TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Additional Image:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

Kamen's review: Transmetal Terrorsaur

Name: Terrorsaur
Function: Aerial Attacks
Subgroup: Beast Wars Deluxe Transmetal Beasts

A quantum surge has altered the structure of the tyrannical Terrorsaur turning him into a jet-powered, vehicle-like Pterodactyl with an unfettered rage for the Maximals. If Terrorsaur was once known as fearless, his new armor has made him a kamikaze. Hidden jet thrusters leave a trail of fire in his wake and often ignite the terrain below - a fact that tickles his twisted humor circuits endlessly. Fierce talons and turbine spikes offer a dangerous arsenal that keeps him involved with his favorite activity: battling Maximals.


Terrorsaur, aside from being one half of the Predacon’s air force during the first season of Beast Wars, has the dubious honours of “naming” the Predacon’s ship the Darksyde, and being something of a rehash of G1 Starscream. Both he and Starscream overtly and boisterously coveted the leadership of their respective factions yet both repeatedly showcased an incompetence that would make any command they did hold short lived. Sadly, Terrorsaur failed to garner the level of fan love that his predecessor receives. Perhaps as a consolation prize, Terrorsaur did receive a new toy during the Transmetal run of the Beast Wars line.

Alternate Mode:

Terrorsaur’s upgrade changes him from a light red to a dark purple, which looks very good. It’s a fairly deep purple brought out nicely by dark green tips on his wing claws and beak. Burgundy and gold appear in the cracks and a bit of red shows up on each wing and is also used for his eyes. A bit of neon yellow on his rear end complete the “normal” colour set. The “metal” in Transmetal comes in the form of silver chrome, used liberally on his main body. All in all he looks quite fetching.

Another hallmark of the Transmetal figures reverses the organic beast mode and mechanical robot mode. With that in mind, Terrorsaur is covered with grooves and rivets for a mechanical feel. To his credit, though, he manages to look like he still needs those wings to fly rather than being a jet propelled ‘dactyl like G1 Swoop. The only detriment here is the awkward way his robot pelvis stores underneath. There isn’t really anything to be done about it, but it does kinda hang out.

Not only does he look good, but his articulation is pretty swell too. His neck rotates up and down and his beak opens. The arms and legs are the real treat here. Each has several points; shoulders and hips on ball joints, then a few hinges and swivels. Yes, he shares both limbs with his robot mode. But he’s a Predacon, damn it! Cheating’s a way of life!

Vehicle Mode:

Speaking of cheating. While most of the Transmetals have a slight modification of their beast mode as a vehicle mode, these modifications usually appear to be useful. In this Terrorsaur seems to fail utterly. The burgundy piece hanging off the rear of his wings swings forward to meet his main wing. The purple covers near his shoulder joints flip forward to reveal VTOL fans. Finally, his butt, er, cracks to reveal four jet engines. His legs can also peg into place on the undercarriage. Honestly, I can find nothing about this mode to be interesting. Fortunately, it does not affect the figure in any way and can thus be ignored without consequence.

Robot Mode:

Now in red-face with yellow eyes, Terrorsaur adds no new colours to his palette. New sculpting reveals itself on his chest, face, and legs. In this mode, Terrorsaur has a more organic motif. His helmet has a leathery cross-hatch as do his legs. The chest area remains mostly smooth, but is sculpted in a fashion to suggest rippling pecks.

Due to the shared limbs, his articulation remains pretty much the same. The vertical weight distribution does give him superior balance, though, and he can strike some very intimidating poses with his blades, which are formed from his main beast mode wings.

The blades are actually my only real complaint with this mode. Although they have a vicious looking hook at the end, the wings don’t really look much like blades. Popping them on and off his arms can be somewhat tricky as well, and their removal leaves his arms looking a bit thin. I know I’m being picky, but he’s making me work for it! For additional playability, his jet pack can be accessed in this mode by splitting apart the silver bits on the side of his backpack.

Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation: Limb to limb. Very easy, although tabbing his upper body into his waist is quite tricky. 4

Durability: Mine is a bit loose in the hips, but otherwise I’d only worry about the chrome chipping 7

Fun: Aside from the ho-hum “vehicle mode”, he’s quite enjoyable. 8

Price: $6 USD at the lowest tier? That’s a steal. 10

Overall: Terrorsaur is a strong figure with only a few flaws which are easily forgivable or ignorable. This mold was also used for Armada Terrorsaur and Beast Machines Terranotron, so there are plenty of decos to choose from, though I like this one best. 9