Cerberus is an interesting story. Half of the original pair
of Hades figures obtained, this was the one out of the full set of six that was
predetermined to be the weakest, least impressive one.
Boy, was that wrong.
Cerberus is the 3P version of Jaruga, and is all-around
awesome. It is one of only two unique molds in the six member team, the other
being Rhadamanthus, and will form the lower half of the Hades torso. Converting
from a stocky, solid robot to a pretty sleek, fast looking missile attack dune
buggy, there is a lot to like about this figure.
Robot mode always appeared kind of bland, color-wise, as it
looked like a two-tone grey robot. That turned out to be untrue, as Cerberus is
a fairly standard light grey/not quite white and a real rich, deep metallic
dark grey, almost copperish. It is a terrific color combination, and the figure
is super sharp looking. Upon removing it from the box, the general appeal of
this figure is on full display. There are some translucent red parts scattered
about the body, and a little bit of red and gold paint. The deco is pretty
sparse, but it is visually rather bold. The translucent red plastic makes up
the hands and toes, and this is a problem in both instances, but for different
reasons. The red plastic hands cause
worry about stressing the thumb by inserting the Breastmaster partner is weapon
mode. After having done this many times, there has been no issue, but there is
general understanding that translucent plastic does tend to stress more easily
than solid plastic, and that it is generally less durable. The translucent
plastic toes aren’t an issue for strength, but rather stability for the overall
robot. Cerberus doesn’t really have feet, but rather a hollow lower leg part that
becomes the missile end of the buggy mode. They are essentially giant calves
that allow some parts to flip around for the front part of a foot to come
together, with thin red plastic panels that flip down to serve as toes. The
figure is generally stable because of the amount of surface area these
Frankensteined feet provide, but parts like these toes can’t bear any weight,
and often adjusting the figure on a shelf will cause the toes to fold upwards
towards the calves. It is not an optimal foot situation.
The legs limit the amount of posing Cerberus can do, but
it’s not entirely their fault: this is not a very poseable figure in the first
place. The torso is a solid block of plastic, no doubt due to Cerberus’ role in
the combined Hades mode. He is the crotch/lower torso section, so it makes
sense for him to be a sturdier figure individually: think Heavy Labor from the
Hercules gang. Sacrifices made by the individual for the greater good.
The head sculpt is rather excellent, but like fellow
teammate Rhadamanthus, the head is just a hair too large, and that makes it
scrape the plastic of the chest cavity it folds in to. This also leads to some
worry, just like the hands, but several transformations have yet to yield any
serious problem or scraping. The plank that the head is mounted on does bend a
bit, possibly to accommodate the extra tight fit, but as with teammate Minos,
it is kind of concerning to be transforming an expensive figure and be bending
plastic, even if that is by design, without knowing that it is by design. And,
eventually, that plastics’ bendiness is going to wear out, and that is not
something any collector wishes for. While Minos’ jet cockpit clearance issue
was addressed by a slightly altered motion during transformation, it is not known
if there is some different approach that can be taken with Cerberus.
The Breastmaster partner turns into a Ravage-esque jaguar,
and it is adorable. Like all the other Breastmaster partners, it serves as a
competent weapon, a chest plate, and a tiny animal pal. This one may be the
best chest plate mode among the team, as it is adorned with additional gold
paint apps and kind of looks like it could be an engine in buggy mode. It also
adds quite a lot to Cerberus in his robot mode, as the broad chested nature of
the robot is pretty bland on its own. 
Vehicle mode is a much cooler than it has any right to be
missile car, kind of eliciting memories of G.I. Joe’s AWE Striker. That vehicle
was never a favorite around these parts, and that may be a contributing factor
to initial disinterest in Cerberus’ vehicle mode. But this is a quality vehicle
mode. A very simple transformation, but a pretty comprehensive vehicle with
adjustable front wheels and a lot of details molded in. beyond being simple,
the transformation pattern is fun,
something that is really lacking from the other five team members. One thing
that has made the Hercules figures so satisfying is that they are generally fun
to transform, and the Hades team does not compete with them on that front. It
is most certainly due to a difference in focus for the toys: everything about
the Hades toys is more detail oriented, more realistic, while the Hercules
figures (once again) are working in that Armada/Energon/Cybertron
aesthetic. Each approach works for each team, but Cerberus is fun to play
around with, while his teammates are generally stressful. Whether or not a
person wants 3P pieces for fun or appearance or whatever reason, the fun factor
cannot and should not be understated, because we are still dealing with toys.
There’s also an added measure of Cerberus the robot being
blocky and wide, while Cerberus the vehicle is long and reasonably slender, a
rectangle on wheels while the robot is a broad shouldered hulk. One thing that
probably should be mentioned, if only for the sake of doing so, but looking at
the vehicle mode, one almost cannot help but see Energon Cliffjumper/Beachcomber as an influence. There is no way
that this can really be verified, and it is not intended to be interpreted as
TFC Toys stole the idea from Hasbro; but if you go back to the Energon toy line, it seems like a pretty
reasonable connection to make here. Memories of that Hasbro figure are pretty
fuzzy, so comments can’t be made on anything more than the general appearance
of the vehicle mode.
Anyway, Cerberus’ vehicle mode sports large tires and a
silver painted engine, along with some of the translucent red plastic bits that
are visible in robot mode. The large rear end missile pods are not able to
point directly forward, implying that Cerberus would fill more of an artillery
role than a direct combat one. It fits
in better with the tanks Hypnos and Thanatos, as the three ground vehicles have
an all-around stockier profile than the three jet members do: at least Minos
and Aiakos do, Rhadamanthus is a fairly thick individual. The wheels are all
independent, so they can be moved around a little bit: the front wheels can
pivot towards or away from the front end of the vehicle, and the rear wheels
can be positioned to allow the vehicle to sit higher off of or closer to the
ground. So, the vehicle mode is kinda poseable . . . ? It seems that the main
reason for the moveable wheels is because they do tend to get in the way of
robot mode, so by being even slightly adjustable, this matter is mitigated. 
Cerberus is one of those toys that does a lot of things
poorly, like the feet and the poor head clearance, and the wheels hanging off
of arms and hips, but still manages to be a surprisingly good figure. Each
figure in the Hades set has seemingly been more pleasing that the last, even
the reuses like Aiakos and Thanatos. There is pretty much no need at all for
this figure unless you were all in on Hades, but as a standalone figure
Cerberus is really fun. Unlike Rhadamanthus, Hypnos or Thanatos, Cerberus has no
combiner parts that get in the way of appreciating this as an individual toy,
save for the pegs that are plainly visible. But as with the other three, those
can be overlooked in favor of the singular toy if you choose to do so. Cerberus
was first encountered with every intention of being labeled “The One You Have
to Buy to Make Hades,” but wound up being a really surprising and enjoyable
figure all on its own.
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