Dave's Beast Wars Rant:

     BotCon Exclusive Two-Pack:
          Packaging
          Fractyl
          Packrat
          Comic Book (copy of review previously posted)

CAPSULES

Boxed Set:

     The price is *very* steep, and will only get steeper once the Hartmans
run out of stock and the prices rise to scalper levels.  But the production
values are quite high...this is "How It Should Have Been Done" with respect
to the original two-pack, although economies of scale would have brought the
price down from BotCon's levels, of course.  Decent toys, good comic, great
packaging.  Recommended, but the $40 price tag is certainly something to
consider.  Contact jhartman@noblecan.org for ordering information.

Separate Capsule for the comic, as it's available separately:

     Transformers: Tales From The Beast Wars #1 (of 1): 3H (convention
exclusive comic for BotCon) - Fifteen pages isn't much to work with,
especially when introducing two new characters (the convention's toy
exclusives), but Furman does a decent job of telling a short story.
Wildman's art lacks detail in places and doesn't seem well suited to B&W, but
does have a few dazzlers in it.  Recommended.  $5 plus shipping, which is a
bit steep for the casual reader.


RANTS

Packaging:

     Reminiscent of what I've seen of Japanese packaging, this two-pack comes
in a 14 inch by 8 inch by 3 inch (33cm by 18cm by 7.5cm) cardboard box with
clear windows in the shapes of the toys so you can see them while in the
box.  Next to each window is Andrew Wildman's drawing of the robot modes in
their Energon Armor (a plot device from the comic).  There should be a scan
of this available on my Beast Wars page once the scanner's software is
replaced (some dip erased it).
     On the back are both techspec cards, plus a battle scene in color from
the B&W comic, featuring Airazor and Packrat versus Inferno, Blackarachnia
and Fractyl.  There's also a robot-points-like "BotCon Points" stamp,
presumably for nostalgia value.  Transformation instructions are included on
the bottom of the box, the sides have pictures of both toys in both modes,
and the top has the "Start->Change->Finish" sequences for both.
     Inside, the toys rest in a VERY sturdy plastic tray, which also protects
the bagged-and-boarded comic from harm.

     Note: the "Bio-genetic engineering...etc" thing from the regular
packaging is replaced here by the following blurb:
     "An unknown planet, an unknown time.  Due to an unimagined surplus of
their most precious energy source, robot warriors from a far distant world
take on the forms of the most fearsome indigenous species!  They are the
Transformers - heroic Maximals wage their battle against the evil Predacons!
Nothing will ever be the same - the Beast Wars have begun!"  TM, (R) where
appropriate. 


Toys:

PREDACON: Fractyl
Function: Geochemist
Transformation Difficulty: Not given (2, roughly)
Quote: "The power of this planet is our salvation and our curse."

While Megatron pushes him to be a warrior, Fractyl is more concerned with
solving the problems caused by the strange planet's surplus of Energon.  The
other Predacons either ignore him or ridicule his apparent fascination with
the energy source, despite the fact that his work could provide them with the
means for ultimate victory over the Maximals.  While his research has had
only temporary success, he is confident that he will eventually resolve their
recurring overload problems, thereby earning the others' respect.

STR 4  INT 9  SPD 8  END 4  RNK 4  COUR 5  FRP 5  SKL 6  Avg 5.625

     Ah, a quote, at last (I don't count Onyx Pretenious's Pulp Fiction
ripoff).  Those who hunger for more information should get their hands on the
BotCon program (also available from Hartman) which has Transformers Universe
style writeups for Fractyl and Packrat.

     Fractyl is a recolor of the second-mold Terrorsaur, representing a
halfway stop between the original Terrorsaur mold and the one used for
Lazorbeak.  He shares the reduced structure on his back with Lazorbeak,
leaving his gun loose in robot mode and preventing him from using the
shoulder-mount trick early Terrorsaur toys are capable of.  But he lacks the
rubsign that Lazorbeak has.
     Fractyl's color scheme corresponds to Terrorsaur's as follows: orange
becomes slightly metallic pine green, black becomes a very light grey as does
the white of the robot face, white on the beast teeth remains white, blue
becomes gold, lime green becomes gold, yellow (eyes) becomes red.  Fractyl
has the same pattern of spots on hiw wings that Terrorsaur does.  The paint
job is well done, without the errors plaguing Lazorbeak.
     The "energon armor" is expressed here as a slight metallic cast given to
the dark green plastic of the beast parts.  It's just ever so slightly
sparkly. 


MAXIMAL: Packrat
Function: Thief
Transformation Difficulty: Not given (3-4)
Quote: "Don't just take the goods, take the credit, too."

Packrat is the ultimate glory hound.  His penchant for stealing is surpassed
only by his desire to let everyone know he did it.  The other Maximals are
tolerant of his sneaky and deceptive ways only because he's an effective
fighter, and because he causes the Predacons more trouble than he does his
comrades.  His standing with his teammates reached a crossroad with the
Energon armor incident.  As Rhinox has said, "There my be hope for him yet."

STR 6  INT 6  SPD 8  END 5  RNK 4  COUR 8  FRP 6  SKL 6  Avg 6.125

     An important note from his full description not mentioned here is that
Packrat's gimmick is sound.  He has a sonic dampening field which makes him
super-stealthy, and uses a sonic blaster.

     Packrat is a recolored Rattrap, with two differences from a simple color
substitution.  One, he lacks the airbrushed two-tone on his rump, having only
a solid color for his whole back.  Two, his beast mode eyes have pupils.
Those differences aside, Rattrap's colors become Packrat's as follows: brown
becomes very light grey, grey becomes slightly metallic blue, silver becomes
gold, white stays white, yellow stays yellow, red stays red, pink becomes
gold.  The paint job is very well executed, no sloppy borders.
     As far as I can tell, there are no mold differences.


Comic (reproduced from original review):

     "Ground Zero": The macguffin for this story is a new element called
Furmanite, which the Predacon scientist Fractyl (Terrorsaur recolor toy) has
figured out how to use as a sort of "energon armor," to allow indefinite
survival in robot mode in the damaging energy fields of the Beast Wars
planet.  But Fractyl has a serious self-confidence problem which leads him to
fear all sorts of nasty side-effects.
     And he's right.  
     Too bad Packrat (Rattrap recolor toy) spies the macguffin first and
flees with it before Fractyl and Blackarachnia figure out the fatal flaw in
the thing...it repels small amounts of Energon, but explodes violently in
contact with large amounts.  And Packrat's heading for an Energon-rich area
called the Badlands to test out the armor...not to mention, it seems to be
going to his head.
     After blowing Inferno to chunky bits, Packrat gets talked down and
Fractyl drains the armor-field from him.  Then, because Fractyl had done the
Right Thing, the Maximals put on a bit of a show letting him drive them off
so Fractyl would look good in front of his leader...rang a little false,
since I'd think they'd more likely invite him to join up instead, but it
worked okay in the context of the personal-struggle story being told.
     Wildman's art is pretty variable, ranging from some overly simple faces
and beast forms to some really good pages.  Much of this can be blamed on the
inking, though, possibly to Stephen Baskerville's "Art Assist," especially if
a deadline came crashing down on Wildman.  There's also a sketchbook page in
the back of some initial designs Wildman worked on while getting the hang of
the characters.  Beast Wars hasn't really hit the UK yet, so Wildman was
starting from scratch when he agreed to this project.  Some of the designs
look almost like Geoff Senior had a hand in them.  There's also the
thumbnails for the BotCon ad Wildman did for magazines earlier in the year.
     Finally, a note on the lettering.  I don't have my issues with me to
check, but I think Starkings modified his Transformers font for the
Predacons, to make them more distinct from the Maximals.  Pretty good job,
although I've spotted at least one incidence of the "Bad Balloon-Placement
Fairy" at work (p14, panel 5).

     Dave Van Domelen, "If I don't get an adrenalin rush by breakfast, I'm
cranky all day. [large explosion in distance] WHOA!  I feel better already!" 
- Cheetor