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

Robogeek28 · Feb 7, 2021

Rotorstorm said: ↑

I got mine on AliExpress
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Do you happen to have a link?

Pride21 · Feb 7, 2021

Dinotrap · Feb 7, 2021

Robogeek28 said: ↑

Do you happen to have a link?
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€ 12,00 8％ Off | Beast Machines Transformers Optimus Primal Cheetor Rattra Blackarachnia Silverbolt Beast Wars Action Figure Movable Joints
US $14.03 8% OFF|Beast Machines Transformers Optimus Primal Cheetor Rattra Blackarachnia Silverbolt Beast Wars Action Figure Movable Joints| | - AliExpress

just an FYI it won’t look like the one above as that’s a custom, I got mine from aliexpress and also gave him a custom paint job. He goes well with my mps

Robogeek28 · Feb 7, 2021

Dinotrap said: ↑

€ 12,00 8％ Off | Beast Machines Transformers Optimus Primal Cheetor Rattra Blackarachnia Silverbolt Beast Wars Action Figure Movable Joints
US $14.03 8% OFF|Beast Machines Transformers Optimus Primal Cheetor Rattra Blackarachnia Silverbolt Beast Wars Action Figure Movable Joints| | - AliExpress

just an FYI it won’t look like the one above as that’s a custom, I got mine from aliexpress and also gave him a custom paint job. He goes well with my mps
View attachment 28951672
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Ah I see, thanks a lot!

Inferno · Feb 7, 2021

Rotorstorm said: ↑

Yeah, I don’t think I need the Netflix Cheetor
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Kingdom Blackarachnia scales pretty well with the Season one Tarantulas (not sure of the Transmetal since he is smaller) also does quite with the OS Quickstrike KO
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Is that KO Quickstrike smaller than Kingdom Blackarachnia? Can't really tell from that angle, but they look really good together!

Rotorstorm · Feb 7, 2021

Avispanator said: ↑

Is that KO Quickstrike smaller than Kingdom Blackarachnia? Can't really tell from that angle, but they look really good together!
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About the same height, Quickstike it difficult to get to stand right next to anyone due to the legs or cobra head

Robogeek28 · Feb 7, 2021

Rotorstorm said: ↑

About the same height, Quickstike it difficult to get to stand right next to anyone due to the legs or cobra head View attachment 28951800
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He looks fantastic at least.

TM2 Dinobot · Feb 7, 2021

I was custom painting mine and lost the head. Man, I should 3D print a show accurate one.

Rotorstorm · Feb 7, 2021

TM2 Dinobot said: ↑

I was custom painting mine and lost the head. Man, I should 3D print a show accurate one.
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I would buy a copy of the STL for sure

Sonic Eclipse · Feb 7, 2021

If the rumors are true about some sort of Transmetals re-release, it would be absolutely criminal of them to not re-release Megatron. I don't care if its the Armada Predacon remold with the Transmetal deco. It needs to happen.

Noideaforaname · Feb 7, 2021

Dachande said: ↑

I'm not really sure if I like this figure. He's quite unique, I'll give it that.
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The elbows and kibble are kinda bad, but on the other hand he can do this:

SpiderMunky · Feb 7, 2021

IceConvoy said: ↑

Anyone mention the rumors from the news forum about possible reissues of Transmetal figures?

If true who would you like to see reissued? Which figures are more likely to be reissued?

My first thought is they’d be limited to show characters at the deluxe class because of cost and size. So Cheetor, Rattrap, Tarantulus, TM2 Dinobot, and TM2 Cheetor would be the only Deluxes that appeared in the show. But they could possibly throw in Terrorsaur, Waspinator, Rhinox, or Airrazor to round out the assortment if there were more than one wave like the Walmart Headmasters.

I can’t imagine they’d omit Primal and Megatron through. Maybe there could be a wave of the two Megas at the Voyager price point. Would love to see the Ultras reissued too, but they might cost too much at retail.
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Question about reissues: Does Hasbro keep the old molds? I would have assumed they were melted down to save space; LEGO doesn't keep unused molds for longer than a few years for example.

Jetbolt · Feb 7, 2021

Since I had snow....

Ironman · Feb 7, 2021

Jetbolt said: ↑

Bonecrusher: "We just had to crash in the cold region of this planet..."
Polar Claw: "It's not like I wanted to come out of transwarp into a debris field."

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Nice, man. I had both when I was a kid in the late '90s. Good times.

Lazerwave · Feb 7, 2021

A show Quickstrike and Silverbolt can really relate.

Ironman · Feb 7, 2021

barry said: ↑

For me, Blackarachnia has one of the more interesting story arcs within the Beast Wars cartoon. A Maximal protoform turned Predacon, but forever scheming against Megatron. Eventually moving past her ‘looking out for number 1’ nature due to her relationship with Silverbolt to become an integral part of the Primal’s team. For a show that had so many characters with slippery allegiances, Blackarachnia managed to stand out.

It’s hard to consider the origins of Blackarachnia’s animation design without wincing. The legends tells that the designer was taken to a strip club for inspiration, hence her voluptuousness. Regardless about how one feels about the final product, and I’ve read compelling arguments that Blackaracnia’s design – perhaps inadvertently – provides a good point of identification for female TF fans, it’s hard for me not to feel a bit creeped out by the tale. But there we go. For better or worse, she is what she is.

I must admit that it does feel odd to be writing about a Blackarachnia toy when I’ve not written, and may not get the chance to write about Tarantulas. Normally I’m able to talk about the relationship between the ‘original’ and the ‘repaint’ in a very different way, where I talk about the original first, but not this time. Obviously Blackarachnia is a bigger character than many other examples of the repaint; it’d be disingenuous to compare this to Sideswipe and Red Alert, but I hope you’ll take my point.

In terms of meeting ‘cartoon model accuracy’ neither the Hasbro or Takara versions quite manage to hit the nail on the head. Personally, I like Takara deco a little more and, for better or worse, that’s the version I’ll be looking at.

Now, in terms of what came before I don’t really have anything from later than the Axelerators, so I can’t really say too much in terms of comparison to what came directly before Beast Wars. But man, the jump in articulation from the class of ’93 to the early Beast Wars figures is really something. Blackarachnia comes with two points of articulation in JUST her neck. That was pretty much unheard of in the ‘old days’. And continues as we move further. Simple as they seem to us now, those ball joints just provide so much fucking mobility, most evident in the hips. Suddenly a world of poseability possibility opens up that just wasn’t there back in the ’80’s.

The mold fits the character well too. There’s something both lithe and powerful to the design that works well for both Blackarachnia and Tarantulas. They didn’t always manage to achieve this match up with other toy/characters, but we’ll return to that topic a few waves in, I imagine.

So, I may not talk about the ‘mutant masks’ again, because I tend to ignore them, thinking they’re a rather naff idea. That said, with this mold it is an excellent way of differentiating between Tarantulas and Blackarachnia. It works so well that I even tell myself that the ‘robot’ head is intrinsically more feminine than the ‘mutant’ head. Of course it isn’t, but there is a certain verisimilitude to it that really works. And you know, they’re actually both really nice headsculpts. Much better than most ‘Mutant’ headsculpts. Sorry. I really can’t stand them.

It’s not all great. The spider mode legs I find to be incredibly cumbersome. Like Brian Eno’s Roxy Music era feather boa jacket, it looks fun but is a total nightmare in practical terms (what? I never told you I tried on Brain Eno’s jacket. Ask me about it later. I’m writing now), and (in what may well become a theme) and I really can’t get behind those mandible hands. I just want robots to have normal hands. Even with old G1 faves like Shockwave and Whirl, I’m annoyed by gun/claw hands. Also I’m also not a fan of the gun. It looks a bit dorky and I hate that bit of string.

In the ‘undecided’ column is the translucent plastic used for forearms, torso, and thighs. It’s both neat and bothersome. The effect is cool but, for me, robs the toy of some of it’s verisimilitude. It ways that visible ball joints should, but don’t, it reminds me that I’m looking at an object and not a character. But it looks cool. But it…

Anyway, the spider mode is a thing of loveliness. I think they’ve done a fantastic job of making the deco really ‘pop’, with the gold against the black and those green that catch the light so well. The small amount of articulation in her front legs (I kinda ignore the fact these are meant to be missiles as I find the idea of using your legs as projectiles too upsetting) allows some degree of pose-ability in this mode. My only real complaint about this mode is that the arms/mandibles don’t plug in as securely as they could. I’m (very graciously, I might note) prepared to accept this may be wear on my version and a fresher and minty-er version might do better.

Were it not for a lack of gold-y orange legs, yer Kingdom Blackarachnia would be a perfect CHUG version of the character, were it not for the toy being so incredibly flimsy.

Now I’m usually fairly resistant to the arguements that the fandom is getting ripped off as the toys become smaller and more hollow. This is the real world and a business like Hasbro needs to be fairly brutal about these sorts of decisions to keep satisfactory profit margins. I get it. However, when the toys get smaller and more fragile I start to back off.

Blackarachnia is an excellent action figure. She really does look like she stepped out of the cartoon and comes with all the crazy articulation that you’d require to make her pull off the limber poses you might wish for with a character like this. The implied furrow in her brow imbues her with all the devious expression that you’d expect, and the helmet overall is spot on. I’m also a sucker for how expressive her spider arms are in ‘bot mode. All that said, there’s a class of toy that sends shivers up my spine, let’s call that class ‘please don’t ever fall off the shelf. I’m worried that you break into tiny bits’, and Blackarachnia is a prime example of that class. She’s going nowhere near the front of the shelf.

It’s the spider mode which has delighted me the most, and pushed Blackarachnia to the top of the Kingdom Wave 1 Deluxes. The body is fun enough, with nice and faithful detail, but it’s those legs, those wonderefully expressive and poseable legs that really make this such a fun toy. I know if I was a kid playing with this I’d barely ever change it out of spider mode, because this is where the fun is.

Unfortunately, much like Cheetor, she has some pretty serious tolerance/QC issues. I’d been warned that the tab that connects her chest to her torso was fragile and prone to breakage, and I’d been suitably light of touch when transforming her. In fact, I’ve only transformed her from ‘bot to spide and back to bot once in the week I’ve owned her. But the tab still broke. A week. I’ve had her in hand a single week. That is piss poor. If this is going to be a feature of the BW contingent of Kingdom then this is going to be a pretty miserable line to collect.

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Good review. Very precise and detailed.

TonyStink · Feb 8, 2021

Toys of the characters often have shells as part of their original design, but nobody seems to claim this.

Rattrap's shell are the rat sides.

Cheetor's shell is his cheetah front limbs.

Beast Megatron's is... well, with front half.

So then, in my opinion, they are partial shellformers.

Lazerwave · Feb 8, 2021

Let's see who the Gorilla really is.

Beastwarsfan95 · Feb 8, 2021

Polar Claw, a firm supporter in the right to arm bears:

kaijuguy19 · Feb 8, 2021

Sonic Eclipse said: ↑

If the rumors are true about some sort of Transmetals re-release, it would be absolutely criminal of them to not re-release Megatron. I don't care if its the Armada Predacon remold with the Transmetal deco. It needs to happen.
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This. This is now the perfect time to release a version of the mold that won't crumble in your hands along with any other TM figures suffering the same fate. Same goes for Fuzor reissues if they get around doing that too such as Torca.

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

Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

Pride21 Honor Wisdom Virtue

Dinotrap BEAST WARS FOREVER!

Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

Inferno Kidult TFW2005 Supporter

Rotorstorm Wreck n’ rule

Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

TM2 Dinobot closet otaku

Rotorstorm Wreck n’ rule

Sonic Eclipse Maximal

Noideaforaname Pico, let's go up to Zuma

SpiderMunky Half-spider, half-munky

Jetbolt Maximal Air Commander

Ironman Well-Known Member

Lazerwave My Most Prized Treasure

Ironman Well-Known Member

TonyStink AKA Deinotron the Terrible

Lazerwave My Most Prized Treasure

Beastwarsfan95 Also known as Cheese House

kaijuguy19 Keyblade Wielder

Log in or Sign up

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

Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

Pride21 Honor Wisdom Virtue

Dinotrap BEAST WARS FOREVER!

Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

Inferno Kidult TFW2005 Supporter

Rotorstorm Wreck n’ rule

Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

TM2 Dinobot closet otaku

Rotorstorm Wreck n’ rule

Sonic Eclipse Maximal

Noideaforaname Pico, let's go up to Zuma

SpiderMunky Half-spider, half-munky

Jetbolt Maximal Air Commander

Ironman Well-Known Member

Lazerwave My Most Prized Treasure

Ironman Well-Known Member

TonyStink AKA Deinotron the Terrible

Lazerwave My Most Prized Treasure

Beastwarsfan95 Also known as Cheese House

kaijuguy19 Keyblade Wielder

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