Saturday 30 June 2012

BEAST WARS TRANSMETAL TARANTULAS






This figure is from 1998. He is a Predicon. He appeared in the Cartoon Beast Wars series 2 Episode 2 Coming of the Fuzors part 1. Tarantulas always had something going on behind the scences. He has to be one of the most trecherous Predicons ever. He seems to have his own base as a science lab. It was only in seires 2 when he became a Transmetal that he becamee a rougue. He is a litenant in the Predicon secret police. In the Agenda he disabled the Predicon base "The Dark Side" defences so Ravage could capture Megatron. Tarantulas was responsible for creating a couple of other Predicons. Black Arachnia and Inferno. He also created a load of other gadgets to use against the Maximals. One being a Tranformation freezing lense which he used aginst the Maximals in the series 1 episode "The Probe" Tarantulas eventually met his end at the end of series 3 when he captured Tiger Hawk who had been possessed by the Vok.. The Vok left Tiger Hawks body and attacked Tarantulas. He tried to shoot the Vok but it went right through them and he hit the lazer turret and it spun round and blasted him to bits.


FUNCTION; Ninja Warrior

BIO;
There are few Predacons spinning webs of violence and deceit as skillfully as the eight legged ninja warrior Tarantulas. After the quantum surge, Tarantulas was delighted to discover himself as a meched out arachnid with motorcross vehicle like capabilities. Instead of constantly relying on stealth and surprise, Tarantulas now races into battle on his wicked new wheels, converting into a new animalized robot mode that makes him virtually unstoppable in battle!

MOTTO; Unknown

STATS; Unknown

Robot mode


Spider mode front


Spider mode side


Motor bike mode





His spider mode looks great. He has some nice details on the top of his abdoman that look like pipes. The Neon green really works well on this figure especially on the eyes.
His legs are posable.
Likes all Transmetal he has a bonus vehicle mode. His is a motor bike. It is basically a spider with motor bike wheels but it got him around quicker in the cartoon. The wheel actually turns.
The moulding on the side of his abdomen looks like pipes.
The dark blue, maroon and chrome work really nicely along with the green. He is very attractive.
It says Tarantulas written on his abdomen as with all the Transmetal figures.
His spider mode is great and realistic. If there was a cyber spider then I think it would look something like this.
His robot mode is pretty impressive looking. He is certainly going to stand out on the shelf. I wish he had a visor though instead of just two eyes.
The shoulder pads are rotated further up than the cartoon. Each circle on the shoulder are rocket launchers. You can rotate them but they will flop around as there is no where to plug them in.
You can do what you want with the spider legs. You can make him look pretty evil.
The front wheel of the motorbike forms a saw blade weapon which can also be his gun.
He does not really have hands but three claws. I would have liked them to look more hand like as they look a little strange to me.
On his abdomen you have the maroon fading to black. There is a techno organic look to him with hairs on his legs etc.
He good for posability.
He is really nice and should definatly be in your Beast Wars collection. He was repainted twice. There was a white and black repaint that fox kids did later on in the Beast Wars line as an exclusive. There might have been a pure red repaint as well but not sure when it was released. I think this is the best though.
Make sure the chrome is in tact though. Mine is pretty much Ok. Go for it.

Monday 18 June 2012

BEAST WARS TRANSMETAL MEGATRON

This figure is from 1998. He appeared in the Beast Wars cartoon. he is the leader of the Predacons. At the beginning of series two a transwarp explosion from the alien machine hit prehistoric earth and turned Cheetor, Rattrap Tarantulas and Megatron into transmetals. Megatron became a Cyber T Rex which was able to fly and even roller skate! Megatron remained in this form until the end of series three when he merged his spark with the original Megatron spark and turned him into a dragon. He became a fire and ice breathing dragon.



BIO;A quantum surge rips across the Beast Wars world altering Megatron, evil genius and leader of the Predacons, into a metal armoured T-Rex. New turbine powered V.O.T.L. (vertical take off and landing) engines extend from his body, providing blasting atmospheric flight and the ability to "drop-in" on unsuspecting Maximals with his whiplash cutlass! Fused reptilian musculature enhances his power in an organic robot mode. The result: creation of a supreme tyrant!

SATS; Unknown


Robot Mode


T Rex Mode side


T Rex Mode front


Flight Mode side


Flight Mode Front


Box

His T Rex mode is very attractive and the purple chrome has a very nice effect. There is also some silver chrome circles on his side which adds to the detailing.
He has megatron written along his back like all the Transmetals.
His tail is articulated and is a kind of rubber so it is very posable.
The only down side to this T Rex mode is that you can see his robot hands as there is no place for them to go. Apart from this he is a really nice mode.

His flying vertical take off mode is OK and it does give Megatron have another mode. The turbines spin.
He also has roller skates. You can replace his feet with them.
He has nice mechanical detailing moulded some in bronze.
His mouth opens.
When you transform him it is difficult to unclip his tail from the rest of the figure. I am always frightened that I will break it. The pegs can get worn down by doing this so be careful.
His robot mode defiantly looks evil especially with the face on his chest. It looks like a dinosaur skull with glowing eyes. All the eyes have great detail.
His head is accurate to the cartoon but I would like a Predicon insigna on his head
His T Rex arms cannot swivel to make them into guns. They have to kept at his sides. In the cartoon you could.
His tail can be held as a weapon. It is held by a handle which flips back and forward. The cannon does however flop about . It would be better to be stationary. When you try to pose him the tail moves round. The end of his tail becomes pincers/cannon
His cannon is held side ways compared to the cartoon. The spins should be down but with the toy they are at the side.
Unfortunately where the turbines are it is difficult to rotate them. They can flip out and in there is no articulation. In the cartoon they could. He could even fly in robot mode but not with this figure.
The piece where the cannon attaches for T Rex mode flops around and does not peg in anywhere.
He is cartoon pretty accurate.You can only do so much.
You can also have him roller skating in the robot mode.
The shoulder pads stick out in a forward position rather than back but he cannot possibly be totally accurate to the cartoon.
He is a good figure. There was a repaint of him in Armada. He was metallic green and all the purple was a tan plastic. He came with two minicons.
This figure can be hard to find so snap him up at the right price especially complete












Wednesday 13 June 2012

BEAST WARS SCAVENGER

This figure is from 1998. He is a Predicon. he is also a transmetal figure. He was only ever made as such. he appeared in the IDW Beast wars comic. he did not have a big part in it but was in the general crowd. There are some similarities between this figure and Inferno who is another fire ant that came out in 1997. Inferno did appear in the cartoon. They brought out a Japanese version of this figure in the same colour scheme but they called him Inferno.


FUNCTION; Infantry Commander

MOTTO; Unknown

TECHSPEC; Unknown


BIO; A quantum surge has rocked the world of the Transformers and now the evil infantry commander, Scavenger, has become a meched out fire ant with awesome drilling power. Two spinning augers drill into the earth while bladed wheels thrust him forward, providing a perfect method of ambush attack and reconnaissance. One of the Maximals most dangerous enemies, Scavenger's goal is to make every Maximal unable to set foot outside without thinking twice about what might suddenly burst from underground.


Ant Mode front


Ant mode side


Drill Tank Mode side


Drill tank mode front


Unofficial drill jet mode


Robot mode

This figure has a much better ant mode than Inferno. His abdomen is actually part of the ant mode rather than a piece that flaps around like Inferno's ant mode.
He has any legs instead of having robot legs and arms with ant legs attached like with Inferno. They are also ball jointed in two places and have a hinge for added articulation. Unfortunately his legs cannot lift him the whole way off the ground so he has to be balanced on his wheels.
The chrome on mine is near perfect. He has translucent plastic on parts like Inferno.
He has "Scavenger" written on his abdomen. Most of this series have their names on them.
Scavengers mandibles are posable so are his antennae.
The only down thing is that you can see the back of his head in ant mode on his abdomen. The horns stick up from his head.
his ant head does have some articulation to it which is a nice feature.
In his drill tank mode, unlike most Transmetal vehicle modes This tank mode is quite nice although his legs are a mess unless they are arranged neatly.
When you roll him along his red drills spin round.
His antennae can be swivelled forward into machine guns or other weapons.
The "Unofficial" jet mode is not arial dynamic but a "fan "mode.
Most of the Cybertronian jets would not make it off the ground if they were life sized.
His transformation is fairly easy but complex
The entire front of the ant forms his arms in robot mode.
His has nice detailing on his arms and abdomen. On the underside it looks like veins.
In robot mode he has drills for hands which I like but he cannot hold anything. It would be nice if there were optional hands.
His face is not like Inferno's so this gives me doubts about him being Transmetal Inferno as some sites suggest. Most have heads like there original forms. he has a nice face with horns but he is grimacing.
He is a great figure. Good playability. between this figure and Inferno I would go with Scavenger.