Cheetor's animal form is actually sculpted pretty well. He has a relatively natural position for a cheetah, with a deeply arching back and poised legs. There is fur detail carved into almost all of the visible surface area and his paws are detailed with tufts of fur and sharp claws. The cheetah head is shaped just right with protruding, though not excessive, ears and dangerous looking fangs. The only questionable area is hind legs, where the thigh fur looks a little bushy. It's there to accommodate the hidden accessories; it's just a little too thick looking. His robot form isn't nearly as attractive, often just coming off as weird, if not downright ugly. The legs are just his animal form legs extended out, and still look the part, just with blue "robot pads" added on at the knees, thighs, and crotch. These feature a little bit of detail, and are similar in appearance to his arms and face, so even though they pull his design together, they aren't particularly pleasant looking. His arms are restricted by the fur pads, so they're too short and hidden within the inside of his animal form's arms. His hands have some more technical looking details and sculpted "joints" that actually make him look like a robot, instead of some anthropomorphic cheetah, so that's good. The ugliest part of this robot is his hunchback. I'm almost tempted to call him Quasimodo, ship him off to Notre Dame, and write a letter of recommendation for him as an official mascot. The way he transforms leaves a lot of hollow body over from animal form, meaning he has a lot of hollow body stuck onto his back, like some ballooning tumor. It throws off his balance and makes him look funky from any direction except the front. I honestly thought I was transforming him incorrectly for a long time, because surely they wouldn't design him with this much excess (I still might be transforming him wrong for all I know!). The accessories (his tail as a sword and a couple throwing star things) are sculpted well enough, if not a little strange. Everything else out of the way, Cheetor's head is actually really nice. It looks robotic and still gives me a cat vibe, featuring crisp borders and indentions. In the end, this guy looks good in animal form, and that's where I have to stop being polite.   

Sculpt Score: 5 / 10

 Cheetor relies mostly on plastic color to achieve his look, with very few paint applications. His dominant color is very obviously a shade of yellow, and it's one that avoids looking too plastic-like, almost as if there's a very very slight tinge of orange in it, that's coming out even stronger in my photos. I like this color even though there's a lot of it, so it's a good thing that they got the shade right. It's complemented by a dark blue for some of his robotic parts, that while not perfect, isn't bad either, and functions as a foil color just fine. The applications consist mainly of Cheetor's black dots, as well as some color shifting on his paws and detailing on his face. The dots are well done, cleanly applied with plenty of variation across his body. There are some tiny dots on his face, much like a real cheetah, and that's a swell touch of detailing. The white frosting on his paws looks good, but I would've liked to see some different coloration for his claws. The chest decal is well done, although his face leaves some quality behind. One of his green eyes is much bigger than the other, and still I think that may be an intended "expression". Either way, the big problem is the giant red glob of paint on his right jaw. The lines on his face in cheetah form are really crisp, but his nose is a little sloppy, with some yellow coming through.  

Paint Score: 7 / 10

 Although this figure does have a lot of articulation, it's kind of hard to use most of it. In cheetah form, he can bend all four legs into a number of positions, so you can get some pretty cool cheetah poses out of him. On the other hand, since there are so many points, it can be hard to just find a neutral stance for him to balance in because of all the possible angles and bends. His head is also totally restricted in animal form, and being able to cock it sideways or move it up and down might be more fun. Once transformed, his articulation becomes really problematic. Even though he has a total of four hinges, as well as a thigh swivel and ball joint for his legs, it's hard to get them to look and/or move how you want them too. An ankle that could move side to side would really help him find some more action packed poses. Cheetor has a waist hinge that is supposed to lock into position, but it's quite loose, and getting his chest to sit flush with his hips isn't easy. He's often toppling backwards, and when you go to adjust him, you just unlock that hinge. It allows him to look down, yet I wish it was sturdier once clicked in. He suffers from a similar problem with his shoulders--the plates are supposed to lock in to the side of his chest with a little tab and matching hole on the shoulder plates, but they fit so loosely that his arms are often dangling. He's pictured with dangling shoulder points in some of the media, but the transformation guide clearly shows them locked in. They just don't stay that way. His arms suffer from even further limited articulation, offering only a shoulder ball and elbow hinge anyway, the fur kibble really gets in the way, making it hard to find any natural arm poses. You usually just end up popping the shoulder ball out when posing his arms because every position is forced. None of the joints were actually broken, and most of the articulation is relatively tight. It still struggles holding up his hunch back; you just have to find the right balance in a pose.   

Articulation Score: 5 / 10

 

 Transformers almost always start at a 10 for fun, they have to be bad to take points away. With such a classic action feature (transforming!), it's hard to make them boring, but Cheetor takes a couple small steps in that direction. His transformation itself isn't terribly difficult, it's just frustrating when some elements won't click in tightly and end up requiring constant readjustment. It's not a particularly clever transformation either, you're pretty much just unstretching the figure and popping his head out. The ugly appearance in robot form sure doesn't help either, especially when you have to hide the back of the figure in order to make him displayable. Despite all of these shortfallings, he does have an okay articulation model that can make for some fun play situations, especially if he's in cheetah mode. Simulating running poses and chasing "gazelle-predacons" shouldn't be too difficult for any kids or kids at heart. He's also packaged with two types of weapons: his tail-sword and two throwing stars that have extendable blades and store away in his calves/thighs, which a nice touch on the fun side. The packagaing includes a cool biography and attribute statistics, so it's fun to collect and compare the differences between characters. 

Fun Score: 8 / 10

 I purchased this figure for under $8, which is a considerably good deal. The problem is that standard retail prices on these have jumped up quite a bit in the last few weeks, from $7.77 to $12.88 at Wal-Mart in particular. Target and Toys R Us still have them for $10-$11, but probably not for long. As price go up for these, the value obviously goes down. He's a well made figure, and I don't think he'll be breaking anytime soon, but there isn't a whole lot of paint or detailed sculpt work going into this guy. He's also not a giant figure, and actually doesn't seem to be made up of that much plastic. Designing the transformation definitely takes time, and I respect the effort, but I don't think this is a $12 figure, even if he does come with a couple of accessories. The packaging is nice, and including a nice transformation guide improves the perception of value. Just a little more functionality in his transformation and detail in his paint would help him feel worth the extra bucks to me. If you're a fan of Beast Wars or ...um, Cheetahs, then this toy is probably worth the money to you, but otherwise I'm not sure I can suggest you spend $10-$12 on him. He's definitely not a ripoff, it really comes down to how much fun you're going to have with him, and if you expect it to be a lot, then he's certainly worth it. 

Value Score: 6 / 10 

Summary

 5 - Good design and details in animal form, doesn't really look like a robot, some really bad design choices, terrible kibble issues on arms and back, good face sculpt.

 7 - Clean decals and designs on faces, giant glob of misplaced paint, some sloppy coverage on cheetah nose, good spot/paw detail but differentiated claws would be nice, the color choices work well enough together. 

 5 - There is a lot of articulation, none of which is broken, but most of it just wasn't designed well. Restricted points, ugly joints, and necessary missing elements. 

 8 - Even though he has frustrating articulation and transformation elements, he still transforms!, comes with a couple cool accessories, enjoyable packaging, enough articulation to play/display.

 6  - A little too pricey with recent increases, high production values, comes with accessories, not that much attention paid to sculpt and paint, some frustrating transformation/articulation issues, good packaging elements, not a large figure or heavy on plastics. 

Overall Score: 63 / 100 - This is an Okay Toy

Cheetor is just average across the board. His sculpt and articulation are his weakest points, offset only by his considerable level of potential fun. 

P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one).

-The Articulated One