20th Anniversary of the Beast Wars cartoon today
According to tfwiki, some time earlier today (which is the 22nd of April in America), the preview screening of the first two episodes of the Beast Wars cartoon was aired on TV for the very first time 20 years ago... before the first season began its regular screening in September of 1996.
A really great write-up of the series has been done on TFW by my friend Sol Fury, and if you have the time, do read it.
I'm not sure when the toys started being released, but I think it wasn't until around September. The Ozformers newsletter only started in September 1996, and looking up issue one, it sounds like the toys were only just being released in the last month.
I think Dirge and I were one of the first Australians to get some Beast Wars toys in this country, posted to us by American friends at the time... and a previous member from Brisbane (Belinda) was getting the episodes posted to her on VHS tape, as she had a tape player that could play NTSC tapes, and every few months we'd have a marathon screening (with Transformers fans and the odd Furry fan).
Some of the hot topics in September 1996 (from Issue 1 of the Ozformers newsletter) as the first few episodes were screening in America...
And from issue 2 of the Ozformers Newsletter, released October 1996...-A debate grew over whether the planet was Earth or not - evidence against was the two moons orbiting the planet and Dinobot stating that it wasn't Earth, while the evidence in favour of it being Earth was with the type of animals being used as well as a stone structure resembling stonehenge was seen.
-The debate about the two moons continued on its own, after it was suggested that if it was Earth in the past, then what happened to the second moon in the present. Ideas were suggested, like it was destroyed by the Transformers at a later date, meaning, it could be part of a future story.
-There was a fascination with Rhinox's gun - seems to have been something big of his that wasted away a few characters.
-People were also commenting on the "guest" appearance of Starscream in episode three - it was a dream sequence, so he wasn't really there.
Beast Wars Toy Reviews
By Darren (dirge)
OK, I'm only going to review the toys I have (obviously). I'll start with the regulars, then the deluxes, and finally the mega beast, Scorponok. For those who don't know, Maximals are the equivalent of Autobots, and Predacons are the 'Cons. Unless otherwise stated, all beasts animal-mode head becomes the chest of the robot, and posabilty is on par with the cyberjets.
Of course, this is all opinion. Some people are bound to hate things I like and vice versa. Hopefully, I'll be able to convey how good (bad) these toys are. Since I had to buy them without knowing too much about them, hopefully my writing of these will help some of you get an idea of each toy.
Rattrap (maximal): about 10cm (4 inches) tall in robot mode, as are all the regular beasts. As the name implies he turns into a rat. He's grey & brown with silver highlights in robot mode. His gun splits in two and fits inside the rat mode. The two sides of the rat fold out, almost looks like a pretender shell he's carrying on his back. I like this effect, but that's just me. Pull up the rat tail and he 'springs' into robot mode (this is part of the gimmick of the regulars).
Bad points: there's a space between shoulders & chest, he's hard to stand as a robot, unposable beast form.
Good points: his dull colour scheme is far more tasteful than most of the G2 line. Cool gun.
Overall, he's pretty cool. His character in the cartoon is cool, too.
Armor Dillo (maximal): no prizes for guessing what he turns into. Incredibly simple transform. While Rattrap has a few gears in his transform, 'Dillo uses a spring and nothing else. Orange and grey. The orange is an ochre colour, it's a little rich for me, but I can forgive it on an armordillo. His rear legs detach to become his robot mode weapons (spiky-ball thing and a gun, both of which look pretty stupid).
Bad points: He's got claw-like hands in robot mode, and as I mentioned the weapons look stupid. Also you _have_ to remove them to form robot mode, but _have_ to put them back for beast mode which can be annoying.
Good points: The armordillo head looks good as his chest.
Overall, he's nothing special. Still, he is posable, beats the hell out of Runamuck (BTW anyone have a Runamuck for sale?)
Optimus Primal (maximal, obviously): he's a two-tone blue bat. The bat wings form a sort of cape in robot mode, and he's got two swords which fit under his wings (and a firepower of seven, with no gun!). His head looks like a cross between Prime of old and Batman. He's got a complex auto-transform mechanism, pull the tail and about seven gears and levers go into action. Note, there's also an Ultra Beast Primal, and it's an ape. The Gorilla's the one in the show (and in the show, this is a new character, although the toy is meant to be our favourite red truck).
Bad points: again hard to stand, although unlike Rattrap he's got ankle joints. Lots of robot mode bits underneath the bat.
Good points: the cape rocks. The blues look choice. He's got a jaw (although it tends to hang open)
Overall, pretty cool toy, although it's not gunna be in the show.
Megatron (predacon): Sold with Primal in a 2-pack (and it's going off sale in the US soon, BTW). He's a green alligator. Got the same head-shape as the old Megatron toys, but with fangs. Very posable (ankle and wrist joints needed for his transform). The tail becomes his gun (although it looks kinda silly). Again the Megatron in the show is the Ultra beast version (T-rex), and it's not Megs of old.
Bad points: the gun looks stupid, as I said. Hollow top-of-chest.
Good points: the gun looks cool if you don't detach it and swing it over his head.
Overall, he's pretty cool.
Terrorsaur (predacon): or as I call him, Terrosaur. IMO the coolest of the beasts yet. Red pterodactyl. His tail section becomes the robot chest. black and blue highlights in robot mode. like Primal, the wings form a cape. Like Primal (and Megatron) he's got a jaw, but it _closes_. Has the ankle and wrist joints too. Gun folds up and fits behind his head.
Bad points: if any, I guess it'd be that his robot feet get in the way of the beast jaw opening.
Good points: The gun. It's not obtrusive and it's cool. The cape formed by the wings is cool and not as heavy as Primal's (although mine's got looser legs than Primal's so it has more trouble standing).
Overall, well as I said he's my favourite beast. Simple, but well done.
Onyx Primal (predacon): Same mould as Primal, but in black and grey. This guy was the exclusive toy for BotCon '96. If you're unfamiliar with BotCon, that basically means this guy's limited edition and you'll pay dearly for it. I paid $US25 and that was the original price.
Bad points: the spec's blasphemous, it rips off the Christian bible.
Good points: He's _rare_, and I have him (^8
Overall, about the same as Primal, it just depends on your preference of colours.
Iguanas (predacon): same body type as Megatron, but with a lizard head. Brown and yellow. This thing looks _weird_. It's got a frilled-neck, but the head isn't a frilled-neck lizard's head. And the body's a crocodilian, of course. There's at least three species in this guy. Still, he's posable. Colours are reminiscent of G2. The brown reminds me of one of those fake dog-sh*ts you get at over-priced novelty stores.
Bad points: obviously mismatched body parts.
Good points: Easy to stand, has a jaw that opens and closes (even _springs_ shut).
Overall, he's OK, about on par with cyberjet Air Raid.
Insecticon (predacon): get the feeling Hasbro/Kenner are protecting a trademark? Anyway he's a cool dark blue and green. IMO the best colour scheme of the beasts. He's posable in both modes (ankle joints, wing covers open). His insect legs stick out in robot mode, but it doesn't look to bad (kinda like Shrapnel's antennae, it suits him). Weapon is a two-part crossbow hidden under the wing covers.
Bad points: head's on a swivel joint not a ball-and-socket joint. The name. Groin section's a bit long.
Good points: the colour scheme. But then blue & green are my favourite colours (even tho' my colour blindness does makes it hard to tell them apart). The crossbow parts double as jet engines in beetle form. Beast form reminds me of my bug collection for biol104 last year, so it mustn't be too inaccurate.
Overall, he's a pretty good toy.
Snapper (predacon): green and magenta turtle. Like Terrosaur his tail section becomes the chest. He's got ankles, and like 'Dillo he's got claws in place of hands (tho' they dont look as bad on Snapper). Part of the shell detaches and folds out to become the gun. Head looks odd. The shell's got a yellow brushed-on paint job, which resembles lichen or something, although it rubs off (too) easily.
Bad points: head's on a swivel joint again. Turtle legs look silly.
Good points: the gun can be put back when partly unfolded and sit above his head pointing forward. The turtle head retracts when he transforms, which is a cool effect.
Overall, looks a little goofy but isn't too bad anyway.
That's all the regular beasts I have. They're $US5 ($10 for the 2-pack), not including Onyx.
Waspinator (Predacon): about 15cm tall, as are all deluxes. They lose the auto-transforming thing, but they're generally more complex. He's got two robot-mode heads, so you can choose which one looks better. One's the normal head, and the other head (mutant head) has compound eyes and such. I prefer the robot head. He's green grey black and yellow. Looks cool as wasp (kinda scary in fact). Along with Terrosaur he was the first beast I got. He's got a missile launcher, the transparent missiles fit under the wings (which are also transparent). Like Insecticon, he's got the insect legs on his robot arms. Pretty posable in wasp mode. As posable as a cyberjet in robot mode (although his arms resemble G2 Smokescreen's as far as joints go).
Bad points: I lost one of my missiles )^8
Good points: wings have that oily look of real insect wings. The mechanism for switching between the robot and mutant head rocks.
Overall, worth getting if you're willing to spend twenty bucks to import it. That's probably what it'll cost if these buggers ever get here, although TRU might be cheaper.
Tigatron (maximal): off white and green (or blue, I really can't tell) tiger. OK, so the green's hidden in beast mode. Cheetor's the same mould but yellow and blue (and has cheetah spots not tiger stripes). Fairly posable, G2-Smokescreen style arms, posable but chunky legs. The mutant head is a joke. Looks like a bug head or something. It'd look fine on Waspinator, but this guy's a _mammal_ and all... Has two guns, one is his tailpiece, the other's his gut. It detaches and squirts water. The top of this gun has intestines and such moulded onto it. Yeah, he vomits on his enemies. Charming huh?
Bad points: the shape of the thighs really limit posablity. If you switch _just_ the thighs (nothing a screwdriver can't handle), he's more posable. The mutant head.
Good points: the colours. The robot head's pretty cool, too (it'd want to be with that mutant head and all). The transform's fairly complex.
Overall, he looks pretty cool, though a little more posabilty in beast mode would be nice (the front legs and head don't move).
Tarantulas (Predacon): translucent maroon, grey & green. Much simpler (but just as cool) transform as Wasp. Again has beast mode legs on his arms. Although four of them can detach to become missiles for his missile launcher. Also he's got a grappling hook which you can shoot from the launcher (although it's string is about 3" long, which is kinda short..) Again has the two heads, the mutant one looks better IMO. He's got ankle joints and he's very posable since he's easy to get to stand.
Bad points: you don't want to lose your missiles or he's an amputee. Also the claw is annoying, since when it's not in the launcher there's nowhere to put it, and the string is so short. I took my Tarantulas apart and took the claw out, actually. Pretty minor flaws, though.
Good points: Wicked toy. Since he's translucent, looks choice if you dangle the spider mode in front of a window (during the day, that is!).
Overall, well I guess the "wicked toy" bit said it all, it's a cool toy.
Blackarachnia (Predacon): Female, the specs say so. They're also pretty suggestive, and the card-art gave her curvaceous thighs. Someone at Kenner doesn't get out much, if you ask me. Deprivation aside, she's the same body type as Tarantulas, cept female. She's translucent black, purple, green and gold. It's not as bad as it sounds (although it is very bright). While the mutant head looks better on Tarantulas, she looks better with the robot head.
Bad points: obviously the same physical shortcomings as her brother.. and the colours could be a little tamer.
Good points: first mass-release female TF in the English-speaking world (Minerva was sold in Japan and Nightracer at BotCon '95). Again she's translucent.
Overall, well just being female she's novel, really. And a decent toy to boot.
These guys are $US10, but it'd cost somewhere around $20 to get them out as I said.
Scorponok (Predacon): no, not the same guy who teamed up with Prime in the comic (Iggy's not meant to be the pretender, either by the way). For mine, they should have given them new names, though the name does suit BW Scorponok. He's black, red and purple. He's a scorpion, obviously. Robot is about 16cm tall, but with his beast-mode tail erect he's about as tall as Soundwave. He's got lots of little gimmicks: the tail spring-stings; one claw shoots out this cool little bee; the other shoots 2 missiles, mutant head again; comes in a box not on a card, as posable as a cyberjet with ankles. The scorpion's back becomes the robot chest, and the two claws swap sides when he transforms. These claws are the hands, and they're longer than the rest of the arms. Looks odd, but it's still pretty cool. The mutant head looks better IMO (and the robot head isn't as posable). Constructed more like the TFs of old, with screws here and there.
Bad points: most of them have weak hip joints which makes him hard to stand (so I've heard - mine stands fine). Claws may be too big for some people's liking.
Good points: the bee (it's got no name), the stinger, the size of him.
Overall, he got rave reviews when he first came out. I wasn't as impressed as everyone else, but he's a damn cool toy nonetheless. I guess it depends on price; he's $US15.
Well that's all the BWTFs I have. Of these, only Rattrap, Scorponok, Waspinator, Tigatron, Blackarachnia & Terrosaur are in the cartoon series (so far, anyway). Not that the cartoon's airing here anyway. Though I've got the first two episodes on tape if anyone wants a copy (complete with adds from Jacksonville, Florida, although I'd edit those out).
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So, when did you get first exposed to the Beast Wars cartoon or toyline, and what were your first impressions, or why did you get into it?
Or, if you were a fan from before Beast Wars started, how did you feel about this new series, which had a completely new and organic beast theme?
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Then getting on to the Ozformer mailing list helped fill in gaps with information of toys and the coming carton.
I finally picked up a replacement at Botcon in 2009 for twelve bucks.
Originally Posted by Verno
