Toy Review Archives

[Blackjack]

I think Buzzsaw's a d*mned Decepticon, if I'm not mistaken...

Otherwise, nice review.

[sageofgrapefruit]

I think Buzzsaw's a d*mned Decepticon, if I'm not mistaken...

Otherwise, nice review.

???

I don't get it.

But thanks anyway!

[Blackjack]

Name: TM-02 Megatron
Alligeance: Predacons
Series: Beast Wars Telemocha
Function: Tyrant

"For the glory of all Predacons... I unleash the storm of vengeance. Farewell."--Megatron as he kills G1 Optimus Prime

Right. I am not too clear on the Beast Wars Telemocha series and whatnot, so I'll talk for a while about Beast Wars Megatron. All I know is that telemocha is the Japanese equivalent of Beast Wars 10th Anniversary. Moving on...

Beast Wars Megatron has always been a fan favourite, including mine. A repaint of BW Megs was my first Transformer, after all. Nostalgia aside, however, most of us agree that the original pre-transmetal Megatron toy, was quite lame.

And then came Robot Masters, where they made downsized versions of main characters, including Beast Convoy (Optimus Primal), Star Saber, and yesssss, Beast Megatron.

That version looks much better than the Cybertron version in my opinion, but the colouring is a bit off. Now this telemocha version is a repaint of the Robot Masters version, released along with an 'accurate colours' version of the Ultra mold.

Optimus Primal also got the same treatment, while guys like Archadis and Cheetor and Blackarachnia and Waspy got reissues of their original toys in accurate colours.

Not able to find Waspinator, Dinobot and Archadis, I settled for this guy. He comes with a DVD as well, and I liked the character... BW Megatron is the only Transformer with a rubber ducky. No. Really.

BW Megatron is voiced by David Kaye, famous for his rendering of Megatron with all the "Yessssss" and "Noooo" we're so fond of. Other notable Transformers voiced by David Kaye include Cybertron Megatron/Galvatron and Animated Optimus Prime (the irony... yessss).

I'm feeling quite lazy right now, so I'm not gonna list every single Megatron ever. It's boring anyway. Go to my Henkei and Masterpiece Megatron reviews for the lists.

BEAST MODE

Megatron, is of course a tyrannosaurus rex. Literally it means 'King of Tyrant Lizards', if memory serves right. Megatron is coloured a shade of Pred purple with hints of bluish-green colouring the spine section, and yellowish-white bone colour for the claws and teeth. Tongue is pink.

Other than colouring, which is rather show-accurate, there isn't much that I can tell that's different from the Robot Masters version.

Compared to the original Beast Wars Megatron, however, it has a few major differences. First, the T-rex mode is slightly streamlined, making him not look like a bulky brick, but a more deadly beast the show depicts him to be. The head is also considerably more show-accurate than the original toy, and the jaws actually open and close. Yesssss

Poseability is limited to the legs. The hands and head can also spin around where it's stuck to the body, but that's about it. He has a screw stuck on the right side of his face. Poor guy.

The back part of his beast upper legs show very clearly the painted upper legs of the robot mode, but there's nowhere to place it. Here's a nice bit. The thighs have two... tiny silver objects, resembling artillery ports of some sort. And they're painted. Might have some significance, but I don't know. A nice touch to Megs, anyway.

ROBOT MODE
"Megatron, Terrorize!"

...and with a triumphant cry, the Predacon leader splits open and transforms into is robot mode. Megatron in robot mode is kinda stout, and the proportions are a bit off, but is superbly detailed in sculpted and painted details. I am very fond of the amount of paintwork that went to the head alone. The scowling bucket head sculpt can't be beaten by any other pose.

While ole' scowling bucket head (I love his face) is notorious for having no hands, one being the dino head and the other being a redundant tail, it's kinda hard for Megatron to do stuff sometimes. I mean, how do he even type anything on those funky computer boards? He doesn't even have fingers, and those Rex hands ain't gonna do any good. But in this mold, the tail is removable to reveal a hand. A welcome bonus! The rex head, with 'clamping' action, is also much better than the original. Megatron's appearance is a mixture of mechanical and the organic feel of the T-rex skin, making him fall in line with the Beast Wars toys.

Poseability is quite excellent. Nice leg and hand articulation, and the head's ball joint is nice as well. Hand and shoulder articulation is excellent but slightly limited due to the back kibble being in the way.

One thing to mention, though. The bonus gun included with the Robot Masters toy is missing in this version for some reason. Or at least mine doesn't have it. This is not the first time Takara omitted an accessory for show accuracy. Just ask Henkei Sideswipe.

Regardless, there's not much to say of this charming little toy. The paintjob is excellent, poseability excellent and dozens of fun. Too bad there ain't a gun. Or a SWORD.... He would look so bad ass with a sword... If you don't have the Robot Masters toy, get him, yessssss.

The only way this toy is going to be more show-accurate is to include the rubber ducky.

DURABILITY 9/10 Very durable, but some of the paint may wear off. No chrome. Shocking.
TRANSFORMATION 4/10 very simple if you have seen the show.
PRICE 6/10 A deluxe show-accurate Megatron. But the DVD makes the price up some.
FUN 10/10 Fun, yessssss... Especially if you have Optimus Primal, which I'll get soon.
OVERALL 9/10 He's Megatron, yessssss..... Minus one for dropping the gun...

[sageofgrapefruit]

Great review! I hope to pick a Beast Megs on eBay soon. This has only influenced my decision.

[Detective Barricade]

No version of Beast Wars Megatron has ever come with his reliable rubber ducky. It's a crying shame, yesss... A great review, yesss...

[Cliffjumper]

Hell yeh. Awesome inside advance review, straight from the source.

[Halfshell]

I was expecting a review of a video.

[Shield Strike]

Hehehe! That has amused me greatly.

[Sunstreaker2]

This reminds me of just how crappy the Throttlebots are. The Sparkabots and Mini-Bots are works of art in comparison to these.

[Treadshot A1]

Makes me wonder why he actually owns it. Fifty dollars?!

[Cliffjumper]

Makes me wonder why he actually owns it. Fifty dollars?!

Oh my.

[secretcode]

What's this? Parody? In my /b/ Archive?

[Blackjack]

No, I mean, Cybertron Buzzsaw is supposed to be a Decepticon.
[HTML]
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Buzzsaw_(Cybertron)[/HTML]

[Treadshot A1]

I think what Blackjack's beens trying to tell you is to mention that Buzzsaw's a Decepticon. Doesn't state his faction in the review.

[sageofgrapefruit]

fixed

[Detective Barricade]

And now for the pictures.

1) Beast modes
2) Robot modes
3) Their infamous (and rarely effective) attack

[secretcode]

Funny thing, now that I actually watched the video... It's actually better then DBanks' shit. That and Cliffy's voice is deeper and more aggrivated then I thought... sounded a bit drunk.

[poyguimogul]

Oh the Horror ... THE HORROR...

I weep at the abuse that poor Freeway must endure in this video...
I kept waiting for this english Al-Qida member to come on screen and cut Freeway's head off..

LoL a classics throttlebots would be the shit... they never had articulation, so to see them with it would be pretty sweet..

[inflatable dalek]

Funny thing, now that I actually watched the video... It's actually better then DBanks' shit. That and Cliffy's voice is deeper and more aggrivated then I thought... sounded a bit drunk.

Well, it's obviously not Cliffy's voice as he's a Southern Ponce whilst the voiceover is clealry done by a authentic American. He must have hired a voice over man.

[Detective Barricade]

Name: Waspinator
Function: Aerial Attacks
Sub-Group: Beast Wars Transmetals Deluxe Predacon

After the quantum surge, Waspinator became a meched-out, armored wasp with the ability to change into a fighter-jet as well as a bio-genetically-enhanced robot. His personality, however, did not change much; he's still high-tempered, aggressive, and dangerous when angered. Only now Waspinator is faster, armed with a toxic stinger and more driven in his mission to wipe out the Maximals forever!

Strength: 7 Intelligence: 6 Speed: 9 Endurance: 7 Rank: 5 Courage: 4 Fireblast: 7 Skill: 6

Waspinator has never had much of any luck. He’s been blasted, crushed, possessed, sliced, diced, zapped, and otherwise dismembered countless times. At the start of season two of Beast Wars, he gets knocked into an open CR pool, thus preventing him from being affected by the quantum surge following the destruction of the “Planet Buster”. This was for a more subtle purpose later in Beast Machines. (he becomes the slick Vehicon, Thrust) And now onto reviewing the toy of Waspinator, if he had gained a Transmetal body.

Alternate Mode:

In beast mode, Waspinator is a large, mechanical wasp. Not a big surprise. He has ball joints in two places for each of his first four legs. The rear legs are slightly modified from the robot legs, like the original toy’s. The legs aren't strong enough to support the toy’s weight, something few “bug-formers” can claim otherwise. In addition to that, the main wings are hinged to the body and can swivel back and forth. The rear wings are ball jointed, and even the mandibles can move. Waspinator is mostly dark translucent green, barely translucent green, and red, with pale gold chrome on the eyes, abdomen, and wing veins. His left main wing bears his name. I really like the mechanical detail of this mode!

Transportation Mode:

All Transmetal figures have a slight reconfiguration of their beast modes called a transportation mode. Naturally, that means Waspinator has one. Just rearrange the legs, adjust the wings, flip up the jet cockpit, and it’s done. It’s one of the better ones, but nothing to write home about. Although, the main wings do bear a striking resemblance to an F-15 Eagle, and the rear wings sit a bit like an F-22 Raptor... Maybe Starscream had some more subtle influences on Waspinator even after leaving his body?

To transform Waspinator into robot mode, start in transportation mode. Flip the rear legs onto themselves to form the robot legs, flip the body forward under the wasp head, pull out the arms, flip the body and wasp head down, push up to lock it in place, and flip the robot head up. One can remove the stinger to use as his weapon.

Robot Mode:

In robot mode, Waspinator takes a lot of obvious design cues from the original toy, which are for the better! His (now chromed) big, fat, stripy... abdomen, the stinger weapon, the wasp head as his chest, the rear legs as his robot legs, and even the head design, which is based on the original toy’s “mutant head” that was used as the show’s head. Also like the original toy, he has light-piping! It’s almost moot due to the plastic being nearly opaque, but it is noticeable. He has a total of 15 points of articulation, 29 if one counts the wings and legs. The legs will often get in the way of posing, and there’s not much that can be done about that. The “hidden Energon chip” (AKA rub-sign) is located near the tip of the abdomen. A slight problem I find is keeping the body pegged together. It's simply hard to find where it goes as it's not the same spot it pegs into in beast mode. It's kind of frustrating...

An interesting note, the beast head configuration in robot mode bears more than a passing resemblance to the Predacon symbol, like G1 Soundwave’s face resembles the Decepticon symbol, and G1 Prowl’s the Autobot symbol. Very curious...

Overall, Waspinator is very neat! All of the modes are relatively open for interpretation, which I find likable. The transportation mode is better than some (Terrorsaur, Airazor, Cheetor), but not as cool as others. (Tarantulas, Depth Charge, Rampage) It really is a shame Waspinator didn't receive this form in the show, as he really could have used it, IMO. Somehow, his eventual "alter-ego", Thrust, isn't even half as cool.

Transformation: 5 Not hard, but not easy either.
Durability: 8 Fairly sturdy. The chrome may or may not chip.
Fun: 8 The insect legs will get in the way, but is fun nonetheless.
Price: 7 I got mine for about $12 USD. That’s quite reasonable.
Overall: 7 The Transmetals all seem to be worthwhile. Make Waspinator happy at last!