Toys / Toy Collecting / Transformers

Decepticon Sneak Attack

By Josh Hechinger
June 20, 2007 - 17:49

Picture from Hasbro.com

Decepitcon Sneak Attack is a Wal-Mart exclusive five-pack for Hasbro’s Transformers Robot Heroes toyline. The five figurines are repainted/resculpted versions of figures that have been released in the regular Robot Heroes sets.

Of course, this being Transformers, a new coat of paint is all it takes to have a new character. This set’s no exception, and features two new characters exclusive to this set: the occasionally hot-headed paranoid Autobot Cliffjumper and the Decepticons' own teleporting practical joker, Skywarp.

Likeness

Like all the Robot Heroes figurines, the characters’ looks are based on a combination of the Generation One cartoon and toyline depictions. So while the overall look of the characters resembles the cartoon, the details are usually taken from stickers and paint applications that appeared on the toys.

Sculpt

The only sculpting change given to any of these figures from their regular versions is that Mirage is now sculpted in translucent blue plastic.

(Translucent plastic is the toy industry’s visual shorthand for a character turning invisible, which is Mirage’s “thing”.)

Paint

From left to right in the set:

- “Hologram” Mirage has a slight pearl sheen to his white sections, and now has the word “CITA” written on both arm-panels.

What’s that mean? Well, the original Mirage toy from 1984 had “Citanes” there, which was a riff on the French cigarette company Gitanes. Mirage was a racecar, he needed sponsors, and it's cheaper to make them up than license them, and...

Anyway. Bonus points to Hasbro for including this deliciously dorky detail.

- Cliffjumper is a red, black, and gray repaint of Bumblebee. Hasbro saw fit to use a glossy black paint on his black bits, and a matte paint on the rest. It gives the character a bit more pop-off-the-shelf quality.

Oddly enough, this means that exactly half of Cliffjumper’s toy incarnations have been repaints of Bumblebee (to be fair, the guy’s only had something like four figures).

- Optimus Prime says he has “Supermetal Finish”, but I think he’s lying. He’s a bit brighter than the standard figure, but it’s a glossy, liquid-looking brightness that makes him vaguely resemble a Gummi Bear. He’s a bit cheap looking, frankly.

- Megatron also has Supermetal Finish, and it’s here that he finally triumphs over the hated Prime. Megatron looks like he’s made of two inches of pure die-cast meanness. He looks like he could take on your normal sized Optimus toys.

And win.

It’s kind of a shame he’s an exclusive: he’s a huge improvement over the bland off-white standard figure.

- Skywarp is a black and purple repaint of Starscream. Skywarp usually is. The little bit of gold detailing on his wings is nice though.

Scale

Like the Star Wars and Marvel sister lines, the Robot Heroes stand roughly two inches tall.

Stability

All the figurines have very stable giant feet, except for Skywarp, who has a giant cloud instead. You have to work at knocking these guys over, is the point.

Articulation

Shoulder articulation for everyone, neck articulation for the Autobots. Sorry Decepticons, being evil apparently means you can’t turn your head.

Plastic

Never mind how they look: Optimus isn’t made of delicious gummi candy, and Megatron isn’t a lump of die-cast hatred given tiny form. No, they join their troops in being made out of a slightly soft, but very durable plastic.

Packaging

Picture from Hasbro.com

The figurines come in a box that resembles a foot-wide cardboard half-circle, with a clear plastic front so you can see inside. The top of the box bears the characters names, the back bears stylized art of them, and the bottom shows you the other figures in the series.

The figures themselves are set against a cardboard diorama of (and I can’t believe I recognized this) a scene from the Transformers cartoon's pilot episode. It’s the hologram of a rocket fuel storage base that the Autobots whipped up to ambush the Decepticons in.

Someone at Hasbro has a frighteningly thorough knowledge of Transformers, let me tell you.

Cost

The set costs $10, give or take tax. Which is a little bit under what you’d pay for two 2-packs of the figures, so hey, bargain.

Availability

Well, it’s Wal-Mart exclusive, like I said above. However, I understand that the stores themselves aren’t actually carrying it. Instead, you have to order it off Wal-Mart’s website, where you can get it shipped to a local store or your own home.

Just so you know, the ship-to-store option has free shipping.

Last Updated: November 30, 2025 - 19:25