Dave's Beast Machines Rant:

     Unicron.com Accessory Pack

CAPSULE
     
     Sturdy and well-made accessories, but the price means they're really
only for the serious display-oriented fan (or those who have plenty of
money).  Also comes with a four-color t-shirt in fandom-size (it says XL on
the tag, but I'm an XXXL and it fits me).  Recommended if the price doesn't
bother you.  $35 from Unicron.com.

RANT

     Okay, there's basically four accessories in this pack, although one of
the accessories has three pieces.  They're all made from durable hard plastic
and look very professional.  Sure, you could cobble something together
yourself for a lot less, but it wouldn't look nearly as good.  About the only
common flaw is that there's a bit of mold flash on most of the pieces, but
nothing that a little filing or sanding can't fix.

     Thrust Stand: A 2.5" (6.5cm) diameter clear disk with four 2cm tall
rectangular posts sticking up at the center.  The idea is to bracket Thrust's
wheel so he can stand in unicycle mode.  It's pretty snug for the actual
Thrust toy, and it can even kind of work for the McDonalds Thrust.  }->  Keep
in mind, this is not a bunch of plastic parts glued together, it's a single
piece of durable clear plastic, and it looks VERY nice.

     Blackarachnia Stand: About 3.5" (9cm) long and 2" (5cm) wide, this clear
plastic base is in the shape of an hourglass.  A pair of slats rise up at one
end to hold BA's toe in a cliplike fashion, letting you pose the toy on
tiptoes like in the cartoon, rather than giving her skis for feet.  With the
clip at one end and three inches of stand stretching out to the side, you can
get some pretty dynamic poses.  Not too useful on the McBA, though.  But I
suppose you could try.  }->  I may paint mine red except for the clip part
(I'm guessing clear red plastic was either too expensive or they decided it'd
make the clip part look bad).

     Key to Vector Sigma: Thanks to the Beast Machines cartoon, there was a
very nice wireframe schematic to follow in making this, and it's pretty
accurate.  At a bit over 2" (5cm) long, it's made of a sort of gold/bronze
plastic, and as a side effect of the molding process there's microwire
patterns when you hold it up to the light.  It's scaled to be held in
Tankor's hand.  My Tankor is still in storage, so I can't test this
hypothesis, but I think it might be possible to jam the Key into Tankor's gun
barrel as well.  Blackarachnia's base can also be used as a Key holder.
     Oh, and in case you're wondering...yes, you can add the Key to Vector
Sigma to your own keyring if you want, it has a keyring loop.  }->

     Cheetor's Swords: These babies are probably the main selling point of
the pack.  After all, there was much moaning when Mega Cheetor came out and
had this lame little tail whip "sword" thing rather than the twin scimitars
seen in the show.  There's three pieces here.  Two swords, and a holder that
plugs into the screwhole on Cheetor's backside.  When in place, the swords
follow the curve of Cheetor's back and flank his head.  All three pieces are
made of strong opaque yellow plastic.  The swords are 5" (13cm) long.
     The swords are additionally painted with enamel paints to add green and
red details.  However, it's the paint that causes the most problems with this
accessory.  The masking wasn't sharp enough, so the borders between painted
and unpainted areas are kinda wobbly.  Additionally, paint around the peg
holes tends to flake and then redeposit, and there's some non-removable green
spots along the blades of my swords.  Overall, I think it might have worked
better if the green was not included, and if the red was done with vinyl
stickers rather than paint.  Including stickers for the buyer to apply would
also give the set a G1 feel.  }->
     Anyway, in addition to attaching to the holder, the swords are also able
to link together to form the glider wing Cheetor's used a few times.  The two
swords are identical, which saves on mold expenses but does make the linkage
a little bulkier than it has to be.  Also, the paint on he grips makes it a
little harder to link the swords, since the pegs are now a tiny bit bigger.
     A final safety note, these swords are pretty sharp and pointy, so don't
leave them around where small children or drunk roommates can find them.

     Overall: A lot of people complain about shortcomings in the Beast
Machines toys, but the Lukises have done something about it.  As a first
effort in doing a serious mold run, it's pretty good.  Hopefully things will
go well enough that they'll try for a second pack (maybe a stand for Jetstorm
and a replacement barrel for Tankor's cannon?).  Not for the casual buyer of
Transformers, though.

     Dave Van Domelen, positive that they cut off the original ending of
Highlander: Endgame and replaced it with a new 20-30 minutes....