The Beast Wars Appreciation Thread

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'm really surprised they haven't redone the Generations Rhinox and Rattrap toys in their Transmetal modes, especially considering the toy companies proclivities for reusing molds.

One of my biggest beefs - check that, prob the biggest (after I finally learned that BW Op and Megs were not meant to be new versions of G1 Op & Megs - just new characters honouring the names) beef - with Beast Wars is that I personally don't like organic looking alt-modes. It's why these are pretty much the only Generations figures I don't own. However I'd snap up the Transmetal versions in a second if they made them

[kup]

Beast Wars is awesome so more new toys representing characters of that era are more than welcome. A lot of the toys despite being 20 years old have superior design and build quality than a lot of modern toys.

EG: Combiner Wars toys robot modes may look nice due to G1esque aesthetics but their design and build quality is super cheap.

One of my biggest beefs - check that, prob the biggest (after I finally learned that BW Op and Megs were not meant to be new versions of G1 Op & Megs - just new characters honouring the names) beef - with Beast Wars is that I personally don't like organic looking alt-modes. It's why these are pretty much the only Generations figures I don't own. However I'd snap up the Transmetal versions in a second if they made them

I do understand your perspective as when I first found out about BW, I felt exactly the same way about organic modes. However the cartoon itself convinced me to see passed it and on top of that, as I watched the show I begun to realize that the BW organic modes were more like G1 Pretender shells that break up as panels around the robot mode during transformation than truly organic. When characters took damage in the show, a metal surface was exposed and showed through the faux 'skin'. Basically, if you take a flame thrower to Optimus Primal in Gorilla mode, you will get a metallic gorilla.

So there isn't much difference in concept between G1 transformer Beast modes and BW

[GoktimusPrime]

So there isn't much difference in concept between G1 transformer Beast modes and BW

Agreed.

Also, organic looking beast modes are better in terms of being robots in disguise. A metallic gorilla ain't foolin' anyone. Alice from Revenge of the Fallen was pretty much a beast-moded Transformer, with her animal mode being a human. ROTF Alice is classified as a Pretender in the Movieverse, which goes back to what you were saying about Beast Modes having come from the G1 Pretender concept. In fact, the Pretender concept came about because Hasbro wanted Takara to make a line of Transformers that transformed into humans. Ono Koujin realised that this wasn't possible at the time, so he submitted a counter-suggestion to have vehicular moded Transformers inside human shells. Somewhere along the line it was decided that the Decepticons would have monster-shells (I don't know which side came up with this idea, I suspect Takara). Hasbro of course expanded this idea with animals with the Pretender Beasts (which were never released in Japan (or Australia )).

IDW Comics Spoilers Ahead



IDW Comics Spoilers Ahead

In the recent IDW comics we see Stampy swipe the Autobot's data stick. I honestly didn't initially think that it was Stampy or even an alien robot. I actually though that this was a stupid part of a story... why the hell would a random rabbit just conveniently steal this thing and somehow elude capture from the Autobots? I thought that the writers had put it in there as a plot complication (which it is), but never suspected that the rabbit was also a Cybertronian. The reveal completely too me off guard as I was like...

...and then of course the other BW TFs revealed themselves and battled the Autobots! Very, very cool! IMO this is what being robots in disguise is about. Theeeeey've got the power to surprise!

[BigTransformerTrev]

I do understand your perspective as when I first found out about BW, I felt exactly the same way about organic modes. However the cartoon itself convinced me to see passed it and on top of that, as I watched the show I begun to realize that the BW organic modes were more like G1 Pretender shells that break up as panels around the robot mode during transformation than truly organic. When characters took damage in the show, a metal surface was exposed and showed through the faux 'skin'. Basically, if you take a flame thrower to Optimus Primal in Gorilla mode, you will get a metallic gorilla.

So there isn't much difference in concept between G1 transformer Beast modes and BW

My dislike of organic looking alt-modes has nothing to do with storyline. I just think they look boring on screen and total crap as toys. It's purely aesthetic. That's why I only ever bought Roadgrabber from the Pretender line (I did get Grimlock too but that's because I'm a Big Grim collector). Others really like them and not arguing that they shouldn't, I just don't personally.

[GoktimusPrime]

Which Beast Wars Transformer are you?

[CHILENO20]

Cheetor

[UltimateGalvatron]

Cheetor

Same.

[doublespy]

I'm not quite into Transformers comic so BW is the best TF fiction for me to date. You don't see cartoons with this kind of quality a lot. IMHO Beast Machines (and probably TFP much later) may beat BW in the visuals department, but as a show overall, BW is hands down the best.

I still remember the day when I saw Ravage transform into his classic cassette tape form with the G1 transformation sound effect. I had tears in my eyes.

As a toy line, it ranks high in my book too. Transmetals and Transmetals 2 produced some of the all time great TF toys. I also like the fact that from BW Transformers started to become challenging to transform (later the Japanese designers would deliver some of the most mind blowing shell-formers)

[GoktimusPrime]

The time span between the original G1 Optimus Prime (1984) and MP1 Convoy (2004) is the same as that between the original Ultra Optimus Primal (1996) and MP32 Convoy (2016); 20 years apart. And yet I cannot help but notice that - as amazingly awesome as Optimus Prime was by 1980s standards, the toy has been completely outclassed 20 years later by MP1. And while MP32 certainly does eclipse the original Primal toy, the original Primal toy does still hold up reasonably well against its Masterpiece counterpart. The fact that the original is even comparable with the MP toy speaks volumes about just how amazing the design and engineering behind that toy was. Just how ahead of its time it really was. It may be somewhat dated by today's standards - that's to be expected - but it still impresses me to no end how the standards in design and engineering established in Beast Wars continues to influence TF toy designs today, even at the MP level!

When I try to do direct side by side comparisons between G1 and MP Optimus Prime, attempting to strike the same poses, here's what happens...









How many of us tried to pose our G1 toys as close as we could to the cartoon as we played along with the TV adventures every Saturday morning? But our approximations pretty much just looked like this. Fun times for sure, but yeah... Now look at what happens when I try the same thing with Optimus Primal...













Both sets of toys are separated by a 20 year gap, yet we can see that the Beast Wars toy hasn't dated nearly as much as the G1 toy. This shows how BW really did set the standard for all Transformers lines ever since and continues to influence the way that Transformers are designed today. Sure, we need to respect G1 for starting the whole thing - and those toys were really great for its time. But BW redefined what a Transformer toy was. In G1 Transformers were basically alt modes that became a robot. BW standardised the idea of Transformers as action figures. Every time you enjoy a Transformer toy from CHUGUR, Movieverse, Masterpiece etc., thank Beast Wars.

[Verno]

Hasbro is putting the power back in the hands of the people, letting us decide (out of a choice of 9 characters) who deserves a new Generations figure in the upcoming sequel to Titans Return -- Power of the Primes.

The other 8 names are immaterial. There is only one option:



Make your vote count!



#I'MJUSTPRIME