Transformers Beast Wars: My First Encounter
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
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Michael has his first direct encounter with Transformers Beast Wars toys - the vintage reissues from Hasbro.
The loose joints are absolutely a problem with the Hasbro reissues. The original Kenner toys were solid. As an old G1 and BW fan, I agree with your assessment. Bold choices with engineering that kept the brand alive after some very lean years.
My son got Optimus Primal from the Earthrise line and he's really great. Nicely poseable, good joints, and pretty robust.
Huh, I thought I read somewhere that the ball joints were supposed to loosen over time... But fresh out of the box?
From George Michael to the Music Man, Beast Wars is all about the musical numbers!
I was also a teen when Beast Wars came out, and as a "G1 Kid" it took me some time to warm up to it. When it initially aired, I couldn't finish the episodes. It just wasn't transforming trucks, cars, jets, and boomboxes. BUT, as the series went on I'd have it on in the background, and episodes started sticking out. It wasn't just "Megatron looking for some energon", there was some depth to the stories. Then I started to notice the character nuances. There was some growth with Dinobot as the standout for me, Blackarachnia and Silverbolt are others that I enjoyed. And yeah, the Megatron naming issue does get addressed.
I was very happy that I warmed up to the series and gave it a second chance. It's also been a hot second since I watched the series, and my kids and I are going to start it from the beginning soon, so it'll definitely be a different experience. As for the toyline, I only picked up a Silverbolt repaint figure at the end of the series' shelf-life, and it was generally a decent one. Currently, I have gotten some of the recent reissues, and it is a mixed bag with the joint articulation. Yay QC?
BTW, nice and sharp new video intro, and your background music throughout the review is a great touch!
Beast Wars to Transformers was like how Vehicle voltron was to Voltron fans
That ending killed me !!! . Thanks Micheal, fantastic review sir!
As someone who’s first Transformers were Beast Wars, this was a fun video to watch.
Beast Wars means a lot to me as an adult. I was 9 when the show came out and it lead me to having a career in CG animation and getting to work with a few of the original crew who are now in the process of retiring. The first season figures in particular are pretty off model and feature tons of kibble, but I had zero problems with that as a kid playing with them. They were finicky, but held up to rough play. In my home office I have the new Beast Wars Kingdom releases on display and I'm keeping my original figures, in rough shape as they are for my daughter when she's a bit older.
I wouldn't go as far as saying Beast Wars is the best Transformers has ever been or will be, but it's defintely my Transformers.
Also, I really like the addition of the background music in this video and this is probably the most fair assessment of the toys I've heard from a Gen X'er lol
Great review. I would say that Beast Wars kept the Transformers alive and paved the way for the highly detailed Transformers we have today...uh... had several years ago... today...?
We get a lot of really great stuff nowadays, in spite of Hasbro’s dicey QC.
@@Gojirawars03 Honestly, I think Prime Wars is probably the weakest the franchise has gotten. Sure the quality is very hit and miss since Earthrise, but those first two years of the PW trilogy felt really, really cheap by comparison.
Take it as someone who's owned many of the figures, when I had the Arielbots from Combinor Wars, the only one who had zero issues was Silverbolt, and Titans Return had some very confusing design choices and some very cheap plastic on some figures (Wirewolf's back flap is only being help on by the more flexible translucent plastic on my copy because those hinges on the yellow plastic break easily. For all the issues we've gotten in recent figures, they have generally better articulation and I assume the sturdiness issue comes down to whatever factory is producing the figures, as I assume Hasbro and Tomy are using several in order to churn the products out.
I'd say for all the problems the reissues are having, the modern updates of the Beast Wars characters are pretty darn good for mainline releases (yellowing on Tigatron notwithstanding, and I'm including the Thrilling 30s Rhinox and Rattrap in this since I prefer those over their Kingdom counterparts). And I'm probably going to get Tarantulas and Inferno whenever they're availible.
It paved the way for the very advanced toys of the Unicron Trilogy, Bayformers, Animated, CHUG, and Masterpiece toylines (as well as 3rd party toys), all of which contain some of the greatest Transformers toys of ALL TIME (and dare I say some of the best toys EVER).
Beast wars was the injection transformers needed to survive! Kenner reinvented the wheel, and the engineering influences can still be felt to this day. Sad megatron was hilarious though. 😂
I'm now picturing a Beast Wars Watch-Party Between Retroblasting and Lio Convoy...looks like fun!
Oooooh they should definitely do that!
"It's ok to be into something that's weird. Just be ready to observe it and be ok with it" That's something a lot of people need to hear.
Great news, Michael: The Mutant Masks on the robot modes of these figures never get addressed in the show and are in fact never even brought up as far as I can remember. The only impact that they had on the franchise at large is that Waspinator's face in the cartoon is based on his mutant mask instead of his regular head.
Beast wars was my introduction to transformers as a kid born in the 90’s. So these were some of my first transformers, they embraced more robotic designs in further seasons as they transitioned to beast machines. We got some great toys and characters back then that often get overlooked with the resurgence of G1 love.
I loved this, as an animal lover and I want you to know your channel means a lot to me, I discovered RUclips in 2015 as well as you shortly after, but I lost my beloved on Christmas day in 2013 and as an animal lover her cat that loved me right from meeting him shortly after her took right to me for which I lost him this past December as well, he was so loving and when I discovered your channel in 2015 ( being a big Retro Toy fan myself now 51) other than him , you got me through a lot as well, wish I could meet you and shake your hand....thank you my friend, I've been keeping up with your channel through these years and will always be there for you my man...thank you once again...Steve.
Thank you for your kinds words, Stephen!
I am so sorry for your losses... I hope you found another pet to help you with your loss. Stay strong.
@@flyntplatz3724 thank you, that means a lot to me
The "Mutant Masks" of the Beast Wars figures were an early concept that was later dropped in the series and later waves in favor of the robot heads being portrayed for most of the characters. I didn't get into the Beast Wars until the Transmetals and Fuzors were introduced. Hopefully you can review them in a future video.
Don't spoil it!
@@diegodankquixote-wry3242 It's not a spoiler. It's literally not part of the story of the show.
And wasn't Taratulas's head also the "mutant head"? Probably to differentiate him from the other character that is a recolor of the same toy.
I was 10 when Beast Wars premiered.
I grew up on the "G2" reruns of G1 and a VHS copy of the animated movie.
Beast Wars was and is still my favorite entry in the Transformers franchise.
I died at the Music Man reference, you effectively combined two favorite parts of my childhood, which was watching and collecting this line, and the fact that the Music Man was a family tradition my dad had us watch every summer. The fact you just smashed them into the same context is the absolute best XD
The “mutant heads” were a short lived gimmick for like the first two waves if Beast Wars that were dropped. They never showed up in the show.
I feel like they were implemented to ease older fans into the concept by giving you the choice of a more classic robotic head or the new at the time organic head.
The closest they got to being used in the show was when presenting two characters that use the same mold in the toyline, sometimes one's in-show model would have its head based on the normal robot head and the other would be based on the "mutant head" (Tarantulas and Blackarachnia in particular).
The only Mutant head that was used in tge show was Waspinator. They dont use the Robot Mide head in the show.
As for the concept of "hiding in plain sight", in the show, transforming wasn't about hiding. It was to shield themselves from overexposure to raw unstable Energon.
Which i was fine with, because the Transformers in G1 stopped hiding VERY early on in the original show.
The show is fantastic overall, it's regarded as one of the best TF shows for a reason, hope you enjoy it. The toyline is interesting, especially when you get into Transmetals and Transmetals 2. Some fantastic toys in the range that hold up what nearly three decades later. There's so much creativity and newness that went into it. Transmetals 2 stuff has some creepy ,90s Spawn esque designs going on which is just awesome. Don't know if Transformers would be around like it is and has been if it wasn't for Beast Wars.
Could this have been a Transformers version of the liquid metal Terminator style technology? Perhaps there will be a new Transformers storyline with liquid metal technology, allowing for more streamline transformations in animation.
If he wants "hiding in plain sight", I don't think he's going to like Transmetals and Fuzors, and especially Beast Machines.
@@KasumiKenshirou true but the show retconed the reason for transforming.
The whole concept was you got two for one. A car and a robot. A plane and a robot. Beast wars wasn’t legit . You nailed it.
On the robot mode for Optimus Primal there are light grey switches on his biceps those control how the arms move when using the chest pounding gimmick. One mode is for sword swings while in robot mode the other is for chest pounding while a gorilla.
I had the original Beast Wars Megatron. I was a young kid but from what I remember his joints weren't loose.
Easily the most impressive thing about the beast wars Transformers to me has always been the weapon storage on Optimus primal, the flail goes in his left arm, the swords can hide in his back, even the extra missiles can hide behind his head
You need to watch the show from beginning to end. It's great, It's a straight-up continuation of G1 and even some g1 Characters show up from time to time.
Agreed. I'll admit that is was very much a slow burn for me back in the day. It took me a WHILE to really get into it. But one thing that I appreciated was that it is largely arc-driven. (Instead of the "episode of the day" format.) And as much as I am a G1 purist, I can humbly admit that I think the Beast Wars cartoon has aged noticeably better than the G1 cartoon!
Your spoiling it!
That was the series that made me feel very old 😅 I had a group of summer students come to work with me. I had a G1 shirt on and the kids all said “oh hey, transformers!” They then began sharing their fav beastformers characters, episodes and all started to bond over them. I was standing there trying to assign work details and was totally on the outside for the first time in a pop culture discussion. But boy did it bring that group together
The uncanny valley effect was strong in this line. But as a toy, as you said, it was a bold move.
If I remember correctly in the show, they modeled the animals, but you never really see where that was necessary. I think it was once of those "We want to make cool animal transformers because kids will think it's fun." Then some one asked about them needing to hide. And they were like I'm gonna need you to just not look into it too much. I remember watching Beast Wars as a kid and I absolutely loved it. I had some of the toys. From memory it was hit or miss on the joints. Some would be so stubborn you had to work them a bit to make them work. Others were so lose it was a challenge to keep them in a form.
That re-issue with the Kenner name is odd, since
Hasbro didn't include Kenner in the original release,
but you could find mention of Takara in the fine print.
The earliest releases of the original Beast Wars toys were Kenner branded.
Actually, the branding switched over From Kenner to Hasbro around 1998. Hasbro's use of the logo makes sense on these figures.
Beast wars toys always said kenner on the packaging
I saw someone mention that Beast Wars had Kenner on their packaging and didn't remember it, but they had pictures to prove it. Not that by this point, there really wasn't a "Kenner" anymore. Kenner was just a brand that Hasbro now owned. A similar thing happened to Atari. The original Atari no longer exists, and just has it's name slapped on things by whoever owns the name.
The G1 BW primal and cheator join where way stiffer Rattrap was always more loose !!!
My Transformers experience _started with_ the movie and Optimus's heroic sacrifice and passing the torch to Rodimus and Ultra Magnus, then catching scattered reruns of the original cartoon, then Beast Wars coming out and being my "main" Transformers fiction until the mid 2000s.
I can't speak for the first wave, but I can attest that my Transmetal Cheetor, Optimus Primal, and Megatron wound up with very loose joints very quickly.
I was indifferent towards the series until the 2nd season which got me hooked.
I have the original figures still. The loose joints are totally the reissues faults.
Now, I was 11 in 1996 when these first came out. I was into the show and the figures. And my Megatron was given to me by my grandmother, just like the white tiger zord I have.
Back then, I was given hand-me-downs of my older brothers toys. And I watched the cartoons as reruns, so I definitely knew who the Transformers were. But this came out, and blew my mind. Just like the Johnny Quest cartoon that did the 3D stuff. Absolutely loved it.
Beast Wars the cartoon was also well written and voice acted. Had some really deep moments for a kids show.
As someone who was with G1 from the beginning, your overall assessment is pretty much how I felt at first blush. I looked at the animal alt modes and said not for me. I thought I was done with Transformers at that time. Then, a friend pushed me to check out the show, and a after a few episodes, I suddenly looked at the toyline with a different perspective. Yes, it most definitely still goofy, but the fun they were having with the characters in the show, made me fall in love with the goofy toys. I trekked around town looking to get as many of the main cast as I could.
Those mutant face masks on the toys is a failed gimmick that has been removed in some of the more show accurate rereleases of the toys. I think a lot of people dislike them, too.
It'll be interesting to hear a new perspective on the show that hasn't been clouded by nostalgia.
I felt similarly. I saw the show first and didn't really like it but watched some more and got used to the early CGI animation and enjoyed it. While I liked the show, I never bought any of the toys.
Really glad you are looking into this line/series! I’m telling you, the storyline is what sells this toy, not the other way around.
I have the Masterpiece versions of the Beast Wars figures and the transformations are vastly improved.
Would love to watch a retrospective of the series from you after/if you watch
Agreed! Matt Swaford did a GREAT job summarizing it during Iconicon. (I think the video is still on Lio's channel.) I'm very much a G1 purist, but I have much love for Beast Wars I love one point Matt Swaford brought out, how essentially: 'In G1 you had DOZENS, and dozens, and dozens of characters to try to keep straight. So it could be a huge challenge to give them all individual character development. But with such a limited number of overall characters, you really have a chance to get to see the character development in all of them. You really didn't get that with G1. There was usually that character's introductory episode, then that was it. They then get pushed into the background for the rest of the series." Again, even as a G1 purist, I admit that Matt Swaford was exactly right!
Im just a tad bit younger. I got into transformers because of vehicles and robots. So when they switched to animals, I wasn't convinced. I hesitantly watch Beast Wars and it became entertaining. They touched on Transformers G1 lore, and had some easter eggs. But it was the show that got me into the toys. Though not nearly as fun as a car or a plane, their robot modes had a lot of flexibility compared to G1. So yeah. I still have most (56) of my Beast Wars. But i dont look back on them too fondly. They were just there to get me to the next incarceration of the robots in disguise.
I lost it on the George Michael song lmao. Great video, like always!
I also was too old for this. But perfect description about how weirdly creative and off the wall it was. So very Japanese. I didn't understand it, either. But it says something about how much that reached the fans that the nostalgia for it is so strong. That is what has always made respect it.
You got to watch the show man!
These toys completely relied on the incredible voice actors and writing in the show. Because of the limited number of character models they could do on the show, the chemistry of the characters went a long way to making it entertaining.
I around the same age as Michael and i can remember my younger sister watching the show in the mornings before school. I thought it was completely silly. Later on the trans metals line was out when i was working at Toys R us and i actually caught the show after work when i was on night crew. After a few shows i was hooked and actually set my VCR to record episodes when it moved to the afternoons.
I collected the transmetals and transmetals 2 lines but sold them all when I limited my transformers collection to just the 1984/85 characters.
I still love the characters and the show, prior to the prequel Star Wars movies, was my biggest lesson in retcon.
Thealternate heads are battle helmets that were never used in the show and the idea was soon dropped and seeing as its set on prehistorric earth they dont need to hide in plain sight.
The Optimus primal mold is probably suffering from mold degradation since it's been used, retooled, and reissued many times.
Hope you enjoy when you get around to it. Some great stories in there and it connects pretty well with G1.
PS - I will add, there’s a fun joke about Megatron’s T-Rex head hand, I THINK in season two. I always thought his robot mode was a little strange too and apparently an animator and writer thought similarly.
The 2,000 pound gorilla in the room is Optimus Primal.
10:55 The action box on Optimus is suppose to not reach his chest is correct and he has switches on his arms to make the arms rotate instead of beat his chest, this is for the swords.
10:34 The face masks were a concept dropped by the show and Cheetor has one on the back of his head and will reveal when moving the head down. Along with this, the beast head on the original toy could move down more to show the full face.
I do like your channel and have been here since around early 2020, I hope this helps.
Credit for info:
@PerspectiveEnd
Optimus: ruclips.net/video/C6661S_4Hj4/видео.html
Cheetor: ruclips.net/video/qJ9n8wkjGiA/видео.html
I discovered the Beast Wars ("Beasties") tv show because it was made by Mainframe, the company behind Reboot. Nice animation work and decent writing, for a television show aimed at kids!
I had Optimus Primal , as they say , the kenner was solid , the arm pounding gimmick has 2 modes and i see that a lot of people apparently dont get it right , its finnicky but it works , both the pounding mode and spinning mode ( the black dot in the arms is the switch)
I always enjoy the heck out of Story Time with Michael
@retroblasting : Whatever happened to that Star Trek TNG Playmates video?!??!?! Love your content Michael!
The Beast Wars series is an amazing show.
Ah yes, Beast Wars. My first ever Transformer was from that line... And it was the pillbug. Didn't deter me, though. Never caught the show until it was rerunning in the mid-2000s on YTV, but I did catch Beast Machines when it was airing new episodes.
My favorite RUclips channel covering my childhoods favorite toy line....THIS DAY CANT GET ANY BETTER
8:28 😅Your wrong!
How dare you Sir!
Yeeeesss
Michael, thank you for being honest about your feelings on Beast Wars. It’s understandable that you’d be hesitant regarding these guys given the 86 movie being nothing more than a cynical commercial that shattered your interest in the franchise as well as the aesthetic differences between the G1 guys and the beast warriors. But you gave them (and soon, the show) a chance. And that’s what I admire about you.
You’re a man who will gladly share his opinion on a matter even if it gets him screeched at by nostalgia-blind or willfully ignorant “fans”. You’re a real one, Mr. French. Wishing you the best in your first experience with Beast Wars the show!
i loved beast wars as a kid. infact my favorite animal growing up was a cheetah solely because my favorite beast wars character was cheetor. the graphics dont hold up today for sure so youre going to have to look past that and base it on story alone. honestly they should take the old voices and add them to a new updated version of the animation.
The first thing I found when these came out when I was a kid was the Bat Primal / Gator Megatron two pack and that Primal is still one of my favorite designs today even if it was more generic.
The show itself is what really got me into it, however locally they would only play like the same six episodes for some reason for the first year.
Interesting video - more than meets the eye, indeed!
Megatron should have roller skates in his feet, yes?
Not that I saw
@@retroblasting it might be a later transmetal version of him. I remember him skating while thinking on the show
@@Fanky_Milton That's the Transmetal version.
@@shockwave7513 thank you. I thought I remembered skates involved
The alt faces were only part of the early toyline. They never appeared in the show.
Great video. You made me laugh with the dance number. Always appreciate your opinion on stuff even if I don’t agree all the time. Keep it up. Love the consistency of the content.
this is great!!! 👏 👏 👏 Bravo brother
Loved the cartoon, but the initial run of Beast Wars toys didn't move me. First ones I saw were a two pack where Optimus Primal was a bat and Megatron was an alligator. These toys were on the dinky side as well. This two-pack is listed as being released two years prior to the ape version (1995 vs. 1997), so these might be the original incarnations of the characters released in North America. I didn't really like the toys until Silverbolt was released, which I still think is a really cool toy.
As for those weird masks, I don't remember them being explained in the show.
They weren't even in the show. They did some tests with them, but scrapped them for the end product.
If you really want to see why Beast Wars couldn’t work, go check out the Optimal Optimus figure. It goes from robot to land craft to aircraft to gorilla to robot again.
I missed G1 and only slightly remember G2. Beast Wars was my first Transformers and it really is my favorite Transformer show. I won't give away the show, but if you love G1, you will enjoy the fan service. Yes the graphics are rough, but for the 90s they were mind blowing. Also the voice acting is perfect. I wish the new show used the original voices, it would have been far superior, Yeeesssss.
I also was too old to care about this series when it originally came out. However, my son and I are watching the series together now and loving it! Great review 👍
Interesting note about the Beast Head on Cheetor; Takara actually retooled the mold back in the 90s so it won't fold down all the way for.... reasons. and every release of the mold ever since has used that tooling.
its a pretty odd choice because the original toy didn't have any issues with it or anything, and it looks way better folded all the way down.
I love beast wars just for how different it is to anything else transformers has ever done you can definitely see that in how the figures where so gimmick filled they definitely had that kenner charm that the g1 transformers didn't.
Now I REALLY want Michael to watch it, I completly understand his opinion please watch the show it explains ALOT
I know absolutely shapoopie about Beast Wars. Thanks for a very interesting lesson on these beasties.
I loved watching this show. Never got the toys though.
I believe your masks are called back to the original run of Optimus and Megatron where Optimus was a bat and Megatron was a crocodile. Before they got the story down for the Beast Wars run they were just supposed to be the original Optimus and Megatron in animal form
I'm a G1 kid, but I did watch the Beast Wars show (I'm in Mainframe's home town. Gotta represent). The toys never grew on me though because the technology wasn't there to make them shine. The current Hasbro "Beasties" are engineered significantly better and while not perfect are a lot more appealing than the re-releases. Core Class Rat Trap could actually pass for a real rodent at a glance.
I think some aspects of Beast Wars original gimmicks like Rattrap's exposed brain, Cheetor's gut gun, and the Mutant Masks have been lost in translation by the 2020s. Call back to the early 90s and the success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the toy companies were OBSESSED with being loud and gross. Garabage Pail Kids, Creepy Crawlers, Nickelodean Slime comes to mind.
The show isn't great at first but gets much better.
Had the vintage Rattrap, Razorback and Rhinox as a child and I can confirm the joints were loose back then and only got worse over time.
Came back to this video after watching "Transformers Rise of the beasts."
I think I'm a few years older than you, but not by much. My wife and I discovered Beast Wars in its 3rd season. We were newlyweds, couldn't afford cable, and both of us had grown up loving the original Transformers.
The show was great. Beast Machines (the sequel) deconstructed everything, but Beast Wars was well written, with likeable characters. There were occasional deaths, but nothing like the bloodbath of Transformers the Movie.
I have no experience with the toys. By the time my son was old enough we were buying him TF Armada stuff.
The war makes were never a feature of the show. In fact, I think a lot of things in the show didn't match what was seen on the toy shelf.
The reason they tirn into animals is when they travels back in time there was a high amount of emerging radiation that would short them out if exposed for too long so that’s why they took organic alt modes.and they’re not the same charecters as the originals megatron just took the name of the 80s one. And the mutant heads were just a toy gimmick that was going to be used in the show but that would make the budget too high so a few characters used they’re mutant heads
Great video Michael! Yes there were so many flaws with the initial line but the toys get better imo with the transmetals. Hope you like the show when you get around to it
I'm on board they can give me all the transformers reissues. As a kid I only got what toys I could buy myself. I've got the g1 reissues that came out and now all the beastwars and loving it.
Beast Wars was definitely innovative toys for their time. Definitely designed to be played than displayed. They may be showing their age at some parts and the QC issues with these reissues are kinda janky, but still their fun toys.
BW Megatron's (I guess they couldn't think of an animal pun name for him like Optimus) design was always looked weird, but for fans who grew up with it, its just part of his charm. I have a decent amount of stuff that look weird now but not so much in my youth nowadays.
Hope you tackle the show sometime soon. The show had to come up with a neat way for robots to transform into animals to make some form of sense in universe, especially for the ones who transform into out of scale animals. And from what I can recall Cheetor's gun was practically called a "gut blaster/gun" in the show, so that weird detail was definitely intentional.
Beast Wars was a cool story and expanded on the G1 universe, so I will include them as characters of the G1 Universe on a shelf. It helps that these characters were decendants of the original Transformers, so that made the story telling more appealing for me personally. My Optimus was still a truck and appeared as such in a show a time or two.
The masks on the toys were never in the show. That was supposed to play out as a disguise gimmick. In a quick pinch, Optimus Primal can disguise himself as a Predacon, and vice versa with Megatron. I usually never bothered with those features as some of the others have them too, like Cheetor.
Like you, I like the idea of them being able to hide as flesh and blood animals, but that fell flat as the second season introduced Transmetals.
If you think Beast Wars was hard to wrap your head around, then you need to get a taste of Beast Machines... the toys for those were the stuff of nightmares.
You might like the old Transmetals 2 Beast Wars figures. Same issues with goofy looking bot modes, but a lot of the alt modes look stunning.
Next time watch the show, then play with the toys then do your response. Many of your review points are covered by the show mythology including that Megatron is not the real Megatron
But it was a very good review as well
Made it VERY clear I hadn't seen the show, so this comment is superfluous. Please don't tell me how to do a review or a full feature retrospective. I've got 11 years and 116,000 subs on any advice you're trying to give.
@RetroBlasting sorry Michael I wasn't trying to offend just some of your questions on the line would be cleared up with the show. For example the alt modes aren't meant as robot in disguise they are to prevent energon overload. I enjoyed the review and even your dedication to not give a review based on preconceived ideas. I always thought the first two years of Beast Wars were very reminiscent of the 1st two years of G1 before they ran out of well designed Takara toys. Once Hasbro started designing transformers they got bigger, more plastic, and less detailed. Beast Wars as well once they shifted computer animation styles the toys just were less inspiring.
Once again I want to take the time to apologize for my comment. After reading it I realize it sounds very harsh and critical which was not my intent. Honestly not sure what was I trying to convey there beyond my response after the fact.
I had the same reaction to the cartoon... a robot turning into a proper animal was just weird to me, and I wanted to shug it to " a real t-rex and a cheetah living together in a jungle (?) wouldn't really be able to tell these are not the same as them!"... and then I was thinking of dog, and how they smell EVERYTHING and make sure they understand it and thought... why even transform? there is nothing in a planet full of mammals and Lizard/birds that is really going to hurt you if you are a giant robot, and they are not smart enough for a need of you to hide from them! I know I have never really seen more than 5 minutes of these cartoons, but 19 year old me hated them and so I can't bring myself to like em now. I did like the megatron design in the cartoon, but even that made me angry !
Here in Canada it was called Beasties: Transformers. Also another great video! Hopimg for a playmates star trek review.
Beast Wars reignited my love of Transformers after being turned off by “Generation 2”. I was out of collecting the figures by then, but I’m glad they gave them another go with the previous Kingdom wave. And Beast Machines was a good show too, fight me!!!
Absolutely love the tiny musical number
The reissue cheetor actually has a chest designed a little different then the original you used to be able to angle his cheetah head more down and it would kinda help with his robot head being able to actually see but for some reason the remolded a part to make lowering the head that much impossible
I was the perfect age for these when they came out and I had tons of them. I also loved the show and it addresses a couple issues you had with the toys.
Principally the beast forms weren’t used in the lore for hiding, they were more like radiation suits because the energon rich planet would short out the robot forms after too much exposure. This meant that the two factions had ample opportunity for skirmishes because they would have to retreat after battling for too long or risk engergon poisoning. This worked really organically with the episodic format.
Another thing, if I remember correctly Megatron’s name ends up being justified in a sweet time loop paradox, but I don’t want to spoil too much because the linking of Beast Wars to Gen 1 is probably the most enjoyable aspect of the series.
Later waves of Beast War toys are also stellar with some stand out characters like Inferno the Fire Ant and the Fuzors line which featured chimeric beast forms combined from multiple animals. When I saw these reissues in Newbury Comics, I had the feeling that they looked a lot cheaper than the originals and I passed on picking them up, still it made me plenty nostalgic.
The looseness is more of an issue with the reissues, especially with the gears for the gimmicks on Primal and Megatron(on my copies, which weren’t issues on my originals. The gimmicks worked and still work better on my originals than on the reissues from last year). The mutant mask for Primal was from an abandoned plan to make Optimus Primal able to also transform into a bat. I do prefer the paint jobs on the reissues but the originals were of higher build quality overall(which is weird given that that reissues should at the very least be on par).
I started to like the designs more when Transmetals started to show up, they hit more of the techno organic look for me.
I believe I started to collect Beast Wars because they were the only Transformers available at that time. I got to watch the tv show much later and I can confirm that it is a great show, even though it looks dated now. Today I own almost a full collection including many of the Japanese releases, which have different colors and characters that were never released ij the USA, and I am quite fond of them... even though back in the day I thought many of the things you are saying in this video. That's why I think you have made a super fair assesment of this collection, which is weird indeed! Hahahaha
I remember that I liked it a lot at the time, today, I'm not so sure anymore.
Anyway great video 👍.
I don't always agree with your opinions, but as a Huge Transformers fan of all eras, this was absolutely fair and right on point. I was actually a bigger fan of the animated series than the toys though. The first season is a slow burn, but seasons 2 &3 I still enjoy very much.
Not sure if the BGM was the right choice. Doesn't sound right
Very solid review, great information on the Beast Wars Transformers. What I did not like about your video, is the background music. I don’t think you need that, I just like you explaining so I can focus.
I grew up on Beast Wars and loved it. Your assessment of these toys is spot on! The wobbly joints are I believe exclusive to these reissues. As the show introduced new characters, the toys got better IMO. Never really fit the Robots in Disguise like you said. You’ll find that got worse instead of better. Lol. But the models themselves were cool and transformed into great robots.
Great honest review of the Transformers Breast wars. They were different, inspired the imagination and got kids interested in the animal wild life. Great review RetroBlasting you guys rock!!!
This was such a great show when I was a kid. My brother and I had a ton of these growing up. Cheetor was my favorite wize cracking character 🤣
If you do watch the shows, please consider the full run which includes Beast Machines - in which they tackle racism, speciesism, war, genocide, free will, slavery, spiritualism and materialism. Quite an accomplishment for a "kids" cartoon. Its more like a european or japanese all ages story.
The best beast wars toys for sure were the ones from the third year where they had the transmetals and the fuzors, though you said that you didn't really care for Beast wars because they don't pass the litmus test of more than meets the eye, and as cool as two animals combined together and the robotic animals are, they don't really pass that test at all (also only two fuzors and like only half the transmetals were on the show), but at least as toys they were great.