Beast Wars Neo: Sharp Edge

Well, currently I'm not sure if it's supposed to be Sharpedge or Sharp Edge, as I've seen both, but I like Sharp Edge better, so that's what he's getting called in this review. So there.

Sharp Edge is part of the Beast Wars Neo line, the second Japan exclusive Beast Line. Actually, unlike a lot of the BWN toys, Sharp Edge isn't a new mold, though it may be hard to tell sometimes. He's actually a rather extensive remold of the original Cybershark toy from Beast Wars. Sadly I don't own Cybershark (well, I have the TM2 version), so I don't have any comparison going on, but I do know a bit about the toy from various pictures and reviews of it I've seen. Anyways, on to the review!

As with Cybershark (who was a weird hammerhead/tiger shark hybrid), Sharp Edge's beast mode species is kinda indeterminate. You could classify him as a sword fish, goblin shark or even the ancient ichthyosaur, so I won't really try and determine it. Remolding were done extensively to the head, which, as I said, used to be that of a hammerhead, and also to the tail, which has more of a fish feel to it rather than a shark look. The only articulation to speak of is in his front flippers, which are on ball joints (one of them even comes detached in the box, some assembly required). You can sorta move his upper jaw up, but his teeth stay put, and the result is rather odd and sort of gross looking. His head also can be fired like Killer Punch's (and the original Cybershark's), and you can deploy his painful switchblade, though it serves little purpose in beast mode. All in all a very cool beast mode.

Transformation is very simple, especially if you play with BW2 Galvatron for a few days. Essentially you rip off his head and tail, unfold his sides, and he kinda auto-transforms like the original Rattrap and Terrorsaur, or Tow-Line and Skid-Z to name more recent flipchangers. The only difference is there's no spring, so you need to do the folding (and pegging) yourself. Everything pegs together, uh, with one peg, but it fits in nicely, so robot mode is pretty stable.

Robot mode itself is neat, with ball jointed shoulders, an upper arm swivel, hinge elbows, ball jointed thighs, an upper leg swivel and hinge knees and ankles (though the ankles are limited). His arm movement is hindered a bit by the shark halves on each side, but it's not too much of a problem really. Also he's a little back heavy, and his heel spurs are kinda skimpy, so a couple poses he can't pull off so well.

And the gimmicks you ask? Well, Sharp Edge is loaded to the gills. First off he has the traditional rub symbol, not so much of a gimmick, but nice to have (especially considering every TF that came after the TM line lacked one, which is a shame, they're pretty neat). Also stored in his chest is a spring loaded missile launcher that can launch his shark head or one of the two missiles stored in his back compartment (more on those later). Finally his shark head can be a sword as well, and his tail fin has a switchblade on it, though it's kind of bloated and not very threatening looking. The spring is rather strong too, and it hurts if the blade cracks into your knuckle quite a bit. Damn abusive Transformers.

Both weapons are rather cumbersome though, especially the tail, which is actually too heavy for his elbow to support it. The sword weapon is neat, though a bit bulky itself. Then there's the missile launcher. It just sorta juts out of his chest and looks rather dumb. If it could detach I'd have liked it a lot better, but as it is, it's really very awkward. However, were it not for the launcher, we wouldn't have two of the coolest missiles to ever grace all of Transformerdom.

First off they're made of the same plastic as his legs and lower arms. It's stiff and rigid and not prone to breaking. Some of the best made TF missiles ever, in my opinion. Not only that, but engraved into each one is a shark eyes, mouth and gills, making for some very cool looking missiles. I'd imagine, had Cybershark made it into the show (he has the same missiles), those would have been a lot of fun. Also, since his hand can hold the head/sword and that fires from the launcher as well, he can hold the missiles in his hands too. Either one per hand, or both in one hand for a nifty staff weapon.

Also, I like Sharp Edge's head a lot better than the comedic toothy grin of the original mold. This one is more sleek and just cooler looking overall.

Overall? Well, he's not without his flaws of course, but, the he's still very poseable and the missiles are quite excellent. I got mine from BBTS for $24, which is rather pricey, but the mold is rather tough to come by anywhere (either Cybershark, Sharp Edge or his BW2 incarnation, Hellscream), so I'd expect to pay around that much anyway. Apparently I'm rich beyond belief too. I wish someone would tell me where all my riches are hidden, I could use them sometime.