Dave's Playskool Go-Bots Transformers Rant - Wave 2a Dino-Bot/Reptron Buzzer-Bot Beast-Bot II Wave Two has 8 figures, released in two sub-waves (the fact that there were sightings of the second group before I found all of the first keeps me from declaring them separate waves). I'll do the other four as another review, assuming I get any other than Strongbot. Anyway, I only bought the two dino molds and Buzzer-Bot of this subwave, left Beast-Bot II on the shelf. CAPSULES Dino-Bot/Reptron: A good mold with an innovative transformation, they look good in both modes. And so cuuuuute in dino mode. Recommended. $7.88 at Wal-Mart. Buzzer-Bot: Simple transform, but good in both modes and astoundingly poseable for the line. A few undocumented features on this chibi Waspinator. Strongly recommended. $7.88 at Wal-Mart. Beast-Bot II: Odd name, since there wasn't a Beast-Bot I. This is Cheetor's mold from the previous wave, redone in Gorilla-Bot's colors and passed off as a panther. I didn't buy this one since I already had Cheetor, but it's still a good toy if you don't have the original. Recommended. $7.88 at Wal-Mart. RANTS With these new toys (and Silverbolt II), the line is renamed from Playskool Big Adventure Transformers to Transformers Go-Bots, keeping the Go-Bots trademark in circulation. GO-BOT: DINO-BOT Altmode: Cute Raptor Dinosaur DINO-BOT loves the speed and power of dinosaurs and with a helping hand, he changes into a mighty robotic-raptor. With his incredible speed and power, this Bot's got what it takes to hunt down adventure and sink his teeth into trouble! GO-BOT: REPTRON Altmode: Cute Raptor Dinosaur When it comes to hunting down adventure, REPTRON is always on the prowl. After you unlock the incredible power and speed of the dinosaur inside him, it's dino-mite fun getting the action on the run. Okay, it looks like the premise here is that these are 1 to 1 scale characters, like the Japanese Microman toys. And they need a kid's help to transform, would would make for an interesting twist if they ever got a storyline. Neither of these two looks quite like the prototypes pictured on the cards. Looks to be one less paint app and a generally darker color scheme. In Reptron's case, it seems largely to keep from being sued over copying Greymon's look. }-> Dino-Bot is turquoise and medium gray plastic with paint apps of silver and chartreuse (yellow-green), plus bits of red on the eyes, crest and Go-Bot Autobot symbol. A few more red bits become apparent in robot mode. Reptron is a very deep, slightly reddish orange where Dino-Bot is turquoise, dark grey where Dino-Bot is gray or silver, red where Dino-Bot is chartreuse, and yellow in some of the places where Dino-Bot is red (still has red eyes and some red robot detailing). The molds are identical as far as I can tell. They come packaged in robot mode, with 4 twist-ties holding them in the bubble. Beast Mode: 6" (15cm) long from snout to tail tip with a horizontal torso pose intended. Very stable with big chunky feet, the arms and legs move on simple rotation joints. The right foreclaw is curled into a fist, while the left is open to rake opponents with claws curved only at the very tips. The head can dip down, but is on a spring to keep it up. The mouth opens and closes a little bit, as the upper half of the head has some play. There's some robot kibble visible on the underside, but it's generally pretty good about avoiding unintended parts. The overall look is like a cute version of the cyborg dinosaurs from Beast Wars, before TMII Dinobot was created. Metallic half-helmet, plating on arms and legs, but organic back and tail. If you put the left claw straight forward, you can get the head to stick on it and not spring back up, for a sort of "I have a headache" pose. Transformation: Simple yet quite clever, and making extensive use of springs. The spinal column can shift up and down, pulling the dinosaur head into the chest and folding the tail up against the back. When you do this, the right and left halves of the body actually hinge apart to make room for the head and bringing the legs together so the natural stance becomes upright rather than horizontal. The robot head pops up as a notch inside the torso catches it and pushes it up against its spring. Robot Mode: 6" (15cm) tall, a pretty well-proportioned humanoid form requiring very little change from the dino mode. It has the tail as backpack kibble, but that doesn't look too bad. The robot head has goggle eyes and a hinged jaw reminiscent of the Iron Giant of the recent movie, plus a crest on top. Dino-Bot has red eyes in green "frames" and a silver jaw, Reptron has yellow eyes in an orange frame and a dark gray jaw. The only poseability is in the shoulders and hips, but that's satisfactory for a toy intended for small children. The large feet allow for a good variety of stable poses. Overall: A good, solid toy, a credit to the Go-Bots line. If you only pick one, I'd go with Dino-Bot, as I find the orange on Reptron to be a bit garish. Also, Dino-Bot looks better under blacklight (his red fluoresces, but Reptron's doesn't, oddly). GO-BOT: BUZZER-BOT Altmode: Wasp BUZZER-BOT is always buzzing about helping others, but not being able to fly really bugs him. So with your help, he changes into a rocket-powered bee that is always ready to sting danger right where it hurts - ouch! I don't care what the writeup says, it's Waspinator, so he turns into a wasp, not a bee. }-> Comes packaged in robot mode, secured with EIGHT twist-ties. Beast Mode: 5.5" (13cm) long with a 7" (18cm) wingspan. Made of three colors of plastic: light violet, dark green and transparent green. There's yellow paint on most parts, and some violet paint on some of the green bits (the violet paint and the violet plastic fluoresce at different colors, and the yellow paint is a dark reddish orange under blacklight, funky). The middle pair of legs is made of clear green plastic with green and yellow paint and just sort of hangs out awkwardly. The front pair of legs is also clear green with green and yellow paint, and is movable since these are the robot arms. The wings, eyes, antennae and stinger are also clear green plastic. The stinger is on a spring and can be pushed in and spring back out, nice touch. There are two Go-Bot Autobot symbols on this toy, a yellow one on the abdomen and a red on on the robot chest. Raising the abdomen a little causes the head to bob, a nice unintended side effect of the transformation scheme. Also, while the beast mode is a bit dubious in terms of the rear leg posing the way it's supposed to be, there's a trick to it.... Transformation: Really just bending the abdomen to reveal the robot head and straighten the limbs. BUT...the hips of the robot mode are poseable enough that you can reverse them and have the rear pair of insect legs in the proper Waspinator pose. Oh, and the middle pair of legs folds back automatically as part of transformation. And you have to open up the toes, which is a nice added touch. Robot Mode: 6" (15cm) tall with a sort of weird Aliens like skull shape. At first it looks like he has a goofy silver grin, bit that's actually his chin, he has a toothy purple smile and red bug eyes. The fists are reminiscent of the launcher hands of the Mega Bloks Gyro Fighters, and the shoulders are on simple swivels. The hips are nice universal joints, the kness bend (if a bit stiffly) and the toes have some poseability. Plus, of course, the wings can be positioned in various ways. This is a very poseable toy for a Go-Bot, and would take very little modification to be a credible Waspinator. Or Wusspinator for SuperDeformers.com. Overall: Short next to the dino brothers (same total height, but his eyes are lower), he's nonetheless a very impressive toy. I really like this one, and Strong-Bot's got competition for the spot as my favorite Go-Bot (Strong-Bot looks cool just in pictures, so I expect I'll like the toy when I get it). He can even stand on one leg in a side-kicking pose. If you get only one Go-Bot of this sub-wave, get Buzzer-Bot. Dave Van Domelen, thinks there's got to be different design teams on Go-Bots and Armada....