Predacon Inferno (Legacy/Voyager Class)

I was absolutely ecstatic when Inferno from Beast Wars was announced for the Transformers Legacy  toy line. A long time fan (and personal) favorite from the series was finally getting an update. Unfortunately distribution wasn't the greatest and it took a while to find one. I finally did sometime in the late spring/early summer of this year, thankfully, and now seems like a great time to talk about him. Like most modern updates of classic characters, Inferno is very show accurate. I know I often say they look as though they walked off my TV screen a lot, but that's what they do and Inferno most definitely does. His mouth can even open for those famously maniacal bouts of insanity. Inferno rules.

As he should, Inferno transforms into a fire ant. A VERY LARGE FIRE ANT. The ant is fairly realistic and transformation from robot to beast mode is reasonably easy. The ant's legs feature a decent amount of articulation with moving legs and pinching pincers. In robot mode, Inferno has an impressive amount of movement. This is really a great toy of him. I've always held the original up to a high standard and this is a big improvement. They did a great job. Inferno's signature BFG from the show is well represented and doubles as the rocket for his blender butt flight mode. Said mode doesn't have the propeller gimmick of the original toy... but I don't mind that. There is some inner detailing sculpted in intended to resemble Scavenger. The Antagony version of this mold comes with a Scavenger head that can be used on Antagony or Inferno to bring the third Beast Wars ant toy up to date. Scavenger is a different character, however the toy was meant to represent a Transmetal version of Inferno in Japan. So you can either have a new Scavenger or Transmetal's Inferno if you choose.

I don't have anything bad to say about Inferno. I can imagine the beast mode kibble turning off some... and that's fair. I personally expect it to be there as the bug legs have a history of hanging around in robot mode. Fortunately they can be posed out of the way or removed if one desires (just don't loose them for later transformations). Once again, this is a really great update of a classic fan favorite that looks like it just walked off my TV screen. I shouldn't speak for others, but I feel like saying this is a special toy for Beast Wars fans. The others get regular updates, but Inferno... not so much. That's not cool. Inferno rules. Thankfully this one's good enough to fill that insane gap for a while. 

For the Royalty.

Scorponok (Creatures Collide/Deluxe Class)

Down the hall contained a fright, a once thought dead scorpion who's bark is definitely not worse than it's bite.

Listen, I'm going to give it to you straight. I love Beast Wars Scorponok. So when I saw that his Kingdom toy (that I love) was getting released in the Creatures Collide box set (that I already wanted) in original toy colors... I was sold. I mean, I was already sold... but like extra sold. In addition to the colors, Scorponok also comes with his extra head, you know the one Sandstorm uses. This is a throwback to the Mutant heads of original Beast Wars. So really, this is a pretty great update of that original beast Scorponok. I made my thoughts pretty clear on my Kingdom Scorponok post... I like this toy. I like Beast Wars Scorponok in general. I have Sandstorm too, though I haven't talked bout him here just yet. 

I remember playing the old Beast Wars video game online. There was a PS1 and PC version... I ended up with both somehow. It wasn't the best game ever made, but I had fun playing it. The PC version could be played online in death matches and I'd usually play Scorponok. I almost always got beaten, but had fun. The gaming hub had little chat rooms and for a while it was a pretty decent place to talk Transformers. I usually don't get nostalgic with Transformers, they're something that's never went away for me. An ongoing thing, you know. However, I guess something like this Scorponok toy makes me a little nostalgic for an older, forgotten time. It's funny how Transformers fandom has changed over the years. It's a million light years from what it was in the beast era... but still good.

Bumblebee (Beast Alliance/Battle Changers)

Transformers Rise of the Beasts means a lot of new Transformers toys. Ever since it's announcement, I've been most interested in the Beast Alliance sub-line. Featuring the return of Battle Masters and partner figures for larger bots that are a mixture of beast and traditional TF characters... it's the kind of thing I really go for. Not to mention, it's priced very fairly. That's been a sticking point lately. In some ways Beast Alliance is similar to the Energon Igniters from the Bumblebee movie. A simple, gimmick based line obviously intended for children as opposed to the more serious and costly Studio Series offerings. However, Beast Alliance is a much better toy line and striking a positive chord within a large part of the Transformers fandom. I like it too.

Today we're looking at Bumblebee from Beast Alliance, or more specifically his Battle Changers figure. Battle Changers are more simple figures sold for around $10. They're mostly compatible with the Battle Masters and to scale with the other figures. In the case of Bumblebee here... he feels like a sized up legion/legend class toy and lacks compatibility with Battle Masters unlike the others in this class. Honestly, he feels like a holdover from another design stage before the gimmicks were decided on. The simpleness can be ignored easier with the other figures in this class thanks to the gimmick integration. Bumblebee can't hold a Battle Master, nor can one plug in anywhere. Considering how gimmick heavy Beast Alliance is, the lack of comparability is impossible to ignore. Aside from that, Bumblbee is a pleasant little figure.

Bumblebee returns to his Camaro alt more we're used to in the movies. However this time, it's a fun off road variation that I'm pretty fond off. I can't stop thinking that this is an up-scaled legion/legend toy as the transformation is VERY similar to prior movie Bumblebee toys of that class as is robot mode. Perhaps the engineering was reused or this is a modified CAD model. One neat feature Bumblebee has that seems to be a standard feature in Battle Changers (or all the ones I've seen) is a flip out weapon. You can spin his right hand around giving us that trademark buster style gun BB uses in the movies. It's simple, but satisfying. Speaking of simple, in robot mode he has basic arm and leg articulation. That'll be a sticking point for some people, as would the basic nature of the toy itself. With the others in the class I looked it over with the gimmick capability. I'm only harping on it so much here because it's impossible to ignore considering just how largely it plays into the rest of the line. 

Beast Alliance Battle Changers Bumblebee is a very pleasing figure. His simple design allows for fast transformation. Perfect for playing around with while watching TV or a little buddy to carry around with you. If you enjoy a desk bot, he'd make a good one. While working at the computer, the need to take a little break happens and a little something to fiddle with is a good way to  clear out the mental fudge. Drive him around and getting in an epic shoot out with the stapler, or just transform back and forth a few times. We're starting off with our dive into Beast Alliance with arguable it's weakest figure, but still a fun little one regardless. It's uphill from here... and this is not a bad start at all. 

Bios: Cybershark

Function: Ocean Attack

Just when the Predacons thought it was safe to go back in the water. Cybershark rises to the surface for a fearsome feeding frenzy! Like a turbo-charged torpedo speeding through the sea, Cybershark searches the ocean depths for Predacon enemies. Upon finding the enemy he launches his robotic hammerhead to knock 'em out cold, the finishes the job in robot mode by filleting his prey with his switchblade tale.

Strength: 7 Intelligence: 5 Speed: 8 Endurance: 5

Rank: 6 Courage: 9 Firepower: 5 Skill: 4

Fox Wars

 

I obviously love Beast Wars as do a lot of folks. It's this great period in Transformers history that's been pretty hard to recreate. Though I do appreciate the return of sorts it's had lately. A particularly fun time during the beast era often goes by without a lot of talk. I don't know if that's slowly getting lost to time... or maybe just meant more to me than others. That would be the Fox Kid's Beast Wars. Beast Wars was originally a syndicated show. Beast Machines, it's follow up, was on Fox Kids. For a while during this time, Fox Kids also ran older Beast Wars episodes. For me this was pretty great as I wasn't able to watch every episode during the shows original run. However now these reruns fit my schedule better and I managed to catch the ones I missed. Honestly, it was aired at a particularly sweet spot for me that I never missed an episode and watched the series in it's entirety over and over until the eventual end of the run. That was great.

Fox Kids Beast Wars wasn't just reruns to supplement Beast Machines either. Hasbro/Kenner re-released some of the toys in great new colors as well. I liked Beast Machines, don't get me wrong, but I vastly preferred Beast Wars. So I was really happy to see the figures on shelves a little longer. This was still during the time where older toys had a longer shelf life. It wasn't uncommon to still find something like an Inferno or B'boom in 2000. In fact, as I was starting to have a disposable income, it wasn't until then that I was able to get some of these great toys. 

Those Fox Kids Beast Wars toys themselves were something special. Like I said, they were released in fun new colors. If you didn't already have a character, there was another chance. If you did already have a character, maybe you'd like it in fun new colors. Initially these recolors were listed as powered up versions of the characters. Energon Surge Rhinox, Live Wire Dinobot for example. However they were released as their normal names. The Fox Kids toys ran for about the same length as the show aired on Fox Kids with the later figures sharing cases with the Mutants. It's not often that reruns get their own figures or can be partially credited for expanding the toy lines shelf life. But, these did. I'm not sure anyone at that Walmart I'd frequent remembers the kid in a Static-X t-shirt and a grubby hoodie late at night buying these. But 22 years later, I still look back at it fondly. It was pretty great.

Bios: CatSCAN

CatSCAN is in many ways like a lost child in the wilderness -- he knows to some degree where he came from, but is unsure as to where he will eventually end up. Brought to life by a bizarre combination of Apelinq and his digitization powers and the artificial intelligence of a medical diagnostic computer, this curious creature has found a permanent home with the Wreckers team. Armed with two battle blades of ancient Cybertronian design and a tail-mounted plasma torch, CatSCAN could easily be considered a lethal one-robot army. This fact notwithstanding, his fearsome appearance belies an inherently gentle and nonviolent personality -- it is simply not in his programming to cause harm to other beings. Lacking a Spark of his own, CatSCAN has a deep wish to understand the true nature of his self-awareness. He looks up to Apelinq as a mentor and "creator figure" and often acts as a voice of conscience among his teammates.

Beasts Awaken, Then Rise And Shine For Breakfast

I honestly was going to hold off talking about Transformers:Rise of the Beasts/Transformers:Beast Awakening for a little bit. Right now it's been announced and a few details have been given out. That's nice, but whatever there is to talk about has already been. The announcements and various rumors that may or not be true is all we have to go by for now. Not to mention, with the daily bios and text fiction I've been posting, I didn't want to overdo it. But there's a few things I'd really like to say about the new movie. Do people still say YOLO?

The new movie will be following the Bumblebee movies newer narrative. Notice I didn't say reboot? That's because Bumblebee was both a prequel and a reboot. You could take it as a new beginning or an earlier adventure he had. Transformers has never had the tightest continuity and that's always been pretty evident. At best it's been a squint a little and shrug before saying 'ok'. I'm not making excuses here, just stating the facts. For me and to the film makers, it's the follow up to Bumblebee. Which I loved. So I'm happy.

We've got Autbots, Maximals, Predacons, Terrorcons, and Decepticons. This is starting to look more like  an adaption of the 2001 Robots in Disguise. That ain't bad y'all. Optimus, Bumblebee, and a few other Autobots will get into an adventure that will see them cross paths with the other groups during the 90's in what looks like an epic road trip adventure. That sounds super fun. I do worry that there will be too much going on and that could bring down the movie. However big budget spectacles can still be really good movies. So we'll just have to wait and see. I hope it's good. If it's not, well, it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a bad movie. It's ok, I have a life.

Just like the other movies I'm looking forward to the new toys and all the cool promotional tie ins. It's a lot of fun and a big part of the reason I enjoy a new movie so much. I went nuts over Energon Igniters in Bumblebee. I'd love to see something like that return or some way cool Legion Class beast bots! Of course Studio Series versions would be wanted as well. It'd sure be cool to get a Cheetor combo at Burger King. Wait, no. A Maximal Meal at Beast King. I'll take 10!

Score One For This Cool Cat

Oh hey, when I got Rattrap, I got some other Kingdom figures. Cheetor here is one of the new bots I absolutely needed to have. I mean, I need all the new Beast Warriors, but Cheetor was a priority. He's always been one of my favorites from the beast years and honestly one of my favorite characters. So I'm easily sold on new toys of the guy.

This new Cheetor is a really good update of the classic design. In beast and robot modes he looks like he walked off the cartoon screen and onto a TV tray in my living room. I'd like to point out that I capitalized TV, because spellcheck goes nuts whenever I don't. Happy now you toxic asshole? Where was I? I love his head sculpt, you know Cheetor was originally intended to be Prowl right?

This new toy features a bunch of articulation. He bends and twists in all sorts of ways. I do wish the designers would have included the gut and tail gun, instead they opted for the tail weapon from his Transmetal toy. It's not bad, but for such a good homage, the guns do feel left out. That's the closest I have to a complaint about this guy, and it's just a minor nitpick at most. I'm totally happy with my new Cheetor. His transformation is natural and everything just works for me. It's pretty great.

Rats Off To You

After spending much of Saturday attending to Ia-Con Online, I had to make a run to Walmart for a few things as well as pick up some take out. Of course I checked the toy section as was happy to see new Kingdom figures in stock. Nothing said I've been at a Transformers convention (virtual or in person) all day better than bringing home a bunch of Beast Wars figures. 

The first I grabbed from the pegs was Rattrap. Rattrap is in the new small figure Core Class and is a pretty good update of his original design. Robot mode is pretty accurate to the cartoon, while the beast mode is much more life like. The original Rattrap toy was a basic and seemingly pretty close in size to this new toy. 

Unlike the original toy, this new Rattrap doesn't have a spring loaded auto-transformation. Instead you manually put the parts into place as you would traditionally. Like with older beast era toys, much of the beast kibble folds around the robot parts as they tuck away into crevasses. This can be a little tricky as there are a few tabs that lock into place. If you don't get them right, nothing else will go right.

It's not terribly hard or anything, but the first time will definitely be a little frustrating. Unlike an original Beast Wars toy, Rattrap doesn't store his weapon within his beast mode. Instead it connects to the rat's side. I'm sure some folks are complaining about this, but the sight of a rat with a side mounted gun sells the idea to me quickly. 

Rattrap is pretty great. A good update of a classic character that I'm happy with all around. He's got quite of lot of articulation for such a small toy and really delivers the update of an older design. I hope Kingdom is just the beginning of a Beast Wars renaissance. Buying beast era basics was a regular weekend occurrence when I was in college. Even though time has passed and a lot of things have changed, picking up small beast bots feels natural. So far Kingdom has been the best of both worlds. Traditional Transformers and beast era. It's exactly what I wanted then and I'll gladly take it now.

Boss Monkey

I've been pretty excited Kingdom toys to come out. I figured it'd be around March when they started showing up, so imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon Optimus Primal at Target when running a few errands this morning. He was the only one out, so I don't know if I just got lucky or one found it's way out from the back. The rest of the section looks much like it did about two weeks ago. Well, aside from a fancy new section header. So maybe the rest will get stocked soon.

I was thankful to get him too. I love Transformers as a whole, but the beast era is without a doubt my favorite part. An updated gorilla Primal as part of the main line is just the bit of awesome I need to kick off what I hope to be a great year. 

Optimus is a voyager class toy who's a little smaller than they've been in the past. I recall reading somewhere that Kingdom toys would be, but mentally put it in the rumors section of my mind. Oddly enough he's about the size of a Beast Wars mega class toy, but more expensive than the ultra class. Which was what they called voyagers back then. Things change dude.

If you're new to Transformers, Optimus Primal isn't Optimus Prime and doesn't turn into a truck. He usually turns into a gorilla. Aside from his initial figure that is, which I really hope gets a core class update. This new toy is an update of the first gorilla Optimus Primal toy which he's most associated with. I've always liked the way this design looks. The mix of classic Optimus with King Kong is just fabulous. It just looks great.

In robot mode he looks ready to kick some ass. Big, beefy, and brandishing those trademarked swords. Speaking of those swords, Optimus retains his shoulder cannons and wrist guns from the original toy. He's missing that rad skull mace, however you can still get it separately. Primal has a lot of articulation, more than I initially thought he had. It's pretty neat and I'm sure those who pose their figures better are having a lot of fun with it.

Transformation is pretty easy. A common problem people had with beast era transformations is that they essentially stood up to transform. I don't have that problem, so I don't mind it. Just like Optimus Prime, Prowl, Bumblebee, and a lot of transformers before the beast era, Primal pretty much stands up to transform. You do adjust his limbs and twist around his hips to properly position them while arranging the back panels into place. The chest opens up to flip around his robot head and beast head out. It's pretty easy. I did have a little problem getting the beast head tucked away when transforming back into robot mode though. Not to the fault of the toy, I was just being a klutz. 

Those swords I talked about up above store on his back in beast mode. There may be another place more inconspicuous to put them, but a giant gorilla carrying swords is pretty hard to not want. That gorilla has some well sculpted hair and a much better face than the original. I'm pretty happy with this guy. I had been looking forward to this so hard that getting one practically made me shit my pants. Don't look at me like that. I had Pizza Hut. I'm pretty surprised to find these already at physical retail and I'm not complaining either. This is a good update to a classic toy and I really hope that positive lead continues. I'm super looking forward to more Kingdom toys and hoping mainline beast warriors are here to stay.

Vertebreaker, Will Slap Your Face

With some Christmas Amazon gift card money, I was able to snag a Kingdom figure before they were only from third party sellers at thrice the price. Fortunately it was one of the new Core Class figures, a new scale I've been really wanting to get my hands on.

For those not completely in the know, Kingdom is the third part of the War For Cybertron trilogy that's been going on in the Transformers Generations toy line for the past few years. No, it's not tied to the game of the same name, but the Netflix animated series. Kingdom is a mix of traditional and beast era Transformers. As a fan of both, I'm pretty excited for this. 

Vertebreak is a Predacon that turns into a Dracorex skeleton. While you'd assume she'd be a Fossilizer (I did), she's just a Predacon that turns into a Dinosaur skeleton. A Fossilizer separates into parts and can be used for armor or weapons. Vertebreak is just a skeleton. I'm not to hung up on the confusing nature of it all as I really like the toy.

A Dracorex may or not be an actual dinosaur. I'm not a paleontologist, but I'm pretty sure dinosaurs weren't actually robots from outer space. So I'm not very concerned with scientific accuracy here. Skeletons usually can't walk around on their own either. That's just how important inner strength is yo, and this little dinosaur skeleton is a pretty strong lead into Kingdom. 

Vertebreak transforms pretty easily, everything just folds into place naturally. You'll probably be able to do it just by looking at the toy. You also probably noticed the backbone of mine sticking up in the picture. I couldn't get it to stay in place. Either from plastic quality or maybe I did something wrong. Her tail turns into a bone whip or sword that I just dig. 

That's one of the weird thing from beast era toys that my appreciation of depended on the figure itself. In this case I like it, it looks gnarly. I like this toy overall. The idea of a skeleton robot that turns into a skeleton dinosaur is just awesome. Vertebreak as a name has been used before, but really fits here perfectly. As a character, Vertebreak is a female, but the mold isn't overtly feminine. I can see it being used for a variety of male and female characters. Which is my way of saying I want a lot of repaints. Gimme a glow in the dark or a translucent one.

The new Core Class is pleasantly small. I often feel like Transformers toys are too big, so scaling them down a little brings out more detail and just overall feels right to me. I don't know if this return to beast era is limited to Kingdom or if Kingdom is Hasbro's way of working beast back into Transformers. Personally, I hope it's the latter. But I'm sure you knew that.

Bios- Cheetor

Like a bolt of greased lightning, Cheetor strikes fast and strikes hard. Quiet and confidant with incredible reflexes, he is equally efficient when battling in robot mode or in his artificially enhanced organic earth form. Cheetor constantly stalks the jungle in search of Predacon enemies, daring them to challenge him and his laser-powered quasar cannon.

Beastly Kingdom Come

WFCキングダムのチーター、ブラックアラクニア、ワーパスかもしれない画像 https://t.co/641aBolRJS pic.twitter.com/OWKnm7A54I

— オートベース愛知 (@autobase_aichi) August 26, 2020

More Kingdom toys leaked out today and holy crap they look amazing. We get a look at Cheetor, Blackarachnia, and Warpath. Obviously Warpath stands out next to the Beast Warriors, but seeing as Kingdom is a mix of G1 and BW, it's good to see him there. Honestly, back in the beast era, I wanted a mix of old and new. In Kingdom I'm seemingly getting that. This whole Generations War For Cybertron trilogy has been a really good series for me as a fan.

I've gotten a nice assortment of different Transformers flavors and have generally liked all of it. Kingdom is still a ways off. While I'm hotly anticipating it, I'm still loving Earthrise as well. It's is weird how the Netflix series and tie in toys are a year behind the main toyline. It's making this trilogy work out in the timeline of a tetralogy. I'm not complaining either, I love it. By all means give it some extra time.

Beastly Kingdom

The big unconfirmed rumor for a while now in Transformers is that the third part of the War for Cybertron trilogy would be Beast Wars themed. Which of course would make me ever so happy, but no matter how much the beast era was beloved by myself and it's other fans... it was a few years in a very long run of cars and jets. So I've never really expected anything more than a homage figure here and there. Then this image popped up today on the internet. Which makes some recent developments make a little sense.

The upcoming cues that Studio Series would shift to the 1986 movie were a welcome one for me. I've made it very clear that I have no problems with the live action movies. I even like them, but a specific toy line aimed directly at one of my favorite bits of G1? I'm sold. With Earthrise and the Generations lines before it... even with my enthusiasm I wondered what would the point be.

Unless there was specifically contracts needed to fill with the Studio Series line before a potential retiring of it. It's not unprecedented for Hasbro to put Generations figures in movie line packaging already, so I thought maybe it was part of a winding down for Studio Series. Makes sense, right?

Of course those beast era rumors never left my brain and I thought "I need to buy some Pepsi". After that it occurred to me that a beast era heavy line would be super risky in today's Transformers environment. So what if they shifted traditional Transformers to the side a little while doing the beast stuff? It'd add some variety to the shelves while also staying true to what people usually come to expect.

Let's look at that picture again, I made it a little bigger so we can make some things out. The TV cast of Beast Wars is represented with some G1 series regulars. In Robot Masters and other settings, they've had more traditional characters interact with the beast guys by various ways other than the 'Next Generation' setting. They could very well do that again here.

Maybe they're sticking some core characters into the line and on the posters for the sake of familiarity. Why's Optimus a monkey? Well, he's a there, that's another guy with a similar name. Makes sense. Maybe the story would be similar to the early Beast Wars story line as a new evolution of the Transformers. I've always kinda wanted to see how that would have played out.

Nothing is concrete about this yet. Maybe in a few days it'll be confirmed in some official way or come to light that it was just a concept that never got followed up on. Or just an elaborate hoax. Either way, having a new beast era is something I'd really be up for. I really want to see this kingdom come.

EDIT: I scheduled this post for midnight not knowing Netflix posted an answer while I was writing this post. I'm a happy fan!

Did you crack the code? We're excited to reveal the title for the third chapter: KINGDOM. 🦍 Get ready to go ape and get your claws out for KINGDOM! 🦖 Till then, the war continues. pic.twitter.com/dcQLik11qp

— NX (@NXOnNetflix) July 17, 2020

Random Transformer Memory

While packing this weekend, I decided to repack a good deal of my Transformers. Several had been in banker boxes and condensing the mass of them seemed like a great idea. Instead of 4 small size boxes, one big box. Not to mention, several were starting to come apart from various moves and such. While I was mostly just transferring ziploc freezer bags full of robots from one box to another, occasionally I'd take a second to look over the toys.

Memories of this Armada Optimus Prime, or that G2 Megatron pop up instantly when looking at the toy. That's pretty normal, but occasionally there's the 'oh yeah' toy like Heinrad or pink and purple bootleg Transmetal Optimus Primal that I haven't thought about often. Then there's the ones I forgot I owned all together, like various Spychanger repaints.

I think the funniest is all the candy toys, capsule toys, and sofubi from Beast Wars I'd come across. They were plentiful during beast era and even more so for a few years after. I remember those old BotCons racking up on them for not a lot of money. I bought a display pack of BW II Kabaya kits once for 5$ and then had my friend hold my Pepsi Blue while making the pack fit in my backpack.

I was already explaining what they were to him and then had to explain what Pepsi Blue was. Of course by that point the soda had done turned warm and when he took the sip I offered it tasted horrible. I don't know what happened to that guy. We were friends for a while before he seemingly vanished off the face of the earth. I wonder if he still doesn't trust my opinion of beverages?

Bat Vs Gator

Beast Wars began airing 24 years ago. I would say it's hard to believe, but no, definitely has been a long time since then. Do I miss it? Hells yeah I do. Still one of the closest to my heart parts of Transformers, Beast Wars was just special. Looking back at it now, man I really loved that initial Optimus Primal vs Megatron 2 pack. Prior to the show, when the line was essentially Generation 3 with the original characters returning with a new team, this was a set of the classic leaders in animal forms. I was never bothered by the change, though slightly confused by the new team names initially.

Not long after the launch the story was straightened out and the cast was a Next Generation type crew, the two pack was pretty much left in the dust. The new Primal and Megatron toys were larger figures with different alt modes and new characters with throwback names. Still, I've always really liked this set.

The initial basic class toys of Beast Wars had a spring based auto transformation. It was something I thought was pretty cool at the time and don't mind now. The beast modes were pretty good looking, Megatron's alligator worked out better as Primals legs were just folded up against his body. Still the bat looked pretty decent and Optimus had a Batman inspired robot mode. The robot modes were fairly articulated. At the time I would have been happy if Transformers would have just been that size... and I probably would still be now. I liked it, gnaw meen brah?

Riding Primal Waves

Despite everything that's come out since, I still view Optimus Primal toys from Beast Wars to be some of the best Transformers ever made. I'm still just as impressed as I was back then when I play with one now. The look, the stature, the play value. Just great figures. I'm also admiring the weirdness of some of the toys. Transmetal Optimus Primal's vehicle form is a hover board. That's just silly. Though seeing a gorilla fly through the air on a rocket powered hover board while wielding giant maces? Ok, that's still silly, but that's also pretty great.

I think a mistake a lot of people make when considering Transformers is adding in realism. Which... uh... is completely out the window on arrival. Alien robots hiding among Earth by disusing themselves as vehicles is far fetched, but what kind of disguise is a robot dinosaur, a ufo? It's silly, it's fun, just turn off your mind a little. Beast Wars... hey look a gorilla is fighting a dinosaur. It's fantasy and not far removed from the time that TMNT ruled the toy shelves. A surfing gorilla wasn't that unheard of. It's admittedly firmly rooted in it's time and that's ok with me.

Special Beast Wars Sauce

There was a time when the Beast Wars movie seemed like the most amazing thing ever to me. Later when I got a subtitled VHS copy at a local comic con (anyone else miss the bootleg video booths at those?) I discovered it wasn't much more than a new episode of Beast Wars 2.  That and a episode of Metals (what we called season 2 and 3) with a bit of a clip show... but that's kind of what these kids show 'special' movies really are anyway. But at the time, it was nothing short of amazing.

It's funny what the lack of availability does to things. I was in college and working that dreaded Office Max job. Between stocking shelves and selling computers, I'd often cover the copy center. I'd like to say I was multi talented, but the management was so bad that you'd often find yourself doing multiple jobs if you were competent while the slackers got promoted, often to management. Of course the store eventually closed down due to some genius opening a store next door to a Walmart...

It was those times hanging out in the copy center that I'd usually take advantage of the equipment and make various posters from images I'd bring in on a floppy. A particular favorite was a Beast Wars 2 poster I made that found itself on every refrigerator I had for years. 20 something years later I still have it. Though, it's yellowed quite a bit and stuck in a box somewhere. Maybe after I move I'll put it in a frame. Though I might spray it with Lysol first, kinda smells. It old.

Evolution Revolution

Today (yesterday for you) was the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Beast machines on Fox Kids. Beast Machines was one of those shows that upset a lot of people who had nothing else to do. Admittedly it took me a while to warm up to it as well, despite being the direct sequel to Beast Wars, it was a pretty big departure. The characters all acted different, they looked different, it was different. Despite change being the central theme of Transformers, it doesn't always go over well. In fairness, when established characters behave completely different the following season, it's jarring. Once I warmed up to the new show though, I found myself liking it quite a lot.

One thing I did enjoy immediately was the fact that the show was based on Cybertron. I like space opera and the post movie seasons of G1 I liked the best. For the record, I'm not concerned with alt modes in how much sense they make. They never do. It's a fun play gimmick that they shoehorned into a plot. To me it's always been a utilitarian type of thing more than a disguise despite how much the concept of disguise has been sold. Just like nobody complained about Laserbeak and Ravage in space, I'm not concerned with a monkey on Cybertron. Smaller more tactical alt forms makes more sense to me in tight fitting corridors and avoiding getting shot by hordes of enemies. Even without Beast Wars leading in, it just makes sense that a small group of survivors would pick forms that would help the evade and hide themselves. Besides, who the hell was Cosmos disguising himself from? Skeptics?

The show had a really mature theme and dark outlook. I'm not sure of the show runners were aware that it was intended for children, it felt way more like something made for the Sci Fi Channel. That's another thing that drew me in, I was 21 and it was 1999. Darker and edgier stuff was my cup of tea and pretty much everything had gone hardcore as well. Then you have the updated designs, the Vehicons look more at home in something like Evangelion or other far out mecha shows. That was definitely the cool thing at the time in robot shows and BM utilized it really well.

A lot of people didn't like Nightscream. That's one thing I never got. I loved him. I thought he looked cool and he was based on John Connor from Terminator 2. That's something I really liked. Everybody has the right to their own opinion of course, but if it's not the popular one good grief. I never lost any sleep over it though. If you're still whining about a cartoon character you didn't like 20 years later, good lord find something to do. There's literally actual important things happening right now and since then.

20 years later, I still enjoy the show. Is it my favorite? No, just one of the shows from the past 35 years that I enjoyed. There is something novel about a 20 year old show that upset everything so much that the franchise did a complete about face. Or as much as I joke about fanboys crying about a 20 year old cartoon they didn't like, there is something to be said that they're still complaining 20 years later. Sometimes a paradigm shift doesn't last, but I can appreciate it non-the-less.

A mammoth of a big deal

When I was in college Japanese Beast Wars was one of the coolest things to me. Still is. At the time the world was so new to me still and thanks to the internet becoming more and more a thing, Transformers from around the planet suddenly started becoming a big deal. I already loved Beast Wars, but I've always preferred traditional animation. Suddenly there was more Beast Wars with traditional animation. It didn't hurt that it looked so amazing either.

Big Convoy and Magmatron were just so bad ass that they became a rather big deal to me. Chances are if you're a Transformers fan, you enjoy the look of Optimus Prime. He's always been a really good looking robot and the combination of that Optimus look and the mammoth elements was awesome. After all these years it's still one of the most impressive looking Transformers toys in my eyes.

Then you have Magmatron, we've established I like dinosaurs and dinosaur based robots. Well, what if we had a dinosaur based team of villains led by a pile of dinosaurs? I knew you'd understand. Magmatron just looks crazy and imposing. Crazy, imposing, and amazing. It was hard to imagine such a figure that was made of three different dinosaurs at the time. How did it even work? Well, pretty complicatedly, but ultimately rewarding when I transformed mine for the first time.