Goki's Toy Reviews of Yesteryear!

[Zand]

Cool! I like reading these old reviews, quite interesting.

[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.

[GoktimusPrime]

BEAST WARS FUZORS

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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!

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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!

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BEAST WARS TRANSMETALS

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Basic Figure

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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.

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Deluxe Figures

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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.

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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!

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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!

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Mega Figures

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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. :-)

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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...

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Ultra Figure

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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.

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Super Figure

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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.