Beast Era (Wars/Machines/etc.) Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by Snaptrap, Jan 12, 2012.

  1. Sracsose

    Sracsose Well-Known Member

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    Rattrap was originally going to "have a few circuits loose" with his exposed "brain" in robot mode. The concept was abandoned as it was seen as insensitive towards people with disabilities. So it makes sense, actually, that his transmetal form might have a "wheelchair" mode moving forward from that original concept. Very cool find @Verno
     
  2. lord ginrai

    lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

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    They refer to it as "go-cart mode" :p 
     
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  3. CyberstormSM

    CyberstormSM Turbo-Revvin' Young Punk

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  4. AutobotAvalanche

    AutobotAvalanche Number One in Boogieland

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  5. Verno

    Verno Beast Wars Collector

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    Can you read Japanese? If so, any chance of a full translation if you have some spare time?
     
  6. lord ginrai

    lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

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    I'll give it a go later today :) 
     
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  7. Verno

    Verno Beast Wars Collector

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    You're a marvel!
     
  8. Lazerwave

    Lazerwave My Most Prized Treasure

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    Just curious, what is the lowest price you can get Botcon 2006 Dinobot? In USD?
     
  9. CyberstormSM

    CyberstormSM Turbo-Revvin' Young Punk

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    $275.

    Wait, what? :confused: 
     
  10. Lazerwave

    Lazerwave My Most Prized Treasure

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    sigh

    Why do Botcon figures have to be so hard to find and expensive.
     
  11. SPLIT LIP

    SPLIT LIP Be strong enough to be gentle

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    This post speaks to me so much. Going back and getting the figures I saw on cross-sells (or even very blurry early internet photos when I was older) was pretty special. Especially Lazorbeak for some reason really captivated me. Scorponok was one of those ones where I was intimately familiar with the show character but the toy was practically an enigma to me until I was an adult.

    I also feel that way about new figures kinda, but what I've noticed happening is that I've bought figures a year or two ago with this mentality of "I'm not gonna like this that much" only to find that lately I'm quite happy I got them. Or, I wait and buy them a year or so later, and realise I was missing out. I think it just comes down to the fact that I rarely buy on impulse. I usually research what I want a lot or go off good reviews, rather than buying randomly.
     
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  12. BWfan86

    BWfan86 Well-Known Member

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    It’s a shame that so many of the BW offerings after the show ended have only been via TFCC/ Botcon exclusives which are super expensive...
     
  13. lord ginrai

    lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

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    Took me a few hours as I am still learning Japanese and some of these words aren't really used in everyday conversation :p 
    Anyway, without further ado, here is the translation.

    MISSING ACTIONS… The mystery of the vanished play value

    Within the Beast Wars toy line there are a fair number of toys that have had gimmicks or features cut during development for budgetary reasons. Some toys, while keeping certain features, have had them omitted from the instructions, leaving you to wonder just what certain parts are for.

    Today we’d like to take a look at some of these undocumented features and try to figure out how they were supposed to be used.
    As an example, let’s take a closer look at TM Ratrap. In his transformation process there is the ability to swivel his rear wheels down 90 degrees. However, this mobility isn’t used in any of his modes, which makes us wonder what purpose it serves.

    The only time you would be able to get the back wheels to actually touch the ground in this configuration would be while having him in robot mode, with his legs stretched out in front of him and his butt on the ground. If you take a good look at his calves you will notice small molded wheels (pictured on the left). In order to kind of have them touch the ground as well you would need to twist his legs around and position them just right (in what you could say is a bit of an unnatural pose).

    After going through and combining these clues, behold, you have completed the transformation for his undocumented 4th mode: Go-cart Mode!

    Perhaps adding functional wheels to his calves would have made the parts count too high or make the legs fragile or unstable. As a result they were replaced with molded details and the 4th mode was dropped from the final version of the toy (Disclaimer: this is purely speculation).

    There are many other examples of undocumented and dropped features such as Ramhorn’s hidden claw in his beetle horn and the fact that Magnaboss was originally supposed to come with 6 chest missiles. Or how about the original Rhinox toy, whose chain guns were originally supposed to be interchangeable equipment with a special connector attached to his mace.

    Then there are still the unsolved mysteries of all the extra unused joints in Depthcharge’s wings, TM Terrorsaur’s additional shoulder joints and the wheels on Tigerhawk’s back (which are remnants of a dropped vehicle mode). There’s sure to be other clues that we haven’t yet found out about so why don’t we all go out and investigate our toys.
     
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  14. Verno

    Verno Beast Wars Collector

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    Gold.

    Thanks for taking the time to sit down and have a look at it. You say you're still learning Japanese? I'd say you've got it covered!
     
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  15. Probe

    Probe Well-Known Member

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    So, now the Question is, was this inspiration for Beast Machines or just a coincidence?
     
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  16. Verno

    Verno Beast Wars Collector

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    I'm inclined to think there is some kind of inspiration in there for Rattrap's BM look.
     
  17. lord ginrai

    lord ginrai D-list Decepticon

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    Thanks mate!
    Been here for 5 years and have continuously studied but it's such a vast language that you're never really done :p 
     
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  18. Fallout

    Fallout Banned

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    is tm2 scourge good, like, at all? i really dig the freaky bot mode and fucked up alt mode but never really hear anything about the toy, so...
     
  19. Verno

    Verno Beast Wars Collector

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    Keep up the great work!

    He's not the best figure. Adding insult to injury, his chrome will flake away in your hands at the slightest touch.
     
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  20. DBarricade

    DBarricade General Nutcase

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    I can attest to this. Scourge's chrome will practically molt off him. He's also a bit of a shelf hog because of the locust legs and the plunger for the wing missile gimmick stick out behind him a fair bit. If you really have to have him, fine, but he's not a Pred I'd make a high priority to hunt down.

    Now Ramulus. There's a really cool TM2 Deluxe. (though be sure he's complete, as he needs his weapon to complete his ibex mode)