Transformers Prime Cyberverse Knock Out & Energon Driller Review & Gallery

Transformers Prime Cyberverse vehicle sets are hitting stores up and down the UK - and by a stroke of luck I've been able to score both of them. Here for you now is the Energon Driller with Knock Out - a great little set which is a lot of fun to play about with, mostly because of the big drill which spins around as you push it along the floor. The emphasis with this set is most definitely on simplicity and fun, not that this is a bad thing though, it's a very playable set reminiscent of the old Action Master Transformers and MASK vehicles of my childhood.

I've also taken a whole bunch of pics of the set including an attempt at demonstrating the light-up "Energy glow" feature on the set. Check them out by opening the link below:

Transformers Prime Cyberverse Energon Driller with Knock Out Gallery


Read on for more thoughts on the set and check back later over the weekend for when we review the Autobot set, the Starhammer with Wheeljack.


Cyberverse Legion Knock Out

The Energon Driller with Knock Out is, to be quite honest, a very cool set. You get a Cyberverse version of the Decepticon medic Knock Out, who is very nicely represented and comes with both his Energon Shock Staff and his buzzsaw. Both are done in clear purple plastic as is the standard for the Decepticon Cyberverse releases, but these are done in harder plastic rather than the soft rubbery stuff used for the Vehicon's gun. The robot mode likeness is excellent and the face sculpt with its slight smirk oozes character. The transformation is clever, working just slightly differently from the usual "car hood chest, trunk feet" setup. As you can see I've had some problems getting the car parts to properly align on this mode. Knock Out wouldn't like having his sleek lines marred in such a way!

Poseability on the robot mode is pretty much the standard for Cyberverse Legion class toys, with ball jointed shoulders and hips having a good range of movement, but otherwise poseability is limited. Elbows would have been nothing short of amazing for this one, considering the emphasis on melee weapons.

Even so, I like the little guy. He's well worth his share of the price of admission, and is a fantastic likeness to Knock Out on the show. Check out the comparison with the Deluxe Class toy in the gallery, I would venture to say that the Cyberverse is the better likeness of the two versions.


The Energon Driller in Excavation Mode

The Energon Driller is the meat of the set. It's nice and show accurate, a large, beefy vehicle with a drill making up over half the vehicle mode length. The Driller has two modes - an "excavation" mode and a "battle" mode, which consists of popping out a pair of missile launcher gunnery stations on the side treads. The transformation is more or less "one touch" - you pull back on a red switch at the rear of the vehicle to deploy the guns, and slide it back forward to store them again. Simple, but fun in its execution - the transformation has a lot in common with MASK and Stealth Force in the way the concept works, although loading the battle mode up with Cyberverse figures takes me back to the Action Master vehicles with their battle base modes.


The Energon Driller in Battle Mode, with Knock Out and a Vehicon

The other main feature of the set - beside it's spinning drill feature - is the "glowing Energon booster", a clear purple part with a red LED which can plug into the Cyberverse toy's clear weapons or the Commander class figures to make them look like they are "glowing" with energy. It's a nice concept, but it has mixed results when actually used on the toys - mostly, the LED is not strong enough to give more than a hint of red to anything plugged into it. Of the two Commanders I own, Megatron does get a nice red glow in the middle of his torso when the booster is plugged into his back. I tried Starscream's but due to the way his chest is painted you can't really see much of the glow in a photo - it is there, mostly it makes the left side of his chest glow a bit. Overall though it is a nice idea, and the red glow on a gun, like Starscream's arm cannon, does at least do a serviceable job of recreating the "weapon charging" effect from the show.


The Energon Glow effect in action

The Energon Booster also plugs into the body of the drill itself, which allows it to make the drill itself glow red. This I like - it is a nice touch and it lights up the first clear purple segment very well. Contrary to my original comments, the hose can actually be stored in a flip up compartment, although this does not seem to be mentioned on the instructions. Many thanks to 2005 Boards member tikgnat for pointing this out



Gimmicks aside, the Energon Driller has a whole lot of ports in both large 5mm and small sizes alongside c-clip rails, which really invites you to put as many weapons on the set as you can to load it up with guns. There are also, on fold down panels to the sides, connection points to attach this set to any of the other Cyberverse sets such as the Dark of the Moon Ark. It's a nice extra bit of added value, customisability, or whatever you want to call it - I call it a lot of fun :)


The Energon Driller fully armed up with weapons. Starscream should have rode into battle on this in Triangulation and not the Scootypuff Junior!

Overall, the Energon Driller and Knock Out make for a great set. They are not the most complicated toys to ever come out in their pricepoint, but the set is a load of fun to mess about with, and it's loaded with play value for the younger fans (or older fans who want to introduce children to Transformers). Being able to take three Cyberverse toys of either size class means this is a great set if you are army building Vehicons as well - it gives them something to ride into battle on! I'm not though, so here's a picture of Megatron, Knock Out and a solitary Vehicon riding into battle on the Energon Driller to wrap up this review.