Beast Machines: Transformers (toyline): Difference between revisions

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Expanded the write-up: Sublines, scale, show-accuracy, this and that.
Oops. Mutants weren't part of BM.
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After three years of the successful [[Beast Wars]] franchise, Hasbro felt it was time to revamp the line, leading to the bold and adventurous '''Beast Machines'''.  The Maximal faction and a number of its main characters carried over, as they faced off against Megatron's army of Vehicons.  Both factions had radical new design elements: unorthodox designs, translucent plastic, chrome finishes.  The Maximals were a smooth blend of the organic and robotic (unlike the reversed feel of the Transmetals, or the almost painful fusion of Transmetal 2s).  The Vehicons themselves had very Cybertronian vehicle modes and very unorthodox robot modes (by Transformers standards).   
After three years of the successful [[Beast Wars]] franchise, Hasbro felt it was time to revamp the line, leading to the bold and adventurous '''Beast Machines'''.  The Maximal faction and a number of its main characters carried over, as they faced off against Megatron's army of Vehicons.  Both factions had radical new design elements: unorthodox designs, translucent plastic, chrome finishes.  The Maximals were a smooth blend of the organic and robotic (unlike the reversed feel of the Transmetals, or the almost painful fusion of Transmetal 2s).  The Vehicons themselves had very Cybertronian vehicle modes and very unorthodox robot modes (by Transformers standards).   


Several experimental sublines appeared during Beast Machines: the Beast Riders, non-transforming vehicles to scall with the smaller figures; the Mutants, Transformers that changed from one beast mode to another without a robot form, and Deployers, beasts that changed to weapons useable by the larger figures.
Several experimental sublines appeared during Beast Machines: the Beast Riders, non-transforming vehicles to scall with the smaller figures, and Deployers, beasts that changed to weapons useable by the larger figures.  Though technically part of the Beast Wars line, the Mutants (Transformers that changed from one beast mode to another without a robot form) also appeared while Beast Machines was on the shelves, adding to the diverse array of Transformer toys available at the time.


While the relative scale of characters has never translated perfectly from show to toy in any Transformers line,  Beast Machines is especially notorious for it.  Of the Maximals who appeared on the show, Nightscream is the smallest, yet his toy is a hulking Ultra, making him to scale with only the largest toys (Supreme Cheetor and, perhaps, Air Attack Primal -- the latter not even released till well after Beast Machines ended.)  Silverbolt is the tallest show Maximal, but has a Basic-sized toy.  Rattrap is larger than Blackarachnia; Primal came in Deluxe and Mega sizes, though neither was strongly show-accurate.
While the relative scale of characters has never translated perfectly from show to toy in any Transformers line,  Beast Machines is especially notorious for it.  Of the Maximals who appeared on the show, Nightscream is the smallest, yet his toy is a hulking Ultra, making him to scale with only the largest toys (Supreme Cheetor and, perhaps, Air Attack Primal -- the latter not even released till well after Beast Machines ended.)  Silverbolt is the tallest show Maximal, but has a Basic-sized toy.  Rattrap is larger than Blackarachnia; Primal came in Deluxe and Mega sizes, though neither was strongly show-accurate.

Revision as of 00:58, 19 June 2007

After three years of the successful Beast Wars franchise, Hasbro felt it was time to revamp the line, leading to the bold and adventurous Beast Machines. The Maximal faction and a number of its main characters carried over, as they faced off against Megatron's army of Vehicons. Both factions had radical new design elements: unorthodox designs, translucent plastic, chrome finishes. The Maximals were a smooth blend of the organic and robotic (unlike the reversed feel of the Transmetals, or the almost painful fusion of Transmetal 2s). The Vehicons themselves had very Cybertronian vehicle modes and very unorthodox robot modes (by Transformers standards).

Several experimental sublines appeared during Beast Machines: the Beast Riders, non-transforming vehicles to scall with the smaller figures, and Deployers, beasts that changed to weapons useable by the larger figures. Though technically part of the Beast Wars line, the Mutants (Transformers that changed from one beast mode to another without a robot form) also appeared while Beast Machines was on the shelves, adding to the diverse array of Transformer toys available at the time.

While the relative scale of characters has never translated perfectly from show to toy in any Transformers line, Beast Machines is especially notorious for it. Of the Maximals who appeared on the show, Nightscream is the smallest, yet his toy is a hulking Ultra, making him to scale with only the largest toys (Supreme Cheetor and, perhaps, Air Attack Primal -- the latter not even released till well after Beast Machines ended.) Silverbolt is the tallest show Maximal, but has a Basic-sized toy. Rattrap is larger than Blackarachnia; Primal came in Deluxe and Mega sizes, though neither was strongly show-accurate.

Show-accuracy, in fact, was widely variable as well. Mainframe apparently began animating the characters from early concept sketches, designs which of necessity changed a great deal in the translation into toys. Thus many characters' depictions in toy and cartoon bear relatively little resemblance to one another. The late-arriving Motorcycle Drone and Tank Drone toys, both highly show-accurate, may have been an explicit attempt to mitigate this.

The line's overall success was limited. Due to the way Beast Machines was received, the planned sequel line, Transtech, was cancelled early in development. Beast Machines wrapped up with a deep-discount clearance at Kay*Bee Toys (to the delight of fans who wanted to accumlate large numbers of troop-building Vehicons.)

It should be noted that while Takara stamps are present on every Beast Machines toy, Japan did not receive anything relating to the line until 2005.

2000

Maximal

Deployers

Beast Riders

  • Che (cheetah chariot)
  • Che (cheetah chariot) repaint

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra

Super

Supreme

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

Vehicon

Basic

Beast Riders

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

Dinobots

Deluxe

Ultra

2001

Maximal

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Vehicon

Basic

Deluxe

Dinobots

Deluxe

2002

These toys were released under Robots in Desguise, but were designed for Beast Machines

Maximal

Supreme

Predacon

Deluxe

2005 (Beast Wars Returns)

Cybertrons

Destrons

  • Megahead Megatron - Redeco of Robots in Disguise Megatron Megabolt
  • Megatron - Beast Machines dragon Megatron
  • Vehicon Jetstorm - Redeco of Beast Machines Ultra Jetstorm
  • Vehicon Obsidian - Redeco of Beast Machines Obsidian
  • Vehicon Stryka - Redeco ofBeast Machines Strika
  • Vehicon Tankor - Redeco of Beast Machines Tank Drone
  • Vehicon Thrust - Redeco of Beast Machines Motorcycle Drone

Trivia

  • The Deployers and Beast Riders were developed by 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.
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