deluxe:
shockwave is a good one, although his alt mode is a bit simple.
arcee is surprisingly good despite being a shellformer, although he'd have to be careful with the roof panels(not super fragile, but they're still thin panels of clear plastic)
megatron is really good, as long as you fix the loose joints.

I'd stay away from grimlock, the way his tail transforms is a bit difficult and very prone to unintentional disassembly.

there are also some non-deluxe figures to consider.

spark armor cheetor for example(although soon made obsolete by kingdom cheetor)
cheetor without the armor is pretty much a simplified deluxe, but has some neat transformation steps to get his iconic cheetah-head chest.

clobber is very good for an ultra class.
neat transformation, fairly screen-accurate, and should scale reasonably well with deluxes.

hammerbyte is perhaps the most enjoyable warrior class figure.
a neat cybertronian shark mode, a robot mode that isn't held back by the gimmick, and as gimmick a spring loaded land-shark mode.

 

Deluxe Optimus Prime is clearly the best overall Deluxe figure (and by extension all of the Cyberverse toyline despite his deluxe size) followed by Deluxe Bumblebee.

If your kid really wants to do BAF, then you may be stuck getting all 8.

 

I'm gonna 2nd Hammerbyte, he's a great figure, and I'd also throw in Ultra Rack'n'Ruin since his character is fairly memorable in the show

 

Id like to add in meteorfire. The toy itself is pretty good but his character is really a lot of fun.

 

Well the BAF Deluxe Wave is finally completed. Maccadam himself is a bit underwhelming IMO, not bad but not worth getting all the figures in the line for. Luckily, I actually enjoyed these Deluxe figures on their own merits. These are probably the best Cyberverse figures ever and for me, the first Wave ended on a high note.

I love seeing brand new characters in Transformers, in any of the sublines, and Thunderhowl is exceptional. I think he’s my favorite of all of these BAF’s. He’s got a really great style to him. His color palette is very pleasing to the eye, it’s not overly bright or saturated. He’s got the best accessories too. I’m a sucker for a bot with a sword and his shield is really cool. The inner lining of it is even painted red to simulate him wearing a cape when it’s stored on his back, excellent attention to detail there.

Thunderhowl looks great actually using his accessories too. The sword is a really nice and sturdy molding. The wolf cross guard on it is awesome. I really like the paint details and spikes in the shield. These also come into play in his alt mode. He’s got a really awesome lightning blast effect too.

Which can be incorporated onto his sword to use as an energy weapon and looks amazing. I’m a fan of this, and he can use this effect in his alt mode too, though not quite up to the same standard as ‘blazing lightning sword.’

But it makes sense that he can spew lightning from his mouth with a name like Thunderhowl.

This is probably one of the craziest wolf modes I’ve ever seen on a Transformer, but I dig it. Granted, there aren’t a huge amount of wolf-bots in the franchise, but Thunderhowl is definitely one of the more eccentric offerings. His transformation into this mode though is what puts him near the top. It is a sublime marvel of engineering to get him from bot mode to wolf mode. It’s hard to convey in still pics, so I recommend going to watch Emgo’s review of this figure. He also shows how his sword stores inside the tail of the wolf mode which is incredibly clever.

I like Thunderhowl a lot more than I thought I would. He’s another pleasant surprise from this current Cyberverse renaissance known as the Bumblebee Adventures line. The BAF’s have been a lot of fun and Thunderhowl is an excellent cap on this Wave.

“I dub thee, Knight of the Primes.”

 

i'm still getting deluxe thunderhowl but man i'm glad i picked up ultra thunderhowl awhile back. the size is better the colors looks better i like the cape and the maskless face more too

 

I'm glad at least some people like Deluxe "Thunderhowl." Really soured on him after having the figure for a while now. Went from being better than ok to meh and then bleh.

Our copy can barely stand up anymore. Using ball joints on the feet was a dirty decision. They went from loose to being extremely loose now.

 

Just got Deluxe Optimus today. I'll give my thoughts on him later on.

 

i just got him myself. I do like him, but his lower jaw comes off a bit too easy. Did you experience that?

 

Not the bottom jaw, but the upper wolf head keeps popping off on ours. It's extremely annoying. Ironically, it's supposed to do that for the ultra toy and animation model.

The elbow joints also keep coming apart. I cleaned off extra flash from inside one of the elbow joints but didn't help.

The feet have gotten so loose that the figure is pretty much trying to balance on 2 marbles and failing.

Our figure is 2 weeks broken in.

 

So i just had a super realization as to who the decepticon i need for meteorfire.....

skullcruncher....

i need one. Yesterday...

 

There's always TR Skullcruncher if you can't find it. I think one of our local comics stores still has unsold stock. There's old stock on amazon for $30 too.

 

Very true and while im not opposed to using the TR version, i linda like the cyberverse so i will try for that first but if it doesnt pan out than i certainly will go for the TR version. Thanks.

 

My recommendations for Cyberverse:

Deluxe:

Megatron - you have to fix his joints, if you do he's awesome.

Optimus - definitely one of the better ones I own.

Shockwave - Fantastic Robot mode, meh vehicle mode.

Others:

Hammerbyte - sure, he's simpler, but he's so much fun!

Scraplet - he would make a good stocking stuffer, provided you do that. He doesn't do a ton, but he's cute.

If I may ask, why Skullcruncher?

 

Meteorfire is a parody/homage to the late steve irwin, aka crocodile hunter

 

Scraplets are so hard to find now. They're actually fairly decent toys.


As an alternative, the Dr. Wu ones just came out (still waiting for US stores to get them).

 

I was happy with my one, but now I want to troop build.

 

Yep, he's good.

Megatron is next! (and maybe Arcee?)
One quick question! How do you tighten this mushroom joint without taking the figure apart?

 

Inb4 floor polish...

Mushroom joints are easy to take apart and put back together without damage. One quick and easy method to increase resistance is to use tape. Cut out a small circle, tape it onto the mushroom peg, and then see if it works. Depending on how loose it is, you may need multiple layers or use thicker tape. I either use hobby masking tape or electrical / vinyl tape.

Regardless, usually most people don't need to tighten bicep swivel joints.

 

Has anyone gotten their hands on the large Battle Call Optimus Prime? I have ordered, but thanks to the pandemic, I'm not getting to handle it anytime soon.

Based on the scant few video reviews on YT, it looks quite promising and seems like it might be the overall best of the large gimmick Primes from the Cyberverse line...

jya na!