Goki's Toy Reviews of Yesteryear!

Printable View

10th September 2013, 12:25 AM
GoktimusPrime

Goki's Toy Reviews of Yesteryear!

I managed to find some OLD toy reviews that I wrote between 1997 and 2001... the most recent being the toy review for Beast Machines Beast Changer, written on 19/6/2001! :eek: It's interesting to see how some of my opinions on toys have changed over time; e.g. my review for Scuba's fairly harsh, but I actually quite like this toy now. :o I also have some old reviews written by other members, like Jhiaxus and Sofaman. :) I'll post those up separately so they don't get muddled with mine. And yes, I did use the Japanese names for quite a few of the early Beast Wars figures; that's because I was living in Japan when BW came out so I had the JP versions and wrote my reviews from that perspective.

So let's take a trip down memory lane...

BEAST WARS BASICS

------------------------------------------------------

Name: AIRAZOR
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Aerial Reconnaissance
Beast Mode: Peregrine falcon
Average Price: 25 AUD (with video)

BEAST MODE

Length: 10.5cm
Wingspan: 19cm
Colour scheme: primarily brown with white accents and yellow beak and talons. The moulding is superb with various types of feathers moulded throughout the face, back, wings and tail. A lever at the rear can be pulled to make the wings move forward and back. Two blades fold out from each wing, forming an attack mode. However, this is a really impractical and stupid attack gimmick. It's primary disadvantage is it's lack of range. The blades close in a pincer formation and connect just in front of the head. Hence, she'd have to be withing pecking distance to use it. Secondly, she wouldn't be able to fly, since she can't flap her wings whilst using the weapon. It's little wonder why she never uses it in the TV show. Furthermore, after pulling the blades out, mechanical parts are exposed, revealing Airazor's true robotic nature - hence the disguise gimmick of her beast mode would be useless.. then again, even if the parts weren't exposed, you don't see too many falcons flying around with blades sticking out of their wings. But other than the silly attack mode, the beast mode looks great.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Height: 9.5cm
A very superb figures, the beast and robot parts blend with each other nicely. Although the toy is somewhat back-heavy in this mode, the figure can be easily stood by adjusting the ankles. Two features which I really like are the robot fists and a hand held gun - with guns being a rarity in the Beast Wars line, especially during the early years. Despite the fantastic look of this toy, my only minor complaint would be that it doesn't look feminine at all. One reason why Takara was able to market the toy as a male character in Japan. Other than that, a very slick looking robot with 13 points of articulation.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 9.5cm
A very superb figures, the beast and robot parts blend with each other nicely. Although the toy is somewhat back-heavy in this mode, the figure can be easily stood
by adjusting the ankles. Two features which I really like are the robot fists and a hand held gun - with guns being a rarity in the Beast Wars line, especially during the
early years. Despite the fantastic look of this toy, my only minor complaint would be that it doesn't look feminine at all. One reason why Takara was able to market
the toy as a male character in Japan. Other than that, a very slick looking robot with 13 points of articulation.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Under the tail.

OVERALL

A fantastic looking toy with as much poseability as most other Beast Wars Transformers.

VARIATIONS

The brown was replaced with a darker brown, the white accents with silver, yellow was substituted with orange. All the new colours were also metallic. This toy was also packaged with a VHS video tape containing the episodes "Aftermath" and "Coming of the Fuzors Part I". The new colour scheme is great, as it is far closer to the colour scheme from the TV series. I recommend this version over the original.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: SCUBA
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Marine Construction
Beast Mode: Squid
Average Price: 750 JPY

BEAST MODE

Length: 15 cm
It's bland, it's boring, it's an orange and maroon squid with light purple spots. Well... I suppose there's not much you could expect a toy squid to do. The arms and tentacles offer a total of 6 points of articulation. In the centre of the tentacles is a mouth gimmick which is activated by pressing a lever behind the head. By doing so, two radula come out from either side of the beak. Oooh, scary.

TRANSFORMATION

The top part of the head splits in two to become the legs/feet. Lift the mantle up and rotate the legs 180 degrees (this is the part that looks really cool in the show). If you haven't already done so by now, turn the toy upside down and pivot the rear arms to the sides to reveal robot head. Lift up robot head and turn it 180 degrees. Lower the two remaining tentacles.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 10cm
Points of Articulation: 12 (disincluding tentacles)
I must agree with Ben Yee on the point that this toy really does look a tad too organic in robot mode, especially the head. The only remotely mecha-looking part is the chest and thighs. After reading Ben's review and looking at several pictures of the toy, I was quite skeptic at buying this toy. In fact, I only bought it because Scuba happens to be one of my favourite characters in the Beast Wars II series. However, I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised after purchasing and opening the toy. Despite its shortcomings, it's really not that bad a toy. But the lack of hands kinda erks me. I don't like handless humanoid robots. Also, he lacks a decent weapon. The only weapon he comes with is this 32mm V-shaped object which resemble a pair of barbeque tongs. According to the instructions, it's supposed to be a claw. Whatever. The radula gimmick, located in the chest, is activated by pushing a lever on the back (note that unlike Claw Jaw's instructions, which neglects to mention this gimmick, Scuba's instruction clearly illustrates this gimmick; this is an all-too-typical case of Japanese instructions being surpassing the American ones, not to mention they're drawn much better, but I digress...).
Due to it's incredibly short range, this weapon could only be used at close distance. The rear tentacles protrude from the shoulders and they look pretty neat, sticking out like 'wings'. The two arms located beneath the breast (where the pincers come out from) interferes with the legs.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

On the right rear arms (underside).

OVERALL

If I'd never seen Beast Wars II, I don't think I would've bought this toy. Even then it was a bit of an impulse buy (I also bought this toy from a specialty store here... heaven forbid that I actually went to all the trouble of ordering and having it sent from Japan!). Oh heck, the toy sucks. Sure, it doesn't suck as bad as I thought it would suck, but it still sucks (it's a Dustbuster where I was expecting a Hoover).

------------------------------------------------------

Name (Japan): CONVOBAT
Name (USA): OPTIMUS PRIMAL
Allegiance (Japan): Cybertron
Allegiance (USA): Maximal
Function (Japan): Amazon Warrior
Function (USA): Maximal General
Beast Mode: Bat
Average Price (Japan): Single; 750 JPY
Versus Set; 1480 JPY
Versus Set (with CD ROM); 2980 JPY
Average Price (US Versus Set): 13 USD

BEAST MODE

Holy Raw Energon Crystals, it's Batbot! Sorry.
Measuring about 11cm in length with an 11.5cm wingspan. The moulding is covered with a nice down of fur sculpting. From the top side, the is almost entirely gray-blue. The eyes are yellow and there are two white little fangs. The jaw opens and closes revealing a red tongue and an additional two white fangs. The major flaw with this mode is the underside. Whilst the wings have great bone and vein moulding, there's far too much robotic undercarriage.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Unlock the tail and watch everything else flick into place. That's it.

ROBOT MODE

A surprisingly good looking robot mode. Far better than I initially expected to be honest. I like the way the wings span out to the sides. The head looks rather strange and vaguely resembles the Convoy scheme. It's a combination of gray-blue and navy blue with yellow eyes. The upper arms, hips and thighs are navy blue and the forearms and lower legs are gray-blue with red accents. The moulding on the appendages are rather nice, especially the protrusions from the forearm, which would provide added advantage in hand-to-hand combat (like a spiked gauntlet). In this mode, Convobat has 11 points of articulaton and carries to groovy looking sabres.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

None.

OVERALL

A very well made basic figure. My only complaint is that the shoulders tend to pop off too easily.

EAST vs WEST : Differences between the US and Japanese releases
ROUND 1: The West
Optimus Primal and Megatron came together in a double pack on card. This set came with a small, badly drawn and poorly written comic book.
Not worth opening up, really. Although the toy retails for around 13 USD, I managed to pick mine up for 8 USD at KB Toys. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this set.
ROUND 2: The East
At first, Convobat (C-6) and Megalligator (D-6) were released as any other Beast Wars Transformer in Japan; available either individually or together in a versus set (VS-6). Other than all the usual stuff (catalogue, instruction booklets, Tech Specs cards etc.) there wasn't much else. Still, beats the hell out of their counterparts across the Pacific. ;)
ROUND 3: The CD ROM pack
The only Beast Wars Transformers to have ever been sold on a card (all other Transformers in Japan are boxed). Both Convobat and Megalligator were repainted for this release and came with a CD ROM.

Convobat was repainted. The bat parts were painted vermillion, the head became blue and red, the forearms and lower legs also became red with blue accents. The upper arms, hips and thighs were repainted white. On the back of the right wing, there is a silver Cybertron (Maximal) insignia painted on. Beneath the insignia is the word "C-ROM". Other than the change in colour, there's no difference. However, a change in colour can often make a significant difference to the overall look of the toy. I personally prefer this repaint (and yes, there are red bats; Lasiurus borealis).

The CD ROM itself has two main options; one is a database with Tech Specs on various Beast Wars Transformers as well as various footage from the TV show and TV commercial. The second option is a colouring in programme. It's basically like a colouring book, except you're using a mouse instead of crayons and the beauty of it is that you can recolour the same image again and again...

------------------------------------------------------

Name (Japan): MEGALLIGATOR
Name (USA): MEGATRON
Allegiance (Japan): Destron
Allegiance (USA): Predacon
Function (Japan): Amazon Warrior
Function (USA): Predacon Commander
Beast Mode: Crocodile
Average Price (Japan): Single; 750 JPY
Versus Set; 1480 JPY
Versus Set (with CD ROM); 2980 JPY
Average Price (US Versus Set): 13 USD

BEAST MODE

Length: 15cm
Apparently the body is a repaint from Iguanus' body. It has fairly decent scale moulding sculpted along the toy. The head is the most striking feature of the toy and is better moulded than I thought it would be. I like the eyes -- they have reptilian eyeballs -- the first Beast Wars Transformer to sport eyeballs! The toy is primarily olive and emerald green. The head is olive green with red eyes and white teeth. The jaws open up to reveal a red tongue.
The main drawback with the toy is when you flip it over -- there's way to much robo-undercarriage.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Unlock the tail and watch everything else flick into place. Remove the tail and flip the end to form robot gun. Flip out hind legs. Flip up front feet to form robot fists. Flip down robot feet. Flip flip flip, flippity flip.

ROBOT MODE

A lot better than I expected, but still not too much to write home about. The colour scheme of the beast mode is pretty much retained in robot mode with a few gold accents on the legs and feet. The robot face is purple with orange eyes and two really stupid looking fangs sticking out of the mouth. The rest of the head looks fairly Megatronlike, which is good. Standing the toy is a bit tricky though.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

None.

OVERALL

It's just so so-so. I'd only recommend getting it in a versus set... no way I'd get this toy on its own.

EAST vs WEST : Differences between the US and Japanese releases
ROUND 1: The West
Optimus Primal and Megatron came together in a double pack on card. This set came with a small, badly drawn and poorly written comic book.
Not worth opening up, really. Although the toy retails for around 13 USD, I managed to pick mine up for 8 USD at KB Toys. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this set.
ROUND 2: The East
At first, Convobat (C-6) and Megalligator (D-6) were released as any other Beast Wars Transformer in Japan; available either individually or together in a versus set (VS-6). Other than all the usual stuff (catalogue, instruction booklets, Tech Specs cards etc.) there wasn't much else. Still, beats the hell out of their counterparts across the Pacific. ;)
ROUND 3: The CD ROM pack
The only Beast Wars Transformers to have ever been sold on a card in Japan. Both Convobat and Megalligator were repainted for this release and came with a CD ROM.

Megalligator was repainted. Olive green was replaced with deep purple, emerald green was swapped with black and gold was replaced by silver. The face itself was repainted silver with red eyes. On the chest of the robot (or head of the croc), there's a silver Destron (Predacon) insignia. Beneath is the inscription "D-ROM." Other than the change in colour, there's no difference. However, a change in colour can often make a significant difference to the overall look of the toy. I personally prefer this repaint.

The CD ROM itself has two main options; one is a database with Tech Specs on various Beast Wars Transformers as well as various footage from the TV show and TV commercial. The second option is a colouring in programme. It's basically like a colouring book, except you're using a mouse instead of crayons and the beauty of it is that you can recolour the same image again and again...

------------------------------------------------------

Name: RATTLE (a.k.a. Rattrap)
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Intelligence
Beast Mode: Norway Rat
Average Price: 750 JPY

BEAST MODE
Length: 10cm (disincluding tail)
Not a terribly impressive beast mode. Don't get me wrong here, it's not too bad... but it's also not too good either. The fur moulding is reasonably good and I like the way the brown and gray blend with each other on the back. The eyes are yellow and the feet are pink. One minor drawback is that the hinges and seams are clearly visible. Also, there's a lot of, as Andew Sorohan would say, "robot kibble" visible from the underside. Mind you, a lot of the original Transformers had their robot parts painfully visible from the underside. Almost all of the original Autobots had their robot parts exposed from underneath. One interesting feature is the mouth which is moulded in a way that the "fangs" are exposed in a sort of... growling fashion. Do rodents growl? Underneath the mouth is an ominous cavity. (puts on an Arhur C. Clarke voice) "Was there supposed to be a jaw there that for reasons that we may perhaps never know, was never placed?" Who knows. Who cares. This mode has ONE point of articulation: the tail can move up and down.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Pull the tail up and the sides of the animal (including the legs) split open, the rat head swings down and everything else just fits into place. The fists are attached to two posts on either side of the hips. Simply disconnect them. Next to these posts are two pieces which assemble to form Rattle's gun. Put the gun in any fist. Tr�s simple.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 9.5 cm
Points of Articulation: 9
One of the most starking features of this toy is the head. The top of the head is silver with "brainlike" moulding... so if he were organic, it would look like his skull was cracked opened with the brain exposed. Of course, that doesn't apply for a robot. Don't worry, it's not quite as repulsive as it may sound. The eyes are red. Both the eyes and "braincap" look like they were made from separate pieces of plastic. I suspect that this toy was once intended to have that light-optic gimmick... you know, the one that Thrust and Machine Wars Optimus Prime have where light enters from the top/back of the head and makes the eyes glow. Evidently any such plans were ultimately abandoned. There are two 'steps' moulded on the base of the head. There is no nose and the shape of the mouth is rather strange. The jaw protrudes very prominently. The mouth appears to be moulded in an open position and two fangs are visible (these fangs were modified into rodentlike incisors in the show). Other than the eyes and "braincap," the entire head is gray.

The chest is basically the rat head, which fits in quite snugly. The upper arms are brown and rounded with a few very basic mechanical details moulded on. The lower arms are more squarish and gray. The elbows and fists are silver. The hip is brown and very unimpressive in appearance. The thighs are also brown and have humanlike 'muscles' moulded on. The lower legs look a tad more mechanical and are gray with silver accents. For some strange reason, there are three toes with claws on each foot. The annoying thing about the arms is that there is a gap of about 5mm between the shoulders and the torso. Some fans don't like the way the rat halves stick out to the side, but I don't mind them so much. However, the toy is a bit back heavy which can create some problems when placing the toy in more intricate poses.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Forget it.

OVERALL

Not too bad considering that this was one of the very first Beast Wars figures ever released. He ain't the best, but he isn't too bad either.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: SNARL
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Lieutenant Commander
Beast Mode: Supposedly a Tasmanian Devil
Average Price: 12 AUD
Note: Known in Japan as Tasmania Kid.

BEAST MODE

Length: 13.5cm
This toy looks NOTHING like a Tasmanian Devil. The colours are all wrong. The moulding is all wrong... it doesn't even have two thumbs like all marsupials do. It's just some really weird animal... but it sure ain't a Tasmanian Devil. In terms of colour, it's primarily brown with a grey stripe running down its back with a thick, bushy grey tail. Since when have Tassie Devils ever been brown? Everyone knows that they're black with a white stripe running across, not along the chest and hindquarter.

Without exception, the head also looks nothing like that of a Tasmanian Devil. It's got these two big-arse ears (WHY???) and a really wide face (whereas Tas Devils actually have a more pointed snout). It's actually a reasonably well constructed toy... and would be half decent if not for the fact that it looks absolutely nothing like what it's supposed to be!!!!! It just looks more like a mutant rat-gremlin ... thing. I'd better move on before I start swearing...

Gimmick: Press the button under the tail and the rest of the body is supposed to launch forward. However, the spring is piss-weak and it doesn't fly much farther than 10 centimetres.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Snarl was released as part of the 1997 assortment of basic figures and is one of the first basics to break away from the spring loaded one-flip transformation. Lift the sides up, separate the head into two halves. Swing legs down, flip out robot heels and flip up head halves to form robot feet. Swing the hind legs in and the lower jaw down to form robot chest. The tail fits onto the forearms... mounting on like G1 Megatron's fusion cannon... only that... it looks nothing like a cannon or any other kind of ballistic weapon! At best, it's a really weird baton.

ROBOT MODE

The most awkward looking part of this toy is the oversized back section. The colour scheme is mainly brown and grey. I like the head though. It's brown with a black face and blue eyes. Other than that, it's not terribly impressive.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

None.

OVERALL

Just what the hell is that beast mode supposed to be??

------------------------------------------------------

Name: TERRORZAURER (a.k.a. Terrorsaur)
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Aerial Combatant
Beast Mode: Pteranodon
Average Price: 750 JPY

BEAST MODE

Length: 12.5 cm
The major drawback with this mode is that the robot legs are painfully visible on the underside. Other than that, it's a fairly decent figure for a basic size. The overall shape is fairly sleek with some scale and leatherlike features moulded throughout. The jaw has a hinge allowing the mouth to open and shut. The toy is almost entirely red with several green, black and greena accents throughout. The teeth inside the mouth are white.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Exceedlingly complex... grab the beak and flip it up... then watch everything else flip into place automatically. After that, flip the feet over to expose robot fists. Just behind the robot head is a small cavity which contains Terrorzaurer's pistol. Take it out, unfold it and place it inside his fist. I think it's a rather neat idea to have a compartment for the gun in beast mode.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 10 cm
A very, very nice looking robot mode. In my opinion, the best looking of the general basic figures. Coupled with 13 points of articulation, Terrorzaurer not only looks good, but is fun to play with too! The toy is red and black. The head and hands are purple. The face is white with green eyes. The lower legs also have purple accents.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Like all of the initial Beast Wars figures, Terrorzaurer has no stickers.

OVERALL

Looks great and is fun to play with! Two thumbs up.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: THRUST
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Aerial Officer
Machine Mode: F-22 Lightning
Average Price: 750 JPY

MACHINE MODE

Length: 12cm
A recoloured Machine Wars Megatron/Megaplex. Mind you, it's a really nice recolour. It's yellow and black: nature's colours of danger! Many venomous animals, including some who wish to fool others into thinking that they're venomous, sport these colours (wasps, hornets, certain snakes, etc). There's also a purple Destron insignia on the right tail. The cockpit is transparent pink.

TRANSFORMATION

Same as Machine Wars Megatron/Megaplex. Just flip down the nose and everything else automatically goes into place. The two halves of Thrustgun are stored in a cavity behind each lower leg section.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 10cm
Articulation: 9 points
A repaint of Machine Wars Megatron/Megaplex. The most noticeable difference is that the translucent "glowing" optic gimmick works!! (they were vestigial in the Machine Wars figures) As light enters through the top and back of the head, the eyes glow bright pink. Neat!

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Under the left wing. Note that this wing has been slightly remoulded with a small square indent where the sticker rests.

OVERALL

Nice looking toy with decent playability. An improvement over his Machine Wars counterpart.

__________________________________________________ ________

Aaah... memories. Yeah, I know I incorrectly referred to the F22 as "Lightning"; I had a computer game called YF22 Lightning II, which of course was based on the prototype for the Raptor... but I didn't know that and I must've gotten the names mixed up. :p

Next: Deluxe Class!
10th September 2013, 10:40 PM
GoktimusPrime

Added commentary in [italics] that weren't part of the original review. I'm using to put some things in context, and other times just to nitpick my old self from 15 years ago. :p

BEAST WARS DELUXES

------------------------------------------------------

Name: BONECRUSHER
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: First Strike Infantry
Beast Mode: Bison
Average Price: 7.99 GBP [I'd gotten this toy from Glasgow as part of a trade]
Note: Known in Japan as Big Horn. [Yeah, not quite...]

BEAST MODE

Height: 10cm
Length: 13.5cm
In beast mode, Bonecrusher resembles a very husky bison. The sculpting is superb, displaying a very nicely done fur detail all over. The fur is mostly black with a silver streak running along the face, head and back. The lower legs are gray and the hooves are black. The eyes are vermillion and the horns are gold. There's not much poseability in the mode, but perhaps the more annoying thing is a disturbing amount of robot kibble visible; much like Lio Convoy, there's a lot of robot kibble available from the rear and underside. Also, the beast head doesn't lock on very well, and half the robot face can be easily seen just above the brow.

Gimmick: Pull the tail and the robot head rises to launch a missile out of its mouth. Needless to say that this looks very silly indeed.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Pull sides out. Fold out hind legs, flip in lower legs, revealing robot feet. Tuck in front lower legs and swing those sections down. Swing out robot arms. Flip down bison head. Swing head/back up and press down to secure robot head. Rotate waist 180 degrees. Pull out side panels on legs.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 15.5cm
Points of articulation: 13
Aside from the colours from the beast mode, the more visible robot parts introduce more grays as well as certain white parts. The robot eye is also vermillion and there are some silver stripes on the cheeks. Like the beast mode, the robot mode is also very husky, giving Bonecrusher a sort of brutish appearance. However, the most bizarre feature is the mouth, which is effectively just a square cavity with a spring loaded missile launcher inside. When using the launching gimmick, the head lunges forward to fire the missile from the mouth. This also exposes more gold colours, and the feet are painted gold too. The panels hanging off the upper arms are painted red on the insides.
The robot parts are rounded, but still look robotic. The hands are moulded in an open position, rather than a closed fist. Some fans have complained that this makes Bonecrusher look defenseless, and Ben Yee then says in his review that Bonecrusher could do an open handed "karate" like chop - but I disagree, because the fingers are curled inward. The reason why fingers remain outstretched during an open handed strike is to protect the fingers/thumbs from getting caught and buckling. The curled fingers would actually be more suited to pose Bonecrusher in some sort of grappling or wrestling technique. So by no means is Bonecrusher defenseless!!

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Inside robot chest.

OVERALL

The beast mode is kinda disappointing, but I do like the robot mode... though the mouth will probably continue to annoy me to no end. Ah well.

EAST VS WEST

In Japan, Bonecrusher was released as Big Horn and the white parts were repainted to red. [In hindsight, the way I described the differences between Bonecrusher and Big Horn was too simplistic, making it sound as if Big Horn is nothing more than a variant of Bonecrusher; which from a purely toy POV may be true, but Big Horn is actually an entirely different character from Bonecrusher; it's not quite the same as say original and video pack Airazor where they're different variants of the same character]

------------------------------------------------------

Name: BLACK WIDOW (a.k.a. Blackarachnia)
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Saboteur, Construction
Beast Mode: Silk Spider
Average Price: 1500 JPY

BEAST MODE

It's no secret that Black Widow is nothing more than a repaint of the Tarans (Tarantulas) figure. Measuring about 15 cm in length from fang to abdomen. The upper side of the abdomen itself is translucent black with some squiggles and circles moulded on. The underside of the back panel is pock-marked, creating a sort of "rocky" effect. The sides of the abdomen do not have these pock marks. At the centre of the back is a red hexagon, similar to the marking on the back of a red-back spider. The back of the head is pock-marked and is translucent black and gold. The gold continues to accent other parts of the head. The front of the head is also translucent black with fewer gold accents than the back. There are nine opaque cyan eyes. Beneath the front half of the head are two fangs. These are painted translucent black and striped with gold. Sticking out from either side of the head are eight bronze legs.

One major flaw with this toy is that the rear legs are moulded so far apart that they are unable to provide any support. Hence, the toy has a tendency to just lie on its underside. Also, the robot feet are clearly visible from behind.

Gimmick: Press the button on in the middle of the red hexagon and a projectile launches from behind. There is a string attached to the front of the missile. Whoopee.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Launch the missile and remove the launcher from the back. Turn the spider over and flip out the robot arms. Unfold the robot legs and swing down the spider head to form the front of the robot torso. Place the launcher in either arm and plug the missile back in.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 13 cm
Points of articulation: 11 (not including the spider legs)
Hmm... looks like a repainted Tarans. Oh wait, it is a repainted Tarans! The only physical difference is that Black Widow utilises the "robot" head whereas Tarans uses the "mutant" head. The head itself is purple. The forehead and face is black with gold cheeks and eyes. The upper arms are gray, accented with bronze, thanks to the spider legs which protrude from either side. The lower arms are the spider fangs. The torso is translucent black with gold accents throughout. The cyan spider eyes rest as the groin. The thighs are purple with translucent black on the outer sides. The calves are also purple and the knees and shins are gold. The feet are both purple. The major drawback with this mode is the fact that the elbows only bend one way.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

None.

OVERALL

Black Widow (known in the West as Blackarachnia) made Transformer history by being the first female Beast Wars Transformer. This is sometimes overshadowed by the fact that she is nothing more than a repaint of Tarans (known in the West as Tarantulas), and truly, that is all she is. However, Black Widow was not the first Transformer to change gender through a simple repaint. The first Transformer to undergo was a single mould coloured blue and yellow and released in the West as the male Headmaster Nightbeat. This same mould was simultaneously coloured red and white and released in Japan as the female Headmaster, Minerva. Afterwards, the Targetmaster Seacon, Tentakill was repainted and released as the female member of God Neptune, Scylle. The first female Beast Wars Transformer to have an original mould was Air Razor. Much to the delight of many fans, Black Widow was later given her first original mould in the form of a Transmetal 2. She was again, given another original incarnation in the toy line, Beast Machines. However, these are not the first female Transformers with original moulds, as the Arcee and Elita-One came out before them. Overall, Black Widow is not a bad toy, even for a repaint.

VARIATIONS

The American version of Black Widow (Blackarachnia) was coloured slightly differently. The gray parts were green and the forehead and was white. Overall, Black Widow was repainted to mimic the colours seen in the CGI TV series.

[Man I can't believe I used to put spaces between numbers and measurement abbreviations (e.g. "13 cm" instead of "13cm"). If I were to redo this review today, I would refer to the Hasbro version of Blackarachnia as "Hasbro version," not freakin' "American version," as that implies that the toy was exclusive to the USA. While Hasbro Blackarachnia wasn't released in Australia, it would've been available in other Hasbro markets like Canada and I think NZ too IIRC. Would've been more accurate to say "Hasbro version," but then add the disclaimer that Australia missed it. But then again... I was in Japan when I got this toy, so I may not have been aware that Australia missed it. But I certainly should've known better than to call it "'Murican version." Gah]

------------------------------------------------------

Name: CHEETUS (a.k.a. CHEETOR)
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Deep Forest Patrol
Beast Mode: Cheetah
Average Price: 1500 JPY

BEAST MODE

Height: 7 cm
A reasonably well sculpted cheetah figure. The toy is yellow with black spots. The eyes are green with black pupils (a rarity among Beast Warriors). The sculpting shows certain muscular features throughout the body as well as fur grains. There are two fangs protruding from the mouth which are coloured white. There are two major drawbacks with this mode. Firstly, the forelegs have no real articulation. Yes, they can swing at the shoulders, but that joint is really only there for transformation purposes and moving either leg down exposes a whole in on the side. Also, there is a cavity on the inner side of each foreleg. Secondly, there is quite a bit of robot "kibble" visible in this mode. Particularly parts of the robot legs on the back of the hind legs, parts of the robot head on the chest and the "gut gun" has the barrel in plain view. Also, the gut gun adds to much additional bulk to an animal which should be more sleek and lithe (though not quite as sleek and lithe as Beast Machines Cheetor... that's taking it to the other extreme).

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove the tail and gut gun. Holding onto the rump, flip the tail up and the entire section becomes a gun. Straighten out the hind legs, flip out robot feet and rotate lower legs 180 degrees. Rotate waist 180 degrees. Lower forelegs. Tilt the head forward a bit to unlock the back panels. Lower the mid-panel down to form the robot groin. Flip out robot arms. Bring beast head back. Rotate beast head 180 degrees. You can flip the robot head forward 90 degrees to form the "mutant" head, but it looks really stupid.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 12.5cm
Points of Articulation: 16
The robot is still primarily yellow with black spots. The head is very nicely sculpted and is yellow with blue accents. The face is blue and the eyes are green. The shoulders are blue and the forearms and hands are gold. The groin flap is also blue with some interesting patterns moulded onto it. The laps have a series of vents sculpted on. The lower legs are blue and the sculpting is quite mechalike. The feet are a bit small for a Transformer, but it serves its purpose well, is nicely sculpted and is coloured gold. The "arse gun" is yellow with black spots (except for the barrel). The "gut gun" is completely yellow except for the barrel, which is blue. The gut gun also holds and squirts water. My only complaint about this mode is the fact that the legs are unable to swing forward very far. This means that Cheetus is unable to execute a forward kick or even sit down!

OVERALL

A pretty good toy. Recommended.

VARIATIONS

There are three colour variants of Cheetus (known as Cheetor in English speaking countries). The most common one sports green eyes in both robot and beast modes. Yep, that's the one I got. Another variation has gold eyes in robot mode and red eyes in cheetah mode. Another variation has gold eyes in robot mode and blue eyes in beast mode (this is the one seen on Japanese Beast Wars TV commercials). The actual prototype's gut gun had pink parts painted on the "intestinal" part of the gun. However, this version of the gun was never released.

In 1999, Hasbro reissued Cheetor, except with a more metalllic colour scheme as part of the relaunch of the Beast Wars Transformers TV series on the American network Fox Kids!. In this version, the yellow has taken on a darker, more metallic shade and the spots are maroon instead of black. [This last paragraph wouldn't have been in my original version of this review, which would've been written in 1997; but I would've added this amendment in in 1999 after the Fox!Kids version came out; never thought to actually date amendments]

------------------------------------------------------

Name: CYBERSHARK (Italian name is Squalo Tigre)
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Ocean Attack
Beast Mode: Hammerhead Shark
Average Price: 8 GBP [I got this toy through a trade w/ a fan in Glasgow Scotland; hence why I listed the price in GBP]

BEAST MODE

Length: 21cm
Although the head resembles a hammerhead shark, some fans argue that the body looks more like a tigershark. I personally think it's closer to a hammerhead shark. because the tail also resembles that of a hammerhead shark. The shark is primarily coloured with an "electric" blue-grey, accented with dark-aqua spots and blotches on the top side. The underside is a light beige. The blue-grey and beige blend quite nicely on the sides of the shark. The major drawback of this mode is that the robot legs are clearly visible from the underside. Other than that, everything looks organic.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Launch the face and take off the tail. You know have something which looks ready to be made into shark sushi. But of course, first you have to gut the fish, so you split open the underbelly, and lo-and-behold, there's a pair of legs which swing up, then everything above the robot head swings down. Presto, instand torso and legs. The feet swing up and the arms are already there.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 14cm (not including side panels)
Points of articulation: 13
The head looks quite organic, sporting a "shark" theme. The head is blue-grey with dark aqua accents. The face is light beige with red eyes, which are bordered with black. The mouth is black with white, razor sharp teeth. The rest of th body is covered with an array of mechanical parts. This creates a very mechanised robot which starkly contrasts with the previously organic looking head and shark mode. The shark face can be held in one hand (though why he'd want to hold a shark head is beyond me, unless he'd want to literally use it as a hammer, but that'd be downright silly). A trigger on top of the tail section flicks out a blade, hence the entire section becomes a pincer weapon, also held in Cybershark's hand.

The launcher in the chest can be lifted 90 degrees and used as a chest cannon. Although it's a silly place to have a cannon (apologies to Guyver fans). This cannon can fire either the sword/shark face or a 73mm missile. These missiles are stored in two cavities behind the head. I think it's neat how they've given him both a short and long range weapon (a rarity among Beast Wars Transformers).

A very slick looking robot mode, it's coloured primarily blue-grey and white-beige. The inside of the underbelly panels are light brown and the abdomen is silver.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Inside the left underbelly panel (lower side).

OVERALL

If you can get over the organic looking robot head, it's a great looking toy with good playability. Recommended.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: DINOBOT
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Specialist
Beast Mode: Velociraptor
Average Price: 1500 JPY

BEAST MODE

Height: 10cm
Length: 21cm
A fairly well moulded Velociraptor toy with a very organic "reptilian" look to it. The moulding on the head is really nice, especially the eye (which resembles the reptilian eye on the Western Beast Wars packaging). The jaw also swings open to reveal an array of pointed teeth!

The most unfortunate feature of this mode is the "undercarriage." I'm talking about the robot legs, which stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. Not only is it bulky in comparison with a relatively streamlined body, but it's a totally different colour from the rest of the toy. Ah yes, the colour. *shudder* How shall I describe it... perhaps the word "vomit pink" will do. It's disgusting, really. There are some nice looking dark brown stripes which accent the toy, but the pink is really, really horrid. As for the robot legs, they're coloured a tranparent amber and the lack of any fleshlike moulding worsens the contrast.

Overall, this mode is really well moulded, but it suffers from a poor colour scheme and badly placed robot legs.

TRANSFORMATION

The tail section is removed and divides to become a spinning shield and sword. The back section is then raised and the "undercarriage" swings round to form feet and legs ("and I'll form the head!"). The feet also have heels which swing out. The sides of the dinosaur (including the legs) swing up 180 degrees to form the robot arms and sides of the torso.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 13cm
Articulation: 17 points
A totally dorky looking robot unworthy of the name Dinobot. I'm sure if Dinobot himself were to see this toy, he'd say, "What in the name of the Inferno is this?!"
First of all, the sickening pink colours really make the toy look bad and the gumpy robot legs don't help much either. The lower leg sections, coloured transparent amber, are moulded to somewhat resemble bones, giving a really lame 'fossil' look. This look is exacerbated by the lame-arse mutant head. It's just two transparent amber skull-like pieces of plastic which envelope the robot head. And the worse thing is that it doesn't open up all the way, so the mutant head is still very visible when it's open. At least Rhinox's mutant head opens up at a full 90 degrees angle, giving him a sort of "Wheeljack" look. But Dinobot's mutant head opens up about 35 degrees..... making it seem that the robot head has 'hatched' out of the mutant head. I've personally ripped the mutant head off and thrown them away. However, the one (and arguably only) saving grace would be the robot head. Sure, it doesn't look much like the way he looks in the TV show, but I think it's a pretty nice looking head. The face is blue with yellow eyes, and the rest of the head is brown with a yellow back. Obviously, there was going to be one of the "glowing eye" gimmicks, where light comes in from the back and the eyes light up, but for reasons unbeknownst to me, they decided not to go through with it. Shame really, because it's a fiendishly simple yet fantastically great looking gimmick!
In this mode, Dinobot wields a sword and spinning shield.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

None. Lame-arse. [oops... evidently I wasn't as cautious w/ my language 15 years ago :o]

OVERALL

Other than the horrid look, Dinobot is actually quite a fun toy to play with simply because it was well constructed and has good articulation design. It's the opposite of a MacFarlane toy (which look good but are dead boring to play with).

------------------------------------------------------

Name: MANTERROR
Allegiance: Predacon
Function: Quick Attack Specialist
Beast Mode: Praying Mantis
Average Price: 6.99 GBP [Yep... Glasgow]
Note: Known as the Cybertron Insectron leader Mantis in Japan. [Oh gawd... again, making it sound like just a variant when it's not. Aside from cosmetic differences, Mantis is also a MAXIMAL...]

BEAST MODE

Length: 14 cm (head to tail)
Wingspan: 22.6 cm
Manterror resembles a praying mantis, although the toy's proportions are a bit chunkier than what is a rather lean insect. The forearms are noticeably swollen, mainly because this houses a disc launcher gimmick. Simply face the discs forweard, and press the trigger to launch the discs. The head is reasonably well shaped, but again, the antennae are just a tad too fat. However, the toy is reasonably slender, considering that it's also concealing robot parts too. There's no real noticeable robot kibble in this mode, although the elongated thorax does look rather mechanical. Other than that, the toy looks very organic. The toy is primarily light green with vermillion striped accents on the forelegs and body The forelegs are translucent emerald and the eyes are vermillion with purple accents. Such vivid colours would suggest that Manterror is in an aggressive state, since Mantids can change colour, usually displaying brighter colours in a state of aggression. The wings also have some nice vein like structures moulded within the plastic. The supporting legs are rather short and unfortunately don't provide adequate support, and the insect tends to just flop on it's belly. This is a common problem among many insectoid Transformers. The limbs are poseable and the jaw and neck can move up and down as well.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Open insect hips. Rotate robot hip section down, pull out robot legs, fold out feet - flip hip section back up. Rotate thorax down, exposing robot head. Fold insect hips in, fold leg sections in, covering robot chest. Rotate anteannae up, fold insect legs down. Pivot arms up, locking onto shoulders.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 13.5 cm
Points of articulation: 15
This is a very organic looking robot mode. The colour scheme is essentially the same as the beast mode's. The head is translucent aqua with a lavender face and brow. The eyes are vermillion and the teeth are white. Yes, teeth. The mouth is sculpted in a bizarre laughing position. The lower legs are translucent emerald with vermillion stripes along the sides of the calves. The arms are very long, extending just beyond 15.5 centimetres. The disc launcher gimmick still works, but the lack of any anthropomorphic robot hands may disappoint some people.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

On top of the head - in plain view! I do like how Manterror displays his allegiance so proudly!!

OVERALL

The overtly-organic robot mode, weird grin and lack of robot hands stack up against this toy.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: SHADOW PANTHER
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Disguise Soldier
Beast Mode: Panther
Average Price: 1500 JPY

BEAST MODE

Height: 7 cm
Shadow Panther is basically just a repaint of the Cheetas (Cheetor) toy. Hence, mouldwise, both toys are identical. The only difference is in colour. Shadow Panther is almost entirely black except for some silver and yellow (due to some robot parts sticking out here and there, just like with Cheetas). The eyes are red and the face has some gray lines along the cheeks. Because this is a repaint of Cheetas, the same problems recurr; the overall body is too stout for a feline and there's just a bit too much robot "kibble" for my tastes.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove the tail and gut gun. Holding onto the rump, flip the tail up and the entire section becomes a gun. Straighten out the hind legs, flip out robot feet and rotate lower legs 180 degrees. Rotate waist 180 degrees. Lower forelegs. Tilt the head forward a bit to unlock the back panels. Lower the mid-panel down to form the robot groin. Flip out robot arms. Bring beast head back. Rotate beast head 180 degrees. You can flip the robot head forward 90 degrees to form the "mutant" head, but it looks really stupid.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 12.5cm
Points of Articulation: 16
The robot is still primarily black. The head is very nicely sculpted and is black with silver and yellow accents. The face is silver and the eyes are red. The shoulders are yellow and the forearms and hands are silver. The groin flap is also silver with some interesting patterns moulded onto it. The laps have a series of vents sculpted on. The lower legs are mainly silver and the sculpting is quite mechalike. The feet are a bit small for a Transformer, but it serves its purpose well, is nicely sculpted and is coloured silver. The "arse gun" is black . The "gut gun" is black except for the barrel which is silver. The gut gun also holds and squirts water. My only complaint about this mode is the fact that the legs are unable to swing forward very far. This means that Cheetas is unable to execute a forward kick or even sit down!

OVERALL

A very nice repaint. The best looking among all the toys that have used this mould. Recommended.

VARIATIONS

The actual mould of this toy was derived from Cheetas and was also used for Tigatron. However, these don't really count as variants, since they represent different characters.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: SHARP EDGE
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Deep Sea Assault
Beast Mode: Saw Shark
Average Price: 1800 JPY

Sharp Edge is shown on the left with his Swordmaster nemesis, Hardhead pictured right.
BEAST MODE

Length: 26 cm
Fundamentally a repaint/retool of Cybershark. The only mould difference in this mode lie in the head and tail. Cybershark's Hammerhead tail and head have been replaced with original sculpted Saw Shark tail and head. However, the main body is the same, which means that there are still four pairs of gills, whereas saw sharks have either five or six pairs of gills, depending on the genus. Of course, between five and six, the closest number would be five... perhaps suggesting that it's a Pristiophorus. If it's a Japanese saw shark (which would be fitting, since Sharp Edge is a Japanese Transformer -- nothing escapes me), then it would be a Pristiophorus japonicus.

The upper side of the toy is a deep cobalt blue with sky blue stripes throughout the body. The underside is a sort of green-beige (I think). The only downside to this mode would be that the robot legs are clearly visible on the underside of the shark. However, they've really tried to tuck them in as tight as possible, so it's a nice effort. Other than that, it looks fairly organic.

A trigger on the top of the shark (in front of the dorsal fin) launches the face. Yep. It shoots out to over 80 centimetres in fact (whereas Cybershark's launcher has a shorter range of 46cm, hence Sharp Edge obviously has a stronger launcher). Without the faceplate, there's a weird looking red robotic shark head. Needless to say that the toy looks really silly after launching off its face. (I suppose that in adhering with Japanese tradition, it would have to kill itself after "losing face" -- boom TISH, get it? Oookay...)

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Launch the face and take off the tail. You know have something which looks ready to be made into shark sushi. But of course, first you have to gut the fish, so you split open the underbelly, and lo-and-behold, there's a pair of legs which swing up, then everything above the robot head swings down. Presto, instand torso and legs. The feet swing up and the arms are already there.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 14cm (not including side panels)
Points of articulation: 13
The only mould difference between Cybershark and Sharp Edge's robot modes is the head. Sharp Edge's head actually has a fin running across the top and down the centre of the face (where a nose may have been). This gives Sharp Edge a kind of mecha-centurion look. The entire body is covered with an array of mechanical parts. This creates a very mechanised robot which starkly contrasts with the previously organic looking shark mode. The shark face can be held in one hand as a huge sword. A trigger on top of the tail section flicks out a blade, hence the entire section becomes a pincer weapon, also held in Sharp Edge's hand.

The launcher in the chest can be lifted 90 degrees and used as a chest cannon. Although it's a silly place to have a cannon (apologies to Guyver fans). This cannon can fire either the sword/shark face or a 73mm missile. These missiles are stored in two cavities behind the head. I think it's neat how they've given him both a short and long range weapon (a rarity among Beast Wars Transformers).
A very slick looking robot mode, it's coloured primarily cobalt blue and gray. The underbelly panels and abdomen are red. The toy's centre of gravity is slightly biased towards the back though.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Inside the left underbelly panel (lower side).

OVERALL

Cool looking toy with good playability and slight standing problems.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: TIGATRON
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Polar Reconnaissance
Beast Mode: White Tiger
Average Price: 1500 JPY

BEAST MODE

Height: 7 cm
Tigatron is basically just a repaint of the Cheetas toy. Hence, mouldwise, both toys are identical. The only difference is in colour. Tigatron is primarily white and covered with black stripes. The beast eyes are turqoise with black pupils. The fangs are painted silver.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove the tail and gut gun. Holding onto the rump, flip the tail up and the entire section becomes a gun. Straighten out the hind legs, flip out robot feet and rotate lower legs 180 degrees. Rotate waist 180 degrees. Lower forelegs. Tilt the head forward a bit to unlock the back panels. Lower the mid-panel down to form the robot groin. Flip out robot arms. Bring beast head back. Rotate beast head 180 degrees. You can flip the robot head forward 90 degrees to form the "mutant" head, but it looks really stupid.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 12.5cm
Points of Articulation: 16
The robot is still primarily white with black stripes. The head is very nicely sculpted and is white with turqoise accents. The face is turqoise and the eyes are red. The shoulders are turqoise and the forearms and hands are silver. The groin flap is also turqoise with some interesting patterns moulded onto it. The laps have a series of vents sculpted on. The shins are turqoise and the sculpting is quite mechalike. The feet are a bit small for a Transformer, but it serves its purpose well, is nicely sculpted and is coloured silver. The "arse gun" is white with black stripes (except for the barrel). The "gut gun" is completely white. The gut gun also holds and squirts water. My only complaint about this mode is the fact that the legs are unable to swing forward very far. This means that Cheetas is unable to execute a forward kick or even sit down!

OVERALL

A pretty good toy. Recommended for collectors.

VARIATIONS

Tigatron was never released here. My Tigatron is the Japanese version (and hence the above review was based on that). The American version is primarily beige and covered with black stripes. The face is silver and the robot eyes are black. The forearms and feet are turqoise instead of silver and the shins are silver instead of turqoise. The Japanese version's colour scheme is based on Tigatron's colour scheme in the TV series.

The Japanese one looks more like the TV show. Interestingly enough, the prototype Tigatron (which was never released) was painted mainly orange with black stripes.

The actual mould of this toy was derived from Cheetas (Cheetor) and later reused for Shadow Panther, although these don't really count as variants, since they represent different characters.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: WASPEETAR
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Aerial Assault
Beast Mode: Wasp
Average Price: 1500 JPY
Note: Known in the West as Waspinator. [Known in Anglophone markets as Waspinator. He did have different names in other Western countries; I didn't know what they were at the time as I was in Japan; but I should've known better than to assume that all Western countries use the same Anglophone names]

BEAST MODE

Length: Just under 23 cm
Wingspan: 20.5 cm
Waspinator's beast mode is reasonably well crafted. The overall moulding is very rounded and features numerous pock marks on the head and thorax as well as bands on the abdomen. This gives the toy a very insectoid look. Very organic indeed. In fact, the only robot 'kibble' visible in this mode are the robot arms, which rest beneath the thorax. The robot face can also be seen if you peek between the hands, but other than that, it's fairly well tucked away. The head is painted green with two big blue segmented eyes. There is a pair of black antennae as well as a pair of black mandibles. The upper part of the thorax is also green with a black sqaure [A black what?!] in the middle. A pair of translucent-pearl wings protrude from each side. I was quite impressed with the wing structure as it adds an air of realism to the toy (to a certain extent). As hinted before, the underside of the thorax betrays some robot parts. Primarily the arms/hands. This also introduces some grass-green and light grays. The abdomen is yellow with black stripes painted on the sculpted bands. The two shades of green accent the underside. A large green knob protrudes from the top of the abdomen - this is the handle of the robot gun. It's reasonably inconspicuous. The two rear legs are green (both shades) with light black accents on the darker green. All other legs are black. Although the rear legs do look insect-like, they don't look terribly wasp-like in my opinion. They're the wrong colour and are a bit too long and chunky. However, they do provide better support than the other four legs, which are terribly weak and allows the front-mid section of the toy to flop down. This mode features 8 to 10 points of articulation (depending on whether or not you want to count the hinges between the robot forearms and insect legs or not).

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove robot gun from abdomen. Fold rear insect legs in half, forming robot legs. Swing robot hips up. Fold out robot arms. Fold down insect head and split in half. Attach each half to the side of the gray chest plate Insert gun into either fist. Missiles for the gun are located underneath each wing. By opening up the black back panel and chest plate (which has a tendency to just fall off on my toy), you can switch between the regular robot head and the mutant head.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 13cm
The only realy [See, this is what happens when you never use spell check :rolleyes: :p] robotic parts are the arms and robot head (if you choose to use it). Otherwise the toy does look quite organic. In spite of this, it is still a reasonably nice looking robot mode and fun toy to play with. The mutant head is light gray with translucent pearl eyes. It is sculpted to resemble a wasp's face. The robot head is gray with a black face and translucent pearl visor. The sculpting here is undeniably humanoid, giving the toy a more orthodox Transformer look. Because of this, I think the robot head looks better. In spite of this, I actually prefer the mutant head for no other reason than the fact that the mutant was used by Mainframe Entertainment in the TV show. Both heads have a translucent panel on the back of the head, which suggests that at some stage the toy designers had considered giving the eyes a light-piping gimmick (which was rampantly used in the later Beast Machines line). However, for reasons best known to Takara/Hasbro, this gimmick never came to fruitation [Uuh, I think I meant to say "fruition"], so it back panels remain vestigal ["vestigial"]. This toy features thirteen points of articulation.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

None. Being one of the very first Beast Wars Transformers released nearly half a decade ago, there were no rub signs or any other marks of allegiance.

OVERALL

Almost a compulsory piece in any fan's collection. :-)

[And here's an amendment I would've added 2 years later...]
VARIANTS

In the United States, Hasbro released a "Fox! Kids" version of Waspinator in 1999. It was essentially a repaint sold on a new card.

------------------------------------------------------

Next: Mega Class!
11th September 2013, 11:14 PM
GoktimusPrime

BEAST WARS MEGAS

------------------------------------------------------

Name: APACHE
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Lieutenant Commander
Beast Mode: Mandrill
Average Price: 2280 JPY
Note: This toy is identical to the B'Boom figure released in America and Canada.

BEAST MODE

Length: (nose to tail) 14cm
Primarily a blue mandrill with grey hands and feet, an orange nose, white cheeks and gold ears.There are also some grey and gold accents throughout different parts of the toy as well. Although the colour scheme is a bit strange, it still looks rather nice. The moulding is quite good, particularly the fur pattern. The toy is packaged with the hind ankles adjusted backwards, like in the original Optimus Primal toy. Photographs on the packaging and catalogue also show it in this position, however it is possible to bend the knees forwards (like in a real mandrill - primates don't have backwards knees). The instructions (which begins with an illustration of the toy in beast mode) shows the knees adjusted forward.

This mode has a strange gimmick where the missile launcher-gun and missiles can be placed inside the mouth. To access the launcher, just open the jaw - then the launcher is exposed and the eyes actually open up very widely. It gives the mandrill face a very strange look. Some fans argue that it looks rather comical. I think it looks stupid. With the jaws and eyes so wide open, it looks like Apache's got something shoved up his unmentionables.

At any rate, the missile can be fired by sliding a trigger located on the back. Closing the jaw also sets the eyes back to its original position.

A few robot parts are visible in this mode (though not as exposed as Lio Convoy) and the shoulders seem somewhat separated from the rest of the body. Other than that, it's a pretty good looking and fun mode with 16 points of articulation (including the jaw and waist).

TRANSFORMATION TO ATTACK MODE

Fold out the mandrill chest to the sides and lower the head. Pull the back section down by 90 degrees and the torso divides in half (forming a horizontal platform). The mandrill hands turn round 180 degrees. Turn the feet round 180 degrees (so that they're upside down) and take out the robot heels. The chest halves form the gun batteries with two dual cannons that extend out.

ATTACK MODE (Known in the Beast Wars II series as the Berserker mode)

This toy was one of the first in the Beast Wars line to use an intermediate mode (since B'Boom was released before the Transmetals). One interesting difference between Apache and B'Boom is that Apache's attack mode is actually noted as a separate mode. It is shown on the top of the packaging, the catalogue and is mentioned in his tech specs. More than just a mandrill stuck in mid-transformation, there are some nice moulding features available exclusively to this mode. These include the entire missile launcher and a platform mounted on the rear (a place where a potential gunner may sit). Apache's mutant head is located directly under the front of the missile launcher. I like this feature because it gives the mutant head far more purpose rather than just an alternative for the robot head (this is rare, because I normally don't like the mutant heads).

The fact that the limbs are used to support the battle platform gives it a somewhat strange look, but this mode deserves more credit than most fans are willing to give. At first, I thought it was going to be nothing more than the toy stuck in mid transformation, but it has proven to be more than that. It beats Transmetal Rhinox's transport mode hands down!

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE (from Beast Mode)

The chest opens up and splits off to the sides. The mandrill head flips down to form the robot chest and the entire front torso section slides down (the arms slide down with it), exposing the robot head. After some fiddling around, the mandrill chest halves form the sides of the torso. This can be kinda confusing, because there are so many joints here, but just keep in mind that it goes into a zig-zag formation. Overprecision is a key feature of transforming Apache to robot mode. You need to configure the side torso sections in exactly the right position, otherwise it's not going to lock into place. It's a hassle. The legs then spin round 180 degrees, then the feet pivot 180 degrees, and the robot heels can pivot 180 degrees too, but then the toy can't stand, so just pivot it 90 degrees. :-)

ROBOT MODE

Height: 17cm
Points of articulation: 18 (including the heels)
Like the original Optimus Primal toy, the beast hands are also the robot hands, hence the thumbs are proportioned to that of a mandrill and the hands reach all the way down to the knees. However, due to his more slender built, it looks far less obvious than Primal. In robot mode, quite a lot of robot parts become visible. Although the transformation involved a number of cumbersome twists and turns, almost half the robot body is actually robotic! It doesn't look like a beast with robot bits attached to it like some other figures I won't mention (you all know who you are). The missile racks on the sides of his torso are a striking feature. They remind me of the missile pods on the Tomahawk Destroids from Macross (known as Excalibur in Robotech). The robot head just looks plain weird. Not really in a bad way mind you -- just strange. The teeth are gritted in an aggressive manner (you can even see a pair of fangs) and there are two large 'Vulcan ear' structures on the side of the head ("all the better to hear you with, my dear") as well as a blue Mr. T style mohawk (don't ask me why). A storage compartment behind the head holds his rifle-launcher and a quiver of missiles... okay... two missiles.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Inside the pelvis. You need to fold the torso back to see it.

OVERALL

A pretty neat toy. Recommended.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: INFERNO
(Italian name, Formicula, which is rather strange because fire ants are not members of the Formica genus [as many other ants are], but of Solenopsis. And Tarantulas isn't even a tarantula... *sigh*)
Allegiance: Predacon
Function: Infantry Commander
Beast Mode: Fire Ant
Average Price: 26 AUD
Note: I got the Australian/European version of this toy which was packaged in English, Spanish and Italian. Cool, eh? Well, it'd be cooler if they didn't gip out on the Tech Specs (they were abbreviated so that the only info it gave was name, allegiance, function and weapon location. Why didn't they print full-length multilingual Tech Specs? We had full-length multilingual packaging here during Generation 2 for crying out loud!
So yeah, this was the first BW TF I'd bought in European packaging; and having come from predominantly collecting BWs in Japanese packaging, getting the rather lacking EU version was a bit of a shock! :eek:

BEAST MODE

As Dave Van Domelen put it, this really is one "****ing" huge ant. The toy itself is 18.5 centimetres long and 8 centimetres wide (not including any legs or antennae). The toy is primarily transluscent metallic red with fuchia accents on the body and front legs. Mechanical deails can be found throughout the toy, particularly on the fore and hind legs and abdomen. There are green decos running along the back of the thorax and abdomen. The head itself is transluscent metallic red with navy blue eyes and gray mandibles. The antennae, lower forelegs, mid-legs and lower hind legs are black.
The main flaw with the toy in this mode is its inability to stand up. It has a dreadful tendency to flop down on its belly and the ridiculously short mid-legs don't help whatsoever.

Gimmick: Push forward the lever on the head and the outer jaws open up, exposing the inner jaws which protrude. Gnarly. This also doubles as a missile launcher, but you have to amputate the hind legs to use them as missiles.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove launcher/mandibles. Pull legs away from body, then downwards. Rotate torso 180 degrees. Open up the hatch on the back and rotate ant head forwards to reveal robot head. Turn robot head around (oh, and close that hatch before he catches a cold) and fold the fore legs up to form robot arms. Raise lower legs and lock the hips into position. Pivot tail up and lock it into position.

ROBOT MODE

Very nice looking indeed. The most striking feature is the head. Other than being gray with red eyes and four black horns, there's also a huge white Jokerlike grin across the face. With all teeth bearing, it looks truly maniacal. Inferno was also one of the first toys without an alternate head in robot mode. Unlike the ant mode, the robot mode stands just fine (despite being a bit back heavy). Sixteen and a half centimetres in height, the robot mode retains the same colour scheme as the beast mode and the beast and robot parts blend in quite well. The lack of an opposable digit is rather strange, but the presence of two menacing claws (and one vestigial looking "thumb") on each hand compensates. A very keen looking and fun toy with 10 points of articulation. Although the instructions mention taking the missiles off the legs and putting them aside or using them in the launcher, Griffin showed me he preferred leaving the missiles on the legs, acting as shin-guards (okay, potentially explosive shinguards, but you'd be more likely to lose them if you chucked them aside).

TRANSFORMATION TO "BLENDER-BUTT" FLIGHT MODE

According to the instructions, before you lock the hips and raise the abdomen, you're supposed to open it up, revealing the entire flight gimmick. Obviously, this looks incredibly stupid, so here's a better way to do it (and end up looking like the flight mode in the show): From robot mode, just open up the thorax. Press the honkin' red button to make the panels spin. It's that easy.

FLIGHT MODE

I'm basing this review on my version of the flight mode (and probably the same way most fans transform the toy). Besides, that's how the flight mode looks like in the show, so nyah. The entire flight array looks very nice indeed. In the middle of the formation is a gray quad-thruster engine. Protruding from behind this are four silver propeller blades which are superbly crafted with a plethora of mechanical detail and four blue vents.
Gimmick: Push on the red button and the panels spin clockwise. Good ol' blender-butt.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

On one of the propellor blades.

OVERALL

Incidentally, shortly after getting Inferno, I took it to a picnic. (no pun intended, I actually got invited to a picnic a few days after getting the toy) Although I was the only real TransFan there, everyone else fell in love with the toy and showered it with compliments. Despite excessive rough-housing (the girls were hugging and petting it and the blokes were slam-arsing around with it - and everyone wanted to have a turn transforming it), the toy remains in one piece and is none worse for wear.
A great looking toy that's fun to play with and able to withstand intoxicated members of the Sydney Uni Climbing Club (as well as a few members of that whacky Medieval Society, hell, surviving any intoxicated university student is a great achievement for a toy!)... damn, this toy's even more legendary than milk!

------------------------------------------------------

Next: Ultra Class!
12th September 2013, 11:34 PM
GoktimusPrime

BEAST WARS ULTRAS

*Note: I mean Ultra as a price point, not just size class*

------------------------------------------------------

Name: BIG CONVOY
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Supreme Commander
Beast Mode: Mammoth
Average Price: 2980 JPY

BEAST MODE

Length: 24 cm
Height: 13 cm
Basically brown in colour with golden tan towards the lower half. The tusks and toes are painted ivory white and the eyes are green. The moulding resembles a woolly mammoth... a big. fat, shaggy elephantlike creature. Shaggy fur details cover the mould and the tusks also have grooves moulded in to give it a sort of worn look. Overall, it's a rather nice looking mammoth. Some robot parts are visible from the backside and underbelly, however the majority over robot parts are well covered. The main drawback of this mode is the lack of any real articulation. The legs are practically immobile and the only thing you can do with this toy in this mode is to use the tusk and trunk gimmicks. A lever on the top of the head makes the trunk move up (somewhat similar to the way Transmetal 2 Dinobot's tail moves) and pulling on the ears make the tusks lunge upwards (uuh... yeah...).

TRANSFORMATION TO MAMMOTH TANK MODE

Lift up the rear tail section; Open up the back panels; Lift up the back section. Unlock the two halves of the face, then raise the trunk section. Rotate the entire trunk-back section 180 degrees. Lower trunk section; Pull back tail section, exposing the cannon. Lower cannon into place. Big Convoy is now a Mammoth Tank (weee),

MAMMOTH TANK MODE

It's pretty much the same as the beast mode, except with the trunk is at the rear and there's a cannon sticking out of the forehead. The cannon has two spring loaded launchers. An additional two launchers can be accessed by pulling out the side panels. This is a kinda silly looking mode but hey... who'd wanna tango with a mammoth with a BFG sticking out of his head? :-)

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Raise rear tail section. Open up back panels. Lift up back section. Open up the face and raise the trunk section. Unlock the front legs from the face by holding onto the face and pulling down on the front legs. Swing open the entire bottom half. Straighten robot legs and position mammoth hind legs so that the feet are pointing in the opposite direction of the robot knees. Pull out the leg covers (the mammoth side panels) and swing them forward to reveal missile launchers (looking similar to those on the T-Rex Megatron). Swing up the mammoth forelegs behind the robot lower legs and push them into place (so they form the calf sections). Open up robot feet. Turn entire top section 180 degrees. Unfold robot arms and reposition the forearms. Swing down the two halves of the mammoth head so that the tusks are facing outward and the insides of the halves are facing forward. Raise arms up to lock shoulders into place and swing arms down. Push the torso down so it joins the hip section, this reveals robot head. Reposition the mammoth face halves so that the mammoth eyes are facing upward. Swing back-trunk section counter-clockwise (so that the trunk is on Big Convoy's right side). Pull out horns on robot head. The back-trunk section can be removed to form a hand held BFG.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 18 cm
Points of articulation: 16
This is one really cool robot mode!! The panels used in beast mode fold back to minimise interference with mechanical features such as pistons, screws, lights, vents, servos etc etc etc moulded throughout the toy. The head resembles a traditional Convoy Optimus-esque look... the head is metallic blue with a silver face and crest and metallised gold eyes! The horns are grey. The neck is black and the moulding on the neck is superb! The shoulder joints are metallic beige with more mech-moulding. The top of the shoulders actually have truck lights!!! Sure, it's totally illogical, but these lights are obviously there to pay homage to the original Convoy/Optimus Prime. Bloody awesome!! The right arm (which has a slight tendency to pop off) is mainly red on the upper half with white accents, and the forearm is white with red accents. The left arm is silver with transluscent red accents! Both upper arms feature gold discs and both hands are black with white fingers. Both elbow gears are metallic beige.

The upper torso is red with silver accents and there's a transluscent red chest panel (with an array of circuits moulded inside!!) with silver and metallic blue accents. In the centre of the chest is the Cybertron (Maximal) insignia. It is red on a golden disk. The lower torso is white with some metallic blue and transluscent red details. The Gundam-like hip is a metallic beige with gold and white accents. The upper legs are black with silver vents and circuits. The lower legs are white with golden brown pistons. The feet, which resemble the cross between the feet of a Gundam (from Mobile Suit Gundam) and a Valkyrie (from Macross) are black with metallic blue detailing.

This mode is absolutely fantastic! With sixteen points of articulation, almost all the joints are ball joints (including the neck!). In this mode, Big Convoy can either hold his BFG or a pair of tonfas which can be located inside his forearms. There's also a pair of missile launchers attached to the lower legs. One unusual feature about this toy is that the robot mode is totally robotic. It practically incorporates none of its beast mode features into the robot form. All the beast mode features simply form themselves around the robot form, but are not directly part of it. Here are some examples of toys which incorporate beast parts into their robot modes: Convoy/Optimus Primal has gorilla hands, Megatron has T-Rex head and tail for hands, Lio Convoy has lion feet and many smaller Beast Wars figures look like animals with robot bits sticking out. But not so with Big Convoy... this is a robot with beast bits discreetly clinging on. The most obvious beast parts are the tusks... but it doesn't detract from the look in anyway (but if you want to make the robot mode even less organic, turn the mammoth face halves so that the eyes are facing backwards, and the mechanical parts are facing forward).

THE TOUCH

"We are Primus, We are Prima, We are Prime Nova, We are Sentinel Prime, We are Optimus Prime, We are..... THE CREATION MATRIX!"
A real treat for old-school fans has been added to this toy. Open up the chest panel and voila! Behold, the toy which fans have been waiting for since 1986..... the Matrix. Also known as the Creation Matrix or the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Measuring 4 cm in length, the Matrix is coloured metallised gold with a transluscent red orb inside the main casing.

So who else can hold this Matrix?
Optimus Prime (1984): Yes! Although it's a loose fit. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit inside his chest compartment.
Hot Rod: The Matrix handle fits perfectly into Hot Rod's fists, however, due to its small size the arms must be turned inwards. Both Big Convoy and Optimus Prime have elbows that can swivel in. So does Hot Rod, but unfortunately, his chest is too broad and it stops his hands from turning in far enough... but he can still hold the Matrix in one hand.
Rodimus Prime: Forget it. Not only are his fist holes too small, he lacks any form of elbows. Sucker.
Ultra Magnus: According to Yosuke Ishikawa, it fits... but extremely loosely.
Galvatron (1986): Yes! Although loosely like Optimus. So yeah, he can do the "Unicron! Unicron! See this! I now possess that which you most fear!" etc etc... you get the idea. ^_^
Thunderwing: No elbows. 'nuff sed.
Starscream (1984): Bah! No fist holes!!
Transmetal Optimus Primal: Yep. Although a bit loose like Optimus Prime.

OVERALL

a magnificent toy!!

One thing my review doesn't cover is transforming Big Convoy BACK to beast mode, which is massive pain in the backside. The toy is such a massive shellformer; but the robot mode is nice and it will always have a special place in my heart as the first Transformer toy to have a removable Matrix accessory. :)

------------------------------------------------------

Name: OPTIMUS PRIMAL
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Maximal General
Beast Mode: Gorilla
Average Price: 45 AUD
Note: Known in Japan as Convoy.

(Above): Megatron cops a left hook from Optimus Primal.

BEAST MODE

Height: 15.5cm (on all fours)
Length: 13.5cm
Optimus Primal is a black gorilla with gray face, ears, chest, hands and feet. The eyes are blue and the teeth are a cream-white. The moulding on this toy is excellent. A very beautiful fur detailing extends throughout the toy and the facial features look neat too. However, a few robot parts are clearly visible in this mode, especially in the upper arm and leg regions. Also, the teeth moulding shows a zig-zag formation, implying that gorillas have razor-sharp teeth, which is nonsense. Why would you need razor-sharp teeth to eat bananas? Furthermore, the way the mouth is shaped is too anthropomorphic in my opinion. Gorillas are not known to grit their teeth in such a way. Actually, gorillas are quite peaceful creatures, but if they want to show anger, they'll open their mouths wide, exposing all of their teeth and gums... a very typical primate trait... even humans do it. But wait, there's more... look at the knees. They're pointing to the rear (ie: they're backwards!). All primates without exception have forward pointing knees (including ourselves).
This was obviously done to help the toy hunch over, but the same effect could have been achieved with forward pointing knees too. We see this in Apache (B'Boom). Also, the hands are kinda blockish and the thumb is waaaay too big.

Gimmick: Pull a lever on the back and the arms beat on the chest:

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Extend the legs and flip in the gorilla feet. Turn the waist around 180 degrees and flip out robot feet. Upper arms fold up to form shoulder pads. But before you think you've got some weird reject from Planet of the Apes, flip down the gorilla head, push in the gorilla head and flip it round to form robot chest. Lo-and-behold, Optimus Primal with a whacky mutant head. Yuck. Actually, most fans like this mutant head. Whatever, I think it sucks. Turn the head round 180 degrees to get the robot head out. Aaah, much better.
I actually don't mind the mutant head at all now. :)

ROBOT MODE

Height: 20cm (from head to foot)
I like this toy, oh yes I do, I like this toy and so should you! Alright, sorry for going Seuss there for a moment. Optimus Primal was the first Beast Wars Transformer I ever got. At first, I was amazed at the way the robot mode incorporated both beast and robot parts. Overall, it's a pretty nice looking robot mode. I like the way the gorilla face flips over to form a robot chest (whereas they could've very easily just left the gorilla head to sit on the chest like in Cheetor). I also like the way the gorilla feet become robot heels and the robot feet look great (love them 'hydraulic pistons')! The upper arms are slightly more mechanical, being mainly white and red. This colour scheme continues on the thighs and feet. The robot chest is gray with red accents and is clearly non-organic. Perhaps the best part of the moulding is the head. It resembles the original Optimus Prime head being blue with a gray faceplate and red eyes. The only quirky thing about the head is the rear section which is red. This was obviously done for the sake of the mutant head. Damn that mutant head. With sixteen points of articulation (including the feet), this is a very poseable toy, providing endless hours of fun. Weeee.

The only things that erk me about this mode is the simplistically moulded hands and the length of the arms, which are too long to be humanoid. Then again, it's a robot, not a human. The hands may be a bit Gumpy, but they're hands nonetheless... something which cannot be said for Megatron.

Some fans wonder why the toy doesn't have a mouth as in the show (or why he has a mouth in the show, whereas the toy doesn't... gettit?). As with most Transformers, the toy is developed before the show. This is no exception with Beast Wars. Optimus Primal was designed to strongly resemble Optimus Prime, since Kenner originally intended for the Beast Wars Transformers to be a new incarnation of the G1 Transformers. However, when Mainframe Entertainment took over writing the Beast Wars mythos, they introduced several new concepts, including one that the Beast Wars Transformers are not the old G1 Transformers, hence Optimus Prime is not Optimus Primal. In order to alleviate any confusion between the two, Mainframe gave Optimus Primal a mouth. All subsequent Optimus Primal incarnations (Transmetal etc.) have come with a mouth.

Gimmicks:
1. Pull back the tab behind the left wrist, *CLACK!!*, a double-barrelled missile launcher! Pow! Pow!
2. Open up the compartment on the right forearm, there's a mourning-star weapon with a spiked skull! It's clobberin' time! Smash! Smash!
3. Put the swords in his hands and pull the lever on his back to make the forearms swing round and round, woosh! Woosh!
4. Press the button on his arse and *KER-CHACK! KER-CHACK!*, two missile launchers! Blam! Blam!

RUB STICKER LOCATION

None.

OVERALL

This is one kick-arse toy. It features excellent poseability, fairly decent moulding as well as four nifty gimmicks... Might Makes Right, Yooooo Jooooeee!!

------------------------------------------------------

Name: LIO CONVOY (say "Lie-Oh" Convoy)
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Supreme Commander
Beast Mode: Lion
Average Price: 2980 JPY

BEAST MODE

Length: 15 cm (not including tail)
Height: 12 cm
A very well moulded white lion. The general sculpting is excellent, with particular attention paid to the face, fur and mane. In this mode, Lio Convoy is essentially a white lion with golden mane, tail and claws and gray accents on the feet. The eyes actually have eyeballs too! Also, pressing a button on the top the mane (which is moulded to blend in with the rest of the mane, so it doesn't really stick out) toggles the jaw, exposing fangs and teeth. The toy kinda reminds me of Jungle Taitei (aka "Kimba the White Lion"). The major drawback with this mode is that the underbelly reveals too many robot parts.

TRANSFORMATION TO ATTACK MODE

This is an intermediate mode. It basically involves opening up the lion's mane, sticking on some missile launchers and flicking out some large blades from the fore-legs. The mane also opens up like a flower and spins around. I can't see why Lio Convoy would need this in battle (unless he causes lots of turbulence like in the show... cough), but it's a groovy gimmick nonetheless.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Twist and turn the hind legs to form robot legs (similar to Cheetor, but a bit trickier). Open up the mane and swing front legs down to the side to form robot arms. Now, the robot chest flips down, the mid section swings up and the robot head swings round. The waist turns so that the lion head is pointing to the right. The chest flips up again and the arms lock in with the shoulders.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 20 cm
This mode looks pretty cool. The head is sculpted to look very much like the old G1 Convoy with the colour scheme being indentical except for two additional "antennae" which are gray (like in the original Optmus Primal). The lion mane can again go into "sunflower" mode and spin. The mane missile launchers can also be attached, or you can put them into the fists for Lio Convoy to use as pistols. The lion fore legs can be swung forward from under the forearm with the blades protruding. There is also a button located on the inner forearms which flip open the outer forearm panels, which in turn reveal two additional missile launchers! This gives Lio Convoy a very cool "armed to da teeth" look. I count over 20 points of articulation (including the forearm weapons). One drawback with this mode is the lion head. It rests above the right shoulder and is a bit bulky and cumbersome. It shifts a lot of weight over to the right side of the robot (thus creating some problems with posing it). It also interferes with the movement of the right arm. Another is the way the durability. Nothing really securely locks into place in the torso section, so the chest has a tendency to flip open when you don't want it to. This gets really annoying during play.

THE TOUCH

"We are Primus, We are Prima, We are Prime Nova, We are Sentinel Prime, We are Optimus Prime, We are..... THE CREATION MATRIX!"
Well... sorta. Lio Convoy's left chest panel opens up to reveal a Matrix. However, unlike Big Convoy's Matrix, Lio Convoy's is part of the actual chest mould, which means that it doesn't come out. It just sits there and looks pretty. It's not a separate accessory like Big Convoy's Matrix.
Much of this would've been added on later; obviously I got Lio Convoy a year before Big Convoy came out, and I was really excited about it having a Matrix in the chest, but also wished it could be removed as a separate accessory

RUB STICKER LOCATION

On the inside of the left breast panel in robot mode (the one that opens up).

OVERALL

A great looking toy and a recommended collector's piece, but the playability is slightly inhibited by the weak torso formation.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: GALVATRON
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Neo Emperor of Destruction
Beast Mode: Mechanical European Dragon
Vehicle Mode: Drill Tank
Average Price: 2980 JPY

BEAST MODE

Length: 15 cm (not including tail)
Galvatron's beast mode is a robotic medieval European dragon (as opposed to an Asian dragon). The toy stands at 20cm and is 32cm in length (from head to tail). I count 18 points of articulation in this mode (the neck has five points of articulation, and is shaped similar to Transmetal Megatron's tail). The tail also has two missile launchers. This mode looks bloody excellent! The colour scheme is a combination of lavender, purple, black, gold and silver. I think the drill halves are well positioned and despite the overtly thin lower legs, this toy stands remarkably well.

TRANSFORMATION TO VEHICLE MODE

Fold down the black drill bit on top of the dragon head; straighten neck, twist and turn drill halves so they close around the head and neck; fold arms under wings; tuck lower legs and feet into thighs; unfold caterpillar tread panels; fold legs into position.

VEHICLE MODE

Unlike the Transmetals and Lio Convoy's attack mode, Galvatron's vehicular mode is more than a half-arsed intermediate mode. There are quite a few complex steps required to move from beast to robot mode, and if Mainframe were to ever make a computer model of Galvatron, there would have to be a separate model for the vehicle mode (instead of making slight modifications to the beast mode). Hypothetically anyway. The vehicle mode doesn't have too many points of articulation, but then again, how many do you want for a drill tank anyway? The drill itself spins with the aid of a black button located on the bridge's starboard. It rolls on two big sets of caterpillar tracks, both of which are armed with vulcan mini guns (which are actually available in all three modes). The drill component itself is... well... rather phallic to be honest. You just can't help but laugh at the shape of it. Oh... and the drill itself is 14cm. I wonder if size matters to Galvatron... hmm...

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

(from vehicle mode) fold up treads again; flip out red robot feet and straighten legs; unlock waist section; turn waist round 180 degrees; lock lavender "cod-piece" onto waist; divide dragon tail and fold each half in half, forming robot arms.

ROBOT MODE

Like Galvatron's other modes, his robot mode also looks slaggin' brilliant. This toy stands at 18cm, which makes him 2cm shorter than his mortal foe, Lio Convoy, however Galvatron is definitely more bulky. There's a glass marble in the middle of his chest plate, which looks very neat (could this be the Galvamatrix?). This mode has 17 points of articulation... 19 if you include the forearm weapons, which are the tail missile launchers. The missiles can also be used as sabres. The head looks more Megatronish... I wonder if this toy was intended to be named Galvatron during conceptual designing... hmm... (another Galvatron mystery). The wings can also transform into two giant scimitars. It can also be removed and transformed into a giant pincer weapon.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Top of the right caterpillar wheel component in vehicle mode.

OVERALL

A great looking toy and a recommended collector's piece, I really love this toy!

------------------------------------------------------

Name: HEINLAD
Allegiance: Cybertron
Function: Dimensional Enquirer
Beast Mode: Tanuki
Average Price: 2980 JPY

BEAST MODE

In Tanuki mode, Heinlad can be placed on all fours to resemble the more realistic racoon-dog, or standing upright, to represent the mythological tanuki (see the Beast Trivia for more detail). In its quadrapedal form, Heinlad measures 21 centimetres in length. As a biped, it stands at 15cm. The sculpting is superb. Almost the entire toy appears to be adorned with a shaggy coat of light brown fur. There are black accents around the eyes, as well as a darker shade of brown around the collar and paws. The claws are painted a dull white. The ears are painted pink and the eyes are white with black eyeballs. The belly features a big yellow clock. My only complaint about this mode is that there is a fair amount of robot parts visible on the rump and arms. Other than that, it's a very nice looking beast mode, featuring fourteen points of articulation (including articulated thumbs!). This toy also comes with a gord with the Japanese kanji "sake" ("rice wine") written on it, as well as bound parchments with the kanji "ts�" ("to be versed") enscribed - both kanji are written in traditional Japanese calligraphic brush fonts. They both come with string handles which can be placed in the paws of the tanuki when it is standing upright.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Fold down back and separate robot legs. Fold out the panels behind the robot knees and ankles. Rotate robot legs 180 degrees. Flip out robot feet, then flip out heels. Fold panels behind knees and ankles back. Fold hind legs back 90 degree.s Fold the two dark gray 'boxes' out to the sides, onto either side of the robot hips. Fold hips section forward 90 degrees until it locks with the underside of the torso. Flip tail back. Separate head and fold top halves of animal 90 degrees out to the sides. Push robot shoulders down until they lock into place. Bring tanuki head halves back. Combine the sake gord and parchment pad together, and pull out the handle from the pad - forming the missile launcher. Place launcher in either hand (I find this is pain in the arse to do, as the peg is only just big enough to fit) and insert missile.
On the back of the robot is a sticker. Remove this sticker to reveal the battery compartment. Using a mini-screwdriver, open the compartment and insert one AAA battery. Turn the dial on the back to set the timer for the alarm. Lift and turn the dial to set the actual time.

ROBOT MODE

The head is blue with dark gray fur along the centre of the top of the head, as well as on the bottom of the sides. The eyes are a light vermillion with dark gray eyeshadows. The face is white. The antennae are also dark gray, and are connected to a transparent green pair of goggles. These goggles are mobile, and can be placed over Heinlad's eyes, or on top of his forehead - representing his "Time Freeze" power. The thighs and feet are white and the lower legs are blue. The kneecaps are yellow. The rest of the colours of this toy are more or less identical to the beast mode.This toy stands at 18.5 centimetres and boasts 23 points of articulation. The torso is a bit chunky, but that's because it's essentially an alarm clock (but it works well, since tanuki are supposed to be stocky animals)! That's right! This Transformer is also a working alarm clock! Pull the head up to prime the alarm. Once the hour hand reaches the yellow "alarm" hand, the toy will ring like a regular electronic alarm clock. Push the head down to shut the toy up!

SPARK CRYSTAL LOCATION

Right side of the robot hips.

OVERALL

This toy is enjoyable on so many different levels! Firstly, it's a fun toy to play with because it's sculpted well and is well articulated. Secondly, it's an alarm clock! Thirdly, it's beast mode can be altered to represent a mythological animal -- with grog!!

Heh... can't believe I wrote an entire review on this toy without once mentioning the single most hilarious thing about it. :p ;)

------------------------------------------------------

Name: MAGMATRON
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Emperor of Destruction
Beast Modes: Gigantosaurus, Elasmosaur and Queztacoatlus
Average Price: 2980 JPY

BEAST MODE: LANDSAURUS

Length: 20.5 cm
Height: 15 cm
Landsaurus is a primarily purple Gigantosaurus with silver-blue stripes running along the back.The teeth and claws are a dull silver and the eyes are green. On the underside of th toy, the robot chest and hips are clearly visible. More robotic parts can be seen on the back of the leg. But other than that, it's a really nice looking beast mode with very nice cross hatch patterns moulded throughout the toy. This mode has nine points of articulation including the mouth. The weird thing about the mouth is that the jaw itself cannot move... rather, the top portion moves up and down like a muppet... hmm... imagine a Gigantosaurus terrorising Sesame Street... Yesss.

Gimmicks: Firstly, there's a cavity inside the tail where you can store the Magmablade weapon. I recommend that you don't push it in too far, otherwise it becomes somewhat difficult to take out afterwards. Secondly, open up the jaw and behold a spring loaded missile launcher. Insert a missile (either a Giga missile or one of Skysaurus' Wing missiles)... opening the mouth fully launches the missiles (similar to how Scorponok's launcher works). Yay.

BEAST MODE: SEASAURUS

Length: 40 cm
That's right. Forty friggin' centimetres! The body measures 13.5 centimetres and the neck is a very long 26.5 centimetres! Seasaurus is a light aqua-blue Elasmosaur (or what some Scots refer to as a "Nessie") with a silver tinge along the back. The eyes are yellow and the teeth are a dull silver. A superb cross-hatching runs throughout the moulding (except for the smooth underside). No robot parts are visible in this mode and only a few hinges betray the fact that this toy is also a Transformer. The neck alone has ten points of articulation, and the jaw and fore flippers add up to give a total of 13 points of articulation (unless you want to include the gimmick joints, which would give you 15 points).
Gimmick: Squeeze the hind flippers together and the fore flippers lunge out. Do this repeatedly to create a swimming action.

BEAST MODE: SKYSAURUS

Length: 14 cm
Wingspan: 19.5 cm
Skysaurus is a red Queztacoatlus. The underside of the wings are red and metallic-beige and the beak and claws and claws are yellow. There's some reddish brown accents on the upper side of the wing and the eyes are green. Unlike Landsaurus and Seassaurus, Skysaurus has no cross-hatching on its moulding. It's a very smooth leatherlike design. Skysaurus has fourteen points of articulation.
Gimmick: Pull on the tail and the wings span out to a whopping 26 centimetres!

TRANSFORMATION TO GESTALT BEAST MODE

This would be the first gestalt that's not a humanoid.
Phase One: Seasaurus
Although the instructions say to lift up the tail section, I recommend holding the shoulders and pulling it back and then disconnecting the tail section. It's a lot easier and the dinosaur would've split into half if you went by the book anyway. Pull the shoulder and tail sections all the way back. Pull out the gestalt legs. Swing them towards the back at 90 degrees. Open up the two panels behind the beast shoulders. Turn the lower legs, lift up feet and open the toes.

Phase Two: Merging Seasaurus and Landsaurus
Attach the top half of Seasaurus onto the underside of Landsaurus' tail (there's a clip and peg). Attach the Seasaurus' underbelly onto the upperside of Landsaurus' tail (again with a clip and peg). Hmm... now it looks like two dinosaurs doing something quite unmentionable. Ookay... let's move on...

Phase Three: Attaching Skysaurus
Swing down the entire torso/head and swing the legs up. Attach Skysaurus via the two slits on Seasaurus' underbelly with the beak facing backwards.

So what have we here? A beast with features of three different animals combined into one... fused... n-n-n-n-NOOOOOO!!! It's a Fuzor!!! Aarrggghhhh!!! Okay... settle down... haaaahhh.... Grr!! It still looks really silly!! Ah well... it's one heck of a gimmick (and it actually looks better than most Fuzors too).

AFAIK I was the first to refer to Magmatron's combined beast mode as a "Fuzor." Later when Hasbro released their version of this toy for Beast Machines, they referred to this mode as a "Fuzor." Yeah, my 15 seconds of fame :p

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Obviously you should separate the gestalt into the individual dinosaurs... although it's not necessary to transform them all back into beast modes.
Phase One: Landsaurus
Pull the breast section forward. Open up the underneck panels and remove the launcher. Turn the neck-head section to Landsaurus' right at 90 degrees. Fold the neck out at 90 degrees. Turn the breast section 180 degrees. Lift out the clogs (those are the dark grey robot bits behind the legs) and swing them down so it locks onto the lower legs. Lift up the hooks so they're inbetween the beast toes. Swing out robot heels. From the cavities in the upper legs, swing down leg covers. Unlock the stomach and lift up the tail. If you took my advice earlier, the Magmablade should fall out, otherwise, have fun picking it out and don't say I didn't warn you. Close the lid (the beast stomach) to cover the gaping hole in the tail. Turn the tail back 180 degrees and lock the peg into the hole on the back. Swing up the rump section, bring the legs down and join the hip section (like Fuzor Silverbolt and Galvatron). Clip the rump panel onto the hip section. Open up the two side panels directly above the hips.

Phase Two: Skysaurus
Lift up tail. Swing up the neck section. Now here's the fiddly part... attach Skysaurus onto Landsaurus by inserting the lower peg onto a hole behind the breast panel. Slot Skysaurus' neck into a slot in the breast panel and bring Skysaurus' legs over and clip the feet onto the upper pectoral region. Fold Skysaurus' head down into the groove in the robot chest. Swing Landsaurus' arms back.

Phase Three: Seasaurus
If you haven't already done so, fold the neck and tail sections back. Open out the robot arms and position them so the palms are facing inward. Clip the right arm onto the right side of the robot torso (in the space where Landsaurus' neck once was). Clip the upper half of Seasaurus onto the back of Skysaurus. This will naturally bring the left arm into place. This can be a bit tricky at first because Skysaurus sits so loosely on Landsaurus. Take Seasaurus' head and attach the peg onto a hole on the left shoulder. Gyaarrrghh!! It's Raksha and her serpent!!! (:

The other half of Seasaurus clips onto the left forearm, forming a shield. Insert the Magmablade into Landsaurus' missile launcher to form Magmatron's weapon. Insert in between the thumb and fingers on the right hand. Don't bother with the peg and hole thing.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 20.5 cm (the first Destron leader to be taller than his Cybertron counterpart)
Points of articulation: 22 (although the neck joint is rendered useless by Skysaurus' feet)

A rather strange looking robot mode. The strangest part would be the Skysaurus' wings sticking out of Magmatron's head. The positioning of Landsaurus' tail slightly detracts from the overall humanoid form. Magmatron incorporates colours and details from all three dinosaurs. The legs are practically identical to Landsaurus', the torso is a nice blend of all three dinosaurs and the head is all Skysaurus. The face is silver with green eyes. The mouth is moulded to make Magmatron look like he's growling. A menacing look and much less constipated than Megatron and Galvatron since the teeth aren't gnashing together. Still, I would've preferred a plain ol' closed mouth. I like how Landsaurus' head becomes a shoulder pad. And of course... with Seasaurus' neck and head wrapped around, Magmatron is fully equipped to freak out fans at the next BotCon USA! Okay, I'll stop picking on Raksha now. :-)

Gimmicks: The missile launcher can launch the Magmablade. Squeeze the hind flippers on the shield and Seasaurus' swimming gimmick now becomes a pincer weapon. Whatever.

SPARK CRYSTAL LOCATIONS

In robot mode, all three sparks are visible. Landsaurus' crystal is located on the missile launcher. Seasaurus' spark is on the left upper arm. Skysaurus' spark is on the underside of the left wing.

OVERALL

A transformable gestalt... kick arse!!

DINOBOT MAGMATRON

In the West, Magmatron was released as part of Hasbro's Beast Machines Dinobot line. The toy was repackaged and the spark crystals were replaced with Dinobot insignias.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: MEGASTORM
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Duke of Destruction
Machine Mode: Tank M1A2 Abrams to be precise
Average Price: 2980 JPY

MACHINE MODE

Length: 29.5cm (including gun barrel)
Height: 9cm (not including searchlight)
Width: 10.5cm
A primarily green (with jungle camouflage fatigues) tank with purple for the barrel and parts of the turret. There is only one real point of articulation, and that is the missile launcher/barrel's ability to move up to a 45 degree angle and back. Other than that, it has no points of articulation as even the turret itself cannot move. The wheels in the treads are purely decorative, however, there are four wheels underneath the toy, allowing the player to push it along the ground.

The missile launcher gimmick is a rather interesting one. Up to four black 75mm missiles can be loaded into the top of the launcher. Then a slide rail is pulled back to cock the weapon, and a trigger behind it fires the missile. The launcher must be re-cocked before it can be fired again.
Three stickers can be seen in vehicle mode. There are two Destron (Predacon) insignias each side of the turret, each with the word "Destron" written on it.

There is also a sticker wrapped around the barrel's midpoint - with "Big Stick" written on the right and "Peace Through Tyranny!" written on the left.

TRANSFORMATION

The sides of the turret fold out and down, with the rear halves turning around, bingo; arms. On the back half of the underside, are two panels (where the rear wheels are). These open up, exposing more robot parts. Pull the back half out, then flip out the top section of the tank to form robot legs. Swing the entire section down 90 degrees and push up to lock. Flip out robot feet. Slide the entire BFG to the right and the robot head springs up. The gun can be placed in either fist. The transformation scheme on this toy is stupendously simple considering its size and the fact that it doesn't have the "one step" transformation gimmick like the original Rattrap and Thrust.

ROBOT MODE

Transformation to robot mode was surprisingly easy. Megastorm effectively retains the same colour scheme in robot mode. The main appeal of Megastorm in robot mode is the size. Standing at 26cm in height, he is one of the largest Japanese Beast Wars figures; larger than all the gattaisenshi (gestalts) and Lio Convoy!

The only Japanese Beast Wars robot larger than Megastorm would be Gigastorm (a re-issue of Trypticon) and the only Western Beast Wars Transformer larger than Megastorm is Optimal Optimus. I bought Megastorm as part of the Taihou no Taiketsu ("Big Guns Versus Set"), and Megastorm's size is certainly a striking contrast to that of his Cybertron counterpart, Apache (who only measures at 17cm in height).

The toy is rather bulky - then again, he transforms into a tank - a vehicle known more for bulk and destructive power, rather than grace. ^_^
The face has been slightly repainted with the immediate areas around his eyes coloured black (giving him a sort of "Zorro" look). Nice!

The main drawback on this toy is it's relatively low amount of articulation. It only really has seven main points of articulation, most of which come from the arms (kinda sounds like the original Optimus, eh?). The hand gun also looks quite small, especially when it's being held by his bulky arms... and in contrast with the missile launcher... it seems like a pea-shooter.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Visible only in robot mode, on the 'solar plexus' region.

MEGASTORM vs MEGATRON

Several of the toys released in the Japanese Beast Wars line (colloquially referred to by some fans as Beast Wars II in order to further differentiate it from the US line) are actually repaints of toys from the Transformers Generation 2 line. Megastorm was originally released as the Decepticon leader Megatron in the Transformers Generation 2 line.

Some stickers have been removed and changed. These included tags mentioning "Autobots" or ones which bore the Decepticon insignia. The G2 Megatron toy also had a sound chip, so that the toy would make a "lock and load" sound when the switch was cocked back and a launching noise was made when the trigger was activated. Also, if the player pressed down on the wheels as s/he rolled the toy forward, a rumbling noise was made. In robot mode, a laser sound was made when the arms were raised. Transforming back to tank mode, as Megatron's head was pushed down, the phrase "Megatron attack!" was made. Megastorm has no sound chip, hence all these effects have been lost.

It's been hypothesised that the "Megatron attack!" phrase was the main reason why Takara removed the sound chip in Megastorm. I don't know the technicalities behind sound chips, but I wonder how much trouble/expense Takara would've had to go through to modify the sound chip by either rephrasing it to "Megastorm attack!" or simply removing the "Megatron attack!" phrase and leaving in all the other sounds.

However, the fact that Megastorm is not Megatron, should alleviate any confusion and/or frustration in comparing the two toys. In fact, it's rather unfair to compare the two toys because they do not represent the same character, but such a comparison is inevitable since - let's face it - Megastorm is a rehash of Megatron (toywise).

OVERALL

In terms of play value, Megastorm isn't as nice as G2 Megatron, due to the lack of sound gimmicks. However, I think Megastorm has nicer colours and is still really nice toy in its own right.

------------------------------------------------------

Names: Cicadacon, Ram Horn, Sea Clamp (unite to form TRIPREDACUS)
Allegiance: Predacon
Function: Battle Master
Beast Modes: Cicada, Stag Beetle, Lobster
Average Price: 45 AUD

CICADACON:

BEAST MODE

The colour scheme of this mode is primarily green with some white and purple accents. Vermillion is used for the eyes and accents the two larger wings. The wings themselves are a dulled transparent white. The wings are connected to the body via ball joints, allowing greater articulation for the wings. The wings extend to a maximum wingspan of 21 centimetres. The also remain nice and stiff, instead of getting all floppy like Waspinator's. The legs are dark brown and unlike some other insectoid Transformers, are able to fully support the body weight (rather than flopping down on its belly). This is partly due to the absence of any knee joints. The only drawback to this mode is that the robot arms and legs stick out from behind. Tripredacus' face is also clearly visible from underneath.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove the vermillion accented sabres from beneath the larger wings. Fold robot arms out to the sides. Flip down the entire insect head (all three sections) - forming robot chest. Flip out back hatch and flip out robot head - close the hatch. Open out the green side panels and fold down robot legs. Close side panels. Position wings and limbs and place sabres into robot fists.

ROBOT MODE

Standing at around 11.5cm, Cicadacon is about as tall as most Basic sized figures. The body, thighs and feet are green. There are purple accents throughout the torso and the upper arms, waist and knees are also purple. The forearms, lower legs and head are white. The face is purple with vermillion eyes. This is a very nice looking robot mode. It's the most anthropomorphic (humanoid) of all the Tripredacus robots and is also the most slender. The insect wings suit the robot mode quite well and the insect legs are short enough so they're not irritating during play. Cicadacon has 15 points of articulation in this mode. The robot head looks like they were going to put in a light piping gimmick to make the eyes glow, but for reasons unknown to me, they abandoned it in plugged up the would be entry port for light with a green piece of plastic.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Behind robot head.

RAM HORN:

BEAST MODE

Ram Horn is a metallic brown rhinoceros beetle. The eyes are green and the legs are dark brown. The sculpting is pretty descent, with the only major robot part exposed being the robot shoulders. Ram Horn measures about 14cm in length.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Ram Horn has the most complex and difficult transformation scheme among the Tripredacus robots. Flip up the abdomenal shell and take out the weapon inside. Divide the thorax in half. Fold out rear insect legs, forming robot legs. Twist the main body around, forming the back of the robot. Bring the thorax halves down and close them to form robot chest. Open insect head to reveal robot head.

ROBOT MODE

In robot mode, Ram Horn retains the metallic brown colour from the beast mode, however, it is now accompanied by several purple (mainly robot) parts. The face is white and the eyes are yellow with purple eyeballs. The lower jaw and parts of the head are also purple. The weirdest thing about Ram Horn's robot mode is the sculpting of the face. It's bizzare! The two eyeballs are crossed, staring at each other. The jaw also opens and closes, exposing teeth. However, it looks more like he's smiling than growling. THe facial mould is about as menacing and evil as fairy floss. I think it's much more suited to his Maximal repaint, Motorarm (see below). This toy has 14 points of articulation and stands at 15.5 centimetres in this mode, making it the tallest among all Tripredacus robots (save Tripredacus himself, of course) - this is due to the huge horn on top of the head.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Inside the rear shell section.

SEA CLAMP:

BEAST MODE

Sea Clamp is the only Tripredacus robot who transforms into a crustacean rather than an insect. Yep, nothing escapes me. The toy is 16cm in length from the tip of the tail to the tip of the haed ("nose"). The toy is covered with crustacean-like bumps and ridges and is coloured translucent purple-brown with purple accents. This makes Sea Clamp look like a live lobster, whereas his Maximal counterpart, Gimlet, who looks like a cooked lobster. The legs and antennae (which I think was a nice touch) are dark brown. The eyes are green.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Reposition the underside of the tail to form robot feet. Separate lobster head and fold them out to the sides to form robot shoulders. Position claws to form robot arms. Turn waist 180 degrees. Fold down robot chest, flip up robot head and close chest. Open claws and extend serrated claw weapons. The crustacean like moulding dominates this mode's form, however, I think it blends in rather well with the robot components. Like Ram Horn, more purple robot parts are visible in this mode. Sea Clamp is only half a centimetre taller than Cicadacon.

ROBOT MODE

A very impressive robot mode. The oversized arms give a look of power and with

TRIPREDACUS:

UNITE!

Ramhorn's rear shell, arms and legs all split to form an arm each. The centre slide bar which connects them to each other connects into a section of Cicadacon. The part of Tripredacus' arm formed by Ramhorn's arms grip his weapon and can act as opposable digits themselves.

Cicadacon's robot head folds back in. Ramhorn connects into the area where his head rests. The back panel moves over the bar which connects Ramhorn's two halves. Tripredacus' head folds up to hold the arms firmly in place. Cicadacon's legs fold up to the back and the hips split apart.

Sea Clamp's mid section folds back and the claws split wide apart, forming robot feet. The lobster halves split as well, forming lower body and legs.
Cicadacon's hip joints then "pinch" onto Sea Clamp's mid-section joint.
Sea Clamp's launcher, Ram Horn's blades and Cicadacon's sabres all combine to form a slashing missile launcher.

GESTALT MODE

A rather impressive gestalt, I must say. It's a lot better than what I expected. The head is fierce and menacing, portraying a vicious snarl. Ram Horn's shell parts look great as shoulder pads and although the toy lacks traditional robot fists, it does have fully opposable digits! They don't look humanoid at all, though, but I don't mind. The large feet give this toy great stability. This toy has 11 points of articulation and stands at 18 centimetres (not including antenna).

OVERALL

A very nice toy. My favourite among the first wave of Beast Wars gestalts (the other being Magnaboss).

------------------------------------------------------

Next: Fuzors!
27th September 2013, 11:17 AM
Zand

Cool! I like reading these old reviews, quite interesting.
27th September 2013, 07:09 PM
GoktimusPrime

Thanks dude. :) It's certainly been a trip down memory lane for me. I'll post up more when I get back to Oz.
20th October 2015, 10:05 PM
GoktimusPrime

BEAST WARS FUZORS

------------------------------------------------------

Name: BUZZCLAW
Allegiance: Predacon
Function: Saboteur, Quick-Assault Specialist
Beast Mode: Praying Mantis / Lizard fusion
Average Price: 12 AUD

BEAST MODE

Length: 13 cm
Height: 8 cm
This beast mode doesn't look too bad for a Fuzor at all. This is mainly because it looks a lot like a Praying Mantis with some lizard bits attached, primarily in the limbs and sides of the thorax, as well as a lizard tail sticking out from behind. Other than that and a few scales moulded throughout, it pretty much looks like a mantis. A big green button protrudes from the back. Press it and the arms swing out in a "peek-a-boo!"-like action. The arms themselves are green and look reptilian with lizardlike claws sculpted, however, the middle claws have been replaced with mantis hooks. The head and thorax are almost completely insectoid. The head is translucent orange with a read accent. The mandibles are green, as well as the jaw. The eyes are blue and the nape is also green. The thorax is primarily translucent orange with some green reptilian-like accents. Mounted on the back are two wings which are translucent orange with red and purple accents. The tail is translucent red with purple accents as well as some yellow and translucent features underneath (which are obviously the robot legs). The tail section carries most of the lizard features.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Fold the green nape-section down to reveal robot head. Swing robot head up. Swing the entire wing and fore-section up and pivot 180. Swing the sides of the thorax up (in a similar fashion as you would swing Dinobot's beast legs up to form the arms). Push beast feet up and pivot each forearm round 180 degrees. Push mantis head down and lock onto chest. Separate and reposition robot legs. The wing section and tail can be removed and placed in robot hands to form a pincer weapon and shield.

ROBOT MODE

Although the shield looks pretty neat, the pincer weapon doesn't. It just looks far too big and cumbersome for Buzzclaw's lithe frame to make it an effective weapon in combat. Buzzclaw more resembles the package art when the pincer-wing section is left attached to the back. The two claws protruding from beneath each forearm would be far more efficient close-quarter weapons. The head is translucent orange with a red face and white teeth (more on the teeth later). The torso is transucent orange and green with the mantis head being the chest. The arms and legs are also translucent orange and green, although the lower legs have yellow accents spray painted onto them. A nice touch. There are eleven points of meaningful articulation packed into this little 10 cm high figure. The only thing that erks me about this mode is the mouth, which is gritted, revealing the teeth. I've never liked this look on toys, even on Predacon leaders like T-Rex Megatron, Galvatron and Magmatron.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Underneath the tail/shield section.

OVERALL

A surprisingly good toy! Even for a Fuzor!! I honestly underestimated this toy up until the moment I started playing with it. The beauty of the beast mode lies in the fact the way they were merged together. It's fundamentally a praying mantis with four legs ripped off, with the mid-legs replaced with lizard legs, and the abdomen replaced with with a lizard tail. I generally don't like Fuzors at all, so it's a real compliment to the designers of this toy when I say that this is one cool action figure!

------------------------------------------------------

Name: SILVERBOLT
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Tracker
Beast Mode: Gray Wolf + Eagle
Average Price: 25 AUD

BEAST MODE

Length: 14cm
Height: 8cm
Wingspan: 23cm
The moulding and overall design of this toy is fantastic with the wolf and eagle features flowing into each other. The lower section of the forelegs are styled to resemble an eagle's leg. There are four talons (three in the front, one on the back of each foot) poised in a predatory rip 'n slash position (non-predatory birds have talons coiled in a perch formation). This section of the toy is mostly copper with light gray accents. The upper leg section resembles the thighs of a wolf's leg with excellent 'fur' moulding. The hind legs are totally wolflike. The head is that of a wolf's and it is partially light gray with the muzzle and forehead coloured dark (almost black) gray. Fangs are coloured white and the eyes are yellow. The facial moulding is an aggressive one with narrow eyes and full-bearing fangs (even the gums are exposed). Grrrrr!! The head is covered with great fur moulding which continues along the entire back of the toy. The back is a combination of light and dark gray, with each colour smoothly blending into each other. The tail feathers are also individually moulded and painted white. The underside of the wings have light gray wolf fur moulding. The attention to detail put into this toy is astounding. As I've mentioned several times already, the fur moulding is really nice as it even shows a fur grain. The tail section can be pulled to make the wings move forward. There are also two buttons on the wings (one per wing) which trigger the spring launchers on each wingtip. Other than pressing the button yourself, the launchers are also triggered when the tail section is pulled. The only odd thing is that the wings aren't pulled completely forward, hence the missiles don't shoot directly forward but about 45 degrees to the side.

TRANSFORMATION

Forelegs fold out to the side and the beast mode head folds down. The halves that the front beast mode legs rest on snap together to form the robot hips. A flap folds down from the beast mode's back and forms a "loin-cover" over the hips. The robot head folds up and a small golden panel flips up to form the middle of his upper chest. The hind legs fold forward to form the robot arms. The tips of each wing eject by pressing the pegs on the lower parts of the wings to shoot out missiles which double as Silverbolt's hand held close range or throwing weapons.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 13cm
Points of Articulation: 13
A very impressive robot mode that seems to exume an air of valour and nobility. The moulding is great with all the robotic parts blending in very well with the animal features. The toy itself also has great balance despite being top heavy. Unlike Galvatron and Depth Charge, Silverbolt can stand unaided on its own two feet. It's even possible to stand it on one foot to make Silverbolt execute a low sidekick. ;-)

Some of the nicest features of the moulding can be found in the main-body section. The groin panel has a nice "Macross-esque" decoration moulded into it. In the solar plexus lies a red spot, which is surrounded by short spikes. This red spot really stands out as it starkly contrasts against the primarily gray colour of the toy. The centrepiece of the chest is a copper panel (which houses the head in beast mode). This has two V-shaped grooves sculpted onto it. The head is possibly the strangest feature of the entire robot mode. Sporting a muzzle, nose, fangs, ears and fur, it resembles a compacted wolf's head. This is a very strange feature to find on a robot head, especially among non-Transmetals (since the Transmetals' robot modes are supposed to accentuate beast features). Although this non-robotic robot head may repel some fans, it does have its merits. Along the top of the head is a dark gray (almost black) "mohawk"-like ridge. This colour is also used on the ears and continues around the eyes, and down the cheeks, making Silverbolt look like he's wearing either some kind of warpaint or mask.
In this mode, Silverbolt can hold the wing missiles in each hand. However, the worst feature about this toy is the hip joint. It is pathetically weak and serves poorly to keep the hip section together. Whilst it keeps together undisturbed, it constantly disconnects during play.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Inside a compartment covered by an underbelly panel.

OVERALL

The most impressive Fuzor of them all. The entire Fuzor concept just sucks, but Silverbolt would be the sole exception. Most other Fuzors look like two Transformers slagged together (like Megatron and Ratchet were in the Marvel US comics) but Silverbolt has an almost mythological look to it. If you're gonna buy only one Fuzor, make it Silverbolt!

*****************************************

BEAST WARS TRANSMETALS

------------------------------------------------------

Basic Figure

------------------------------------------------------

Name: SPITTOR
Allegiance: Predacon
Function: Surprise Attack
Beast Mode: Anura (Poison Frog)
Average Price: 8 GBP
Note: This toy is a repaint of the original Spittor (known as the Kansainese speaking Cybertron "Diver" in Japan) and was only available in the UK and came with one video tape featuring Beast Wars episodes "Aftermath" and "Coming of th Fuzors Part I."

BEAST MODE

Length: 9cm
Transmetal Spittor is a red and brown frog. The head, back and legs are red with several veins and warts sculpted throughout. The lower jaw, upper hind legs and most of the underbelly are black, and are also moulded with several warts. Each "finger" has a suction cup sculpted on as well. The eyes are sky blue -- this colour scheme resembles that of Car Robot's Gusshar (which is a repaint of Transmetal 2 Spittor). The red parts are accented with a lovely gold electronic circuit style deco. My main complaint about this mode is that the robot legs are clearly visible from underneath.
Gimmick: Open the mouth, press the trigger on the bum and the "tongue" (which remarkably resembles the robot head!) shoots out.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Fold down robot legs and rotate lower legs 180 degrees. Fold beast head down 180 degrees, revealing robot head. Be sure to lock beast head down to form robot chest. Lock beast shoulders down and push forelegs back. Swing hind legs up, forming robot shoulders and arms.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 10cm
Points of articulation: 12

The legs are rather stocky and the arms are very long. .A very organic looking robot mode, the only mechanical looking components are the head/neck and waist. Everything else looks organic. The colour scheme is effectively identical to the beast mode's, but with slightly more black visible. The head is red with blue eyes and a gold "maw."

Gimmick: Press the black button on his bottom, and the head shoots out! The instructions refer to this as his "Headbutting Action." In theory, it would work quite well as a headbutt, providing much ramming power. However, I see it as also being far too committed of an attack. If the headbutt were to miss its target by only a few centimetres (or millimetres, if you wanna think in 1:1 toy proportions), then Spittor would be leaving himself quite open. The best way for him to use this attack would be to grab the opponent's arms, pull them down towards the ground, whilst he performs an "uppercut" like headbutt. Otherwise he could use it to look over obstructions (Go, go, Spittor-Neck!) or if he just wants to feel tall, since the extended neck adds another four and half centimetres to his height.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Inside robot chest.

OVERALL

Not a bad toy, but recommended more for collectors if you're living outside the UK.

------------------------------------------------------

Deluxe Figures

------------------------------------------------------

Name: CHEETOR
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Robotic Jungle Patrol
Beast Mode: Mecha Cheetah
Average Price: 25 AUD

BEAST MODE

Height: 7 cm
Length: 18 cm
Articulation: 14 points
The major downfall of the original Cheetor's was that the beast mode was far too chunky for a cheetah. Cheetor's Transmetal incarnation in terms of being far more streamlined and lithe. Another major difference is that, being a Transmetal, Cheetor's beast mode is now very robotic. Indeed there is hardly any organic parts visible at all in this mode. The head is beige with turqoise accents (including the jaw and snout). The eyes are red. The main torso is primarily chrome-yellow with some turqoise and yellow accents and beige side panels. The forelegs are beige with chrome-gold accents and the feet are turqoise. The hind legs are similar in colour, except the thighs are turqoise and yellow with black spots. The tail is totally turqoise. On the left side of the collar, the name "Cheetor" is inscribed in black writing. The overall sculpting features an array of mechanical features such as bolts, vents, grills etc.

TRANSFORMATION TO VEHICLE MODE

Remove the tail and turn it 180 degrees so that the dorsal fin is point up. Place tail back in. Flip out side panels and flip out thrusters.

VEHICLE MODE

Typical Transmetal intermediate mode; it's nothing more than a modification of the beast mode. Still, it's not to bad though. The only drawback is that there's a big hole in the middle of the torso now. But of course, that's where the thrusters were tucked in in beast mode.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove the tail. Straighten out the hind legs and take out robot heels. Fold up forelegs. Grabbing the shoulders, lift the shoulder section up 90 degrees, then fold it forward 90 degrees. Separate head into two halves, forming robot arms. Flip up robot head, fold down chest and lock robot shoulders into position. Place tail into hand as a weapon.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 13cm
Points of Articulation: 16
As with all Transmetals, the robot mode is designed to look more organic and somewhat mimic the animal upon which the beast mode was based. The head is turqoise with yellow and blue accents. The eyes and teeth are blue. Yes, blue. For reasons beyond me, Cheetor has now has his teeth fully exposed and gritted. Although it doesn't look quite as goofy as Galvatron's grin, I would've much preferred a neutral closed-mouth. The torso is chrome-gold and the chest is beige and yellow with black spots. The solar plexus is turqoise. So is the waist, although it has silver accents with an interesting grill pattern sculpted on. The robot legs are the same as the beast hind legs. The upper arms are yellow and the forearms are turqoise and yellow with black spots. The two halves of the beast head are attached to the forearms. Like the beast mode, the robot mode has various mechanical features including pipes, conduits etc. However, more organic-like parts are visible here. Parts of the chest, arms and thighs are sculpted to look organic and there's even fur grain moulded on some parts. Overall, the organic looking parts mesh quite well with the robotic parts. My major complaint about this mode is the lack of what I consider to be real hands. The hands resemble a claw, consisting of only two opposable digits. Yes, it's functional, but I prefer robot modes with all five fingers myself. Also, the axe-whip would probably only be truly effective as a medium range weapon. I doubt it would work well in close-quarter or long range combat.

OVERALL

Better than the original.

------------------------------------------------------

Name: JAGUAR (Actually pronounced JAGAR - this spelling will be used during the rest of this review)
Allegiance: Destron
Function: Intelligence, Demolitions
Beast Mode: Mecha Panther
Average Price: 1800 JPY
Notes:
* This toy is based on the RAVAGE character seen in "The Agenda" in the show.
* Jagar (which has been Romanised as Jaguar on the packaging and Techs) is the Japanese name for Ravage.
* G1 stands for Generation 1. It is a colloquial fan term used to refer to any Transformer predating Transformers Generation 2.
* G1 spanned from 1984 until early 1993

BEAST MODE

Height: 18cm (including tail)
Points of Articulation: 15 (including the jaw)
The beast mode is not much more impressive than Transmetal Cheetor's. The most irritating feature of this mode is that the robot arms are clearly visible beneath the beast chest.Also, the forelegs are kinda hard to move. The toy is predominantly black with vacuumised deep purple (close to being black) and metallic beige accents throughout. The head and neck are totally different moulds, featuring a black jaguar head with metallic beige strips and red eyes. Other than that, it looks like nothing more than a repaint and simple retool of Transmetal Cheetor. But in the world of Transformers, nothing is just what it seems...

TRANSFORMATION

The instruction booklet itself was compiled by using a series of photographs, rather than technical sketches... just like the original instruction booklets back in 1984!! Remove the tail. Straighten out the hind legs and fold down robot heels. Fold up forelegs. Swing back and leg section up and back until it locks into place. So far, same as Transmetal Cheetor. Now here's where it gets different. Unfold robot arms and swing shoulders out into place. Fold the support strut that joins the head to the body in a zigzag formation. Swing robot head down. You can place the tail back on, but I'd rather not.
Oh, although it's not mentioned in the instructions, Jagar can transform into a vehicle mode. It's the same as Cheetor's... flip out the wings and turn the tail around.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 14.5 centimetres
Articulation: 18 points
Much more than just a simple repaint and retool of Cheetor, Jagar has several significant differences from the base mould. The most significant difference is the head and neck. Cheetor's head has been totally removed and replaced with an originally moulded, black, jaguarlike head. It looks quite similar to the TV show counterpart except that the neck is much larger and there are silver stripes. The jaw also opens up to reveal a set of teeth. The chest plate is also an original mould. The furry polka-dots have been replaced with two black chest panels. The entire chest panel is black except for the solar plexus, which is bronze. The inside of the chest doors also have some interesting mechanical moulding. Neat. The arms are also original moulds too. Unlike Cheetor, Jagar's arms have hands. The upper arms are metallic beige and the lower arms are black. The back, waist and legs are, mouldwise, the same as Transmetal Cheetor. The thighs have been repainted metallic beige with bronze accents and the lower legs are black. The feet and heels are metallic beige. The barrels of his guns (yep, the ones with the laser sights) attach onto grooves on the back of the thighs. Cheetor has these grooves too, but they don't do anything. It's interesting to see how the designers of this toy have taken advantage of a previous mould feature that was originally intended to be purely decorative, rather than making a slight mould modification to the legs. Very resourceful!

Gimmicks:
The chest opens up (similar to how Optimus Prime opens his chest in the movie/show). The inside of the chest compartment is metallic beige. It has quite a few wires and buttons moulded onto it. In the centre lies a sticker sporting the Predacon insignia embedded within an array of wires and circuits. You can either apply the Decepticon logo sticker or a sticker with G1 Megatron's face (from the golden disk recording) onto this... well... sticker! I personally have opted not to put either of the stickers on.
The hands are moulded with thumb and fingers opposed. Under each forearm is a small, black pistol which can flick into Jagar's hands (a spring loaded gimmick)! Attach the barrels onto the pistols. Now, laugh maniacally with an evil Russian accent. ;-)

STICKER LOCATIONS

Just like a G1 Transformer, Jagar comes with a sticker sheet! Apply the Predacon insignia onto the right shoulder (as shown in the photographic instructions... damn! Sorry, it's just been so long since I bought a Transformer with photographic instructions... up till now, all instructions were illustrated since 1985) and the Decepticon insignia onto the left. The sticker sheet comes with two of each insignia, which is quite handy, because the stickers don't apply very smoothly. These stickers seem like they were intended for a smooth surface rather than a round one. Also, as mentioned above, the chest opens up to reveal a compartment with a sticker featuring the Predacon insignia. The sheet has a sticker with a large Decepticon insignia with a purple grid behind it and a picture of G1 Megatron's face. These two stickers are supposed to be applied over the Predacon insignia in the chest compartment. Take your pick. A certain irony lies in the fact that this is the only (Trans)Metal without a rub sticker.

OTHER COOL STUFF...

It's no secret that Japanese tech specs and packaging have always been better than their Western counterparts. The front of the Tech Specs card has a picture of Jagar looking out with fists clench. As one tilts the card, it changes to a picture of him with guns out, mouth open and laser sights activated. Tilting it even further shows the guns blazing away and explosions in the background. This is the most complex Tech Specs picture I've ever seen!!
On the front of the box is a special logo which feature the Predacon insignia in front of the Decepticon insignia. One of the side panels also shows a picture of the Tripedacus Council with a caption reading, 「惑星エネルゴアの全てのトランスフォーマーを抹殺するのだ！」 which means "Exterminate all the Transformers on planet Energoa!" (I presume planet Energoa is Earth). Doesn't sound quite as threatening as, "Exterminate, with extreme prejudice," does it? Nope.
The other side panel shows the gun and chest gimmicks, as well as a photo of Jagar in robot mode with a caption reading, 「俺はジャガー、デストロンよ永遠なれ！」 which means, "I am Ravage, Decepticons Forever!" Now that's cool. Also, look at the Beast Point. It has a Decepticon insignia on it! Clip and save this for future mail aways, kids.

Furthermore, this toy is packaged in robot mode. Very unorthodox.

OVERALL

A very sophisticated repaint and retool of Transmetal Cheetor. Unlike other previous repaint and retools, such as the Cyberbeasts, Hardhead and Sharp Edge, almost half the toy is comprised of original moulding! Furthermore, even the Ravage CGI model in the show was a retool of Cheetor's robot mode model anyway. Hence the toy looks very similar to the show counterpart. Typically in Transformers, the characters in the show are based off the toys. In this instance, the toy is based off a character in the show! And not only does it look great, it's highly articulated too, making this toy great to look at and play with!

This toy is a special treat for G1 and Beast Wars fans alike. Decepticons FOREVER!

------------------------------------------------------

Name: RATTRAP
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Spy
Beast Mode: Mecha-Rat
Average Price: 25 AUD

BEAST MODE

Length: 12cm (excluding tail)
This is a very robotic looking rat with almost no organic parts visible at all! The entire moulding bristles with a plethora of mechanical features such as wheels, vents, grills, grooves and bolts! Inspite of this, they've managed to keep the overall shape of this mode as being very rat-like. It's a pretty well rounded shape that dances well with the aforementioned mech-features. The primary colour of this toy is metallic brown. The head is accented with metallic silver decos, including the teeth. The eyes are bright green. The two big bolts on the cheek are also painted with chrome-red. The mid section is almost entirely chrome-red, except for the grill section, which is orange. The rear section is mainly metallic brown, except for the two chrome-red wheels. There are some orange decos throughout this section as well. The two mufflers for the vehicle mode can be seen here two. Also, the word "RATTRAP" is printed along the centre of the back in metallic beige. The legs/paws and most of the tail (except for the tip, which is metallic brown and chrome-red) are also metallic beige. There are two gray joints connecting the forelegs to the mid-section. This toy is obviously designed to be viewed from above, because the a lot of robot kibble is visible from underneath (in fact, only the robot chest and head are concealed). But this is nothing new to Transformers. The right robot fist holds the tail and is quite visible upon closer inspection. There's not a huge amount of articulation in this mode. The front paws offer four points, whereas the highly prehensile tail gives a whopping eleven!

TRANSFORMATION TO VEHICLE MODE

Swing down the front wheels and tuck the front paws in to form pedals. Bring out rear wheels and tuck in hind paws. Swing out mufflers.

VEHICLE MODE

Like all Transmetals, Rattrap's vehicle mode is really an in-between intermediate mode. That being said, it's a fairly decent intermediate mode.The wheels move quite freely. The axles are a can get a bit loose and the toy will flop down if too much pressure is applied. But it works fine to support the toy by itself and will roll well if pushed gently. For any of you who may be wondering, yes, the original Dinobot toy can ride this mode (some argue that this is a sign that the Mainframe staff must actually play with the toys!). :-)

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Fold wheels and mufflers in. Fold down forelegs and separate head halves. This can be a bit tricky, but it's no rocket science. Unlock robot feet and swing robot hips forward. Swing out robot arms. Flip out robot head and bring entire robot torso-hip assembly down. Turn robot legs around. Flip down robot feet. Insert tail-whip into either fist.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 12cm to the head
Where the beast mode was very robotic, the robot mode looks quite organic! The overall sculpting gives this form a "flesh" look. The beast mode parts carry on the same colours, however, some of the robot parts introduce some new colours. Like the original Rattrap, the head has that weird exposed "brain," which is painted orange here. There's a rim bordering this brain that's metallic beige. The face and teeth (yes, the toy is snarling, although it doesn't look too constipated) are metallic beige. The rest of the head is metallic blue and the eyes are bright green. The body is a shiny metallic beige with metallic blue accents towards the sides. There's an orange panel on the left breast. The shoulders, waist and hips are gray. The arms, hands and legs are metallic beige. There are some blue accents on the calves. The feet are also gray. This mode features fifteen points of articulation, as well as a whip with eleven (no Ben, not twelve) points of articulation, allowing Rattrap to strike some very cool poses! This toy is more balanced than the original, although I do wish that he came with a gun.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Look between the robot legs. Oooh... a rub sticker.

OVERALL

Rattrap exemplifies the 'robotic beast mode - organic robot mode' Transmetal theme. I highly recommend this figure for any Beast Wars fan, and strongly recommend it for any Transmetal fan!

------------------------------------------------------

Mega Figures

------------------------------------------------------

Name: OPTIMUS PRIMAL
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Maximal General
Beast Mode: Mecha Gorilla
Average Price: 26 AUD

BEAST MODE

Height: 13.5cm
Gather round children, let me tell you a story. The first time I saw this was when griffin, dirge, (DS) and myself gathered at dirge's house where griffin had been parasitically staying at. :-) Anyway, around late arvo, one of dirge's mates pops over who's mum had just come back from the States and brought back the two Transmetal leaders. I was kinda disappointed that these once Ultra sized leaders had been shrunken down to Mega size.
The head and main torso is chrome-blue with a purple tinge/hue. The eyes are fuchia and the teeth, which are moulded as a zig-zag to show gritted pointed teeth (shrug). The torso has robotic muscle-like features moulded on (pecs, abs etc). The right pectoral muscle has the word "Optimus" written in silver writing. The left pectoral muscle has some funky looking array attached on (coloured chrome-maroon). There are two structures on either sides of the torso, which I've arbitrarily decided to call "kidney guards." These are metallic beige. The back is a metallic beige "backpack" structure. The shoulders and hands are metallic brown, and the rest of the arms are metallic beige. The waist is metallic brown, legs are metallic beige and geet are chrome-blue with the purple tinge. The entire beast mode is almost totally covered with a plethora of mechanical features such as wires, bolts, pistons and vents. Nice.

My major complaint about this mode is that it stands too upright. Among primates, only humans stand in a fully upright position. Gorillas hunch. This one doesn't... even for a robot gorilla.

TRANSFORMATION TO VEHICLE MODE

Flip down back section of legs. Turn them both 90 degrees so that the edges face outwards. Join the connectors. Attach gun/thruster to black connector on right leg.

VEHICLE MODE

Typical of Transmetals, the vehicle mode is just a modification of the Beast Mode. An "intermediate" mode. You're just looking an the beast mode on a flying surfboard. Sounds silly? It is silly.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

The instruction booklet is really, really badly drawn (typical of many American instruction booklets). Flip down and position "surfboard" parts to form lower robot legs. Flip down "kidney guards" and flip up back section, exposing robot chest. With the robot chest facing you, grab onto the arms and push the blue shoulder hinges away from you with your thumbs, opening the torso. Flip down gorilla head and flip up robot head. Turn head and waist around 180 degrees. Open forearms and rotate hands on wrist to switch between beast to robot fists.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 16.5cm
Points of Articulation: 14
This has got to be the ugliest Optimus/Convoy toy ever. One of the features of all Transmetals is that the robot mode is supposed to look beastlike and the robot modes are meant to be robotic. This is done to an extreme in this toy. In beast mode, it doesn't look so bad... but in robot mode... Optimus Primal looks more like a cybernetic gorilla than a robot! The head is brown and covered with fur except for the tan muzzle, red eyes and silver robot parts on throughout. The teeth are jagged and white. The front of the torso is practically entirely organic looking. Its moulding features He-Man like muscles and even fur! It's brown and tan. The "backpack" is the same as the one on the beast mode, except upside down. The "kidney guards" now form shoulder pads. The arms are the same except that they have swtiched places (ie: the gorilla right arm is the robot left arm) leaving different mechanical features more exposed than others previously more exposed. The hands are robotic but hairy. Let's not go there.
The waist is the same as in beast mode and the upper legs are just the beast legs. The lower legs are the "surfboard" parts from vehicle mode. They're metallic brown with metallic beige pipes on the sides and feet.
The gun (which incidentally looks more like a loudspeaker) clips onto the side of the right thigh like a holster. It also fits onto any fist. Optimus Primal can also hold one or both of his battle clubs. Nice. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, having both close-quarter and long-range weapons makes tactical sense and is a good idea. Oh, the clubs can also be placed in the gun and become missiles.

ASSAULT MODE

This is not, strictly speaking, an official mode for this toy. However, in the TV show, Optimus Primal has an assault mode which the toy is also capable of transforming into. Lift up the shoulder pads, then swing the entire backpack around to the front so that the two vents on the underside rest up against the pectoral muscles. Position hands behind shoulder pads. Place clubs in holes on backpack to form gun batteries. There you have it, a portable dual-cannon mode!! This is actually a much better looking intermediate mode than the vehicle mode!

RUB STICKER LOCATION

On the backpack. Unfortunately, it's upside-down in robot mode.

OVERALL

Fairly good looking beast mode, silly looking vehicle mode and a robot mode that's far too organic for my tastes. Assault mode is cool, if you wanna count that. :-)

------------------------------------------------------

Name: MEGATRON
Allegiance: Predacon
Function: Predacon Commander
Beast Mode: Mecha Tyrannosaurus Rex
Average Price: 26 AUD

BEAST MODE

Height: 13cm
Length: 26cm
Gather round children, let me tell you a story. The first time I saw this was when griffin, dirge, (DS) and myself gathered at Dirge's house where griffin had been parasitically staying at. :-) Anyway, around late arvo, one of dirge's mates pops over who's mum had just come back from the States and brought back the two Transmetal leaders. I instantly thought that Megatron was the better looking of the pair. I was slightly disappointed that Megatron had been shrunken down from Ultra to Mega size, but I just loved his new look! And he had hands! "Look!" I said to everyone, "he has hands!"
I made an issue of this, because one thing I never liked about the previous Megatron was the lack of hands in robot mode. More about that later.
The moulding is really cool. Megatron is covered with an array of do-hickeys and whatchamacallits (sorry if I'm getting too technical here). Dammit, they look cool!! This mode has fourteen points of articulation, most of which are focused on the highly flexible tail. The vents on the hips also spin. Weee...

The toy is primarily bronze. On the sides of each shoulder blade are two silver circular designs which, to me, look like some kind of medieval Japanese clan insignia. :-)
On the back of the shoulders is the name "Megatron" inscribed in purple writing. The hip vents are a purple chrome and so is the head. The head has bronze and brown accents and the eyes are red. The hands and tail are beige, although the tail tip is accented with bronze. The legs are bronze with beige accents and the feet are chrome-purple.

The only drawback with this mode is that the robot fists are clearly visible on the underside.

TRANSFORMATION TO VEHICLE MODE

Flip up the hip vents to form VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) thrusters. Flip up feet to reveal... uhh... rollerskates.

VEHICLE MODE

Typical of Transmetals, the vehicle mode is just a modification of the Beast Mode. An "intermediate" mode. You're just looking an the beast mode with thrusters and skates. Yes. Skates. Let's move on...

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Remove tail. Flip up the hip sections entirely. Flip the shoulder blades forward. Unlock (the lock is the part that was connected to the tail) and rotate waist 180 degrees. Take out robot arms. Flip down beast head to expose robot head. Lock beast hip sections onto clip on head. Attach tail onto either fist as a weapon.

ROBOT MODE

Height: 15cm
Points of Articulation: 26 (including tail)
Fantastic! As I mentioned before, the fact that he has hands really excited me. They've attempted to give him a reptilian look in robot form and it works quite well. The big shoulder pads and overall posture of the toy look great giving him a somewhat aristocratic look. Yesss. However, the shoulder pads do restrict some mobility in the shoulders. The robot lower legs are identical to the beast legs. This was somewhat of a disappointment, but a feature that's common among Predacon leaders (Galvatron is one exception). The tail weapon looks really awkward and down right silly, but it's actually quite a lot of fun to play with. (-:
The torso is dark brown with nice purple accents on the chest. The chest is moulded to resemble a reptilian-like head and there are two red eyes. Weird. The head is also dark brown and the face and the centre of the forehead are purple. The eyes are red and the teeth are white. Yep. Unfortunately like the previous Megatron, his teeth are gritting; another typical Predacon leader feature. However, it probably looks the least constipated of them all.
Another slight drawback is that the waist cannot turn because the back VTOL thrusters are clipped onto the back. However, these thrusters can be taken out to give Megatron a VTOL feature in robot mode (which he used when entering the Ark in the show).

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Open the left VTOL vent thing. See it? Good.

OVERALL

A cool looking toy that's fun to play with! My favourite Transmetal. Highly recommended. Yesss...

------------------------------------------------------

Ultra Figure

------------------------------------------------------

Name: DEPTH CHARGE
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Aquatic Forces Commander
Beast Mode: Robotic Manta Ray
Average Price: 45 AUD

BEAST MODE

Length: 40cm (including tail)
Wingspan: 33cm
A very nice looking robot manta ray. The two "wing" sections are metallic blue with purple, yellow and some gold accents. The undersides of the wings are pale green with metallic blue towards the back and two circles with Maximal logos moulded on. These insignias are painted gold. The top side looks very aero-aquadynamic. It has a very mechanical feel to it with various kinds of vents and screws moulded throughout. The underside has a more "mecha-organic" look to it, similar to Giger designs (used in movies such as Aliens and Species) with various conduits running along. Very nice. Back on top, the head of the manta is primarily chromed gold with grey accents throughout. The eyes are yellow and the name "Depth Charge" is written along the top of the head. The mouth is positioned in the front of the animal. This is, of course, anatomically incorrect, because mantas' mouthes are position on the underside, since they feed off the ocean floor. Also, the eyes should be closer... but anyway. Toward the back there is a blue dorsal fin (mantas have dorsal fins?) and behind this is a long tail measuring 22 centimetres in length! One great feature about this mode is that unlike most other "flattened" beast modes (such as the bat Optimus Primal and Nightglider), there is no excessive robot undercarriage. This is because all robot parts either form part of the beast mode or are neatly tucked out of sight. I count seven points of articulation in this mode in the wings and tail.
Gimmick: Pull on the dorsal fin and yellow disks fire from the manta mouth. P-tooiee!!

TRANSFORMATION TO VEHICLE MODE

The manta wings are just rearranged. That's it.

VEHICLE MODE

Typical of most Transmetal vehicular modes, Depth Charge's one is merely a slight modification of its beast mode. Nothing to write home about, really.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Fold out wings, unfold manta eyes to form robot legs. Unfold robot feet and heels. Flip up the chrome gold panel on top of the manta head (the one with "Depth Charge" written on it). Unlock the robot legs and swing the whole section over and under the manta head. Bring the blue sections of the legs together, forming hip. Lift hip up, locking in with grey waist. Turn waist around 180 degrees. On top of the manta head, flip the remaining gold panel over, revealing robot head. Swing down the rear thrusters and swing them round. Lock them onto the torso, forming robot arms. Open forearms and flip out robot fists (similar to Transmetal Optimus). Detach tail end and place in robot fist, forming sword. Attach cybershark gun to other fist. Yay.
ROBOT MODE

Height: 17cm (head to foot)
A very cool looking robot mode. The wings stick out to the sides majestically. The head is blue with yellow and pale green accents. The face is yellow with red eyes and a green stripe. The head sits on a chrome gold plate on top of a grey torso. On the front of the chest are two yellow mantalike eyes. Although these eyes aren't used in the beast mode, part of the whole Transmetal scheme is to make the beast mode robotic and the robot mode resemble the beast. This is even more evident when one takes a closer inspection at the stomach region which has some scales moulded onto it! The shoulders are grey with blue shoulder pads. The upper arms are purple and the forearms are blue. The hands are chrome gold. The hips are blue and the thighs are purple and chrome gold. The knees, which look really weird with two structures sticking out, are grey. The legs are purple with chrome gold "shin-guards". The feet are grey.
Because this toy is very back heavy, there is a supportive strut on that back of the toy, which means that the toy stands as a tripod (comprised of the two legs and support strut). The moulding is very rounded, giving an impression that Depth Charge would move very gracefully in water. This toy looks very meched out in all aspects except for the torso, with various mechanical details moulded throughout the figure. The basic robot itself has 18 points of articulation.

Gimmicks: As with the beast mode, the manta mouth, which is now a cavity in the chest, can fire disks by pressing the dorsal fin trigger on the back. Also, the cybershark drone gun fires two 75mm missiles.

The cybershark drone is a very nicely made weapon. Unlike most other Beast Wars figures, it is an independent weapon which is not incorporated in the beast mode. Resembling a robotic shark, it is coloured the same metallic blue found on Depth Charge with pale green fins and yellow eyes.

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Under the panel with the words "Depth Charge" written on it.

OVERALL

A robot that looks everybit as cool as the character himself. Highly recommended.

------------------------------------------------------

Super Figure

------------------------------------------------------

Name: OPTIMAL OPTIMUS
Allegiance: Maximal
Function: Maximal General
Alternate Modes: Mecha Gorilla, Ground Assault Vehicle, Hypersonic Jet
Average Price: 80 AUD

BEAST MODE

Optimal Optimus measures approximately 21cm in height (head to foot), making him even taller than Lio Convoy. He has a shoulder span of about 16cm, over 40cm if you include the wings. Being a Transmetal toy, the name 'Optimal Optimus' is scribed on his right breast, although, for some *whacky reason, in different fonts from eachother. As the largest Beast Wars Transformer ever made, there's a lot of hype about the Optimal Optimus toy. Optimal Optimus retails around Sydney for about $70-80. Seeing the toy on the shelves is a pretty impressive sight. The box itself is 37.5cm tall 27cm wide and 12.5cm broad. The toy is packaged in a close-to-beast mode state (like Scavenger) with the arms tied up, making it look like it's on some kinda torture rack. To transform Optimal Optimus into full gorilla mode, just flip the back section up and take the wings out. The photo on the side of the box also shows the arms with the shoulder joints exposed and legs bent in a sitting kind of position. This can also be achieved quite easily. The moulding itself is great. A *lot* of detail went into the plastic moulds, including vents, grills, flaps and other such do-hickeys. There are four moulded Maximal insignias on the arms which are somewhat similar to the one on Laio Convoy's left chest panel because it's enclosed within a circle, although it's not separately coloured. The colouring is also quite awesome. The gorilla chest, hands and head are dominated with a metallic orange accented with metallic maroon (except for the face) - the photographs of the toy on the box show that these orange parts are yellow, a possible variant perhaps. In fact, all the non-chrome colours are metallic. Those of you familiar with model/miniature painting with be familiar with the term "metallic paint" - for those of you who don't, it's basically paint for plastic parts with metallic "filings" throughout. That's the best way I can describe it. If you're still not sure what I'm talking about, ask a model/miniature enthusiast, or just pop into your local hobby store and look at paints with names like "metallic red" etc. Where was I? Oh yes, the face of the gorilla is metallic blue with some silver bits on it. The teeth are silver and the eyes are transparent, which glow orange with the electronic gimmick. The upper arms (shield receptacles) are chrome maroon. Attached to these are the wings, which, along with the rear wings (located behind the lower legs), forearms and thighs, are metallic grey. The thighs and forearms have a few black panels though. The shoulder panels and lower leg sections are chrome blue. On the outer sides of the lower legs are two metallic orange/maroon panels. The back of the gorilla is dominated by the primary weapons array which is mainly metallic brown and grey in colour. One of the best features about this toy's paint job was that it was airbrushed onto the plastic, something new for a Transformer toy (airbrushed paints are usually associated with action figures such as MacFarlane Toys). The toy also has an electronic gimmick, where you have to open a panel by loosening a tiny (and I do mean tiny) screw. As one can very well imagine, this is a real big inconvenience, especially if you don't have a miniature screwdriver set, 'cos believe me, a Swiss army knife is futile. Even with the mini screwdriver, it wasn't easy. My screw was placed in very very tightly - I had to use a LOT of excessive force to unscrew that sucker. Once opened, two AA sized batteries are placed inside and there you have it. The light mechanism is activated by pulling on the back of the weapon pack. Warning! Since this switch is also attached to the springs which launch the missiles, take care that you don't pull it all the way back and launch the missiles by accident (especially if you're staring at them). My advice for younger fans is to remove the missiles first, before admiring the pretty lights. I've counted some 25 points of available articulation in this toy. The eyes light up to an amber colour. Again, be careful not to pull the switch all the way back. In this mode, the missiles are also pointing in the same direction as the eyes, so if you're looking at the blinking eyes with missiles loaded, there's a risk that the missiles may launch into your face. The missiles are blunt and too long to present a choking hazard, but still - having the missiles launch into your eyes would not be the most pleasant of experiences. Because of this, I strongly recommend caution for younger fans. The forearms panels have a spring loaded gimmick which 'blasts' the panels away when you press a button on the inside of the forearm. I'm not sure whether or not this is suppose to simulate battle damage or not, but on my toy, the spring is way too sensitive. The hands have articulation! All four finger digits are joined and move in and out in unison. The thumb moves from one end of the hand to the other! An opposable thumb, woo! Mind you, it's far more opposable than the thumb of a real gorilla (which only reaches the third finger). For that matter, it's more opposable than a human thumb (which cannot go past the fifth finger).

*Rumour has it that Optimal Optimus' prototype name was Fotress Optimus. At BotCon 97, a fan approached the Hasbro stall and made a snide remark to the Hasbro reps mentioning how lame many of the early names were and remarked, "What's next? Fortress Optimus?". Apparently, the reps just gave each other a worried look and made no comment. Hence the name was changed at the last moment to "Optimal Optimus" (which is why they're both written in different fonts).

GROUND ASSAULT MODE

To transform from gorilla to ground assault mode, open the shoulder, flip out the gorilla chest then flip out the wheel. After that, close the shoulders again. Now, here the instructions don't say exactly how far you should take the gorilla chest. There are two ways of doing so - and both ways seem to leave this ground assault mode looking rather... well... silly. If you pulled it out all the way, then the arms would have to 'struggle' to attach onto the wheel brackets. You have to use excessive force to get the suckers around, and when you do, it's obvious that the wheel and shoulders are starting to oppose each other. Not good for the toy, and it gives you the sinking feeling that something is going to snap off. A somewhat safer version, is to close the shoulder with the gorilla chest pins (the ones that attach to the inside of the shoulder) still in range of the shoulders. In other words, it's like flipping up the gorilla chest without needing to separate the shoulders at all. The problem with this is that it lifts two of the rear wheels (there are four in total) into the air, giving the vehicle and arch in the middle. Looks pretty silly too, but at least it doesn't feel like it's going to tear itself apart. Both the wording and illustrations on the instructions do not give any clear indication of how to really transform the toy into this mode. (or maybe I'm just dense - if anyone knows the real way to do this, lemme know) In my opinion, the transformation scheme to get to this mode is cumbersome and clunky. Dimensions wise, the toy is about 33cm long, 12cm high and about 17cm wide. The ground assault and hypersonic attack modes don't really have much in the way of articulation, but then again, I don't believe articulation is terribly important for vehicular modes. This would have to be my least favourite of all of Optimal Optimus' modes.

HYPERSONIC ATTACK MODE

Some people have criticised this mode as being nothing more than a slight variation on the beast mode. Basically, yes, it is. However, it's simplicity is also it's merit. From beast mode, all one has to do is pull the arms away from the shoulders, turn the weapons pack around, pull down the canopy and reposition the wings. That's pretty much it! But boy does this mode look cool. Sure, it's not as cool as Galvatron's drill tank mode, but it's sure a helluva lot better than the ground assault mode, and a darn good intermediate mode, especially when compared to other Transmetal intermediate modes. In this mode, the toy is about 29cm long, 50cm wide (wingtip to wingtip) and 11cm high.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

Quite a few rather complex steps are required to get Optimal Optimus from gorilla to robot, but no where near as frustrating nor disappointing as the ground assault mode. Separate the shoulders, flip up the gorilla chest, take out the wheel and separate the brackets. Then flip in the gorilla head, close the gorilla chest, turn the shoulders 180 degrees then close them. Pull the arms away from the shoulders (as in the transformation to hypersonic attack mode), turn the thumbs 180 degrees (ah ha! This is really why his thumbs are so ridiculously opposable!) and rotate the waist around 180 degrees. A hint to doing this is to first turn the weapons backpack thingy 90 degrees, then turn the waist, then turn the weapons pack an additional 90 degrees (you need to turn the whole thing 180 in total). That way the pack won't get in the way of the legs. Ooh. Me is smart. After having pivoted the whole weapon pack 180 degrees (the canopy should be facing the feet now), lock the canopy down onto the robot naval (don't ask). Then fold the weapon back down 90 degrees and pull the robot head out. Yay. Pressing the forearm buttons activates the blast-away panel gimmick. Pick up the pieces and reattach them onto the shoulders. There ya have it.

ROBOT MODE

Mould wise, the robot face looks quite similar to the way Optimus Primal did in Season One (i.e., it has that whacked out mouth). The main colours of the head are metallic orange and blue with some silver accents. With the electronic gimmick, the eyes light up green. The missile launchers light up red and the chest has an amber light. Nice. One very noticable thing about this mode is that Optimal Optimus certainly does look very bulky and chunky. But I think that's part of the novelty of the toy itself. Mind you, the toy has pretty darn good poseability for it's size and bulk. With 22 points of available articulation (not including the wings), I've been able to make this toy strike some impressive poses. The weight distribution of the toy can also confound some poses, especially the good old side kick pose. In robot mode, Optimal Optimus is unable to stand on one leg alone. Striking single leg poses such as the side kick, can be aided by bringing one hand down to the ground; effectively taking place of the mid-air leg. The trick to making it look less obvious is to make the hand just contact the ground, so the arm looks more like a counterweight, rather than a supportive strut. This technique is great for making Optimal Optimus strike roundhouse kicks. But unless you're into striking these kinda acrobatic poses, it toy has quite good stability for it's weight distribution. It's definitely top heavy in this mode, but unlike Galvatron, it doesn't have a tendency to fall over all the time. This is because the weight is distributed evenly, unlike Galvatron who carries all his weight (mostly the drill) on his back. Dimensions: 23cm tall, about 50cm wide (same as hypersonic attack mode) and about 19cm from front to back (not including missiles).

RUB STICKER LOCATION

Under the gorilla head. This is one of the most idiotic locations for a rub sticker they've ever come up with (alongside Apache's horrid location.

OVERALL

It's a great toy and in most respects, it certainly lives up to it's reputation. The size is undeniably awesome (when I took him out of the box, the first thing I uttered was "size matters") and the excellent moulding and superb air brush colouring (along with the cool metallic and chrome pallette) makes this a beautiful toy. The articulation is exceptional for a toy of this size, especially compared to other recent giants such as Machine Wars Starscream. Speaking of which, for those of you who are wondering, height wise, MW Starscream is about a centimetre above Optimal Optimus in terms of head height, but Optimal Optimus's huge shoulders definitely tower Starscream, and in terms of mass; Optimal wins hands down. It's also not the easiest toy to transform either, so fans of extra-hard transformations will love this piece. The illustrations and wording in the instructions are unclear at times, and I often found myself using the photos on the box as reference. I think most fans will find something to love about this toy, but the price is the most obvious drawback from purchasing this sucker. But then again, Optimal Optimus was designed as a pricing experiment for Hasbro anyway (they wanted to see how far they could push the price limit for the Beast Wars line). A brilliant toy.