Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline): Difference between revisions

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Generation 1 continuity family

«

Beast Machines

»

Toyline

Beast Machines was the toyline successor to Beast Wars, running from very late 1999 to early 2001. It featured the Maximals as smoothly techno-organic beasts, pitted against the futuristic war machines of the Vehicons. Beast Machines signaled the full-fledged return of vehicular Transformers, after an absence of nearly four years.

Though Beast Machines was the primary series in 2000, Hasbro continued to release Beast Wars case assortments, whose contents ranged from new redecos to promote Fox Kids running the series, to the new-mold Mutant Beast Wars figures, to straight-up re-releases of Transmetal 2 toys.

The line seemed to underperform to expectations, and combined with Hasbro's financial troubles (primarily due to excessive Star Wars Episode I product glut), the second year of Beast Machines product was cut short to make way for another heavy reworking of the Transformers concept...

Unlike Beast Wars, the line did not run concurrently in Japan, but would get a short run there in 2004.

Overview

Beast Machines continued many of its predecessor's elements, retaining the Maximal faction and a number of its main characters, but now pitted against the new Vehicon faction. Both sides tended toward unorthodox designs; the toys also made frequent use of translucent plastic and chrome finishes. A concerted push was made towards giving the figures more character-centric internal action features as opposed to the missile launchers or simpler spring-loaded weaponry that defined Beast Wars, going so far as moving eyes or jaws. Spark crystals carried over from Beast Wars, eventually becoming central to the final gimmick in the line. Aesthetically, the smooth, curvaceous designs of the Maximals is a further evolution of the earlier Transmetal design styles, seamlessly blending the mechanical and the organic, often hiding mechanical detailing behind transparent panels. In contrast, the Vehicons had emphatically Cybertronian vehicle forms with visible machinery, often with certain character flourishes in vehicle mode like swiveling cockpits or a moving eye inside a tank turret. Both factions featured some unorthodox robot modes, with the Vehicons erring on the side of inhuman faces, weaponized limbs, and unusual forms of locomotion, while the Maximals tended towards more conventional yet exaggerated humanoid proportions.

Show-accuracy (including inter-character scale) was widely variable across the entire toy line. Show production house Mainframe Entertainment apparently began animating the characters from early concept sketches, designs that by necessity changed a great deal during the translation into toy form. Thus many characters' (initial) toy and cartoon depictions bear relatively little resemblance to each other.

The back end of the Beast Machines toyline, starting in 2001, featured the first full-on subline imprint for Transformers, called "Battle for the Spark", reflecting the storyline of the cartoon's second season. This also tied in with a unifying theme for the new-mold toys, where action features are activated by pressing on the spark crystals. By this time, many toys were designed to emulate their show models, and did so to an impressive degree. The more complex action features also led to the first price hike since the Transformers toyline had switched to standardized price classes at the start of Beast Wars, with the Basics class increasing from US$4.99 MSRP to $6.99.

The final releases of Beast Wars overlapped on the shelves with the start of Beast Machines, which was taken into account as some events from Beast Machines are directly referenced on the packaging of the Mutants. The Dinobots subline, consisting of redecoed molds from both the Hasbro Beast Wars and Takara Beast Wars Neo lines, shipped in the same packaging assortments with the normal figures.

Due to underwhelming sales, usual toyline fatigue, a particularly dark story, and internal Hasbro/Kenner shakeups,^[1] it was decided to cancel the last few waves in development, abandon plans for the sequel series Transtech, and re-vamp the franchise from the ground up. Takara's Car Robots series was quickly ported over as "filler" under the name Robots in Disguise, giving Hasbro and Takara the time needed to coordinate on the next series. Not ones to waste the effort or cost put into the canceled figures, all three finished-yet-unreleased toy molds were eventually released as part of the Robots in Disguise toyline.

Hasbro Beast Machines toyline

Standard retail line

Basics

Wave 1 (December 1999) Buzzsaw Mirage Scavenger		Wave 2 (March 2000) Longhorn Obsidian		Wave 3 (June 2000) Geckobot Quickstrike		Wave 4 (August 2000) Night Viper Silverbolt		Basic Longhorn
Wave 5 (BftS, January 2001) Hammerstrike Tank Drone		Wave 6 (BftS, April 2001) Motorcycle Drone Spy Streak		Wave 7 (BftS, April 2001) Battle Unicorn		Canceled Screechwing Spiketail		Basic Longhorn

Deluxe

In addition to regular Beast Machines toys, the Deluxe assortment also included Dinobots-branded product.

Wave 1 (December 1999) Optimus Primal Jetstorm	Wave 2 (March 2000) Airraptor Triceradon	Wave 3 (March 2000) Dinotron Striker	Wave 4 (April 2000) Blackarachnia Thrust	Deluxe Thrust
Wave 5 (June 2000) Snarl	Wave 6 (September 2000) Blastcharge Skydive	Wave 7 (October 2000) Sonic Attack Jet	Wave 8 (BftS, February 2001) Beast Changer Rapticon Terranotron
Wave 9 (BftS, March 2001) Night Slash Cheetor Strika	Canceled (used later) Cerberus Megatron Megabolt	Totally canceled Obsidian

Mega

Wave 1 (December 1999)

Wave 2 (August 2000)

Megatron

Wave 3 (February 2001)

Rattrap

Wave 4 (BftS, May 2001)

Blast Punch Optimus Primal

Ultra

Like the Deluxes, the Ultra assortment also included Dinobots-branded stuff.

Wave 1 (July 2000)

Wave 2 (September 2000)

Nightscream

Canceled

Megatron

Super

Wave 1 (July 2000)

Primal Prime

Supreme

A new price point for the line, the Supreme class featured the biggest/tallest Transformers toys since 1987's Fortress Maximus (if not the most massive).

Wave 1 (July 2000)

Cheetor

Canceled (used later)

Air Attack Optimus Primal

Deployers

A Basic price point, the Deployers are small robo-beasts to turn into weapon emplacements with spring-loaded transformations. The Wave 2 running change redecoes were originally meant to be renamed as new characters: these names were revealed through retail listings^[2] as "Trench," "Burro," and "Cro", with the latter eventually being repurposed as a new character.

Wave 1 (August 2000)

Wave 2 (redecos, January 2001)

Beast Riders

An unusual addition to the line, Beast Riders are combat chariots that can carry Basic-class figures, and convert into an attack mode. Like the Deployers, the Beast Riders got new decos for a second (pegwarming) round.

Wave 1 (August 2000)

Wave 2 (redecoes, December 2000)

Exclusives

Target (October 2000)

Magmatron

BotCon 2000 (July 28, 2000)

Apelinq

Fast food promotions

McDonald's

McDonald's ran a Beast Machines promotion in August 2000. It came in two different cardboard "Happy Meal" boxes (which were co-branded with Hello Kitty)

The line-up:

Red Rooster

In 2001, four of the McDonald's molds were retooled to be simpler (which is hard to imagine but there you go) and redecoed by the Australian chain Red Rooster for their "Little Red Rooster" meals. Each one came in four different colorations: red & green, blue & light blue, and color-swaps of those two.

Nightscream (actually the Megatron mold)

Jetstorm

Rattrap

Tankor

Jollibee

In 2009, Philippine fast food chain Jollibee sold three Beast Machines figures as part of their "Jollibee Kids Meals", each one based on their original mainline toys. That was kind of weird.

Optimus Primal

Megatron

Cheetor

Takara Beast Wars Returns toyline

Japanese G1 continuity

«

Beast Wars Returns

»

Toyline

Cartoon

In Japan, Beast Machines did not see release until 2004 (the only figure to make it to Japan during the series' lifespan was Primal Prime). The entire line was Toys"R"Us-exclusive, and limited to about 3,000-4,000 units apiece. As such, some of these items command high prices on the secondary market, especially tail-end items.

The toys have been redecoed to (theoretically) better match the show models, some more extensively than others.

Wave 1 (11-18-2004)

BR-01 Convoy
BR-02 Cheetus
BR-03 Rattle
BR-04 Blackwidow
BR-05 Megatron

Wave 2 (3-31-2005)

Wave 3 (4-14-2005)

Lucky draw

Cheetus Black Version (Perfect Choice exclusive)

Post-Beast Machines releases

Even after the original Beast Machines toyline ended, several cast members saw new toys released in other Transformers lines.

Titanium Series Cheetor Primal Prime (canceled)	Universe (2003) Blackarachnia Blastcharge Night Slash Cheetor Snarl Skydive	Nemesis Strika Dinobot Striker Tankor & Obsidian Dinobot Triceradon	Robot Heroes Cheetor & Tankor Optimus Primal & Jetstorm (Canceled)	Generations Tankor
BotCon 2013 Obsidian Strika Blastcharge Strika Drone	Transformers Collectors' Club Thrustinator	Generations Tankor	BotCon 2014 Knight Apelinq Primal Prime	Generations Tankor
Platinum Edition Optimus Primal	Tiny Titans Cheetor	Encore Returns Convoy	War for Cybertron: Kingdom WFC-K37 Maximal T-Wrecks
Legacy Cheetor

Notes

Sadly, neither Spark appears to actually spark.

The Deployers and Beast Riders were developed by (now-defunct) Hasbro Direct, Hasbro's department normally devoted to store exclusives and other retailer-oriented projects, hence their rather dubious compatibility with the rest of the Beast Machines line.
A practice unique to Beast Machines was to often have one concept artist design the robot mode and another design the beast or vehicle mode, leading to two forms that are startlingly different from each other... and leading to some hellish nightmares for the engineering department. Indeed, according to Hideaki Yoke, the difficulty with this method was so high and work intensive that Takara lost confidence in the line, instead deciding to go back to their roots with the Transformers: Car Robots line for the Japanese market.^[3]
A number of robot mode designs appear to have been handled by comic book artist Ken Lashley, who would be retained to handle most of the concepts for the ill-fated Transtech line. On Takara's end of the design process, some design and engineering work was subcontracted out to the designer Junichi Akutsu, alias BEE-CRAFT.
Early concepts for the Battle for the Spark continuation pitched the idea of interchangeable "Spark" accessories, one proposed version being a gearbox that drove complex gimmickry, while another functioned more like a Mini-Con or Cyber Key that unlocked spring-loaded features.^[4]
Around December 2000, the online retailer BigBadToyStore put up a list of upcoming Transformers product from Hasbro. Although the main point of interest was a Transtech assortment listing, it revealed several tail-end and unreleased Beast Machines: Battle for the Spark toys.

Foreign names

French: Ani Machines (France), Mécanimaux (Canada)
Spanish: Mecanibestias (Latin America)

References

↑ "For a long time, it had been sequential, so there was Beast Wars, and then Beast Machines came along—that wasn't performing as well, it was a little more... odd vehicle forms, or even beast forms. Beast Wars was great, you could tell what things were, even when they were hybrid or Fuzors, you could kind of tell what they were. If you look at Beast Machines, it's kind of like 'a truck thing' or 'a flying thing' or- so that alienated a certain amount of audience, so sales were going down. It got a little dark in the storyline at that same time. They were developing Transtech, but that was very short-lived. [...] That would have been the successor but because it was going down this dark road of Beast Machines and that wasn't working, obviously the sequel to that wasn't going to happen."—Aaron Archer on The Toy Armada, 2021/12/14
↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20001206140100/http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/news.asp
↑ Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Generations, p. 121
↑ Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Generations, p. 117

[1] "For a long time, it had been sequential, so there was Beast Wars, and then Beast Machines came along—that wasn't performing as well, it was a little more... odd vehicle forms, or even beast forms. Beast Wars was great, you could tell what things were, even when they were hybrid or Fuzors, you could kind of tell what they were. If you look at Beast Machines, it's kind of like 'a truck thing' or 'a flying thing' or- so that alienated a certain amount of audience, so sales were going down. It got a little dark in the storyline at that same time. They were developing Transtech, but that was very short-lived. [...] That would have been the successor but because it was going down this dark road of Beast Machines and that wasn't working, obviously the sequel to that wasn't going to happen."—Aaron Archer on The Toy Armada, 2021/12/14

[2] ttp://web.archive.org/web/20001206140100/http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/news.asp

[3] Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Generations, p. 121

[4] Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Generations, p. 117

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 23:21, 4 April 2026

Contents

Overview

Hasbro Beast Machines toyline

Standard retail line

Exclusives

Fast food promotions

Takara Beast Wars Returns toyline

Post-Beast Machines releases

Notes

Foreign names

References

Navigation menu

Page actions

Page actions

Personal tools

Navigation

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@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 ==Overview==
-''Beast Machines'' continued many of its predecessor's elements, retaining the Maximal faction and a number of its main characters, but now pitted against the new Vehicon faction. Both sides tended toward unorthodox designs; the toys also made frequent use of translucent plastic and chrome finishes. A concerted push was made towards giving the figures more character-centric internal action features as opposed to the missile launchers or simpler spring-loaded weaponry that defined [[Beast Wars (toyline)|''Beast Wars'']], going so far as moving eyes or jaws. [[Spark crystal]]s carried over from ''Beast Wars'', eventually becoming central to the final gimmick in the line.  Aesthetically, the smooth, curvaceous designs of the Maximals is a further evolution of the earlier [[Transmetal]] design styles, seamlessly blending the mechanical and the organic, often hiding mechanical detailing behind transparent panels. In contrast, the Vehicons had emphatically Cybertronian vehicle forms with visible machinery, often with certain character flourishes in vehicle mode like swiveling cockpits or a moving eye inside a tank turret. Both factions featured some unorthodox robot modes, with the Vehicons erring on the side of inhuman faces, weaponized limbs, and unusual forms of locomotion, while the Maximals tended towards more conventional yet exaggerated humanoid proportions.
+''Beast Machines'' continued many of its predecessor's elements, retaining the Maximal faction and a number of its main characters, but now pitted against the new Vehicon faction. Both sides tended toward unorthodox designs; the toys also made frequent use of translucent plastic and chrome finishes. A concerted push was made towards giving the figures more character-centric internal action features as opposed to the missile launchers or simpler spring-loaded weaponry that defined [[Beast Wars (toyline)|''Beast Wars'']], going so far as moving eyes or jaws. [[Spark crystal]]s carried over from ''Beast Wars'', eventually becoming central to the final gimmick in the line. Aesthetically, the smooth, curvaceous designs of the Maximals is a further evolution of the earlier [[Transmetal]] design styles, seamlessly blending the mechanical and the organic, often hiding mechanical detailing behind transparent panels. In contrast, the Vehicons had emphatically Cybertronian vehicle forms with visible machinery, often with certain character flourishes in vehicle mode like swiveling cockpits or a moving eye inside a tank turret. Both factions featured some unorthodox robot modes, with the Vehicons erring on the side of inhuman faces, weaponized limbs, and unusual forms of locomotion, while the Maximals tended towards more conventional yet exaggerated humanoid proportions.
 [[Show-accuracy]] (including inter-character [[scale]]) was widely variable across the entire toy line. Show production house [[Mainframe Entertainment]] apparently began animating the characters from early concept sketches, designs that by necessity changed a great deal during the translation into toy form. Thus many characters' (initial) toy and cartoon depictions bear relatively little resemblance to each other.
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 [[Image:BMBattleforthespark.png|right|300px]]
-The back end of the ''Beast Machines'' toyline, starting in 2001, featured the first full-on [[subline imprint]] for ''Transformers'', called "''Battle for the Spark''", reflecting the storyline of the cartoon's second season. This also tied in with a unifying theme for the new-mold toys, where action features are activated by pressing on the [[spark crystal]]s. By this time, many toys were designed to emulate their show models, and did so to an impressive degree.  The more complex action features also led to the first price hike since the Transformers toyline had switched to standardized [[size class|price classes]] at the start of Beast Wars, with the Basics class increasing from $4.99USD [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_price MSRP] to $6.99.
+The back end of the ''Beast Machines'' toyline, starting in 2001, featured the first full-on [[subline imprint]] for ''Transformers'', called "''Battle for the Spark''", reflecting the storyline of the cartoon's second season. This also tied in with a unifying theme for the new-mold toys, where action features are activated by pressing on the [[spark crystal]]s. By this time, many toys were designed to emulate their show models, and did so to an impressive degree. The more complex action features also led to the first price hike since the Transformers toyline had switched to standardized [[size class|price classes]] at the start of Beast Wars, with the Basics class increasing from US$4.99 {{w|List price|MSRP}} to $6.99.
-The final releases of ''Beast Wars'' overlapped on the shelves with the start of Beast Machines, which was taken into account as some events from Beast Machines are directly referenced on the packaging of the ''[[Mutant (BW)|Mutants]]''.  The ''[[Dinobot (BM)|Dinobots]]'' subline, consisting of [[redeco]]ed molds from both the Hasbro ''Beast Wars'' and [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)#1999 (Beast Wars Neo)|Beast Wars Neo]]'' lines, shipped in the same packaging assortments with the normal figures.
+The final releases of ''Beast Wars'' overlapped on the shelves with the start of Beast Machines, which was taken into account as some events from Beast Machines are directly referenced on the packaging of the ''[[Mutant (BW)|Mutants]]''. The ''[[Dinobot (BM)|Dinobots]]'' subline, consisting of [[redeco]]ed molds from both the Hasbro ''Beast Wars'' and [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars (Japanese toyline)#1999 (Beast Wars Neo)|Beast Wars Neo]]'' lines, shipped in the same packaging assortments with the normal figures.
-Due to underwhelming sales, usual toyline fatigue, a particularly dark story, and internal Hasbro/Kenner shakeups<ref>"For a long time, it had been sequential, so there was ''Beast Wars'', and then ''Beast Machines'' came along—that wasn't performing as well, it was a little more... odd vehicle forms, or even beast forms. ''Beast Wars'' was great, you could tell what things were, even when they were hybrid or Fuzors, you could kind of tell what they were. If you look at ''Beast Machines'', it's kind of like 'a truck thing' or 'a flying thing' or- so that alienated a certain amount of audience, so sales were going down. It got a little dark in the storyline at that same time. They were developing ''Transtech'', but that was very short-lived. [...] That would have been the successor but because it was going down this dark road of ''Beast Machines'' and that wasn't working, obviously the sequel to that wasn't going to happen."—[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNgWvNmMJfE&t=323s Aaron Archer on ''The Toy Armada'', 2021/12/14]</ref>, it was decided to cancel the last few waves in development, abandon plans for the sequel series ''[[Transtech]]'', and [[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|re-vamp the franchise from the ground up]]. Takara's ''Car Robots'' series was quickly ported over as "filler" under the name ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'', giving Hasbro and [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] the time needed to coordinate on the [[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|next series]]. Not ones to waste the effort or cost put into the canceled figures, all three finished-yet-unreleased toy molds were eventually released as part of the ''Robots in Disguise'' toyline.
+Due to underwhelming sales, usual toyline fatigue, a particularly dark story, and internal Hasbro/Kenner shakeups,<ref>"For a long time, it had been sequential, so there was ''Beast Wars'', and then ''Beast Machines'' came along—that wasn't performing as well, it was a little more... odd vehicle forms, or even beast forms. ''Beast Wars'' was great, you could tell what things were, even when they were hybrid or Fuzors, you could kind of tell what they were. If you look at ''Beast Machines'', it's kind of like 'a truck thing' or 'a flying thing' or- so that alienated a certain amount of audience, so sales were going down. It got a little dark in the storyline at that same time. They were developing ''Transtech'', but that was very short-lived. [...] That would have been the successor but because it was going down this dark road of ''Beast Machines'' and that wasn't working, obviously the sequel to that wasn't going to happen."—[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNgWvNmMJfE&t=323s Aaron Archer on ''The Toy Armada'', 2021/12/14]</ref> it was decided to cancel the last few waves in development, abandon plans for the sequel series ''[[Transtech]]'', and [[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|re-vamp the franchise from the ground up]]. Takara's ''Car Robots'' series was quickly ported over as "filler" under the name ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)|Robots in Disguise]]'', giving Hasbro and [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] the time needed to coordinate on the [[Transformers: Armada (franchise)|next series]]. Not ones to waste the effort or cost put into the canceled figures, all three finished-yet-unreleased toy molds were eventually released as part of the ''Robots in Disguise'' toyline.
 ==Hasbro ''Beast Machines'' toyline==
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 <ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m2|[[Buzz Saw (BW)#Beast Machines|Buzzsaw]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Mirage (BM)#Toys|Mirage]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Mirage (BM)#Beast Machines|Mirage]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Scavenger (BM)#Toys|Scavenger]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Scavenger (BM)#Beast Machines|Scavenger]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 2''' (March 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Longhorn#Toys|Longhorn]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Longhorn#Beast Machines|Longhorn]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Obsidian (BM)#Toys|Obsidian]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Obsidian (BM)#Beast Machines|Obsidian]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 3''' (June 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Geckobot#Toys|Geckobot]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Geckobot#Beast Machines|Geckobot]]}}
-{{Bp-m2|[[Quickstrike (BM)#Toys|Quickstrike]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Quickstrike (BM)#Beast Machines|Quickstrike]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 4''' (August 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Night Viper#Toys|Night Viper]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Night Viper#Beast Machines|Night Viper]]}}
 {{Bp-m2|[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)#Beast Machines|Silverbolt]]}}
 |
@@ Line 55: / Line 55: @@
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 5''' (BftS, January 2001)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Hammerstrike (BM)#Toys|Hammerstrike]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Hammerstrike (BM)#Beast Machines|Hammerstrike]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Tank Drone#Toys|Tank Drone]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Tank Drone#Beast Machines|Tank Drone]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 6''' (BftS, April 2001)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-vh|[[Cycle Drone#Toys|Motorcycle Drone]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Cycle Drone#Beast Machines|Motorcycle Drone]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Spy Streak#Toys|Spy Streak]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Spy Streak#Beast Machines|Spy Streak]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 7''' (BftS, April 2001)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Battle Unicorn#Toys|Battle Unicorn]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Battle Unicorn#Beast Machines|Battle Unicorn]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''Canceled'''''</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Screechwing#Toys|Screechwing]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Screechwing#Beast Machines|Screechwing]]}}
-{{Bp-m2|[[Spiketail#Toys|Spiketail]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Spiketail#Beast Machines|Spiketail]]}}
 |}
@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 <ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m2|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Beast Machines|Optimus Primal]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Jetstorm (BM)#Toys|Jetstorm]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Jetstorm (BM)#Beast Machines|Jetstorm]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 2''' (March 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-bd|[[Airraptor#Toys|Airraptor]]}}
+{{Bp-bd|[[Airraptor#Beast Machines|Airraptor]]}}
-{{Bp-bd|[[Triceradon (BM)#Toys|Triceradon]]}}
+{{Bp-bd|[[Triceradon (BM)#Beast Machines|Triceradon]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 3''' (March 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-bd|[[Dinotron (BM)#Toys|Dinotron]]}}
+{{Bp-bd|[[Dinotron (BM)#Beast Machines|Dinotron]]}}
-{{Bp-bd|[[Striker#Toys|Striker]]}}
+{{Bp-bd|[[Striker#Beast Machines|Striker]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 4''' (April 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast_Machines|Blackarachnia]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Machines|Blackarachnia]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Thrust (BM)#Toys|Thrust]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Thrust (BM)#Beast Machines|Thrust]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=3|[[File:BM-toy Thrust.jpg|thumb|250px|Deluxe Thrust]]
@@ Line 103: / Line 103: @@
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 5''' (June 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Snarl (BM)#Toys|Snarl]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Snarl (BM)#Beast Machines|Snarl]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 6''' (September 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-vh|[[Blastcharge (BM)#Toys|Blastcharge]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Blastcharge (BM)#Beast Machines|Blastcharge]]}}
-{{Bp-m2|[[Skydive (BM)#Toys|Skydive]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Skydive (BM)#Beast Machines|Skydive]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 7''' (October 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-vh|[[Aero Drone#Toys|Sonic Attack Jet]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Aero Drone#Beast Machines|Sonic Attack Jet]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 8''' (BftS, February 2001)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Noble (BM)#Toys|Beast Changer]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Noble (BM)#Beast Machines|Beast Changer]]}}
-{{Bp-bd|[[Rapticon (BM)#Toys|Rapticon]]}}
+{{Bp-bd|[[Rapticon (BM)#Beast Machines|Rapticon]]}}
-{{Bp-bd|[[Terranotron (BM)#Toys|Terranotron]]}}
+{{Bp-bd|[[Terranotron (BM)#Beast Machines|Terranotron]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|
@@ Line 125: / Line 125: @@
 <ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m2|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#BMNSC|Night Slash Cheetor]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Strika (BM)#Toys|Strika]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Strika (BM)#Beast Machines|Strika]]}}
 |
-|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''Canceled''''' (used later)</u>
+|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''Canceled''''' ([[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|used later]])</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Bruticus (RID)#Toys|Cerberus]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Bruticus (RID)#Robots in Disguise .282001.29|Cerberus]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Megatron (RID)#Megabolt|Megatron]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Megatron (RID)#Megabolt|Megatron Megabolt]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''Totally canceled'''''</u>
@@ Line 144: / Line 144: @@
 <ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m2|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Beast Machines|Cheetor]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Tankor (BM)#Toys|Tankor]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Tankor (BM)#Beast Machines|Tankor]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 2''' (August 2000)</u>
@@ Line 170: / Line 170: @@
 <ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-vh|[[Jetstorm (BM)#BMUltra|Jetstorm]]}}
-{{Bp-bd|[[T-Wrecks#Toys|T-Wrecks]]}}
+{{Bp-bd|[[T-Wrecks#Beast Machines|T-Wrecks]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 2''' (September 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Nightscream (BM)#Toys|Nightscream]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Nightscream (BM)#Beast Machines|Nightscream]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''Canceled'''''</u>
@@ Line 189: / Line 189: @@
 :<u>'''Wave 1''' (July 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-: {{Bp-m2|[[Primal Prime#Toys|Primal Prime]]}}
+: {{Bp-m2|[[Primal Prime#Beast Machines|Primal Prime]]}}
 {{-}}
 <big>'''Supreme</big>'''
-:A new price point for the line, the Supreme class featured the biggest/tallest ''Transformers'' toys since 1987's [[Fortress Maximus (G1)#Toys|Fortress Maximus]] (if not the most massive).
+:A new price point for the line, the Supreme class featured the biggest/tallest ''Transformers'' toys since 1987's [[Fortress Maximus (G1)#Beast Machines|Fortress Maximus]] (if not the most massive).
 {| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 1''' (July 2000)</u>
@@ Line 200: / Line 200: @@
 {{Bp-m2|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#BMSupreme|Cheetor]]}}
 |
-|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''Canceled''''' (used later)</u>
+|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''Canceled''''' ([[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 toyline)|used later]])</u>
 {{Bp-m2|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Robots in Disguise (2001)|Air Attack Optimus Primal]]}}
 |
@@ Line 218: / Line 218: @@
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 1''' (August 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Dillo#Toys|Dillo]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Dillo#Beast Machines|Dillo]]}}
-{{Bp-m2|[[Mol#Toys|Mol]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Mol#Beast Machines|Mol]]}}
-{{Bp-m2|[[Rav (BM)#Toys|Rav]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Rav (BM)#Beast Machines|Rav]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 2''' (redecos, January 2001)</u>
@@ Line 241: / Line 241: @@
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 1''' (August 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Che#Toys|Che]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Che#Beast Machines|Che]]}}
-{{Bp-vh|[[Mechatron#Toys|Mechatron]]}}
+{{Bp-vh|[[Mechatron#Beast Machines|Mechatron]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Wave 2''' (redecoes, December 2000)</u>
@@ Line 253: / Line 253: @@
 |width="20%" valign="top"|
 |
-|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:BM Che toy.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Beast Rider Che]]
+|width="20%" valign="top"|[[File:BM-toy Che v1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Beast Rider Che]]
 |}
 {{--}}
@@ Line 261: / Line 261: @@
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[Target]]''' (October 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-bd|[[Magmatron#Beast Machines|Magmatron]]}}
+{{Bp-bd|[[Magmatron (BW)#Beast Machines|Magmatron]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[BotCon 2000]]''' ([[July 28]], 2000)</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-m2|[[Apelinq (BM)#Toys|Apelinq]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Apelinq (BM)#Beast Machines|Apelinq]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|
@@ Line 295: / Line 295: @@
 <ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m2|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#McDonaldsBM|Optimus Primal]]}}
-{{Bp-m2|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Beast_Machines|Rattrap]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Beast Machines|Rattrap]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<br>
@@ Line 311: / Line 311: @@
 :In 2001, four of the McDonald's molds were [[retool]]ed to be simpler (which is hard to imagine but there you go) and [[redeco]]ed by the Australian chain [[List of Transformers restaurant promotions|Red Rooster]] for their "Little Red Rooster" meals. Each one came in four different colorations: red & green, blue & light blue, and color-swaps of those two.
-: {{Bp-m2|Nightscream (actually the [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Red_Rooster|Megatron]] mold)}}
+: {{Bp-m2|Nightscream (actually the [[Megatron (BW)/toys#Red Rooster|Megatron]] mold)}}
 : {{Bp-vh|[[Jetstorm (BM)#RedRooster|Jetstorm]]}}
 : {{Bp-m2|[[Rattrap (BW)/toys#RedRooster|Rattrap]]}}
@@ Line 329: / Line 329: @@
 ==Takara ''Beast Wars Returns'' toyline==
 {{anchor|Japan}}{{nav-bwReturns}}
-In Japan, ''Beast Machines'' did not see release until 2004 (the only figure to make it to Japan during the series' lifespan was [[Primal Prime#Toys|Primal Prime]]). The entire line was [[Toys"R"Us]]-[[exclusive]], and limited to about 3,000-4,000 units apiece. As such, some of these items command high prices on the secondary market, especially [[tail-ender|tail-end]] items.
+In Japan, ''Beast Machines'' did not see release until 2004 (the only figure to make it to Japan during the series' lifespan was [[Primal Prime#Beast Machines|Primal Prime]]). The entire line was [[Toys"R"Us]]-[[exclusive]], and limited to about 3,000-4,000 units apiece. As such, some of these items command high prices on the secondary market, especially [[tail-ender|tail-end]] items.
 The toys have been redecoed to (theoretically) better match the show models, some more extensively than others.
@@ Line 337: / Line 337: @@
 <ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m2|BR-01 [[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Beast Wars Returns|Convoy]]}}
-{{Bp-m2|BR-02 [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Beast Machines|Cheetus]]}}
+{{Bp-m2|BR-02 [[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Beast Wars Returns|Cheetus]]}}
 {{Bp-m2|BR-03 [[Rattrap (BW)/toys#Beast Wars Returns|Rattle]]}}
 {{Bp-m2|BR-04 [[Blackarachnia (BW)/toys#Beast Wars Returns|Blackwidow]]}}
@@ Line 399: / Line 399: @@
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[BotCon 2013]]'''</u>
 <ul class="iconlist">
-{{Bp-a1|[[Obsidian (BM)#Timelines_2|Obsidian]]}}
+{{Bp-a1|[[Obsidian (BM)#Timelines 2|Obsidian]]}}
 {{Bp-a1|[[Strika (BM)#Timelines|Strika]]}}
-{{Bp-a1|[[Blastcharge Strika Drone#Toys|Blastcharge Strika Drone]]}}
+{{Bp-a1|[[Blastcharge Strika Drone#Timelines|Blastcharge Strika Drone]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[Transformers Collectors' Club]]'''</u>
@@ Line 408: / Line 408: @@
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''[[Transformers: Generations (toyline)|Generations]]'''''</u>
+<ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-vh|[[Tankor (BM)#Generations|Tankor]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[BotCon 2014]]'''</u>
+<ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-a1|[[Apelinq (BM)#Timelines|Knight Apelinq]]}}
 {{Bp-a1|[[Primal Prime#Timelines|Primal Prime]]}}
 |
-|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=2|
+|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=4|
 |-
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''[[Transformers: Platinum Edition|Platinum Edition]]'''''</u>
+<ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m2|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Platinum Edition|Optimus Primal]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''[[Tiny Titans]]'''''</u>
+<ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-a1|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Tiny Titans|Cheetor]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''[[Transformers Encore|Encore]]'''''</u>
+<ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m2|[[Optimus Primal (BW)/toys#Encore|Returns Convoy]]}}
 |
 |width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''[[War for Cybertron: Kingdom]]'''''</u>
+<ul class="iconlist">
 {{Bp-m1|WFC-K37 [[T-Wrecks#War for Cybertron: Kingdom|Maximal T-Wrecks]]}}
-|
+|-
+|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''''[[Transformers: Legacy|Legacy]]'''''</u>
+<ul class="iconlist">
+{{Bp-m2|[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Legacy|Cheetor]]}}
 |}
-{{--}}
+{{-}}
 ==Notes==
 [[File:BM_Battle_For_The_Spark_Gimmick.jpg|thumb|Sadly, neither [[Spark]] appears to actually [[Sparking gimmick|spark]].]]
 * The [[Deployer (BM)|Deployers]] and [[Beast Rider]]s were developed by (now-defunct) [[Hasbro Direct]], [[Hasbro]]'s department normally devoted to store exclusives and other retailer-oriented projects, hence their rather dubious compatibility with the rest of the ''Beast Machines'' line.
-* A practice at the time of ''Beast Machines'' was to often have one concept artist design the robot mode and another design the beast/vehicle mode, leading to two forms that are startlingly different from each other... and probably leading to some hellish nightmares for the engineering department.
+* A practice unique to ''Beast Machines'' was to often have one concept artist design the robot mode and another design the beast or vehicle mode, leading to two forms that are startlingly different from each other... and leading to some hellish nightmares for the engineering department.  Indeed, according to [[Hideaki Yoke]], the difficulty with this method was ''so'' high and work intensive that [[TakaraTomy|Takara]] lost confidence in the line, instead deciding to go back to their roots with the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)#Japanese release|Transformers: Car Robots]] line for the Japanese market.<ref>''[[Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Generations]]'', p. 121</ref>
-* On Takara's end of the design process, some design and engineering work was subcontracted out to the designer [[Junichi Akutsu]], alias BEE-CRAFT.
+* A number of robot mode designs appear to have been handled by comic book artist [[Draxhall Jump|Ken Lashley]], who would be retained to handle most of the concepts for the ill-fated [[Transtech]] line.  On Takara's end of the design process, some design and engineering work was subcontracted out to the designer [[Junichi Akutsu]], alias BEE-CRAFT.
-*Early concepts for the ''Battle for the Spark'' continuation pitched the idea of interchangeable "Spark" accessories, one proposed version being a gearbox that drove complex gimmickry, while another functioned more like a [[Mini-Con]] or [[Cyber Key]] that unlocked spring-loaded features.<ref>''[[Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Generations]]'', p117</ref>
+* Early concepts for the ''Battle for the Spark'' continuation pitched the idea of interchangeable "Spark" accessories, one proposed version being a gearbox that drove complex gimmickry, while another functioned more like a [[Mini-Con]] or [[Cyber Key]] that unlocked spring-loaded features.<ref>''[[Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Generations]]'', p. 117</ref>
 * Around December 2000, the online retailer [[BigBadToyStore]] put up a [http://web.archive.org/web/20001206140100/http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/news.asp list] of upcoming ''Transformers'' product from Hasbro. Although the main point of interest was a ''[[Transtech]]'' assortment listing, it revealed several tail-end and unreleased ''Beast Machines: Battle for the Spark'' toys.