Hasbro Transformers Legacy United Star Raider Cannonball Hasbro, 2024
Day #2,783: November 19, 2024
Star Raider Cannonball Walmart Exclusive Retool of Crankcase, also Skids and Crosscut
Transformers Legacy United Walmart Exclusive Star Raider Capsule
Item No.: Asst. G0200 No. G0231 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Cyber planet key, hammer, claw Action Feature:Transforms from robot to car, push-up blasters Retail:$24.96 Availability: September 2024 Other: Armada guy to Cybertron guy to pirate to other G1 guy to pirate guy
Do I need a new Cannonball? I got the first one - the idea of "Pirate Captain" for ten bucks sold me, as did his Oingo Boingo cover-esque tattoos. I didn't get the BotCon one, but this new one I got because it was in front of me when I was out looking for Lockdown and Road Pig. It pays for stores to stock their exclusives - I could've bought them with free shipping, but didn't. (Which means I haven't seen the fancy deluxe Thundertron set, but that's another rant. At least they eventually put it online below retail price, I still haven't seen it in stores.)
This toy is kind of amazing. It started as Skids and Crosscut. It got retooled to be Crankcase. And again to be Cannonball. By all reasonable guesses, it will most likely be Cybertron Red Alert at some point too. All he needs is paint! It's a fascinating series of changes to get to this point, and it's a pretty good figure that features (on some level) many of the gimmicks of the original toy, if only in ornamental form.
I've had and very much liked the original Cannonball toy since he first came out. Cybertron had some clever ideas and great characterization, with on-package biographies that touched the imagination. This guy would have looked cool regardless, but "he's a pirate!" is a lot more fun than "here's a guy." Similarly that line included a Decepticon Botanist, a concept that really makes you wonder about his ship, his crew, and his story which probably remain in the imagination of children reading the cardback on the drive home. Today, if you don't know that the Star Seekers are Star Raiders, and that the Star Seekers are pirates, there's nothing on the packaging that says "this is a pirate" on it. I think it's a shortcoming that alienates a lot of fans, because hiding key information that may inform a purchase and add enjoyment to an item puts it behind a curtain that demands a certain kind of participation, but again, I digress. The toy is good.
The concept is that Cannonball is an identity passed down from bot to bot - so it doesn't have to be the same as a previous release, but the colors are so close I don't think that matters. His transformation isn't as neat - I really liked how the legs unfolded and that the roof of the car was where the head lived on the first one. The revised version fits in with the "G1" styling that's been all the rage in these lines, with lots of extra gold detail not found on the original toy. Interestingly, there's less mass in this toy - Cybertron Cannonball was about 5 ounces, new Cannonball is about 3. The colors match very closely, with purples, golds, silvers, and some green for the windows. Clearly, someone wanted to get this toy right, and did.
The head is very much Red Alert, which is what you want to get Cannonball right. I find the new toy a bit sturdier in the joints, as well as a hair taller than the original. Sadly you don't get nearly as much purple, and his green Vok skull tattoos are hidden behind his back. On the bright side, you get some nice accessories still - this time, his hammer and claw store in the sides of his legs. A Cyber Planet Earth Key fits in his back, featuring zero decoration or functionality. The figure does have a couple of cannons, though - pull his back panel up a bit, and rotate them out, and it's kind of like the original mechanism. Minus, you know, mechanization.
I don't love the head having part of the car kibble bolted to the back of the skull, but such is life. He's very nicely articulated with tilting ankles, thigh swivels, and knee joints that are useful. His hand swivels, as does his probe - on which you can mount the claw or hammer. The weird thing about the hammer is that the part I would think mounts on the hand tool doesn't - so that's weird. Other than that, this is a toy that does a good job being Cannonball while also bringing you the modern robot experience.
Transformation is kind of annoying - maybe the instructions are steering me wrong, but getting the arms in place and the doors folded over them is a nuisance - one of them doesn't click quite right. I like the rest of it, though, and even with this not-perfect-form-fit on my sample, it looks great.
The ambulance is the kind of thing you wish you had, with excessive gold highlights, green tattoos inspired by the Vok from Beast Wars, and a Star Seekers Raiders symbol printed over his key slot. It serves no purpose, but it's neat - I'm not sure if I'd prefer they left it off, though. It doesn't add much to the toy and the smaller size will no doubt infuriate people who bought Speedia Override [FOTD #2,501], which had no key but did put a slot for one on her back. Cannonball is a but more in decor than his ancestor, but retains the colors and basic trim. The new toy has gold rather than silver on the sides, and you can store his gear inside his legs or plug them in the 5mm holes on the back hatch that doesn't open. It's also worth noting that his light bar is a removable element, featuring an ornamental slice of his skull - the original toy's head lived there, so this is to simulate that detail. It's a nice little car, arguably not very piratey in nature but certainly good at invoking the 18-year-old toy. Do you feel old yet?
Toys like this are kind of a fascinating reminder of where we've been, and what we've lost. The original toy had pop-out key-activated weaponry and some backstory on his box. The new one has much more paint and much more articulation, but the purely ornamental gimmick and lack of on-pack (or in-pack) story is going to cause fans to lose the spark of imagination that drove so many of us to stick with these lines in the first place. If it weren't for the aggressive cartoon, comic, and advertising campaigns with snappy stories and instant characterization, perhaps we'd be buying old Convert-ables. It would be great if the toy somehow included in- or on-package posters or comics to get fans excited about this crew of pirates, rather than us sussing out intent from a Wiki page or a social media post. For $25, this is a decent modern take on an old $10 toy. And as the third toy to carry the Cannonball name, I hope it won't be the last - the idea of space pirates never gets old.
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