Venturing into Beast Wars - what to start with first?

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Awesome cartoon series. Haven't read the comics. Mostly awesome toys. I acquired a fair few last year, mostly from Verno, and the only two that have been notable disappointments were Razorbeast (stoopid one-button transformation designs) and TM2 Cheetor (which is pretty craptastic, must get a different Cheetor to replace him in the Odieverse).
Rampage is one of my favourite TF toys ever, and almost all the rest I have are either great or really good. BW Megs is my all-time favourite TF character and easily in my top 5 favourite characters from any fictional series. Also noteworthy is that TM Airazor is the first intentionally-designed-to-be-female TF figure in the franchise IIRC.

[Cat]

Also noteworthy is that TM Airazor is the first intentionally-designed-to-be-female TF figure in the franchise IIRC.

Minerva/Nightbeat.

[griffin]

In terms of Western TFs, Airazor was the first official Female Transformers character toy that was mass-released (Nightracer was the first, but was a BotCon toy).
And only the head of Minerva was technically female, as we never saw what the robot's gender was after the kids were separated from them.
(but at that time, I think Hasbro would have been taking the lead on toys & characters, so Nightbeat's "masculine" form would have been the original form)

[GoktimusPrime]

And only the head of Minerva was technically female, as we never saw what the robot's gender was after the kids were separated from them.

Post-separation Minerva did appear in four episodes of Victory where she still sounds female - although her voice is different, mostly because they changed voice actress (in Masterforce Minerva was voiced by Yamamoto Yuriko whereas in Victory she was voiced by Maruo Tomoko).

(but at that time, I think Hasbro would have been taking the lead on toys & characters, so Nightbeat's "masculine" form would have been the original form)

I'd say that's true. Ono Koujin did say that Powermaster Optimus Prime was designed for Hasbro first, then Takara improved on the design for Ginrai. My guess is that Takara saw Nightbeat as being rather androgynous looking and realised that it could pass off as female.

Having said that:
"Airazor's gender in the Hasbro line is due to Beast Wars story editors Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio's insistence. The original Airazor toy wasn't developed with a specific gender in mind, and Bob & Larry wanted a larger female presence in the show, and the Airazor toy seemed as good a choice as any. They requested the change early enough that the toy's packaging bio could have its pronouns changed to female (thank god). The later Transmetal version of Airazor was the first American-released Transformer mold created to represent a female character. "
(Source)

So there you have it; Transmetal Airazor was really the first Transformer toy explicitly created to be female.

[Verno]

Have we averaged 1 female toy from then on in each subsequent series? The use of Arcee has become the norm from token female character it seems.

[kup]

I agree with everyone saying that to understand the comics, you need to watch the cartoon first - It is the 'back bone' of all BW fiction. Unfortunately the somewhat recent IDW comics are a little bizarre in how plot is handled and the 2nd volume feels really rushed to me, specially at the end.

[GoktimusPrime]

Have we averaged 1 female toy from then on in each subsequent series? The use of Arcee has become the norm from token female character it seems.

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Female_Transformers

[Verno]

I agree with everyone saying that to understand the comics, you need to watch the cartoon first - It is the 'back bone' of all BW fiction. Unfortunately the somewhat recent IDW comics are a little bizarre in how plot is handled and the 2nd volume feels really rushed to me, specially at the end.

You're right, very rushed indeed.

And somewhat unresolved. Doesn't even state how the Maximal mallita get back to Cybertron, it just sort of... ends. Maybe Furman originally tried to stretch Ascending over 2 series, 8 comics, but IDW wouldn't go for the idea so he had to hack it up and back to 4.

At the end of reading The Gathering (and before Ascending came out), I envisioned the out-of-synch Maximals to have eventually hitched a ride on the Ark Shuttle back to Cybertron, but things changed.

But like any piece of Transformers canon, it can be cut up or covered over with later stories.

(I intend to)

[kup]

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Female_Transformers

I don't think this is relevant to what Verno is saying. He is talking about female characters making it into toys and that since BW, there has been an average of 1 female toy character per line.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah I know that page just generically covers all female Transformers and not just the toys, but it does cover the toys too... I just couldn't be bothered individually listing them.

Mmm... so lazy...