Beast Hunters (toyline)

This article is about the subline imprint to Transformers: Prime. For the team of Autobots from the Prime cartoon, see Team Prime.

Beast Hunters is the subline imprint for the second phase of the Prime franchise, also extending into the Kre-O franchise.

This change was made to reflect the theme of the third season of the cartoon, in which the Autobots contend with not just Megatron's Decepticons, but also with the Predacons (well, sort of...).

The toys sold under this banner transform into dragons (for Predacons), spiky, over-weaponized vehicles reminiscent of Mad Max (for Autobots), or vehicles with beastly traits (for Decepticons).

There may be some sort of video game to go with the franchise.

In Japan, the Beast Hunters line was folded into the Transformers Go! toyline, which also includes some unique toys. How this will affect the Japanese branding of the Transformers: Prime animated series is unknown.

Series 2 (2013)

For this Series, on-package bios were reduced in length to just a sentence or two, and the instruction sheets instead feature facts about one of the figure's main weapons, as well as a chapter of the Tales of the Beast Hunters prose story, each of which focuses on the appropriate character in addition to continuing an ongoing story.

Deluxe Class

Hasbro's Toy Fair 2013 press release states that there are 16 planned Deluxes in the Beast Hunters line.

Soundwave, a Wave 1 Deluxe Class figure. The bright colors distract his prey.

Wave 1

• 001 Bumblebee with Firing Eagleshot Bow and Chapter 1 (retool/redeco of Prime: Robots in Disguise Bumblebee)
• 002 Soundwave with Ravage, Talon Grapple Cannon, and Chapter 2 (retool/redeco of Prime: Robots in Disguise Soundwave)
• 003 Lazerback with Toxic Strike Blaster and Chapter 3
• 004 Wheeljack with Disc-Launching Falcon Spear and Chapter 4 (retool/redeco of Prime: Robots in Disguise Wheeljack)

Wave 2

• 005 Starscream with Clenching Thunder Talon and Chapter 7
• 006 Ripclaw with Snapping Siphon Claw and Chapter 8
• 007 Bulkhead with Spinning Dragon Grinder and Chapter 9
• 008 Smokescreen with Electronet Launcher, Shadow Quill Armor, and Chapter 10

Autobot Ratchet, a Wave 3 Deluxe Class figure. You should have eaten your apples.

Wave 3

• 009 Skystalker with Cryostrike Disc Launchers and Chapter 12
• 010 Autobot Ratchet with Spinning Dragonshredder Drill and Chapter 13 (retool/redeco of Prime: Robots in Disguise Autobot Ratchet)
• 011 Dreadwing with Dread Assault Cannon and Chapter 14

Wave 4

• 012 Arcee with Echohawk Bow and Chapter 19 (retool/redeco of Prime: Robots in Disguise Arcee)
• 013 Knock Out with Crocto Claw and Chapter 20 (retool/redeco of Prime: Robots in Disguise Knock Out)
• 014 Vertebreak with Hyena Cannon and Chapter 21 (redeco of Lazerback)

Wave 5

• 015 Night Shadow Bumblebee with Firing Eaglefire Bow and Chapter 23 (redeco of Beast Hunters Bumblebee)
• 016 Prowl with Firelance Missile Launcher and Chapter 24 (retool/redeco of Smokescreen)

Voyager Class

Shockwave, a Wave 2 Voyager Class figure. Online handle: "Scalewave".

Wave 1

• 001 Optimus Prime with Ionic Pulse Launchers/Eaglefire Missile Launchers, Star Saber, and Chapter 5
• 002 Predaking with Twin Hydrafire Blasters and Chapter 6

Wave 2

• 003 Shockwave with Spinning Hyperflux Cannon, Snap-on Beast Armor, and Chapter 11

Wave 3

• 004 Grimwing with Blackbeak Grapple Launcher and Chapter 15
• 005 Ultra Magnus with the Forge of Solus Battle Hammer and Chapter 16 (retool/redeco of Prime: Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime)

Wave 4

• 006 Megatron/Sharkticon Megatron with Tartarex Warp Sword/Sharktooth Spear and Chapter 22 (retool/redeco of Prime: Robots in Disguise Megatron)

Battlemaster Class

The Battlemaster class consists of redeco/retools of the Weaponizer Class toys of the previous series (especially in the common addition of new hand-held weapons).

Wave 1

• Beast Tracker Optimus Prime (retool of Prime Weaponizer Optimus Prime)
• Talking Bumblebee (retool of Prime Weaponizer Bumblebee)

Ultimate Class

Beast Fire Predaking, a Wave 1 Ultimate Class figure. Now where's that gunpowder?

A new size class, Ultimate Class figures are larger than Leader Class toys of previous lines, but have simpler transformations like the Weaponizer Class toys. They feature light-up gimmicks and spring-loaded missile launchers in some form. They also ship in separate assortments due to their differently shaped boxes.

Wave 1

• Beast Hunter Optimus Prime with Firebreath Cyclocannons and Chapter 17
• Beast Fire Predaking with Infernum Blade and Chapter 18

Beast Fire Predaking was available as general retail release in regular Beast Hunters packaging in various international markets such as Canada, Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia. In the United States, he was sold, without any changes to the toy itself, as a Target exclusive in Predacons Rising packaging instead.

Series 3 (2014)

At this point, the Beast Hunters line was refreshed to align with Hasbro's new goal of making main line toys easier to transform for children in the target age group (to the point where bits of the instructions are printed on the back. For the initial Deluxe Class offerings, this was accomplished by up-scaling the designs of several Cyberverse Legion Class figures, the Voyager class figures followed likewise (but also mixes in new designs too).

The reaction to the toys is what you expected.

While simple toys in the past can be looked upon with various views, and it is understandable to simplify things to match better with the target audience, the idea of up scaling the Cyberverse figures to a larger size was definitely scorned by many fans (nicknaming them 'Upscaled Cyberverse' in the process), giving criticism to Hasbro for doing what knock-off companies do best (up-scaling legion or Cyberverse figures), a general accusation of assuming the audiences are dumb (as in believing kids would by up-scaled versions of toys they already had, and general over-simplification), and hardly any effort to adapt them to better match the scale (especially detail, articulation and paint applications).

Deluxe Class

Wave 6

• 001 Bumblebee (upscaled Cyberverse Legion Class Bumblebee)
• 002 Twinstrike with Piston Hammer (upscaled Cyberverse Legion Class Twinstrike)
• 003 Smokescreen (upscaled Cyberverse Legion Class Smokescreen)
• 004 Windrazor with Dragontooth Mace (upscaled Cyberverse Legion Class Windrazor)

Voyager Class

Wave 5

• 001 Optimus Prime (upscaled Cyberverse Commander Class Optimus Prime)
• 002 Predaking (new mold)

Cyberverse

The Cyberverse figures for their third series adapted the Beast Hunters theme, in the retooling of old molds as well as the introduction of new molds (particularly for the new characters/forms, the predacons and the molds originally intended for Series 2 before moving to Series 3.

Exclusives

European Toys"R"Us exclusive

• Optimus Prime vs Predaking (minor redecos of Voyager Class Optimus Prime and Predaking)

Thus far, this two-pack has been only found at retail in Portugal, the United Kingdom and Germany, each time at Toys"R"Us stores. In Germany, it was explicitly advertised as a Toys"R"Us exclusive. Since the only known official stock photos have shown this two-pack in multilingual European packaging, it's currently unknown whether this set will ever be released outside Europe.