Beast Wars: Transformers (toyline)

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With sales of the Generation 2 toyline proving unremarkable by 1995, Hasbro faced a choice: end the Transformers brand for a second time, or completely revamp the concept. They chose the second option, and Beast Wars: Transformers was the result. The toys were initially developed and distributed by Hasbro's Kenner division, but with the massive success of Beast Wars, the parent company eventually reclaimed control of the brand. Beast Wars packaging was branded "Kenner" until the 1998 Transmetals 2 packaging sported "Hasbro" logos again. The European multilingual packaging variants already shifted back to "Hasbro" with the Fuzors and Transmetals.

The new franchise consisted entirely of robots who transformed into beasts: insects, mammals, and more. The traditional factions of Autobot and Decepticon were replaced with heroic Maximals and evil Predacons. Most radically, the beast modes were intended to represent fully natural and organic animals, as opposed to the "mechanical beasts" represented by the likes of Generation 1's Dinobots and Terrorcons.

In the beginning, came the beasts, and all that creeps, crawls and flies. But nature lies, they're robots in disguise!
Transmetals! They're extreme!
Transmetals 2! They're extremely extreme!

The Beast Wars toyline brought poseability to full fruition. Whereas Generation 2 marketed a handful of toys as "super poseable", Beast Wars made it standard for virtually every toy. Heavy use of ball joints gave the figures unprecedented degrees of freedom — often greater than that of a normal, non-transforming action figure. Poseability — a rarity in the days of G1 — became commonplace and expected after Beast Wars.

Concealed parts and weapons also became standard during Beast Wars. Again, Generation 2 had introduced a number of toys whose kibble had a place to store when not in use, but it was Beast Wars that made it a universal feature.

Beast Wars also introduced a standardized system of price points to Transformers: $5 Basics, $10 Deluxes, $15 Megas, and $20 Ultras. The price for Basics eventually rose to $7, but the system remained largely unaltered through the end of Beast Machines. Portions of the system continue to be used today (the Basics were "Scouts" during Cybertron, and the Mega has been replaced with the $20, slightly-larger "Voyager".) A rarely-seen, extra-large Super class was introduced with the Optimal Optimus toy in 1998.

The toyline evolved over its three and a half year run. 1996–97 featured purely-organic beasts exclusively. 1998 was dominated by two sublines: Fuzors, whose beast modes combined aspects of two different animals, and Transmetals, which featured metallic-finished chrome and sleekly mechanical beast modes. In 1999, the Transmetals 2 were the primary offering, featuring asymmetrical and often bizarrely patchwork fusions of mechanical and organic in both modes.

Beast Wars largely ended as a toyline when Hasbro elected to revamp the franchise and re-introduce vehicular Transformers, leading to the Beast Machines toyline. Though a new franchise, Beast Machines continued many aspects of the Beast Wars toyline including a number of major characters, the Maximal faction, and beast forms that combined mechanical and organic aspects. Furthermore, the Beast Wars title would continue to grace sporadic toys such as store exclusives, convention exclusives, a 10th anniversary line in 2006, and another 10th anniversary line for Japan in 2007.

1996

Maximals

File:BeastWars Dinobot 1996 toy.jpg
Dinobot
Ultra Optimus Primal

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys


Predacons

Blackarachnia
Ultra-class Megatron. In 1996, this was seriously the most complex Transformer ever.

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

Exclusives

Others

Optimus Primal (fruit bat) vs Megatron! (crocodile)

1997

Maximals

File:Airazorbwtoy1.jpg
Airazor
File:BW BBoom toy.jpg
B'Boom

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra Combiner Magnaboss

MicroVerse


Predacons

Powerpinch
Inferno

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra Combiner Tripredacus

MicroVerse


Exclusives

1998

Maximals

Torca
File:Transmetal rhinox toy.jpg
Transmetal Rhinox
McDinobot. Not to be confused with MG-Dinobot.

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra

Super

McDonald's Happy Meal Toy

  • Dinobot (Transmetal Velociraptor)
    Dinobot (Transmetal Velociraptor)

VHS Packs

Predacons

File:BW Megatron Transmetal.jpg
Transmetal Megatron
Rampage

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra

McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

VHS Packs

Exclusives

1999

Maximals

Ramulus
Prowl
Tigerhawk

Basic

Deluxe

Mega

Ultra

  • Tigerhawk (Transmetal 2 tiger/falcon Fuzor)
    Tigerhawk (Transmetal 2 tiger/falcon Fuzor)

Exclusives

Predacons

Transmetal 2 Iguanus
File:BWdragonmegs toy.jpg
Transmetal 2 Megatron

Basic

Deluxe

Ultra

Exclusives

2000

File:Rattrap transmetal2000.jpg
Fox Kids Rattrap

Maximals

Deluxe

Predacons

File:BW FoxKidsTransmetal Waspinator toy.jpg
Fox Kids Waspinator

Deluxe

Exclusives


Mutants

Deluxe

2001

File:TripredacusAgent toy.jpg
Tripredacus Agent (Ravage)

Maximals

Exclusives

Predacons

Exclusives

Innovations and lasting effects

  • Beast Wars made ball joints, first used on a wider scale by the Generation 2 Cyberjets, a regular feature of Transformers toys.
  • Beast Wars was also the first toy line to commonly integrate the robots' weapons and accessories into the alternate mode, thus avoiding extraneous kibble (in the original meaning of the term) and/or obvious attached weapons and accessories.
  • As noted above, Beast Wars finally established standardized size classes/price points and multiple assorted waves of the same price point per year.
  • Furthermore, Beast Wars made redecos and retools of toys from previous waves a lot more prevalent than had been the case in previous lines.
  • Lastly, Beast Wars packaging introduced the use of twist ties, to the anger of a lot of fans.

Notes

The Universe (2008) toyline includes toys marked as "Beast Wars series".

Foreign names

  • French: Ani Mutants (France), Guerre Bêtes (Canada)
  • Italian: Biocombat
  • Spanish: Guerra Bestias (America)
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