Gotta collect them all! I actually prefer this to MP-32. BW OP was my first BW toy and so I like the nostalgia. I also used my $65 energon coupon so it only cost me like ~$50![]()
Gotta collect them all! I actually prefer this to MP-32. BW OP was my first BW toy and so I like the nostalgia. I also used my $65 energon coupon so it only cost me like ~$50![]()
I see this one virtually shelf warming.
The paint apps on the Gorilla mode look horrible - like a poor man's custom job somebody did on MP-32.
The face/mask accessory looks like Inferno's face! Inferno - the Predacon that turns into an ant. Did Convoy/Optimus Primal rip his face off and wear it??
Man, I wish Hasbro/Takara would do a Generations/Legends line dedicated to Beast Wars. Even just repacks or reissues of the 1996 toys would make me happy enough.
EDIT: Oh, it's his organic 'beast' face. My bad. I never owned the original toy.
Last edited by FatalityPitt; 13th January 2017 at 05:50 PM. Reason: Found the answer to my own question
Replied here.
It's show-accurately dull, same as MP Inferno. This is what happens when you make your toys accurate to cel animated models.Although MP Inferno never had to compete with say a more toy-accurate detailed version.
Optimus Primal is a tough call. We know that TakaraTOMY have to repaint it as something to make more money back on the mould, but what else can they repaint it as? Burning Convoy is an even more obscure variant as it's based on Optimus Primal's appearance in one scene in the theatrical movie. Whereas this repaint is consistent with Optimus Primal's admittedly cameo appearance in the film, and is also toy-accurate which appeals to fans of toy-accuracy. So this redeco has a two-tier appeal, whereas Burning Convoy has a narrow single-tier appeal. But other than a cel-animation/toy-accurate or Burning Convoy redeco, what else can they do with this mould?We want TakaraTOMY to release all these characters as MPs, but from their POV they need to consider the redeco potential to justify the cost of R&Ding the mould in the first place.
All of the first year Deluxe, Mega (Voyager) and Ultra figures came with alternate Mutant robot (not beast) heads. I say robot because they were only usable in robot mode. In the TV series most BW TFs were animated with the robot head, but at least two characters were animated with their mutant heads; Tarantulas and Waspinator. Their Transmetal forms' heads were also based on their mutant heads. Blackarachnia is a straight up repaint of Tarantulas, but animators chose to base the show model's head on her robot head instead of her mutant head. But Tarantulas has this robot head too. And although Buzz Saw never appeared in the show, he is always illustrated with his robot head instead of his mutant one (he and Waspinator share the exact same heads).
Before the BW cartoon came out I used to imagine that their mutant heads gave them a more savage or berserker quality to their robot mode. I still do this when I choose to ignore cartoon continuity and go with the original pre-cartoon toy continuity.![]()
Yeah, most of the BW toys I had were the basics (Terrorsaur, Rattrap, Razorbeast, etc). The only deluxes I had were Tigertron, Blackarachnia and Tarantulas. I noticed the mutant heads on Tigertron and the two "spider-cons" (if I can call them that), but never put much thought in them. Although it would have been cool if they wore them in the show as battle masks, or a manifestation of their bestial or monstrous side when they're angry.
To me it looks kind of awful, but I understand the appeal, like G2 repaints this toy really trades in nostalgia, and the novel value is kinda cool.
Only that BW was popular.The thing that perplexes me about G2 and MW homages is... where the hell did all these so-called "die hard" fans of G2 and MW come from?!?
These lines were awful shelfwarmers, lingering in stores for years after release.
Ultra Optimus Primal was my very first BW toy, but I must admit that it did take me a while to finally track one down (in some small independently owned toy store sitting on a bottom shelf next to Megatron). Although it may have also been because fewer retailers were actually ordering BW stock in 1996.1997 was - in my observation - the real big bang for Beast Wars. The TV show was out and built greater awareness of the brand, and toys were readily available in major stores. And selling fast.
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A need to milk the mold perhaps, g2 bumblebee was all they could get out of the bumblebee mold as a mainline release whilst sideswipe...dunno guess they thought mister gimace looked cool enough to milk the mold some more despite ALL of the other uses (red alert, anime+, clampdown, tigertrack), least he was a decent package and was worth it personally unlike g2 bumblebee.
(g2 starscream and ramjet when?)