Optimus to help him!
Background:
In the Spring of 2025, Takara Tomy released a Japanese exclusive line of Transformers under the banner of "Wild King". The name involves a bit of word play. "Wild King" is a reference to who will win in a conflict between good and evil on a world with robots with beast modes. However it also references the process of "Wild Docking", which is how the "Energy Beasts" such as Lightlong can combine with the "Energy Masters" Optimus Prime and Megatron. Hydrophant is one of the first beasts released in the line and while he is not designated as an Autobot, he is allied with Optimus Prime as part of the "Animal Tribe".
Packaging:
In a huge departure from the typical Transformers packaging from the last decade or so, the Wild King beasts are packaged in closed boxes measuring about 6.25 inches (about 15.8cm) by 6.25 inches (and 2 inches/5cm deep). The front features the Wild King logo to the left and the Takara Tomy logo to the right. The main illustration is Hydrophant's CG model in robot mode. His beast mode is represented by a photo of the toy. In the lower left hand corner is a box showing off Optimus Prime combined with all four beasts from the first wave of Wild King toys. To the right is Hydrophant's designation "WKB-02" and his name. The back of the box shows Hydrophant in both modes and features the write up translated above. The rest of the back features legal text.
The figure and accessories are tied to a plain cardboard try with rubber bands. Unlike lines like Legacy, there are no parts wrapped in tissue paper. This packaging is nice as it is reusable, allowing you to store the figure inside when you do not have it on display.
Accessories:
The basic design of the Wild King beasts involves a basic robot frame whose parts move in very similar ways. There are 5mm pegs all over the figure allowing you to attach weapons and more importantly, beast mode "parts" to form the alt-modes. Here's a rundown of what Hydrophant comes with:
Elephant Head:
Hydrophant's beast mode head is full of cool mechanical details. The ears have a complex set of details including wiring and layers of armor. His tusks are designed to look like cannon barrels and there is a curved trunk in the middle. I'm really impressed by the amount of detail on this accessory, it really looks great!
This piece is made of light blue and silver plastic. Light blue makes up the head and trunk while silver is used for the tusk cannons and the pegs on the back of the head. Dark blue paint is used on the forehead.
This piece alone features five points of articulation. The ears can move forward and back while the trunk and tusks can move up and down. In an interesting design choice, the ends of the tusks have pegs on them to fit Blast Effects! Given that this figure is more in line with kid-oriented figures such as Cyberworld, I was surprised to see any kind of Generations style feature on this figure.
Axe Weapon/Tail:
The axe weapon features a different look than you may expect from the typical axe design. Instead of a curved blade on one side (or two sides), this axe has tall, rectangular blades on either side with an edge sculpted in (don't worry, it's not actually sharp). At the top is a design that looks like a jewel. This weapon is made from blue and silver plastic with no paint applications.
This weapon features a 5mm handle but for some reason the designers added a small tab to the handle so it is not compatible with all figures that have 5mm ports. To me, this detracts from potential play value and I honestly do not understand why they made this way. I would have preferred a regular 5mm peg that other figures could use.
Aqua Energy Armor:
Each Energy Beast includes an "Energy Armor", a leaf shaped piece of armor that relates to the aspect of nature represented by the character. In Hydrophant's case he represents water, so his Energon Armor has several shapes that evoke water waves and a small logo at the edge of this piece looks like a teardrop. This piece is made of blue plastic with metallic blue paint on top. The armor features a 5mm peg on the back off to one side. This position allows multiple armor pieces to attach to the chests of the Energy Masters at the same time.
Robot Mode:
As mentioned above, the various beast-based characters in Wild King share the same basic engineering in terms of how the parts move and transform. Hydrophant shares several parts with fellow Energy Beast Leafback including his distinct shoulders and the chest section. Both came out at the same time so I do not consider either a retool/redeco of the other.
For those curious, this figure does not really fit into any existing scale. The closest I could say is that this is similar to the old "Legends Class" figures such as Warpath. The figure is about 4.25 inches (about 10.8cm) tall and a little over 2 inches (about 5cm) wide from shoulder to shoulder (not including any attached accessories).
Hydrophant is a mixture of parts that range from purely robotic to those mixed with beast mode bits. His head sculpt is quite distinct, looking like a cap that has ear and neck covers. Small raised shapes on top look almost like goggles (or they could be a callback to his elephant ears). While the chest, shoulders, waist and thighs share robotic parts with Leafback, his forearms and lower legs both feature designs that call back to his elephant mode. The front elephant feet are integrated into his forearms while the robot feet are designed to look like the feet of an elephant (but they do not actually form the feet of the beast mode). Overall I dig this aesthetic and since the beast mode feet on the forearms do not extend out in front of the fists, they look a lot better than the arms on Lightlong.
This figure is made up of blue, silver and light blue plastic. Blue makes up a lot of the robotic parts while silver is mostly used on the lower legs. Paint colors include silver, blue and brown. Silver is the most heavily used color. You'll find it on the feet, arms and head. The eyes are painted light blue and the brown color is on the top of the helmet section of the head.
There are nineteen points of articulation in this mode. This includes four in each arm and five in each leg. The hip joints are ball joints so you get a good range of motion there. However, there is no head articulation, which really surprised me as most modern day Transformers figures have this as a default. His weapon can fit in either hand while the Aqua armor attaches to his chest. The elephant head and neck can attach to the side of either shoulder.
There are nineteen 5mm ports on this figure. This includes four on each arm and leg. This is very unusual but fits into the play pattern of Wild King which is heavily based on using pegs/ports to combine the Energy Beasts to Energy Masters as well as attaching accessories to the beasts themselves. If you have some Weaponizers or Fossilizers around, you can definitely create some interesting combinations!
Transformation to Beast Mode:
- Detach the accessories and set them aside for now.
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing the robot head (and the back panel) back. Tuck the head in, then swing it back into place.
- Swing the arms back.
- Swing the arms up and push them together.
- Rotate the front elephant legs so they point forward.
- Push the lower legs together.
- Rotate the lower body around.
- Point the robot feet down.
- Swing the light blue parts of the robot legs up. This will bring the beast mode feet up.
- Swing the legs forward to form the rear elephant legs.
- Attach the beast mode head to the front.
- Attach the axe weapon to the rear section on top.
- Attach the Aqua Armor to the top of the beast mode.
Beast Mode:
As his name suggests, Hydrophant is an elephant in beast mode, making him a rarity in the Transformers toy line. What I find cool is that despite looking like an elephant's legs, the lower legs of the robot mode do not form the rear elephant legs. Instead there is a separate pair of elephant legs instead and I think that is a nice touch. The beast mode details are nice including the aforementioned head details and the toes on each foot.
This mode shows off all the same colors as the robot mode with the darker blue making up a lot of the colors on top while the head and legs are mostly light blue. Silver is heavily concentrated on the back of the legs and on the belly area. There are no new paint applications revealed in this form.
There are ten points of articulation in this mode. Five of these points come from the head alone. I am also counting the ability of the tail to move up and down but it is likely the weapon will detach from the back when you move it but it reattaches easily. There are four 5mm ports on each side and two in the back, allowing you to attach additional accessories.
Transformation to Limb Mode (Starting in Beast Mode):
- Detach the elephant head, Aqua armor and weapon and set them aside for now.
- Swing the robot legs down at the hips.
- Rotate the lower body around.
- Swing the silver part of each leg up.
- Swing the light blue part of each leg up.
Limb Mode:
Hydrophant's limb mode doubles as both an arm or a leg. As an arm, you use the two 5mm ports on top (the ones near the front beast mode legs) to attach to either Optimus Prime or Megatron's shoulders. To become a leg, you can attach the ports on the bottom to Optimus or Megatron's foot pieces and then use the top 5mm ports to attach to their knees. When forming the leg, you can attach the beast mode head piece to the chest. When forming as a leg I prefer bending the robot arms so they don't stick out in the back too far.
If you look at the way the robot legs are sculpted, they are designed to look like a fist in this mode, complete with 5mm ports right where the fist hole would normally be on other Transformers figures. That said, I do wish there was a more concrete Combiner style like fist that you could attach. In that sense, this figure works better for me as a leg than an arm, but either offers plenty of play value.
Final Thoughts:
Hydrophant is a fun little toy. I'm also happy to see another elephant in the Transformers line, something we do not get often. I am a bit disappointed at some smaller points such as the lack of head articulation. Keep in mind, these figures are only available in Japan. For a variety of reasons, the normal online retailers like BigBadToyStore have chosen not to carry these figures (as of May 2025 anyhow) so if you want these you are paying fairly high import prices. So fans who expect a Generations style figure will be disappointed.
That said, once I began to play with this figure I found it very fun. The (relatively) simple transformation makes for a fun figure to fiddle with and the combination with the Energon Masters is a fun and somewhat unique gimmick. What I will say is that the whole concept of Wild King really has to appeal to you before you consider purchasing these figures. If it does, then go right ahead. Recommended with the caveats stated above.
Pros:
- Unique design with a fun beast mode.
- Good deco.
- Good play value.
Cons:
- The lack of robot head articulation is an odd choice.
- I do wish the arm mode had some type of fist attachment.
- It was an odd choice to add a "tab" to the weapon's handle.
