Opinion - Metal Cardbots: Transformers Slayer?

I’m just going to come right out and say it:

Transformers is a zombie franchise. Or, at the very least, a somnambulist one.

Plodding along. Unchanging. Stagnant.

Look no further than the face of the franchise, Optimus Prime himself. From iteration to iteration, the guy just doesn’t change, does he? I mean…look at him. Mainline Generations offerings have largely (not completely) zeroed in on his classic G1 look and stayed with it. The Prime Wars Trilogy (Combiner Wars, Titans Return and Power of the Primes) can certainly be accused of this, as each chapter’s Optimus bore this resemblance, yet I’d argue clemency for these offerings. Each Prime in these lines featured a play-pattern consistent with the current theme. Combiner Wars Optimus was a combiner, with some homages to his Energon incarnation thrown in for good measure. His Titans Return iterations were all Headmasters and his Power of the Primes figure showcased Orion Pax’s evolution into the classic Autobot leader. No…it’s the War For Cybertron trilogy that starts us on this lather-rinse-repeat cycle. Siege Optimus? Basically G1 with a few greeblies on the semi cab mode to make it “Cybertronian”. Earthrise? G1 Optimus with trailer. The latest and greatest at the time…and through about late 2024 when the Studio Series…gasp, once again making a G1 cartoon accurate Optimus…was released. Kingdom rounded out the trilogy with an affordable Core Class figure, who, again, sported the classic visage. Legacy did a straight up “we have Missing Link Optimus at home” in its United subline, quickly followed by Studio Series Gamer Edition Devastation Optimus who was…brace yourself…classic G1.

That’s not to say there haven’t been a complete dearth of other options or variants. VNR Optimus and his holiday themed variant did a great job adapting the character into a more modern and visible vehicle mode. Siege did offer “Galaxy Upgrade” Optimus, a good callback to the Cybertron/Galaxy Force days at the conclusion of the Unicron Trilogy and Legacy kicked off with an upgraded take on G2 Laser Optimus. But even those were reiterations of old versions. It just seems like innovation and new ideas aren’t welcomed here anymore.

That’s a shame.

But I’m not here to talk about Transformers. I’m here to talk about something…different. To effectively do that though, we have to go back to the beginning. Not necessarily the beginning of Transformers, but where your fandom began. Maybe you’re like me and it was G1. Maybe it was Beast Wars. Armada and the subsequent Unicron Trilogy? The Bay movies? Ultimately though, we all embrace the core of the franchise: robots in disguise (both in the concept of real world items becoming fantastic robots and the puzzle play-pattern that comes with that), the characters (where no matter which toy you bought or saw on TV, you knew its personality and background) and the adventure that came with it (the secret war, the human interactions). While some of the recent media has hit this bullseye, most notably Travis Knight’s Bumblebee movie and the stellar animated Transformers One, much of it, Machinima’s flash animated Prime Wars Trilogy and Netflix’s trilogy of War for Cybertron miniseries have fallen flat. To get anything out of those series, you already need to be steeped in the lore, otherwise, not only do the beats not make sense but they also lose the emotional weight that better writing might have given them.

Seriously long f’ing lead-in, but what if I told you that over in South Korea, there’s a series that’s getting it right? The bots have character, the threats are real, the emotions genuine and, just like G1, Beast Wars and the Unicron Trilogy, also manages to get a little silly from time to time.

The fact of the matter is, you’re sleeping on Metal Cardbots. And you shouldn’t be.

To be fair, I might be biased. You see, the origin story mixes two of my favorite franchises: Transformers and Superman. The planet Machina has exploded. The refugees that were able to escape the cataclysm have found themselves on Earth, taking the form of vehicles to remain hidden. Some, on the other hand, don’t want to hide. The motivations vary, some as innocent as ‘This is who I am, why should I hide it?’ to as malevolent as ‘I will remake this world into a new Machina!’ and plenty in-between.

From here, we get into the Pokemon aspect of it.

You see, the main computer of Machina, the aptly named Deus Machina, created a number of devices: the Metal Braces (although some translations call these the Metal Breath). These were not made for the Metal Cardbots themselves, but for chosen humans, to partner with and collect bots for use in combat and times of danger. Yes, this is very much not only to establish a play-pattern and sell role-play scale merch, but it also brings a very deep question into the series and its mythos: what is the difference between partnership and slavery? Are these differences universal? Or do they depend on context and circumstances? In both seasons of the associated TV show, these questions come up over and over again. Some bots oppose the main character, Jun, simply because they fear that being ‘sealed’ in the Metal Brace is indeed a type of slavery…beholden to the wearer’s whims. Many times, not only does he have to beat a Cardbot in combat, but then he needs to find a way to earn its trust as well.

Pretty heavy stuff for a kids show, huh?

As I’m sure you’ve derived from the name of the show and toyline, there’s a card aspect to it and yeah, your mind is likely rushing to Yu-Gi-Oh, but here’s the skinny: each bot has a special ability or weapon that is derived from a card. These vary in form: giant fists, shields, boots, massive guns, armor, you name it. In the toyline, these items transform into blocks that attach to plastic facsimiles of the cards on the show that Jun uses to summon each bot…and each bot uses to summon their item. These can be used in the role-play Metal Brace toy to activate lights, sounds and individualized clips of the respective character.

So, why do I love this line? And why do I recommend it?

Starscream sells for $35 while Sky Gallop sells for less than $45. Image courtesy of Seoultron.

Starting with the toys, in an age where Hasbro’s offerings are riddled with waffled plastic and other cost-cutting measures all the while prices continue to go up as figure size continues to go down, Metal Cardbots are a return to the chunky, solid toys of the Unicron Trilogy days. You can play with these toys. The sturdy construction means pieces aren’t going to pop off (typically, my Chinese versions of Blue Cop and Dexter have problems keeping their heads in place). Locking points assure a tight, solid transformation, ensuring alternate modes don’t have floppy parts. It’s not all positive though, articulation in some cases (especially in the first series of figures) can be limited, much like Armada’s offerings. Ultimately the sheer VALUE of what you’re getting compared to what you’re paying for it just SLAUGHTERS Hasbro. Hands down. Comparing the deluxe price point, $24.99 at current pricing, Metal Cardbots stand at least a full head taller than their Transformers counterparts and a significantly larger vehicle mode. Examples here would be the main bot, Blue Cop, slight remold/repaint Wild Guardy, Osprey-like aircraft Shadow X and monster truck Buffalo Crush. At the Voyager price point, $34.99, once again, taller bots, bigger vehicles, advantage Cardbots. Examples here include mold-mates Phoenix Fire and Mega Ambler along with dump truck Mega Trucker (okay, they’re not the greatest when it comes to names!) and construction vehicles Dexter (not a serial killer) and Buster Gallon (which sounds like one step up from a Big Gulp!). For the Leader price point, $54.99, a Metal Cardbot of similar size…or larger…will only run you $40-50! Here we see Fleta Z (who clearly draws design inspiration from Cybertron Jetfire) and Black Hook…a goddamn pirate ship! Transformers barely has the balls to do boats from time to time…and in its first series, Cardbots give us a friggin’ pirate ship where the sails fold down to become the robot’s shins! At the tippy-top (since Cardbots haven’t ventured into Tital Class-esque figures…yet) there’s the Commander figures for $90-100. For a bot of comparable size…and typically LARGER…$65-85. For all of these levels, don’t forget the plastic card and transforming accessory. Oh, I nearly forgot: most joints are on good ratchets, so poses typically hold for as long as you want.

Heavy Iron: $50-60. Gigantrex: $60-70. Commander Class Armada Optimus Prime: $90-100. I'll let you determine the better value. Image courtesy of Seoultron.

There is a major potential downside for some collectors that I feel should be addressed before we get into the animation being produced for the series. Every single Cardbot in vehicle mode has eyes. Like, Pixar’s Cars eyes. With some characters, such as Black Hook and Deep Bite, the eyes actually feel like part of the motif presented by the vehicle mode while others, such as Gigantrex, Heavy Iron and Shadow X, have the eyes yet they’re presented in such a way that they could be construed as something else. The others, oh yeah, those eyes are front and center and staring deep into your soul. I won’t lie, it’s taken me some time to get used to them, but even with this acclimation, there are still times or angles that they do look goofy. Not to get ahead of myself, but at the 2025 New York Toy Fair, potential importer Agabyss said that they were thinking about removing these eyes from their potential US release…and yes, this would certainly cause me to buy them all over again.

That caveat aside, I want to bounce back for one last positive: progress. As I mentioned above, especially when it comes to the first series of offerings, some collectors may find some of the figures lacking, especially when it comes to articulation. They’re not bricks by any means, but more than a few of them exhibit limitations that Transformers fans haven’t seen in any of Hasbro’s offerings since the Unicron Trilogy. But what really cemented my Ride Or Die status with this line was the overall improvement of the line with its second series offerings, Metal Cardbot S. I only have a few offerings from this part of the line, Gigantrex, Blue Cop S and Deep Bite (that’s grown to include Red Blitz and Cielo by the time I publish this), but not only have they maintained the quality and wholeness of the plastic, the ratcheting joints and the other successes from the first line, there’s a significant jump in articulation, with most bots having some form of bicep cuts, thigh cuts and waist swivels. Some bots are even sporting ankle tilts and wrist swivels…but those aren’t widespread throughout the line. Yet. Additionally, they’re managing to do something that Hasbro doesn’t: unique transformation schemes. To be fair, some of this is kinda the charm of Transformers: the Seekers, the Datsun Brothers, all of the Sideswipe variants. It’s almost impossible to separate Transformers from repaints. Even in the first series of Metal Cardbots, the later-introduced character Wild Guardy was largely based on Blue Cop, with some minor remolds here and there. Progressing into the second series though, that’s not really present. Let me illustrate my point. In the second season, we have three bots that turn into similar looking sports cars: Blue Cop, Red Blitz and Spark Bit…each one transforming differently than the other. I guess I’m inferring that Hasbro would be guilty of having all sports cars transform the same…and that’s not what I mean to do here. After all, the Datsuns transform differently from Sideswipe, who transforms differently from Sunstreaker who in turn transforms differently from Hot Rod. Instead, I guess what I’m getting at is that with each new mold we get from Hasbro, we then need to consider how many more times we’re going to see it and which characters will be represented in this regard. For example, sticking with the theme of Autobot cars, something feels off about Earthrise Wheeljack and Sunstreaker being mold-mates. Similarly, Legacy G2 Jihaxus and Cybertron Vector Prime feel like they shouldn’t be as similar as they are. So far, Metal Cardbots creator SAMG Entertainment isn’t doing that, especially in their second series of offerings. Blue Cop, Red Blitz and Spark Bit all have their own molds and, aside from a potential black repaint of Blue Cop, these characters will remain individuals and that’s refreshing.

Now, let’s talk toon. My first exposure was via YouTube, where the entire series, all of Season 1 and to their current point in Season 2 (episode 18 at the time of this writing), is available for viewing. There’s a catch though, it’s in Korean with no English subtitles. Even with the language barrier fully in place, there’s no denying that these bot designs do look good in motion and, while questionable on the toys, the cartoony eyes in vehicle mode does work really well in the animation. Most notably though is the action. Action scenes in this series, especially as you get into some of the more narratively important battles (and DEFINITELY in the season finales!) are amazingly dynamic, drawing the viewer in. Again, not understanding a lick of Korean, the visuals and direction very clearly let you know when shit just got real. Granted, part of that may simply due to it being a kid’s show, but still, what we see here blows a number of Transformers series, including some of the latest offerings, out of the water.

Thankfully, that language barrier has lifted, now that I’ve found a website with fansubs of all of Season 1 and a couple of episodes behind on Season 2. Now that I know what is actually going on, I feel better about advocating for the series, as there’s a lot here that echoes previous Transformers series. Yes, the humans are a significant source of goofiness, but we also have our Spike parallel in Jun and even a Sparkplug parallel in his uncle Edo. The writers definitely play up the ‘robots in disguise’ angle when, much like one of the main themes in Man of Steel, they concede the very realistic fact that humanity would lose its collective shit if they knew transforming robots were refugees on this planet. Sometimes this is played for laughs while other times it’s played deadly serious, addressing questions about whether it’s important to be yourself no matter what or to blend in with those around you so as not to rock the boat. This leads to a point I made earlier, MCB’s writers know full well the premise of the show, that this kid is collecting sentient robots, many of whom just want to be free, and the ethical issues that arise from that. Perhaps the most important parallel between MCB and Transformers is that each bot is given a full character: a personality, things they like, things they don’t and so forth. Dexter, a bot who distrusts humans because of what they’ve done to their environment and the animals within it, behaves differently from Mega Trucker who’s big, burly, loud and loves humans’ music and dancing. Blue Cop is very much cut from the hero mold, compassionate for his fellow bots while mindful of humans and the beauty of their new home, but he’s often confused by human behavior and easily embarrassed. And here’s the thing: each episode of the show tops out at 11 minutes. Much like old-school G1, each bot gets their highlight episode to help establish their character, but to do that as well as tie in with the overarching storyline for each season, there’s some really impressive efficient storytelling happening here. All of these elements work together to tell a fun story with rich characters in a time span that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

They even have the Blokees crowd covered!

There’s a major difference between MCB and Transformers though…and it’s significant. Contrary to the age-old play pattern, there aren’t two warring factions here. Yes, Blue Cop is a member of the Star Guardians…but they were essentially Planet Machina’s police force…not an army. Heavy Iron is an outlaw or criminal…but he flies solo. Black Hook has a pirate crew consisting of Buffalo Crush and Buster Gallon…but everyone else in the cast? They’re just bots trying to mind their own business, either finding ways to blend in with their new planet or unintentionally causing chaos simply because of what they believe in or just refusing to stop being themselves. Of course there are fights and conflicts that arise from that, so, again, plenty of causes for action, but no war, no defined sides. On the one hand, this frees up play for kids to determine their own sides in fights but on the other I’m kinda glad for this. Instead, we can perhaps just focus on how cool robots that transform into vehicles are and the imagination that inspires for a kid to look out their window, see the assorted cars, trucks, airplanes and such and wonder…could any of these be a lonely refugee from Machina? Moving past that and going back to play pattern, let’s face it, boys’ play has for as long as I can remember relied on there ALWAYS being two sides: one good and one evil. Autobots vs. Decepticons. G.I. Joe vs. Cobra. Justice League vs. Legion of Doom. M.A.S.K. vs. Venom. Heroic Warriors vs. Evil Warriors. So on and so forth. Can American sensibilities handle there not being clear cut sides? Especially with kids…since our adults seem to barely handle it? I dunno…

Now, we need to talk ‘brass tacks’. The best way to get these guys right now is via AliExpress. Unfortunately, they operate out of China and…well…at the time of this writing, let’s just say certain idiots decided to start a trade war that won’t see anything good come from it. Even worse, as of May 2nd, the ‘de minimis’ loophole closes, which had sheltered individual small purchases (less than $800) from dumb-ass tariffs. This doesn’t shut the door completely, as you can certainly find these guys on South Korean shopping sites like GMarket, but most of these sites don’t offer free or discounted shipping…and international shipping costs haven’t even remotely hinted at coming down ever since they raised dramatically during COVID. So, by the time my slow-ass has actually posted this article, it might already be too late. [Definitely too late. I started this article back in April. Now, in May, the ‘de minimis’ policy has been revoked and as such, any attempt to get these guys from Ali is gonna have those steep tariffs. However, not all hope is lost. GMarket has plenty of these guys for reasonable prices…but the shipping? Ouch. – Ed.]

Maybe.

As I mentioned earlier, online shop Agabyss advertised at New York Toy Fair that they’re in the process on inking a deal to import the line to US shores. Now, given the above hullabaloo, prices will still be higher than those I mentioned above…so I’m curious if the line will be able to retain the value vs. Hasbro that it does now. We’ll have to wait and see as the projected release is aiming for the 2nd half of 2025. The toys aren’t the only thing being imported though, as the show will be receiving an English dub and make it’s way to the Tubi streaming platform…and I am totally on board for this [Opinion is dependent on level of talent of the voice cast and direction. Netflix’s War For Cybertron trilogy…I’m looking at you. – Ed.]

All images courtesy of Peggy (@misswhynowhy on Twitter)

So, can Metal Cardbots take on the reigning champion in transforming robots? Or will they suffer the same fate of all competitors going all the way back to Tonka’s Go-Bots? It’s a great question to mull over. I can’t help but believe that with a different backstory, a cartoon that remembers to be fun and goofy at times yet getting serious when it needs to, and refreshingly new transformation schemes and play-patterns, Metal Cardbots has potential. Will they knock out Hasbro? Highly unlikely. But I’m confident that with the right advertising and right penetration into the toy market, they’ll for damn sure give Goliath a hell of a black eye.

So long as these idiotic tariffs don’t kill them first.