QUINTESSON INVASION (Cybertron Villains)
Series - Cyberverse
Size/class - Battle
New/remould/redeco - Battle Class Prowl and Shockwave, Quintesson mould is new
Wave - N/A
Released here - ??
Approximate Retail Price - AU$53
Approximate Size - 8cm
Allegiance - Autobot, Decepticon, Quintesson
Alt-mode - Police car, walker tank, nothing
Main Features/Gimmicks - Spinning faces on Quintesson Judge
Main Colours - white, purple, black
Main Accessories - New hats for Prowl and Shockers

Note: Prowl and Shockwave are, AFAIK, the same as their previous Battle Class releases, only minus the Spark Armours and with new hats. Refer to reviews on the Spark Armour releases of these toys, this review will focus on the new Quintesson Judge figure

I was attracted to this toy because the Quintesson Judge toy looked like a good homage to the G1 Quintessons, but having in person I must admit that I'm pretty disappointed. It's not even the difference in style - I know that this isn't G1. And I like the inclusion of the two female faces, and the fact that it was five rotatable faces is very cool. But boy is this Quintesson toy BLAND as excrement! I can't believe that I'm saying this, but it makes Alpha Quintesson look good.

Yes, I know that Cyberverse Quintesson is more like a G1 Quintesson, but neither this toy nor Alpha Quintesson are G1! So forgetting about G1 for a moment and looking at both Quintesson toys more objectively, I think that - as awful as Alpha Quintesson is - it's the better toy. Reasons include:
* Alpha Quintesson has more articulation. Not much, but more than CYB Quintesson. He can turn on his base, he has articulated arms w/ elbows, and he has tentacles which are poseable like pipe cleaners. CYB Quintesson's articulation is just four tentacles that are on ball and socket joints. Each tentacle is sculpted in hard plastic, so you can't alter their shape like you can with Alpha Quintesson's tentacles.
* Alpha Quintesson has a rolling play gimmick. This makes the tentacles spin around and the claws on his body pinch in and out. Coupled with the weapons at the end of each tentacle - as silly as they look, this toy does look like it means to do harm to you. CYB Quintesson has no rolling gimmick. It's a single "foot" that resembles a podium being surrounded by tentacles. While Alpha Q looks like he wants to slice you up, CYB Quintesson looks like he wants to do something really inappropriate with his hentacles. Hentacles that are prone to falling out. Yeah, he has detachable phalli!
* Alpha Quintesson has a missile launcher (although the supporting joint is prone to breakage), CYB Quintesson has no weapons or accessories.

Alpha Quintesson is a rubbish toy, don't get me wrong, but CYB Quintesson is much worse. This feels like an oversized Happy Meal toy. Seriously. Happy Meal toys tend to be solid blocks that is slave to a gimmick. CYB Quintesson is basically a solid block that's slave to a gimmick. Seriously, you could release a smaller version of this toy with a Happy Meal and it would NOT look out of place. I know that this is a relatively cheaper toy than Alpha Quintesson -- if we divide the cost of this set by 3, it works out to be about $18 per figure before shipping, whereas I paid $45 for my Alpha Quintesson from Case Fresh (remember them? ). But even then, $18 is a hard pill to swallow for what is essentially an super-sized Happy Meal toy.

Overall: skip this toy and save your money for the rumoured/speculated CHUG Quintesson. Hopefully, if that happens, it will look more like a G1 Quintesson. Quintessons are never going to be great toys because... ya know, they're just floating balloons with five faces and tentacles. But either give us a Quintesson with some play features or give us one that looks like the G1 Quintessons. Cyberverse's Quintesson gives you neither.