Note: this file contains two reviews. What I call Wave Two came in two separate chunks for the Basics. Dave's Beast Machines Rant: Longhorn Obsidian Interesting toy karma today for me. For months, Kay Bee has had absolutely no Beast Machines whatsoever in this area (and, from what I've heard, most areas). Today I finally find Longhorn and Obsidian...at Kay Bee. At first I kinda bite the bullet, figuring I'mm go ahead and buy them there, paying the extra dollar of overcharge KB has on them. Then it turns out that a 25% off sale they've been running on the old TMII toys and Animorphs also applies to the new stuff, and I get them for cheaper than anywhere else. Whee! CAPSULES Longhorn: Nice beast mode with an okay gimmick. Simple transformation, okay robot mode. Nowhere near as lame as the pictures make him out to be, but not astonishingly good either. Mildly recommended. $7.99 at Kay Bee, marked down to $5.99. Obsidian: Very nice vehicle mode with good gimmick and some nifty undocumented features. Very simple transformation, kinda topheavy in robot mode with spindly legs. Recommended. $7.99 at Kay Bee, marked down to $5.99. RANTS As has been my tendency of late, I am rewriting the techspec notes to make them a) less riddled with errors and b) more readable overall. Also, anything after a UF: in the review refers to an Undocumented Feature of the toy, something that's not in the instructions but should be. This differs from unplanned extra stuff like third modes and so forth, in that it was obviously intended by the designers. MAXIMAL: Longhorn Altmode: Bull Function: Warrior Motto: "If you're strong enough, there are no precendents." Highly intelligent, Longhorn is a warrior-philosopher. One of the most physically powerful Maximals, he believes that war is difficult but necessary. A talented strategist as well as a front-line warrior, he is well-liked by his comrades for both his circumspect attitude and his tenacity in battle. [1] Generates paralyzing thunderclaps by stomping his feet on the ground, while his reinforced skull and horns are capable of emitting powerful lightning bolts. Despite his serious demeanor, Longhorn takes great joy in battle, especially when goring Vehicons...he explains that while war itself is tasking, the actual battles are not. [2] [1] and [2] represent places where I totally removed a line because it simply could not be rewritten as anything but stupid. Sorry. I also did a LOT of rewriting. STR 9 INT 8 SPD 4 END 9 RNK 5 COUR 5 FRP 7 SKL 7 Avg 6.75 Odd that he's admired for tenacity in battle and has a Courage of only 5. And I really don't know what the Hasbro guy was trying to get at with that motto...maybe a play on the word "unprecendent?" After all, Longhorn is certainly not of unprecedented strength...there's lots of 10's out there. Well, enough snarking about the techspecs. Beast Mode: 5" (12cm) from horn to tail, this technobull is mainly dark red and gold, with some clear blue-green bits, silvered horns and a steel metal nosering. Yep, a metal part on a Beast Machine that isn't a connecting rod or screw, woo. Looks pretty good in this mode, and it's a pity he had to be packaged in the "run over by a tank drone" pose, since he really does look better out of the package and properly posed. His front "knees" are a bit loose, unfortunately, leading to the collapse of some poses. Overall, though, he's not too poseable without looking wrong, as his joints are mainly geared for robot mode. His beast eyes could light up under the right circumstances, but the only way I've gotten them to do so is to hold him up sideways to a light source, and then only one lights up. If you push down on the lever on his back, his head rears up to gore whatever's in front of him, not too shabby. It's on a spring, so the head normally stays down. UF: the head can also move side to side a bit with a spring snapping it back in place, for that "gore the guy off to one side" action. It's only a little bit of range of motion, but it's a nice touch. Spark crystal is green and concealed behind a panel in the thigh of the left rear leg. Transformation: Only a slight bit removed from "stand up on all fours and mess with the feet." You open up his chest and pull his upper arms out, then close it again and the head sort of autotransforms. Reverse the shins and pop down panels for the toes, and you're pretty much done. UF: Fold down his gimmick-action lever to cover the gap in his spine and lock the head in place. Robot Mode: A hunchbacked 4" (10cm) tall, more of the transparent plastic is prominent in this mode. Like most bull Transformers, his horns remain on his head in robot mode. His eyes light up nicely, and his head can turn on a neck swivel. His face seems to have a sort of indian warpaint motif. His feet depend pretty heavily on a somewhat floppy toe joint, which combined with his topheaviness makes it hard to keep him from falling over. An interesting trick is done with his fore hooves and lower beast forelegs, though. Rather than just folding aside as kibble, they're knives. Longhorn's robot fists are molded onto the insides of his beast knees, and the "achilles tendon" area on each foreleg is painted gold and looks like a blade. So, while he doesn't have real hands that can hold things, he does have hand weapons. I suppose this could be called an undocumented feature. Overall: Has some nifty bits, and I'd rank him as being at least as good as Buzzsaw, but the Maximals continue to get the fuzzy end of the lollypop here. Not a bad toy, just not a really good one either. VEHICON: Obsidian Altmode: Osprey-like helicopter Function: Aerial Combat Motto: "Walking is for suckers." Obsidian was created to be a mindless aerial-attack automaton by Megatron, master of the Vehicons, but he turned out less mindless than intended. This Vehicon is armed with several missiles capable of penetrating 800 meters underground to reach their Maximal targets, guided by a penetrating sonar system. While airborne, Obsidian plays symphonic scores to enhance the drama of the situation and aid in psychological intimidation. An expert in low-flying aerial combat, he often supports tank drone battalions in superior land/air combined arms assaults. While he displays unmatched aggression in battle, he becomes docile when not in a fight, and will hover serenely for hours. STR 6.5 INT 5.9 SPD 7.1 END 7.1 RNK 6 COUR 8.1 FRP 6.7 SKL 5.9 Avg 6.7 What the yotz is up with the techspec stat writers? Somebody should write a memo so they can get the whole numbers versus fractions thing straightened out and consistent again. Oh, and someone's either clueless or trying to be paranoid-parent-friendly...in the instructions his missile pods (the ones that form his arms) are identified as engines. Riiiiight. Vehicle Mode: This is not exactly an Osprey VTOL plane, but it's closer to an Osprey than Mirage is to a Formula-1 racer. 5" (12cm) long and with a 5" (12cm) "wingspan," this green, blue and clear orange tilt-rotor craft is a rather nifty looking military plane. Too bad it's not actually obsidian in color, that would rock. But, at least being green isn't as bit a problem for Obsidian as it is for Razor Claw. The rotors are clear orange plastic and have two main blades accompanied by a sort of "wheel of death" pattern that helps make them more child-safe. The rotors spin nicely when pushed, but there's no gimmick for making them spin. Instead, the rotors are on the ends of marble-shooter-style missiles, push on the backs and they pop out. But not very far, since they're kinda heavy. The mounts are on ball joints, so they not only can tilt for forward flight, they can gimbal about a bit for aerial ballet. On the tip of the nose is a small cannon on a hinge. The cockpit is designed so that the side windows look like eyes, and the whole thing lights up nicely under a lamp or sunlight. UF: The cockpit can do several things not mentioned in the instructions. For one, the central part can rotate on its long axis and wag back and forth a tiny bit on its restricted ball joint. Definitely aiming to copy the Jetstorm-style neck. Additionally, to go the rest of the way, the cockpit can be pulled out as a unit on a hinge and another ball joint, so Obsidian can have a look all around in vehicle mode. The tail can be folded forward into legs for a gerwalk mode pretty easily. Gives him sort of chicken knees, but that's standard for gerwalks. (Aside: for those tuning into my reviews only recently, a gerwalk is an intermediate mode originally named in Macross/Robotech. The idea is that the legs can fold down and arms pop out without transforming the main body of the vehicle mode.) Transformation: There's a gearing system that lets most of the transformation happen all in one move, although it's really stiff and not immediately apparent if you're not following the instructions. You also have to be sure you don't pop down the cockpit on its neck. UF: To get it like the techspec picture, rotate the front bit of the cockpit on its restricted ball joint so that the cannon faces forwards. In fact, the picture shows the gun pointing straight out like a bellygun (or other sort of thing if you have that sort of lewd mind). Also, when transforming back to vehicle mode, there's a tab on each forearm that needs to go into a slot on the main body. Robot Mode: 3.5" (9cm) tall at the shoulders, which are slightly higher than the head. Yep, he joins Spittor II in the Hunchback Club...at least Longhorn's head is higher than his shoulders. The knees are just pin hinges, which makes it really hard to separate his legs and still stand him up, even though he has effectively two stiff joints for each foot. Arms are bulky and end in missile pods rather than hands, with elbows that are double jointed so that the arms can fold completely in half. The rotors can be easily posed so as to be shoulder weapons in this mode, or as a hoverpack. The eyes light up rather nicely, and the laser trick is possible. A "unileg" hovering mode like Jetstorm's is possible, and it can even stand up on its own thanks to the tail section being poseable. This gives him an extra half inch (a little over 1cm) of height as well, and looks a LOT better, since his spindly legs work WITH the design instead of against it. Not sure if this is an undocumented feature or just a happy accident, though. His spark crystal is orangey yellow and is on his back. A big chunk of his fuselage just juts out behind his head as kibble. Enterprising fans have already come up with several alternate modes and sub-modes for Obsidian, including as a cigarette holder. }-> (There's a large rectangular gap atop each forearm that can hold a cigarette tightly, plus that chunk of kibble on his back can act as a rest for another cig.) Of course, smoking is Not Recommended. Overall: While the transformation is simplistic and the intended robot mode has some problems, it's a very nice toy and has a quite nifty hover mode. Dave Van Domelen, at least is only behind by three toys at the moment, although SPQQKY's got another four on deck.... Dave's Beast Machines Rant: Geckobot Quickstrike Another hit at Family Toy Warehouse. The packaging shows "Airraptor" on the back, but I have it on reasonably good authority that the name of the upcoming Maximal Quetzalcoatlus is really Skydive. CAPSULES Geckobot: Has some interesting bits, but otherwise gives the impression of being designed by someone on some serious drugs. Neutral. $6.99 at Family Toy Warehouse Quickstrike: Not too bad, but has some serious problems, most notably a tiny beast head and weird proportions overall. Mildly recommended. $6.99 at Family Toy Warehouse RANTS As has been my usual practice of late, I've rewritten the techspec notes to fix bad grammar and general lameness. }-> MAXIMAL: Geckobot Altmode: Lizard [Suuuuuurrrrre.] Function: Aerial Combat Specialist Motto: "I will blind you with my brilliance!" One of the few Maximals capable of flight, Geckobot is extremely swift and maneuverable in the air. A powerful storage cell that sits on his back in beast mode or on his arms in robot mode provides energy for a variety of pulse weapons. His wings and tail can act as high-efficiency energy receptors, giving Geckobot superior endurance on long-range reconnaissance or attack missions. Very intelligent and creative, Geckobot enjoys constructing "garbage art" sculptures from the bodies of destroyed Vehicons. STR 8.7 INT 9.8 SPD 9.2 END 9.3 RNK 6.8 COUR 8.4 FRP 8.7 SKL 8.9 Avg 8.7 Wow, some munchkiny stats there. Overcompensating for something, perhaps? Like a cruddy design? Beast Mode: 6" (15cm) long from snout to tail tip and with a 4.5" (12cm) wingspan, Geckobot is a primarily blue...something...with translucent purple wings and red and gold detailing. I'm guessing his beast mode is inspired by that species of gliding lizard that has winglike membranes extending from its ribs, but a LOT got lost in the translation, placing Geckobot in the same dubious taxonomical company as Iguanus. A lizard with stuff tacked on. Well, a doglike lizard. The legs are jointed all wrong for pretty much any kind of lizard, and the rear legs have the same sort of lameness that Noctorro's do. And then there's the robot head, which just sort of hangs like a goiter under the beast neck. This is not to say there's nothing good about the beast mode (just a lot of bad in addition to the good). The head can turn side to side, and the top flips open (like Dinobot TMII) to reveal the spark. The wings have an interesting scissoring gimmick that actually reaches past the front of the beast, making it a legit attack move. Transformation: Reasonably involved for a Basic. However, I recommend leaving the shoulders somewhat untransformed, to avoid the freakishly long arms the toy otherwise gets. Robot Mode: 4" (10cm) tall, and with most of the colors of the beast mode concealed, making for a depressingly monochrome robot (reminiscent of Sling). Very spindly, and with long, gangly arms that make Spittor seem stubby. Thing is, there's really no graceful way to deal with the wing units hanging from his arms. You can give him insanely long arms, or insanely wide shoulders, or some combination of the above, but it looks ugly in any position. Sure, each arm effectively has FIVE ball joints, but they don't work together in any aesthetically pleasing way. Geckobot does sort of have the glowing eyes trick, but his eyes are so small that you really don't get any glow out of them unless you shine a laser onto his scalp. Overall: Geckobot looks like an idea that really needed another few iterations before being usable. In fact, in some ways it looks like an abandoned prototype that someone found lying in a corner and pressed into service without first asking the design people if it was finished. About all it's really good for is spare joints if you're making a kitbash. MAXIMAL: Quickstrike Altmode: Wolf Function: Reconnaissance/Warrior Motto: "Robots with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest." Silent and reclusive, Quickstrike operates best alone. He's very intelligent and extremely dedicated to the Maximal cause, but his fellow warriors don't fully trust this loner. The only other Maximal he'll willingly work with is Blackarachnia, and this is solely a professional matter...there's no love lost between the two. Always predator and never the prey, he's an expert hunter and almost impossible to surprise. A master of stealth, he's able to virtually disappear in shadow or subdued lighting, and his electromagnetic emissions blocker keeps him off Vehicon sensors. His best weapon is the anxiety of his enemies, who never know when or where he will strike, but his circuit-slagging sonic howl is a strong second. A lover of music, but cursed with a "tin ear." Rattrap often jokes that his singing is more deadly than his sonic howl. STR 7 INT 9 SPD 8 END 8 RNK 7 COUR 6 FRP 5 SKL 10 Avg 7.5 I suppose it's possible that this is a reformatted BW Quickstrike, but the personalities are far too different. I like his motto, though, it actually sounds like something a ConQuest-style Decepticon would say. Beast Mode: A little over 4" (11cm) from snout to tail tip if you realign the tail to point straight back (the straight-up pose he's packaged in is kinda doofy), he's more or less a wolf. His head is about half the size it should be, however, and his forelegs are A) too large and B) too far forwards. Not as bad as Razor Claw's wolverine mode, but getting there. Mainly bluish grey and metallic tan with silver and gunmetal accents and some parts that are translucent blue (tail and feet, which looks kinda odd). Not much trouble with kibble, but his robot head is, um, between his hind legs. I could say more here, but I know gradeschoolers read my reviews, so I shall restrain myself. The tail is packaged as sticking straight up, but it's possible to reposition it so that it points straight back, which looks a lot better. The beast head is a little unstable, but the jaw opens and the head can turn on a ball joint. It looks like it was intended to have glowing eyes (there's a "window" on the top of the head) but the eyes were painted over. Basically, if the head were bigger and the front shoulders altered a bit, it'd be a very nice beast mode. But it just looks wrong. Transformation: The rear legs become robot arms and the forelegs become robot legs, in a reversal of the usual pattern. There's some interesting folding and sliding involved in hiding the beast head and moving up the torso. Robot Mode: Not counting the tail sticking up like an upside down ponytail, Quickstrike stands a little over 4" (11cm) tall and adds upper arms to the list of incongruous translucent bits. In both color and shape, this mode reminds me a lot of the Ogroid from Orguss (an older giant robot anime you might be able to find dubbed at MediaPlay or other video stores). With both bulk and spindliness combined, it really looks like a robot, not a human wedged into a powersuit, or a rearranged beast. However, it's a tad top heavy, and he lacks the heel spurs that would give much-needed stability to this mode. He also doesn't have anything remotely like hands, just folded over beast claws that do a poor job of imitating hands. His gimmick is a switchblade energy sword that pops out of his left arm. You have to fold the beast paw in all the way, though, or the blade won't fully deploy. Nicely poseable for the most part, Quickstrike has ball joint shoulders, hips and neck (and the wolftail out the back of the head has some wiggle room independent of the head), a swivel waist, a combination of hinge and ball joint for each elbow, and hinged knees and ankles. Unfortunately, the knees don't really work as knees, being stuck in the wolfen jointing (in which they're really just high-up ankles). Because the ankles are just hinged and because the feet have no heelspurs, he can't really stand in much aside from the straight-legs-together pose. Overall: Has a lot going for him for a Maximal Basic. But he has several major flaws that keep him from reaching his potential. Worth picking up, but not worth running all over looking for. Dave Van Domelen, thinks he may have overdone it by seeing Shaft, Titan A.E. and a sneak preview of Chicken Run all in the last 24 hours....