Beastformers (franchise)
| This article is about the franchise. For the species, see Beastformer. |
The Beastformers (ビーストフォーマー Bīsutofōmā) franchise, focused on the Beastformers, was developed jointly by Hasbro and Takara in 1986 and released as a spin-off of the Japanese Headmasters series in 1987.
The American/European version of the line, called Battle Beasts, is fictionally unconnected to Transformers.
Fiction
Beastformers catalogs
The main story of Beastformers was told through text stories included a series of catalogs.
Beastformers comics
While the Beastformers received their most high profile fiction in conjunction with Japanese Transformers productions, they did receive a few comics exclusive to their subline in the pages of the Hero Special magazine. It should be noted that these were fumetti or "photonovel" comics which featured panels assembled from photographs of the actual toys set up in diorama environments.
Toys
Battle Beasts/Beastformers are soft plastic figures of anthropomorphic animals in high-tech armor, each about 1.5 inches tall, with swivel-jointed shoulders and a unique weapon accessory. Their primary gimmick is the use of rubsigns. In the initial Takara releases, they came in Transformers-style boxes.
Their rubsigns were used to play a variation of "Rock-Paper-Scissors". Each Beast could have one of three "elements" revealed by the rubsign: Wood, Fire or Water. Wood beats Water, Water beats Fire, and Fire beats Wood. A rare fourth element, Sunburst ("Burstsun" in Japan), could beat any other, though this symbol was introduced late in the line. Since the symbols were heat-activated, it was impossible to determine what each toys' symbol was until the toys were freed from their packaging. (Reportedly, only White Leo was available as a "Burstsun" warrior in Japan.) The Hasbro line packaged them as two-packs with randomized pairings, while the Takara series had individual boxes with bio cards.
Series 1 (1987)
Packaged in Transformers-style boxes, the initial Beastformers were divided between the Autobot and Decepticon factions on the basis of whether their species was an endothermic vertebrate (mammal or bird) or... well, anything else. The one exception was the Decepticon Devilbat.
| Individual figures |  |
Series 2 (1987)
At this point, Beastformers boxes ceased to use the Autobot and Decepticon symbols and faction-coded red and purple backgrounds. They were still divided between Autobot and Decepticon factions, with appropriate faction insignia on the bio cards included in their boxes. The Autobot Beastformers were still exclusively mammals and birds, while the Decepticon Beastformers welcomed owls and a variety of mammals into their ranks.
| Individual figures |
Series 3 (1987)
With the third wave release, the rubsigns were reworked so they featured full-color illustrations, rather than the black-on-mood-ring-colors of the old signs. All Series 1 Beastformers were repackaged to fit with the new Beastformers brand and given the updated rubsigns. The Series 2 Beastformers were also rereleased with the updated rubsigns in Series 3 boxes. Numerous multi-packs — with exclusive variations — were released in Japan as well.
Vehicles were also introduced to the line, motorized "Head Hunter" chariots and transforming "Battle Bases" that unfolded into large playsets.
| Individual figures | ||||||||
| Head Hunters | Battle Bases |
Laser Beasts (1988)
An evolution of the gimmick was planned for both sides of the world, replacing the rubsigns with clear marbles that would reveal their element when looked through into a light source. The US/Europe version of these toys, dubbed the Battle Beasts Shadow Warriors, never made it to a wide release, though packaged samples of the toys have been uncovered. In Japan, the entire range made it to retail, under the name Laser Beasts, likely named as such due to the combination of their light-based gimmick, and that the melee weapons of old were replaced with blaster-rifles. However, the Laser Beasts came out after the Beastformers had removed all their ties to Transformers, including the faction ties.
| Individual figures | ||||||||
| Multi-packs | Battlecruisers |
Notes
- At the 2009 Comic-Con, it was announced that Diamond Select, the producer of Minimates, bought the Battle Beasts trademark. [1] In 2012, IDW Publishing released a Battle Beasts miniseries based on the Minimates, completely unrelated to Transformers.
- TakaraTomy's Beast Saga toyline shares many similarities to Beastformers, including being set on Beast and featuring several returning characters, but is not considered a direct continuation of the latter. A manga began serialization in Saikyo Jump in early 2012, and was adapted into an anime in January 2013, though the story is again unrelated to Transformers.
Foreign names
- French: Les Dragonautes, Comba Nimaux (Canada)
- Portuguese: Bestias Combate
