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Dave's Beast Machines Page
TOY REVIEWS
Page Last Updated:
6/28/01
Blast Punch Optimus Primal review added.
Again, there's other places covering the cartoon and doing a much better job
of it, so I won't try to duplicate effort here. The Beast Machines toys
started to trickle in late in 1999, but did not totally supplant Beast Wars
toys for over a year, as seen in the Phase 4 page.
GENERAL TIP: Most of the Beast Machines toys have
the glowing eyes gimmick that was used heavily in G2 and then mostly dropped
in Beast Wars. If you have a cheap laser pointer, the ones with yellow,
orange or red eyes can really put on a show if you aim the laser beam at the
back of their head. Cheetor's entire "brain" lights up with that dazzling
grainy laser light, and Tankor's eye can actually transmit a beam in tank
mode. Doesn't work for green or blue plastic, though.
Wave Five
This appears to be the last wave of Beast Machines before going into Robots
In Disguise.
Motorcycle Drone - A clever little scaled-down Thrust. Post-review
comment: If you hold the launcher covers closed while the missile is
loaded, you can tighten up the panels by using your fingernails or a similar
tool to pull back on the gears.
Spy Streak - A spyplane Vehicon. With a big horkin' CLAMP weapon.
Battle Unicorn - A unicorn, natch. Robot mode has a samurai armor theme,
so L5R players may want to snag this one. By folding up the axe and slotting
the tail into the groove on the back, you can make it into a rank flag.
Click here for a
picture. LATE NOTE: While it doesn't seem to be designed for this, you can
pop the weapon apart into a handaxe and a whip.
Deluxes:
Megabolt Megatron - A Big Floating Head that transforms into a rather
nifty looking robot. May or may not be released.
Mega and larger:
Mega Blast Punch Primal - Show-accurate mold, but
the colors were screwed up at the last minute, giving the toy Optimal
Optimus's color scheme.
Supreme Air Attack Primal - Came out as part of Robots in Disguise, see
that page.
Wave Four
Deployers: Recolors of the original three. I will not be reviewing
these. I bought Rav (which for a time was in systems as "Cro") because it
looked good in blue. The other two recolors look bad.
Rav - Maximal Raven/Crossbow: Didn't know it in time for the review, but
Rav's mouth opens. Note: in transforming Rav back to raven mode, you have to
push down on the crossbow part until it clicks, or the head won't be stable.
Skydive - Maximal Pteranodon. TIP: There's a sticker on the
instructions, replacing the first panel. Basically, they just added an inset
box telling you to make sure the head was in the right position before using
the gimmick. Also, check out this nifty pose
for Skydive.
Blastcharge - Predacon Six-wheeler tank. TIP: An airplane/bomber mode is
possible in addition to the modes listed in the review. Check out this image
of the mode.
Sonic Attack Jet - Recolored Deluxe Jetstorm, very nice colors.
In the summer of 2000, McDonalds had a Happy Meal promo with 9 Beast
Machines toys (and 9 Hello Kitty toys in order to enforce gender
stereotypes). Prices for just the toys (and not the meal) ranged anywhere
from a buck to three dollars, depending on the area and how much of a jerk
the manager was.
Wave Two
Basics - REVIEW. Geckobot and Quickstrike came
later and in smaller numbers.
Longhorn - Maximal bull.
Obsidian - Vehicon Osprey VTOL plane.
Geckobot - Maximal winged lizard thing.
Quickstrike - Maximal wolf, sort of. NOTE: there's an
obliterated feature on this toy. Moving the tail sticking out of the back of
the robot head would move the eyes, but the eyes are solid green, so you
can't see the effect. Maybe I'll put in pupils with a pen.
Snarl - Maximal lion. People tend to call him Prowl, which is
understandable, since the first BW Prowl was a lion. And since this is a
strategist like Prowl.
Blackarachnia - Maximal spider. NOTE: I missed part of her
gimmick...inside the clear yellow head are a pair of green eyes that move up
and down when the mouthparts move. This is really only visible under fairly
strong lighting, though.
Thrust - Vehicon cycle. Has lots of alternate modes.
Cheetor - The tallest Transformer since Fortress Maximus (which is taller
than Cheetor). NOTE: I missed a bit in the instructions, there's a way to
keep his lights flashing perpetually. ANOTHER NOTE: I missed this in looking
at it, but the eyes are molded with iris and pupil details, a nifty extra.
Mirage - Vehicon racecar. Tip: if you're not worried about the wheels
actually rolling, there's a couple ways to get a wheel-footed "skater" mode
out of robot mode. My favorites involve turning the shins outwards (so the
backs of the legs face each other) and then manipulating the feet so that the
wheel covers face outwards as well. This gives him somewhat more stable
"toes" to rest on. Also, if you invert his thighs so that they end up
horizontal and the shins spread apart, Mirage kinda looks like a goalie.
Scavenger - Vehicon construction vehicle. Late tip: you can get the head
to stay snapped up into position in robot mode. Open the scoop and push up
against the head from below. This will require Excessive Force, but it
brings his whole face into view. Tip: People have found nearly a dozen
unofficial modes for this toy, so fiddle with him!
Optimus Primal - Maximal gorilla. TIP: TSGSHEL@aol.com informs me that,
to his regret, he has found a weak point on the toy. Do not try to force the
throwing star into the robot's hand, the thumb is liable to snap off. And
regluing that sort of part never really works well.
Jetstorm - Vehicon jet. Very kickaft. A stand for hover mode
Jetstorm, designed by Kasady Voorhees.
