Japanese Beast Wars Shadow Panther

One of the more popular molds from the original Beast Wars toy line (pre-Fuzors) was the Cheetor mold. I say popular because toys that used the mold get into the show, as both Cheetor and Tigatron were there. Then the show was exported to Japan, and with it the toy line. Enter, Shadow Panther.

One of the Beast Wars Japanese exclusives, Shadow Panther shows that a Maximal mold can also be used as a Predacon mold (this was before Sky Byte, kids). This is actually the first non-bootleg version of this mold I have owned, and I was nearly awe struck by how much quality it spewed after playing with the bootlegs for a few months.

First off is the plastic quality, which is very excellent, even better than the plastic used on some of the toys Hasbro released. Next is the tightness of the joints and how everything locked together perfectly. Little things like that we all take for granted when you aren't forced to use a bootleg.

So, as the name suggests, Shadow Panther is a black panther in beast mode. Of course he looks exactly like Cheetor/Tigatron when it comes to the shape, but he is completely black with red eyes. Of course he is the same mold, like I keep saying, but the colors really make him look like a unique toy, and are very fitting to the Predacon/Destron thing he has going for him.

Transformation I won't get into, but it's pretty simple, and the end result is, tada! Cheetor! Well, actually, he's black and silver with some yellow plastic and the look is very cool and sleek looking. This is probably one of the best paint jobs the Cheetor mold has ever had, and as with his beast mode, he looks like a new toy. Very excellent.

All in all, if you can find this guy, grab it, as you won't regret it. It's also the closest thing you'll get to Ravage aside from the Jaguar mold which is even harder to find than this one is (and don't expect it to come cheap either). I paid $8 for mine, but paying around $10 or $15 would probably be worth it as well, but it also depends on how much you like the Cheetor mold of course. If you hate it, I wouldn't recommend grabbing this of course, but if you like it, this is worth your cash me thinks.