Fortress (Beastformers)

This article is about the Beastformers battle stations. For the other "Fortresses", see Fortress Maximus (disambiguation).

Now them's some hot wings!

In ancient times, three legendary warriors protected the early Beastformer civlizations from all manner of threat. Though they eventually passed, each one was reincarnated as a powerful, high-tech Fortress embodying one of the three elemental powers of planet Beast. Each one is a massive mechanical animal that can transform into a battle station armed to the teeth (and with teeth in one case!). They lay in wait for centuries, prophesized to return when the planet faces great peril.

Though each one is incredibly powerful on its own, they cannot reach their full potential without the partnership of a strong Beastformer warrior at the helm. Combined with a worthy pilot, each Fortress becomes an absolute powerhouse!

The three heroes are:

Rex, the Flame Fortress Red Phoenix

Jack, the Deep Sea Fortress Shocking Shark

Vicky, the Forest Fortress Wood Beetle

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

• Red Phoenix (Fortress, 1987)
  • Accessories: Cannon, double-barreled cannon, storage container

Released in the third wave of Takara's Transformers: Beastformers toyline, Red Phoenix is a large mechanical "firebird" with small wheels on the underside so it can roll along. There is a pilot "seat" toward the back of its neck where a Beastformer or Laser Beast can stand (or any small Transformer or other toy, whatever makes you happy), behind a movable (non-firing) double-barreled blaster. The firebird's lower jaw is spring-loaded to hold targets tight. There is a removable compartment under its right wing for storing accessories.

It opens up into a tower playset with the head up top, watching over a prison cell to hold captives (all good 80's playsets had a prison in them!). This also reveals a larger (non-firing) cannon between the bird's "feet".

Red Phoenix came packed with the Beastformer Flykick, as well as bio cards for the both of them. (The Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the toy came with a randomly-packed Battle Beast figure.)

This set also came with a very important pack-in flier, depicting the left half of the "Mysterious Ancient Document", the other half packed in the "Burstsun Special Set" figure ten-pack. By mailing the two halves as well as a survey questionnaire available in both sets to Takara by January 31 1988, you could get the exclusive "Ceramic Special Cobrander" figure... though apparently Takara severely underestimated the number of mail-ins they would get and had to do a second run of the figure to meet the demand.

Beastformers

• Red Phoenix (Fortress, 1988)
  • Accessories: Cannon, double-barreled cannon, storage container

Red Phoenix was repackaged and re-released in the post-Transformers "RPG" version of the line, once again coming with Flykick, though seemingly sold in smaller numbers than the other two Fortresses. Aside from the change in the outer box, this release also comes with new bio cards for Red Phoenix and Flykick in the "RPG" style, though Phoenix's lacks any kind of game stats.

• Shocking Shark (Fortress, 1988)
  • Accessories: 2 double-barreled cannons, gripper-claw

Released in the post-Transformers "RPG" portion of Takara's Beastformers toyline, the Shocking Shark is a large mechanical shark (obviously) with small wheels on the underside so it can roll along. At the top of its head is a small pilot's compartment that can "seat" a Beastformer or Laser Beast (or any small Transformer or other toy, use your imagination!), with a small mounting point for one of the included double-barreled cannons or spring-loaded gripper-claw in the front. The large turbine fan on the tail is only attached by a simple post, which means it can be rotated (not freely) and also removed, revealing a lot of empty space that can be used for figure and accessory storage.

It opens up into a water-themed battle station with a central "waterfall". Unlike the other two Fortresses, the transformation is asymmetrical and results in the pilot compartment being rendered unusable in base form, upside-down and flat against the back of the base. The left side of the base has a prison cell (a very common feature among 80's playsets). The right side has two flip-out panels with weapon mounting points, one from the side of the main body, and a smaller one in the side of the tail. A third weapon mounting point is revealed at the front of the base on the shark's lower jaw; there is just enough clearance for the barrels of the double-guns or the gripper-claw to stick out of the shark-mode mouth if you leave them mounted there. However, they butt right up against the upper jaw wedged between the teeth, so they're rendered effectively immobile.

This set came with the Strong Hippo figure as its pilot. (The Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the toy came with a randomly-packed Battle Beast figure.)

Thennnk yeewwww!

• Wood Beetle (Battle Base, 1988)
  • Accessories: Horn-blaster, double-blaster, left & right side-cannons, 2 storage panels

Released in the post-Transformers "RPG" portion of Takara's Beastformers toyline, the Wood Beetle is a large mechanical beetle with small wheels on the underside so it can roll along. The head of the beetle can "seat" a Beastformer or Laser Beast (or any small Transformer or other toy, go nuts, we're not your parents), and has a movable (non-firing) blaster, as well as a spring-loaded capture claw. It also features a posable double-blaster on its top, rotating removable side-cannons, plus the dark-brown panels over the rear "treads" can be pulled off to reveal accessory storage compartments. (The white parts also come off, but they're a bit less useful as storage.)

It opens up into a wood-themed battle station, which also allows the beetle head a lot more freedom to move. The left side has a jail cell for holding prisoners, while the right side has a large... compartment? It's pretty deep, deeper than the Beastformer/Laser Beast figures are tall.

This set came with the Wavemoose figure as its pilot (the Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the toy came with a randomly-packed Battle Beast figure).

Notes

• Red Phoenix is the only one of the three Fortresses whose package art changed between the Hasbro and Takara releases... and only a partial change at that. The base image of Phoenix on the background is the same, but features a completely different set of beasts than the Hasbro "Blazing Eagle" art. This was both to advertise the special Cobrander figure tie-in... and because Eagle's art had Flykick in the jail cell. So obviously that had to change.
• Also not changed from the Battle Beasts releases: the customer-applied sticker sheets. Yep, those had the Battle Beasts logo and everything.

Foreign names

• English: Transport Stations