Dave's Japanese BW Rant:

     Eggbeasts

     This review is more of an afterthought, sort of a "well, I might as well
get around to it" thing.  The Eggbeasts came out in Japan several months ago,
but according to reports from Transcon seem to be hitting the US collector
market now, so a review is probably in order.
     Some history first.  Like almost all of the Japanese BW line, these are
recycled molds, taken from a series called Meteor Robo.  It's old enough that
there's knockoffs of the original toys floating around, and I managed to get
a set.  Thus, while I only have one actual Eggbeast (Dark Eggbird, ED-2), I
have all three molds to look at.
     Eggbeasts come bubble-carded, one of the few Japanese BW releases to be
packaged that way.  The card is pretty small, about 11cm by 15cm, and while
it has instructions it doesn't have techspecs.  In fact, there doesn't seem
to be any name/personality/weaponry description for the toy at all.
     There's three molds: a robot, a bird and a lion.  All three transform
into spheres 1.5" (4cm) in diamter.  They're mostly plastic, but with a bit
of die cast metal in each.  Takara added a keychain to the Eggbeast molds,
and produced them in two sets, one Cybertron and one Destron, differentiated
by colors.  So there's Eggbot, Dark Eggbot, Eggbird, Dark Eggbird, Eggleo and
Dark Eggleo.  While the original Meteor Robos came with weapons, the
Eggbeasts do not have any accessories (although the peg holes for the guns
remain).  

     Eggbot: Unfolds pretty simply into a 3" (7.5cm) tall robot, the only
complicated part is folding about half of his rounded surface into a backpack
unit.  His two guns can either fit in his fists or on his shoulders, and the
shoulder pegs are on the surface of the ball, so he can be armed in that mode
as well.  Kinda like a precursor to the War Planets Shadowraiders.  He's
jointed at the shoulders, elbows and hips.  His knees bend, but only the
wrong way.  The general design philsophy and size make him fit in pretty well
with the smaller G1 figures, like the Monstructor components.  Takara stuck
this one's keychain on the back of the robot, where it doesn't really get in
the way.  
     Colors: Eggbot - blue with silver metal feet, Dark Eggbot - black with
silver metal feet.

     Eggbird: A fairly elegant transformation in which the instructions
actually help (there's extra wing extentions which blend in pretty well and
you have to know to look for them).  The resulting bird is four inches (10cm)
long with a six inch (15cm) wingspan and a really nifty Laserbeak-like head.
The weapons would go on the wings.  The feet are die-cast, which helps with
balance, especially since the keychain Takara addded tends to pull it
forwards onto its beak.  Dark Eggbird (which I got from Raksha) is a very
nice transparent purple with some black links and silver feet, but no paint.
While this look mostly works, painted eyes would have been nice.  The wings
can flap, the head moves at two hinge joints, and the tail also has a couple
joints due to the transformation scheme.
     Colors: Eggbird - red with silver feet, Dark Eggbird - purple with
silver feet.

     Eggleo: This one has a pretty complicated transformation for such a
small toy, and it took me a while to master it (there's a few places where
certain things have to be done in a specific order or you lock yourself out
of the next step).  Fully half of the ball is just the lion's head and mane,
leaving the other half to unfold into the body and legs of this 3.5" (9cm)
long lion.  A panel flips down to let the face spring out, and then forms the
oversized lower jaw.  The feet of my knockoff are just paw patterns, but on
the real deal they're metal bits that fold out.  The tail does flip out
separately, and the lion mode has some poseability, but not a lot.  The guns
fit into holes in the back of the mane, and this is the only one of the three
eggs that can't store its weapons on the surface of the sphere mode.  Not
that it matters with the Eggleo version, since there's no weapon.  Takara
stuck this one's keychain in the middle of the lion's back, so it doesn't
hurt balance but does look dippy.
     Colors: Eggleo - yellow with silver feet, Dark Eggleo - green with
silver feet.

     Of the three molds, I'd say Eggbird is probably most worth the money.
But if you liked the old cassettes, you'll probably like all three of these
toys.  

     Dave Van Domelen, owns no pants with pockets so large he'd want to use a
spherical keychain 1.5" in diameter....