Dave's Beast Wars Rant: 3rd Wave Deluxes Jetstorm Cybershark Manterror Bonecrusher Thanks to Raksha for picking up the entire advance shipment this time (all two of each toy) and selling me the doubles. For those who haven't heard me complain enough about this, Hasbro seems to love sending a REALLY tiny initial shipment into our market two or three weeks before sending a real shipment of a new batch of toys. And, since she lives off campus and can shop on weekdays, Raksha usually finds these microshipments before I do. }-> CAPSULES NOTE: I've merged three reviews into one file, the capsules for Manterror and Bonecrusher are later on. Jetstorm: Good beast form, complex transformation, okay robot form, pretty good gimmicks. Recommended. $9.99 Cybershark: Very good, if anatomically mishmashed beast form. Okay transformation, very nice robot form, fun gimmicks. Strongly recommended. $9.99 RANTS PREDACON: Jetstorm Function: Sky Patrol Secret Weapon Locations: Missiles in tail, squirtgun along spine and mouth Quote: None Mesmerized by his awesome appearance, enemies seldom realize the power of this Predacon...until it's too late! Striking silently from the sky, Jetstorm's internal coolant capacitors produce a toxic venom that, when regurgitated from his mouth, can destroy an enemy at a range of 500 feet. To keep his aerial competition in check, Jetstorm can launch twin air-to-air missiles that explode on impact in a blaze of destruction! STR 3 INT 4 SPD 7 END 5 RNK 3 COUR 5 FRP 7 SKL 6 Avg 5 This is the lowest techspec average I've seen in some time. Even Drill Bit can beat this guy up. }-> Also, did the techspec writer think maybe kids would wonder where the venom would be regurgitated from and felt the need to specify? It's insect barf, where else will it come out? Note utter lack of personality. Again. Beast Form: A somewhat squat and shortened version of the dragonfly form, with a slight undercarriage junk problem. However, other than that, it's a very nice mode, with a good black/orange/translucent green color scheme. If I were to change the colors at all, it would be to make the mouthparts black or green instead of safety orange. Although, it's worth noting that his orange is a bit muted in comparison to Razorclaw's. All four wings are positionable and can flap (not automatically, they just have that range of motion), and the insect legs are marginally poseable. More poseable than a real dragonfly's, I'd bet. As seems to characterize the Third Wave beasts, the weapon gimmicks can be used in beast mode. Transformation: Primus at the core, this one took work. I actually had to refer to the directions! And those weren't all that helpful. Once you figure it out the first time it's pretty easy, but it's that first time that takes work. In a manner similar to the heads of G1 Inferno and Grapple, body sections swing out and clip together. The tail of the insect ends up at about a thirty degree angle to the body of the robot, rather than flat against it as one might normally expect. (Dave pauses to actually transform the thing.) Okay, strike previous statement...it's still hard to transform once you know how. And for all that, it's surprisingly stable in both modes. Robot Mode: Okay, time for a "meaningful points of articulation" count. Shoulders (2 ball), elbows (2 hinge, 2 swivel), wrists (2 ball), head (1 severely limited ball, the squirtgun tube restricts it), hips (2 ball, 2 swivel), knees (2 hinge), toes (2 hinge), insect forelegs (2 hinge, act as support for feet). 19 meaningful points of articulation, and a dozen more "meaningless" ones (for insect-only parts). Very impressive. In addition, the tail forms a tripod for those action poses. It stands about five inches tall at the head, add an extra inch for the wings. However, not all is smiles and rainbows here. The limitations on the head mean it can't turn more than a few degrees, which can spoil the effect of some poses. And the toy has no hand-held weapon, nor can the missiles be very effectively positioned in the robot mode for attack. Also, the wings can get in the way of full range of motion. Finally, the orange color is more dominant in robot mode, and the black very much reduced, leading to a less pleasant overall scheme. Looks like a Dolphins fan or something. }-> Gimmicks: First off, they actually left in the glowing eyes trick this time, and it works quite well. The energon chip is located under the base of the tail, invisible in beast mode. Jetstorm has two weapons systems, the first of which is a pair of missile launchers which flip out from his tail at the press of a button. The missiles fire about 5-6 feet (2m) and are patterned to look like part of his tail. The other weapon, as suits his name, is a squirt gun through his mouth. The trigger is housed in the tail, and is pretty easy to fire (unlike Megatron's), but you have to practically dunk half the toy in water to load it. It does give a satisfying stream of water, though, unlike Megatron's atomizer. Overall: While not without some flaws, it's a good toy. MAXIMAL: Cybershark Function: Ocean Attack Secret Weapon Locations: Hammerhead fires, tail becomes slicing weapon, launcher in shark head/robot chest fires missiles hidden along spine Quote: None Just when the Predacons thought it was safe to go back in the water... Cybershark rises to the surface for a fearsome feeding frenzy! Like a turbocharged torpedo speeding through the sea, Cybershark searches the ocean depths for Predacon enemies. Upon finding the enemy he launches his robotic hammerhead to knock 'em out cold, then finishes the job in robot mode by filleting his prey with his switchblade tail! STR 7 INT 5 SPD 8 END 5 RNK 6 COUR 9 FRP 5 SKL 4 Avg 6.375 Starting to look like, while the Preds rule the air, the Maximals rule the water. Between Cybershark, Orcanoch and Claw Jaw, Razorclaw's got to be getting MIGHTY nervous. Still not much personality in this one, but what there is suggests Cybershark really should be a Predacon. I can just see him waving that switchblade around and saying, "I'm gonna cut you, man!" Beast form: As near as I can tell, this is a Tiger Shark with a Hammerhead's head and incorrect coloration. And yes, I found some pictures of Tiger Sharks to compare with. Anyway, the colors on this one are purplish grey above, bone/cream white below and metallic dark blue-green spotting along the top and fintips. Ventral fins near the back are swept forwards instead of back, but this is a minor thing. Tail isn't poseable, but the side fins are, on ball joints. Head can be launched or lifted, although the teeth don't come along. Note that they could easily recolor this and add a new "projectile" head to sell this as a true Tiger Shark later on. In size, the beast mode is about as large as Orcanoch, and looks very good from all angles except for directly from below, since there needs to be a hole to get parts through. Poseable fins let you stand it in a reasonable range of angles, from nose up 20 degrees to nose down 5 to 10 degrees. A little unstable in level position, though. Transformation: Pull off the tail, launch the head, and from there it's basically Razorbeast without the autotransforming. You need to be a little careful in transforming back to beast mode, since the arms won't automatically fold in under the legs, but overall it's a pretty simple transformation. Robot form: Roughly the same poseability as Rhinox, but with slightly better feet. Simplicity of transform makes for a very robust robot form, and spurs on the feet help balance the robot form against the sharkskin on its back. Fans of DC comics will recognize the head as being very close to one version of Ocean Master's helmet, and despite the permagrin effect of the teeth I rather like it. The robot form looks robotic, and stands 5.5 inches tall at the head (add another half inch or so for the "wings"). The color scheme works quite well on the robot form, with the addition of copper color on the inside of the sharkskin. Gimmicks: The rubsign is on the inside of the left half of the sharkskin "wings," near the bottom. The shark's tail forms a somewhat awkward "switchblade" weapon, and the hammerhead can be used as a hammer. In addition, the launcher mechanism flips up to form a chest cannon for either the hammerhead, or for one of the two missiles stored in his back (in the same manner as Optimus Primate can store missiles). These missiles are, bar none, the best Beast Wars missiles I've seen. First off, they're made of rigid plastic, so have more of a feel of potency to them than the floppier missiles of other BW toys. Additionally, each has a small shark face etched into the warhead, which I found to be VERY cool. Kinda like how Scorponok put Maximal insignia on his missiles in the cartoon. The missiles can also be held in the hand as clubs, or both in one hand as a battlestaff. The only problem is that the do look kinda dippy sticking out of his chest, and if the launcher is stowed in down position with a missile still in it, well...let's just say the original Megatron has nothing on Cybershark in certain departments. "So, Cybershark, that a proton missile in your launcher or are you just happy to see me?" The missiles launch about 5-6 feet (2m) and the head launches about a foot (.3m). I kinda wish the head had an extra peg in it so it could be held as a shield, since it makes a really awkward axe/hammer. Overall: A great toy. Not perfect, but very good. Buy it. Dave Van Domelen, wants to see Cybershark versus PimpBot5000 in a switchblade fight.... Dave's Beast Wars Rant: Manterror (Deluxe Beast) Finally found this today at a store I've been checking for weeks...turns out they put half the action figure section in the fishing and hunting equipment aisle for some bizarre reason, so this had probably been sitting there since I first started looking. Grrr. No Bonecrusher, though. CAPSULE Pretty good insect mode, quite good robot mode, only serious flaw being overly long arms (although some of the joints are a bit floppy). Mostly good color scheme, okay gimmick. Recommended if you can find it. $9.99 RANT PREDACON: Manterror Function: Quick-Attack Specialist Secret Weapon Location: Discs fired from claws Quote: "To face the Manterror, is to face defeat!" (taken from the Note section, comma is theirs) The maniacal Manterror may seem awkward in appearance, but he's a skilled fighter with devastating quickness in both robot and insect battle modes. Having the power of flight and equipped with razor-sharp raptor claws, he activates internal stealth silencers to strike from the sky like a sizzling bolt of proton lightning. In robot mode, he prefers to launch his devastating ion discs, which don't stop spinning until they've sliced through a targeted enemy's external armor. As he always says, "To face the Manterror, is to face defeat!" STR 5 INT 9 SPD 6 END 3 RNK 6 COUR 5 FRP 8 SKL 10 Avg 6.5 "Proton lightning?" Strictly speaking, lightning is a plasma, with electrons doing most of the flowing...if the protons flowed instead it wouldn't be very stealthy (yeah, like lightning is ever stealthy). Given his smarts and skill, sounds like another Tarantulas rival here. Beast Mode: Looks pretty good, mostly green with translucent purple and green parts and orange striping (which I'd lose if I could). Insect body is 6 inches (15cm) long, forelegs can extend to 6 inches on their own, for a "wingspan" of over 13 inches (33cm). Lots and lots of joints, but not as much poseability as you might think. Head is movable on a hinge, wings have Waspinator-level freedom of movement if not more, and other four insect legs move a little. Like many of the insects, the legs don't actually support the bulk of the toy, it rests on its abdomen. The robot legs are tucked VERY nicely into the insect abdomen, and there's almost no undercarriage junk at all. My one big complaint about this mode is that it can't rear back at all to make better use of the claws like the real Preying Mantis does...the puny purple underside legs aren't up to the task, and the thorax only bends back about 30 degrees from horizontal. Transformation: Fiendishly clever at times. I actually had to puzzle over the instructions for parts of it, especially in figuring out how to get the legs back under the abdomen when transforming back to insect mode (yeah, yeah, I should have paid better attention to where they were before I started). You'll probably end up popping off several of the small insect legs during the transformation, they're a royal pain to move properly. Also, speaking of them, the instructions recommend putting them down along the robot's sides, but I find they look a LOT better going over the robot's shoulders as a sort of v-neck or shoulder pads. Especially since that way they lie parallel to the antennae. Robot Mode: A little over 5 inches (13cm) tall, this is one good looking robot mode, especially if you follow my advice with the purple insect legs and raise the wings up into a V. The only real problems are the disproportionately long arms and the slightly floppy legs and ankles. Nasty little grin on this guy, too. The way the shoulder joints are set up with cuffs, and the remainder of the insect abdomen hangs behind the legs of the robot evokes certain oriental robe patterns, I think. Gimmicks: Rubsign on top of the robot head. The eyes are painted over, so don't glow, but three spots on the robot's forehead do glow, which is kidna weird. And the toy's claws shoot 1.5 inch (4cm) diameter discs, with a range of a few feet (about a meter). They fire on a similar principle to that of the Cyberjet missiles, you push on a lever until you overcome the force holding the disc in, and it pops out. Package Art: Particularly unrepresentative of this toy, it shows Manterror hunched over and bulked up, when he's really more of a spindly scarecrow figure. Overall: A few joint problems and proportion oddities, but they are more than made up for by the basic look of the toy and the transformation. Buy it if you can find it. Dave's Beast Wars Rant: Deluxe Beast Bonecrusher Finally scored this baby at the same Meijer store which puts the Transformers in the fishing & hunting aisle today (Cleveland and 161, for anyone fast enough to snag the one I left behind). CAPSULE Pretty good beast mode with minimal robot bits showing through (not very poseable, but it's a bison, they don't have much poseability in RL). Nice complicated transformation, decent if somewhat unstable robot mode. Good gimmick, if a bit hair-trigger. Recommended. $9.99 RANT MAXIMAL: Bonecrusher Function: First-Strike Infantry Secret Weapon Location: Back rises to launch missile Quote: None As stubborn as he is strong, nothing can stop the brawny Bonecrusher when he charges into battle to crack some skulls! Like a living locomotive with a one-track mind, all he wants to do is fight, fight, fight! Optimus Primal tries to get him to lighten up, if only to prevent him from overheating an internal coolant co-processor, but Bonecrusher would rather be out pounding his enemies into cyber scrap. His favorite attack strategy is to stun opponents with a dizzying head-butt, and then finish them off with a fast-firing missile shot straight from his mouth! STR 9 INT 5 SPD 7 END 4 RNK 7 COUR 9 FRP 7 SKL 6 Avg 6.75 The Maximals seem to be rather full of "can't stop them from fighting" types, eh? And if Bonecrusher's so unstoppable, why's his END only 4? Beast Mode: It's a bison. It moves a little. Bisons aren't reknowned for their grace and flexibility. Most of the robot parts are adequately covered up in beast form, and there's no undercarriage junk, but the views from below or behind do reveal robot stuff. Incorporates design elements reminiscent of both Rhinox and Wolfang, but without all the pegs which make those toys stable in beast mode...Bonecrusher's kinda floppy. Secret weapon can be fired from this mode, although the effect is rather odd. Bison is about 5 inches (12cm) long and around 3.5 inches (9cm) tall. Color is primarily black with silver highlights on the back, some grey bits on the face and legs, and gold horns and nose. Transformation: Nice and complicated, although it does have a few bits that insist on getting in the way. Again, elements similar to Rhinox and Wolfang, but done better. I especially liked how the forelegs folded up and back to become the robot's sides. One thing to be careful of is that the missile will fire with very little encouragement while you're transforming Bonecrusher (who I keep wanting to call Killbison), so you're better off removing the missile first, lest you shoot it in a random direction while in a restaurant. Interestingly, one part of Bonecrusher's transformation is purely decorative. The panels on the sides of his shins pull out, to provide visual balance to the flank pieces hanging off his shoulders. Nice touch. Robot Mode: Like Rhinox, Bonecrusher's poseability is somewhat hampered by the big horkin' panels hanging off the shoulders of this 6 inch (15cm) tall robot. In addition, the head/shoulders don't lock well, and will fall back if handled wrong. Finally, the weapon portion that sticks way back behind the toy's head (over three inches behind the center of gravity of the rest of the figure) makes it insanely back-heavy and harder to stand up without crouching him into a sumo pose. However, that aside, there's a lot of joints on this toy. The elbows have TWO joints each to facilitate transformation, one hinge and one ball. The waist turns, knees and ankles have hinge joints, shoulders are ball joints. And, notably, the hands are open, in the pose human hands tend to relax into. Bonecrusher can pimp-slap his opponents, whee! Also, his mouth-missile looks like a microphone, and can be held like one, making Bonecrusher a karaoke Maximal. Color scheme adds more grey to the beast colors, plus a lot of milky white. The milky white is a bit more creamy than that used in MW Prowl, and I suppose is intended to look bone-colored. Gimmicks: Rubsign is not visible in either mode, you can only see it during transformation. Heh. Bonecrusher's main weapon is a missile that fires when you pull his tail. His head lances forwards in a very Giger-ish manner (think Alien) and spits out a missile a meter or so. Excuse me while I pause to go hunting for the missile, which just fired accidentally again. It of course sought out the mose junk-filled corner of the room. While a neat idea, if forces several design compromises on the toy, accounting for most of the problems Bonecrusher has. Also, like Scorponok, there's no place to store the missile except in the launcher, so you either have to store it seperately and risk losing it, or keep it in the launcher and always have to worry about a misfire sending the missile down a heating vent or something. Overall: A neat toy centered on a single new gimmick, but problems with that gimmick hurt the toy. Still, it's worth getting.