Beast Wars Stuff 2
By Josh Miller
Well here I am again. Writing another one of these. I’m doing this mostly because I realized I talked a lot about the show in the last one but very little about the toys. Plus I have noticed a few more things with the toys and have gotten more of them as well. So here it is the second part of a series of rants about Beast Wars. I think I may cut out the toys part in the other one and expand it more on the show. Unfortunately I have too many toys to effectively put info about them all one part, so I am going to divide them up. This first part for the toys, second overall, will involve Predacons appearing on the show.
So we’ll start off by saying I don’t have most of the main characters released before the Transmetals series, only Inferno. Also this will only cover characters in the forms they have on the show, i.e. Transmetal Waspinator and Terrorsaur will be in a later area. Also all tech-specs are written as is on the cards.
TRANSMETAL MEGATRON
Function: Predacon Commander
Str: 10+ Int: 9 Spd:10+ Edr: 10+ Rank: 10 Cur: 10+ FP:10+ Skl:10+
A quantum surge rips across the Beast Wars world altering Megatron, evil genius and leader of the Predacons, into a metal-armored T-Rex. New turbine powered V.T.O.L. (Vertical Take-off and Landing) engines extend from his body, providing blazing atmospheric flight and the ability to "drop in" on unexpecting Maximals with his whiplash cutlass! Fused reptilian musculature enhances his power in an organic robot mode. The result: creation of a supreme tyrant!
First off I would like to say that I never noticed how badly written these tech-spec cards actually are. As I was typing it I knew that ‘unexpecting’ sounded weird and almost put in "unsuspecting" with out even thinking about it. ‘Unexpecting’ isn’t even a word, it’s not in the spell check dictionary and it’s not in my American Heritage dictionary either. ‘Unexpected’ is a word but ‘unexpecting’ isn’t. It should be ‘unsuspecting’. Funny how the same person who can use a big word like ‘musculature’ can’t even get ‘unsuspecting’ right.
As for the stats, why is it that the bigger (and more expensive) a transformer is the higher it’s stats are. I mean what’s the fun if all the big guys have 10+ for everything? There should have been more nines and maybe even an eight in there. I mean, Megatron isn’t THAT fast, Cheetor or Airazor would be much faster but aren’t. Even Dinobot would probably be able to out run him.
The art is the usual mediocre, an image vaguely resembling the character with a sneer in his face and a "way to organic" look. At least they are consistent for all the art.
BEAST FORM
Megatron’s beast form is a robotic Tyrannosaur. The coloring is mostly tan with
shinny metallic purple accents. The head, feet, and rotors on the hips are all purple.
There is a small but noticeable amount of undercarriage in the form of the robot arms in
the torso area but none otherwise. If you wanted to you could remove the regular rex arms
(or just push them out of the way) and pull out the robot arms for a really goofy looking
Rex. The tail is full of joints and swings around easily however the rest of the beast
mode is pretty stiff. It would have been nice if the beast head could look side to side
but that would be asking too much.
VEHICLE MODE
To make the vehicle mode you flip open the rotors and rotate out the "skates".
This is nice for a flight mode. The gimmick would be more complete if the rotors could
rotate and face forward as well for land travel. Also this would provide for a more
realistic flight mode in robot forms. Also it would give more use for the
"skates" which are pretty dumb otherwise.
ROBOT MODE
Whatever, you transform him, I’m not going in to it for any of the toys. The
transformation is moderately easy. Mostly stuff just has to be done in the right order.
The robot mode looks pretty good. His face makes him look like he’s trying hard to
take a dump. Most of the toys have permanent sneers though so it’s expected. The face
actually doesn’t look much like the show when compared side by side. Unfortunately
Megatron has only two ball joints at his shoulders so there’s little play for
‘battle damage’. Plus these joints are on so tight it’s easier to just fold
the arms up into the shoulders to give the effect that they have been ‘blown
away’. The tail weapon is pretty cool but it flops around a little too much
sometimes. The Rex hands can be rotated around and pointed towards the front to make
additional cannons. One fault I can see is that the head can’t rotate and there is no
waist articulation when the jets are attached to the back so there’s little room for
posing this figure. I would recommend this toy however regardless of it’s faults.
INFERNO
Function: Infantry Commander
Str: 7 Int: 4 Spd: 8 Edr: 4 Rnk: 7 Cur: 8 FP: 6 Skl: 5
Although seemingly slow, this giant ant’s abdomen splits into separate quadrants to reveal hyper-drive ion thrusters that propel him at speeds of up to 180 mph! If he can’t catch a retreating Maximal, he detaches his rear leg missiles and fires them from the secret launcher hidden within his power-pinching mandibles! The claw-like pinchers also detach so Inferno can put the bite on enemies even in robot mode, when his destructive powers are at their best!
Man, the writer for these sure like’s exclamation points. So OK, he can jet at speeds of 180mph and yet only had a speed of 8 huh? Man Megatron must be FAST! Plus those hyper-drive thrusters! Bad choice of words since the term ‘hyper-drive’ is commonly associated with faster than light travel. Plus his destructive power, at it’s best with a whopping firepower of 6! If there is a guy that should have firepower 10+ it should be Inferno. His weapon has like ten different settings on the show. Plus his rank should be 9 since he’s essentially second in command, especially after Scorponok was killed off. Also the art on the card is really bad. It’s doesn’t look like Inferno, the show version of the toy. He only has one arm, with the claw in place of the other and his ‘petals’ are hanging off his back while the jet can be seen much lower. Plus, he has ant legs hanging off his body in weird places.
BEAST MODE
This guy’s beast mode is a BIG ant. Aside from Rampage, he probably had the biggest
beast mode of all the toys I have. Really he seems a little large overall for a Mega but
he’s too small to be an Ultra. It looks like a fire and. The coloring is clear red
mostly with black legs and green symbol on his back. He can stand on all six legs with
fairly little effort. Also he can fire his missiles in beast form.
ROBOT MODE
Transformation to robot mode is somewhat complex. Mostly because it sometimes requires
excessive force to get him to change right. The robot mode looks nice with the same color
scheme as the ant. The head looks a lot like the show. All his joints are ball joints,
which makes it hard to pose him, especially when the joints become loose. The instructions
show the weapon as two parts but it better represents Inferno’s true weapon when used
as one piece. Also it can be left in the chest/head for storage if needed.
FLIGHT MODE
Inferno also features a bonus flight mode. When in robot form the ant butt hanging off
opens into four parts and there is a button that spins the blades. This is the
‘hyper-drive’ mentioned in the tech specs.
I would recommend this toy but that’s probably mostly since Inferno is my favorite character.
TRANSMETAL TARANTULAS
Function: Ninja Warrior
Str: 9 Int: 4 Spd: 8 Edr: 6 Rnk: 5 Cur: 7 FP: 7 Skl: 8
There are few Predacons spinning webs of violence and deceit as skillfully as the eight- legged ninja warrior Tarantulas. After the quantum surge, Tarantulas was delighted to discover himself as a meched-out arachnid with motorcross vehicle-like capabilities. Instead of constantly relying on stealth and suprise, Tarantulas now races into battle on his wicked new wheels converting into a new animalized robot mode that makes him virtually unstoppable in battle.
It’s spelled surprise morons!!!! It took me several tries to get the computer to take it misspelled. It automatically corrected it for me several times. They could at least run a spell check on the text if they aren’t going to proof read it!
With that said, he only got an intelligence of 4?? I always considered Tarantulas one of the smartest of them all. I mean he can do a lot more stuff than most on the other transformers. I’d also have to say 9 for strength and 7 for firepower is a bit high. They should have given him more endurance since he’s supposed to be a ninja warrior.
The art for once is actually decent for once as well. It looks like Tarantulas. If anything the colors aren’t very accurate.
BEAST MODE
Tarantulas’ beast mode is very cool. The coloring is nice, mostly shinny orange on
the back end and dark colors up front with purple legs. The coloring overall on this
figure is very close to the show’s colors. To give the effect that he’s hanging
from a strand of web, you can tie a piece of string to one of the halves of the vehicle
mode wheel on his butt. There is almost no undercarriage visible in this mode. With a
little work Tarantulas can stand on his spider legs.
VEHICLE MODE
To make the vehicle mode you rotate and pull down the wheel in the back. His hand weapon
becomes the front wheel. This mode is pretty cool and it’s a good match for
Rattrap’s ‘car’ mode. It doesn’t balance to well on his wheels but
it’s easy to use one of the spider legs to balance him.
ROBOT MODE
One reason I like this toy is that it’s cool in all three modes. Tarantulas looks
very cool in his robot mode. The dark color scheme makes him look creepy and gives a good
effect. The transformation is pretty complex and things have to be done in the right order
for it to turn out correctly. Most of his joints are ball joints but they are stiff enough
to make posing this figure very sturdy. And it’s easy to pull of some cool poses with
this figure. This toy is highly recommended due to not only looking cool and also being
fun to play with too.
RAMPAGE
Function: Warlord
Str: 10+ Int: 9 Spd: 9 Edr: 10+ Rnk: 9 Cur: 10 FP: 10+ Skl: 9
The result of an experiment gone awry, Rampage is an evil titan devoid of mercy. Calculating and fearsome, he is a legend among Cybertrons, and it is rumored that his spark cannot be extinguished. In king crab mode Rampage uses his hulking claws to generate colossal tidal waves, induce earthquakes, and trigger landslides. Though his bulk hinders his overall dexterity, Rampage makes good use of his impenetrable armor and multi-weapons arsenal in crab, tank and robot modes. Galva-conductors on his back channel deadly electric currents that he disperses at will. Rampage customarily activates his Gatling cannon to finish off his enemies in a deluge of cluster missiles. All Cybertrons fear his unmatched aggression.
OK, OK, first, I feel that using the word ‘Cybertonians’ or even
‘transformers’ would sound better than Cybertrons. Humans aren't called
‘Earths’ just because they are from Earth. Also Gattling has two T’s not
one, and missiles come from missile launchers, not cannons.
As for stats, It says right in the tech specs his bulk hinders his dexterity yet he still
has a speed of 9! Well, at least it doesn’t hinder his dexterity TOO much. I mean
hey, he’s still faster than Inferno who can reportedly go faster than 180mph! Plus I
doubt Megatron would have someone who want’s too kill him as second in command as the
rank states. The rest is pretty good. Maybe a lower intelligence. The art also makes
Rampage look pretty wimpy.
BEAST MODE
Rampage’s beast mode is HUGE. Of course this is expected since he IS and Ultra. The
coloring is mostly shinny gold on the shell and the claws are mostly blue. The legs are
black. There is some undercarriage visible when looked at from the bottom but not much
else. The claws are good for crushing things. He has one of the more
‘functional’ beast modes in terms of battle.
VEHICLE MODE
Rampage turns from a king crab into a Tank. The transformation seems easy, just flip the
claws around and wrap the treads around the legs. I have yet to get it right. I’ve
tried many times and every time I get something close and that works but I don’t
believe I have had it correct yet. The Gattling cannon also works in this mode. The tank
is styled more like a ramming tank than a regular tank with the turret on top. The tank is
very cool though non the less, and it is possible o have someone else stand on it and
‘ride’ it ala Quickstrike in "The Agenda"
ROBOT MODE
The robot mode it pretty cool. It suffers from a huge backpack from the claws. Also the
claw legs on the arms get in the way sometimes. Plus the legs are gimpy and can’t
hold his upper mass well. There are several discrepancies between the toy and the show
version including the position of the legs on the arm and coloring of the face. There are
several pages on the Internet with instructions on how to modify this toy to make it more
accurate. I have been meaning to do the modifications on mine but I’ve been busy with
other projects. This toy is mildly recommended and I’ve heard Depth Charge is better
for the money.
QUICKSTRIKE
Sorry, Quickstrike was the first Bears Wars figure I ever bought and I didn’t plan on
keeping the card then. He’s the only one who’s card I’m missing.
BEAST MODE
In beast mode Quickstrike is a scorpion with a cobra for a tail. This may sound weird but
it works well and looks cool. The tail is supposed to fill with water and spray it when
squeezed but I can’t recall ever trying it out. The tail is heavily articulated with
ball joints and each claw is able to be posed as well. It’s actually probably more
than what should be expected from a regular sized toy.
ROBOT MODE
Quickstrike is easy to transform and looks nice in his robot mode as well. The only
problem is that he has no hands. The snake tail is one arm. And the feet become a claw for
the other arm. It still is cool and he doesn’t really have much use for hands anyway.
The coloring looks good. He is made out of a clear yellow plastic with green accents.
Quickstrike is one of my two fuzors, the other being Silverbolt. This is a simple toy but it actually looks good for a fuzor and is highly recommended, especially since he’s only five dollars.
TRANSMETAL II DINOBOT
Function: Special Operations Combat
Str: 8.6 Int: 6.3 Spd: 7.7 Edr: 7.5 Rnk: 6.0 Cur: 8.9 FP: 6.8 Skl: 9.5
An eerie and amoral regeneration of the former Maximal hero, Dinobot was synthetically reanimated on-line as a vicious combat expert. Silent and utterly depraved, Dinobot wields his deadly warrior skills at Megatron’s beckon call. A skeletal hybrid of organic and Cybertronian life, he slices through any substance with Transmetallized talons. Moves at lightning speed with reptilian cunning. This ruthless clone paralizes his prey by channeling Rampage’s noxious spark energy, which now fuels his existance.
Man this is one of the worst I’ve read yet. It’s very poorly worded for one. With TWO misspelled words, paralyze, and existence. The ones in the above text are spelled AS IS on the card. Once again, a lack of intelligence by not using spell check before printing it up, or even having someone else proof-read it. Both the editor and writer of these things should be fired. Also, correct me if I’m wrong but if you beckon someone don’t you call them. It should probably read ‘Dinobot wields his deadly warrior skills at Megatron’s beckon’. It doesn’t need the ‘call’ at the end, one or the other folks.
On a different note, wow, they used decimals this time. Maybe they hope it’ll make the writers look more intelligent. The art on this card is decent but un-proportional.
BEAST MODE
TM2 Dinobot’s (to be referred to as just Dinobot from now on) beast mode is awesome,
definitely the better of the two forms. The claws and skeletal look make the beast form
very menacing. The only problem I have if than the legs are loose enough that it takes
some effort to get him to balance in an upright position.
Also a suggestion or whatever, the front claws in this mode can be closed with little effort, there is only a small plastic tab sticking out preventing them from closing however!!, repeated opening and closing may cause the tubes connected to the hands to tear apart. The tab causes part of this I believe and it may help to take a knife and cut the tab off. Kids if you insist on doing this have a grown up use the knife. And for better reference, the tab is a little bump on the outsides of both arms, on the separate single claw. If you move the claw without closing it the hose will his this tab keeping it open. I would just like to say I take no responsibility if you cause the hoses to sever with repeated use.
ROBOT MODE
I haven’t ever seen an original Dinobot in person but from the pictures I’ve
seen I get the impression that this Dinobot’s transformation is similar if not the
same. The robot mode it pretty cool. It looks kind of like Dinobot was assimilated by the
Borg, between the eyepiece and the hoses. The face looks like it does on the show, like
the original Dinobot only with a laser eye. The spark in the chest is cool, just like the
show where it opens to allow Dinobot to hurt Rampage or regenerate himself. The shoulders
are a little big and get in the way of the head a lot, which is kind of annoying. This
would be a little better if he didn’t have those white things on the front of each of
them. Also I haven’t yet really figured out what is supposed to be his hands. I think
it’s the two claws with the third hooked claw as a thumb. Plus there are two tabs
that flip over to complete the chest area. I tried once to close them but stopped for fear
of breaking the toy. I tried again later after reading that is possible to close them. It
is possible to close the tabs but it requires excessive force.
Overall this is a bad ass looking toy. The claws make it look like it could wup all over anyone. My only real complaint, this toy should have been made bigger and sold as a Mega instead of a Deluxe. I was watching the show the other day an noticed how much bigger Dinobot is than the others. He’s massive.
Well that concludes this section of Beast Wars Stuff. Next I’ll be doing reviews of Predacons not on the show. Well the ones I own that is.