Dave's Beast Wars TF Rant: Second Wave Regular Beasts

     Insecticon
     Snapper
     Armordillo

     They've altered the packaging.  The bubble is now just round, no rock-
like molding.  The scales are defocused and blur into more of an even red
color.  They eye remains (and the bubble is shaped like it).  The picture
on the front is smaller, but you see a little more of it.  There's a
purple halo around the pictures of the Predacons and green around the
Maximals.  Finally, above the name it says "The Evil Predacon" or "The Heroic
Maximal" in purple or green ink respectively.
     On the back, the instructions are rather truncated, with transformation
described in two steps (1: push certain part 2: it's transformed!).  The
"rest of the line" pics show Wolfang (guess Tomart was right), Rhinox,
Cheetor and Tarantulas as the Deluxes.  But Rhinox has Regular joints,
regular weaponry, regular transformation...I strongly suspect he's mislabeled.
Regulars are: Rattrap, Razorbeast and Armordillo on the Maximal side, Iguanas,
Snapper, Terrorsaur and Insecticon on the Predacon.

CAPSULES

     Insecticon: Simple transform but lots of little moving part gimmicks.
Robot form hindered by insect arms.  Mildly recommended.
     Snapper: Simple transform, lots of undercarriage gunk in turtle form,
decent robot form, very cool tech specs note.  Recommended.
     Armordillo: Decent beast mode, so-so robot mode with lower poseability
than the Predacons and somewhat fragile.  Hidden weapons look dopey.
Mildly recommended.


RANTS

PREDACON: Insecticon
Function: Surveillance
Quote: None
Weapon Location: Two halves hidden under wing-covers, snap together.

Sonar-sensitive antennae locate and track enemy Maximals infiltrating
battle perimeters.  Internal radar beacon emits low-frequency signal to
alert others.  When hungry for battle himself, this insidiuos [sic]
insect uses his crossbow to cripple enemies, then drags 'em to their
doom with his monstrous mandibles!

STR 6  INT 7  SPD 5  END 5  RNK 5  COUR 4  FRP 6  SKL 5  Avg 5.375

     Insect form: Not as stable as I'd like, since there's no pegs to
stabilize the robot arms at the insect's sides.  Mandibles move in
unison, which is neat, but antennae are fixed in this mode.  Scintillating
blue exoskeleton looks nicely insectlike, even if no living beetle has
this color scheme.  Wing covers can be pulled aside to reveal "jet engines,"
but no actual wings.
     Transformation: Tap down on his head and he snaps into position.  
Like the McBeast Beetle, the head forms the robot's chest, which is neat.
Unlike the McBeetle, the mandibles remain pointing up, and must be moved to
a closed position for transformation to work.  Then it's just a matter of
bending the ankles to finish the transformation.
     Robot form: Arms are hard to pose because the insect legs are always
getting in the way.  Was originally designed for the Glowing Eyes effect,
but opaque red plastic replaces the intended translucent stuff.  Paint
on mouth is just a badly-aimed spritz of bone-white paint (looks like time
for another painting project).  Oddly, the antennae move a little in this
mode.  Pulling open the wing covers, you can take out the two halves of
his crossbow weapon which has an angled peg so that it can clear the
insect legs.  Note: this peg is the same size as ActionMaster weapons,
so you can swap around weapons.  Very poseable robot form, thanks to the
ankle joints.  However, head only turns, it cannot be elevated (just a
rotating joint, not a ball joint).
     Gerwalk form: Rather impressive "monster" form can be generated by
applying the gerwalk principle (pull out arms, rotate lower legs at knee
so it can "chicken leg" it.  Gerwalk form lets you access both the ranged
crossbow attack and the mandibles in one form, and the large platelike
feet make it VERY stable.  In this "Beetras" form, as I've started to call
it, you have all the arms and mandibles and stuff coming at you at once,
a very daunting prospect.


PREDACON: Snapper
Function: Infiltration
Quote: None
Weapon Location: Section of shell detaches and barrels flip out (shieldgun)

A terrorizing turtle with secret speed!  Turbo-driven quad thrusters
ignite from below his armor-plated shell to send him screaming through
murky earth [sic] swamps like a heat-seeking missile!  When hydraulically
hinged jaws snap down on their victims, the terrifying sight reminds
one of a trash compactor crushing a soda can -- except soda cans don't
scream for mercy!

STR 6  INT 8  SPD 9  END 8  RNK 6  COUR 7  FRP 4  SKL 5  Avg 6.625

     The [sic] is because if you mean Earth the planet, it should be
capitalized.  Anyway, this tech spec made my opinion go from "okay toy" to
"WOW!  KEEN!"  Why?  Because, my friends, this is no *ordinary* Predacon...
it's...
                         G A M E R A ! ! !
     Yes, Gamera, one of the more successful Godzilla knock-offs, his
filmography can be seen almost entirely in the Mystery Science Theater 3000
series.  A flying, jet-powered turtle...all I gotta do is build him some
tusks and a tiny little Kenny!

     Turtle form: Lots of undercarriage junk.  Enough, in fact, that if you
bring his legs down to all touch the ground at once, he looks like a jacked-
up muscle turtle.  Head moves up and down, mouth opens *and shuts* (some
beast forms can't keep their mouths shut).  From above looks very good,
almost realistic.  Good snapper turtle design from above.
     Transformation: Push down his tail and he snaps into position.  He's
a "butt head" like Terrorsaur.  One interesting little feature, though,
is that as he transforms, his turtle head pulls into the shell!  Neat.
His spring's a little weaker, so you may have to finish the transform by
hand.  Then fold down his feet and he's ready to go.
     Robot form: Well, he ain't got no hands, just big honkin' claws with
holes to hold weapons (including Action Master weapons!).  His feet are
upside down claws, so it's like he has pointy jester shoes.  His head was
patched with the same color in back, so it's not as obvious he was to have
the glowing eyes trick.  His head only turns, and only turns a little to
each side.  He's got a permanent grin.  His weapon is a slab of shell from
behind his head from which barrels fold out.  However, it's nowhere near as
lame as Razorbeast's Killer Wig, since it looks more like a shieldgun and
fits nicely over the claws.  Unfortunately, you can't actually position
his arms so that he uses it as a shield.  Once barrels have been folded
out, you can put the gun back and it acts as a sort of anti-aircraft
defense, or a stinger-gun if you don't slide the shell piece all the way
down.
     Gerwalk form: So-so.  The fact that his shoulders are at his rear
doesn't help.  Kinda like the Terrorsaur gerwalk.  However, he has a
unique alternate mode, that of the Flying Guillotine Gamera.  Move his
rear legs (robot arms) forward and rotate the claws to face the same
way as the others, and you get a row of claws in front and no legs in back,
perfect for those Jet Gamera scenes.
     The turtle mode can also kowtow.  }->


MAXIMAL: Armordillo
Function: Desert Combat
Quote: None
Secret Weapon Location: Mace and rifle as hind legs of beast form

To reduce thermal energy intake, infrared vision allows Armordillo to
battle at night, when the desert battlefield has cooled.  His back bears
the burden of a built-in suit of armor that is virtually impenetrable.
Enemy artillery bounces off like pebbles, while his own hidden laser
weapon causes devastating damage to Predacon attackers.

STR 5  INT 5  SPD 4  END 7  RNK 6  COUR 8  FRP 4  SKL 7  Avg 5.75

     Y'know, the tech specs lately have a tendency to talk about a
character's really powerful weapons, then they give a wimpy Firepower
score like 4 or 5.

     Beast form: Aside from the overly long forelegs, this looks pretty
much like an armadillo.  It shares the problem of the other Regular Beast
Maximals that the beast head is hollow from underneath...Predacons all get
working jaws, but not the Maximals.  Gotta wonder if the design team is
composed of displaced Decepticon minds a la "Human Urges".  Hind feet are
slightly poseable and the tail wags.  Not too much undercarriage garbage,
mainly because the back armor allows most of the junk to be sucked up
under it.
     Transformation: Really simple, and doesn't even have the nifty gears
that the other Maximal Regulars have.  Almost identical to Snappers, except
you have to remove the weapons to give him poseability...and he has no
ankle joints.
     Robot form: Disappointing.  Claws instead of hands, his weapons tend
to snap apart while you try to fit them into the holes on the backs of the
claws, joints pop apart REALLY easily.  The thighs seem to be designed to
maximize the chances of the legs coming off while trying to pose the toy.
And, of course, he ain't got no ankles.  Just tiny little fixed feet that
make it really hard to give him any pose other than lock-kneed and get him
to stand.  You can't even put him in a half-kneel like the other two
Regular Maximals, his shell is too long.  The only advantages of his robot
form over the other new Regulars are A) his head is on a ball joint, so it's
more poseable and B) his tail can be swung up as a hook to hang him from
something (like a zipline).
     Gerwalk form: Forget it.

     Dave Van Domelen, decided to rename "Insecticon" as "Beetras" because
he likes the sound of it even if it is incorrect Japanese from the BotCon
book....