This is the tank drone but it is also the most cartoon accurate Tankor that came out. So he can also double as Tankor. This is why this toy is sought after as he is so accurate as Tankor unlike the official Tankor toy.
In the Beast Machines cartoon the tank drones did not do that much but go around and blow things up so this back story is mostly about Tankor because he had a mind of his own so will be a more interesting read.
Back Story
Megatron conquers Cybertron with a transformation freezing virus and he also captured other transformers removing thier sparks and converts their bodies into Vehicon drones. Rather like in Dr who with the Cybermen
They were designed to hunt down and destroy the survivors of the virus. There were three main classes of drone. The tank drones which were ground assault. The Ariel drones were air assault, The Cycle drones were motorbikes and were high speed assault. There were also the Mole drones which were underground assault. They were were like big tubes with blades attached and a big gun.
When the Maximals landed on Cybertron they were effected by the virus and that took away their Transmetal forms returning them to their series 1 Beast Wars forms but unable to transform out of their beast modes. On top of that they also had a form of amnesea so they could remember nothing and the virus would also be fatal in time.
While they were running around confused the Tank drones were after them. Optimus Primal was called by the Oracle of Cybertron which is part of Vecta Sigma and the Matrix. The Oracle lead them to the rest of the Maximals and down deep into the depth of Cybertron to the Oracle itself. The Oracle reformatted them into Techno Organics to save them from the virus.
Once they had mastered their techno Organic forms they absolutely annihilated the Vehicon Drones as they are telepathically controlled by Megatron and are therefore all mindless. Megatron came up with the idea that if he created a Vihicon with individual minds they would be able to outsmart the Maximals. He built the Vehicon generals. Jetstorm was the general of the Ariel drones. , Thrust was the general of the cycle drones and Tankor general of the tank drones. For a while they were a lot more formidable with a tank general to command them in the field.
Tankor is basically a dimwit and it not bright. He runs around shouting "Tankor smash"! He is slow in more ways than one but is powerful in strength and firepower.
When the Maximals realised that two members of their team were missing being Silverbolt and Rhinox they set out to find them . At the same time Megatron sent out the generals to hunt down the Mamimals. It was Tankor who found them. He managed to capture the Maximals and brought them to Megatron in the Citadel.
Optimus Primal convinced Tankor to let them go as he entered Tankors mind using the oracle to make hhim change his mind. Tankor helped them escape the Ciidel. He did but Megatron thought he had a good idea by targeting the mind so he erased Tankors memory from the last twenty minutes so he went back to trying to capture the maximals . Optimus tried to reconnect to Tankors mind but Megatron would not let him. Optimus said he sensed a familiar spark in Tankor. It continues on like this until the episode "Revolution".
The Maximals discovered that Megatron had used the sparks that he had captured to make the Vihicon generals including Silverbolt and Rhinox. Megatron had used Rhinox's spark to create Tankor. They managed to bring Rhinox's spark to the service and he took over Tankor. Rhinox , when in limbo had become evil so he thought that all organics should be destroyed and Cybertron would remain totally technological. Cybertron was once an organic planet and still had the organic core. Rhinox was a genius and wanted to make a plan so Optimus Primal and Megatron to destroy each other so he could rule Cybertron. Megatron still had his dragon mode from Beast Wars. Rhinox had Tankors tank mode and was uncorrupted by organic material. So therefore he thought he was a more suitable replacement for Megatron with his dragon mode.
Rhinox made a plan and got the key to Vecta Sigma from the Oracle which has the power to turn organic matter into techno matter ( Metal). He tested it on the Maximal Nightscream turning to metal and turning him insane but he was cured by Cybertrons Organic core.
Rhinox wanted to carry out his plans so he faked his own death. Before this he reprogrammed Mainframe who was the drone adviser of Megatron to help him in this
Because he had tampered with he Oracle he got it to send a fake vision to Optimus Primal showing him the location of the Plasma energy chamber.
The plasma energy does the opposite of the Key to Vecta sigma in that it destroys Techno matter. In the mean time Mainframe was ordered to tell Megatron about the key to Vecta Sigma. There was a mutual assured destruction going on between the Maximals with the Plasma Energy chamber and the Vehicons having the key to Vecta Sigma.
Rhinox did not think that Optimus would use the Plasma energy chamber. He just wanted Megatron to use the key to destroy both the Maximals, The organic core and himself. All the Maximals including Optimus were going insane and turning to metal but when this was happening Optimus opened the Plasma energy chamber which basically destroyed everything on Cybertron. Optimus Primal realised what he had done and went back and closed it dying in the process along with Rhinox and Megaron to save Cybertron.
Optimus and Megatron come back in series two while Tankor/Rhinox does not.
In the Beast Machines cartoon the tank drones did not do that much but go around and blow things up so this back story is mostly about Tankor because he had a mind of his own so will be a more interesting read.
Back Story
Megatron conquers Cybertron with a transformation freezing virus and he also captured other transformers removing thier sparks and converts their bodies into Vehicon drones. Rather like in Dr who with the Cybermen
They were designed to hunt down and destroy the survivors of the virus. There were three main classes of drone. The tank drones which were ground assault. The Ariel drones were air assault, The Cycle drones were motorbikes and were high speed assault. There were also the Mole drones which were underground assault. They were were like big tubes with blades attached and a big gun.
When the Maximals landed on Cybertron they were effected by the virus and that took away their Transmetal forms returning them to their series 1 Beast Wars forms but unable to transform out of their beast modes. On top of that they also had a form of amnesea so they could remember nothing and the virus would also be fatal in time.
While they were running around confused the Tank drones were after them. Optimus Primal was called by the Oracle of Cybertron which is part of Vecta Sigma and the Matrix. The Oracle lead them to the rest of the Maximals and down deep into the depth of Cybertron to the Oracle itself. The Oracle reformatted them into Techno Organics to save them from the virus.
Once they had mastered their techno Organic forms they absolutely annihilated the Vehicon Drones as they are telepathically controlled by Megatron and are therefore all mindless. Megatron came up with the idea that if he created a Vihicon with individual minds they would be able to outsmart the Maximals. He built the Vehicon generals. Jetstorm was the general of the Ariel drones. , Thrust was the general of the cycle drones and Tankor general of the tank drones. For a while they were a lot more formidable with a tank general to command them in the field.
Tankor is basically a dimwit and it not bright. He runs around shouting "Tankor smash"! He is slow in more ways than one but is powerful in strength and firepower.
When the Maximals realised that two members of their team were missing being Silverbolt and Rhinox they set out to find them . At the same time Megatron sent out the generals to hunt down the Mamimals. It was Tankor who found them. He managed to capture the Maximals and brought them to Megatron in the Citadel.
Optimus Primal convinced Tankor to let them go as he entered Tankors mind using the oracle to make hhim change his mind. Tankor helped them escape the Ciidel. He did but Megatron thought he had a good idea by targeting the mind so he erased Tankors memory from the last twenty minutes so he went back to trying to capture the maximals . Optimus tried to reconnect to Tankors mind but Megatron would not let him. Optimus said he sensed a familiar spark in Tankor. It continues on like this until the episode "Revolution".
The Maximals discovered that Megatron had used the sparks that he had captured to make the Vihicon generals including Silverbolt and Rhinox. Megatron had used Rhinox's spark to create Tankor. They managed to bring Rhinox's spark to the service and he took over Tankor. Rhinox , when in limbo had become evil so he thought that all organics should be destroyed and Cybertron would remain totally technological. Cybertron was once an organic planet and still had the organic core. Rhinox was a genius and wanted to make a plan so Optimus Primal and Megatron to destroy each other so he could rule Cybertron. Megatron still had his dragon mode from Beast Wars. Rhinox had Tankors tank mode and was uncorrupted by organic material. So therefore he thought he was a more suitable replacement for Megatron with his dragon mode.
Rhinox made a plan and got the key to Vecta Sigma from the Oracle which has the power to turn organic matter into techno matter ( Metal). He tested it on the Maximal Nightscream turning to metal and turning him insane but he was cured by Cybertrons Organic core.
Rhinox wanted to carry out his plans so he faked his own death. Before this he reprogrammed Mainframe who was the drone adviser of Megatron to help him in this
Because he had tampered with he Oracle he got it to send a fake vision to Optimus Primal showing him the location of the Plasma energy chamber.
The plasma energy does the opposite of the Key to Vecta sigma in that it destroys Techno matter. In the mean time Mainframe was ordered to tell Megatron about the key to Vecta Sigma. There was a mutual assured destruction going on between the Maximals with the Plasma Energy chamber and the Vehicons having the key to Vecta Sigma.
Rhinox did not think that Optimus would use the Plasma energy chamber. He just wanted Megatron to use the key to destroy both the Maximals, The organic core and himself. All the Maximals including Optimus were going insane and turning to metal but when this was happening Optimus opened the Plasma energy chamber which basically destroyed everything on Cybertron. Optimus Primal realised what he had done and went back and closed it dying in the process along with Rhinox and Megaron to save Cybertron.
Optimus and Megatron come back in series two while Tankor/Rhinox does not.
FUNCTION; Ground attack
MOTTO; " The ground of Cybertron will thunder in our wake"
BIO; Tank drone units are a specialised Vehicon element of drones under Tankor command. Formidable front line fighters. Often attack in chaotic formations, firing destributes missiles in unison, then they rapidly retreat in all directions. Anything caught in their path is destroyed. Alloy armour plating protects them from most types of maximal artillery but firepower drops considerably after firing missiles. Not effective during lengthy firefights.
SATS; Strength 8.5, Intelligence 4.9, Speed 7.2, Endurance 6.6, Rank 6.0, Courage 8.9, Firepower 9.4, Skill 7.0
Tank mode side
Tank mode front
Robot mode
In tank mode I think this is about as accurate to the cartoon as they could get in this size class.
It is not perfect and has some gap issues on the back and front but it is still pretty good.
He has his robot head on the back of the tank which those people who complained about Energon Ironhide probably will not like this. But I am fine with it because it is accurate to the cartoon and he is on Cybertron so he does not have to be in disguise.
He has some nice details such as the hazard stripes which I don't remember him having in the cartoon but ,oh well!
He has some translucent red parts as well as chrome which are nice touches as well .
The most notable thing of this tank mode is obviously the giant cannon which has a gimmick in which you angle the cannon upwards and then roll him along and the gun barrel spins and he will fire a missile.
This makes sense because the tank drones gun barrels spun when they were charging up to shoot in the cartoon.
When the missile is out you can spin the cannon freely.
The missile is translucent red with orange paint on the end to represent fire. Like it is a fire ball or something.
He has his Vehicon spark crystal on the top of his gun. This leads me to believe that he is Tankor as the vehicon drone does not have a spark. If you look at his tech spec you will see that his intelligence is four. If he was just a drone it would be zero.
The transformation is quite simple but interesting enough not to be boring.
His robot mode is also pretty accurate to the cartoon. It is not perfect as he was bulkier in the cartoon.
He is still more accurate than the Mega class version of Tankor.
He does not have a huge amount of articulation.
He is a drone so what dynamic poses would he be in?
He does have wheels on his feet so you can roll him along.
He has claws for hands but no saw blades that he had in the cartoon. On his right arm he has part of the cannon gimmick which could stand in for a saw blade but does not flip out.
You can fold out his backpack to give him a over the shoulder cannon. You have to turn the crank manually to spin the end to fire the missile.
There isn't much more I can say about the robot mode. Because he is hard to find he can go for quite a bit but I would not pay a huge amount for him. I got him for about £12.00 but I would not pay more than £15.00
He is a very simple figure in both modes but he is still a good figure.
I do recommend him though. If you want an accurate Tankor in your collection then get a Tank Drone.
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