(Classic) Review 10-013 - Tarantulas

[griffin]

Review 10-013 - Tarantulas
Series - Beast Wars
Sub-line -
Size - Deluxe
New/remould/redeco - New
Wave - 1
Released here - 1996
Approximate Retail Price - $20
Approximate Size - 15cm
Allegiance - Predacon
Alt-mode - Spider (doesn't look bulky enough to be a tarantula)
Main Features/Gimmicks - Launching grappling hook and missiles.
Main Colours - Dull purple, black, yellow, grey, green.
Main Accessories - Grappling-hook launcher, 4 missiles.
My Difficulty rating (out of 5) - 1
Stability - Good in robot mode, and really good in spider mode, in terms of holding together and standing.
Poseability/articulation - Very good. For its time it was excellent, as this sort of articulation design was only previously tried out on a select few Generation 2 toys. But even today, it's articulation stands up against any other toy today, now over 14 years later.
Playability - Very playable, with simplistic but fun transformation, and a gimmick that can fire missiles or a grappling-hook.
My Thoughts - The first year of Beast Wars toys had many great, fun toys, which was a refreshing change to the franchise, despite the purists opposing the alt-modes. True to their original purpose as robots in disguise, these toys were engineered well enough to reflect or resemble a recognisable, real alt-mode, without excessively compromising the look of either mode. And Tarantulas is the best in the first year to have the least amount of kibble in robot mode. The colours on Tarantulas are a bit odd, but was probably the exception to the first year of BW toys. I recommend this and all of the first year of Beast Wars toys, in much the same way I recommend having the first year of Generation 1 toys. Not just because they are good toys, but are classic and symbolic of that era.
My Overall Recommendation Rating (out of 10) - 8

[Sky Shadow]

One of the best Transformers in twenty-five years. Missile legs, grappling hook with line, transforming head, swirly paint patterns, massive boobs for a Blackarachnia remould - for me this still feels incredibly special thirteen years later. A+

[dirge]

Nice toy if a little dated. The elbows crack but this won't hamper the toy. And the missile as legs is still impressive.

[Firestorm]

I say definatly buy it, i just got my 10th aniversary tarantulas today and it's easily one of my favorite figres out of my entire collection
on a side note i also just got cybertron backstop too he is easily NOT one of my favorites but considering i got him for $3 i guess i cant complain