Sup gang, I decided it would be fun to do a write up of one of my suggestions I made a long time ago when this list began. So without further ado:
Beasts. Love 'em or hate 'em, there's been a lot of them, and they've been in Transformers history since the very begining. Heck, Ravage had the first line of dialogue EVER. Pretty good for a guy who doesn't even talk in most of his appearances in various media.
However, despite Ravage's claim to fame, there's only been a few panthers. No, if there's one beast mode that's been used a lot that desesrves a spot on some list, it has to be this:
Honorable Mention #1: RhinocerousAlso, I almost forgot Kid Rhino, the company that brought Transformers to a new generation of fans, and brought me back to the fold!
Back in the day, Soundwave was awsome because he had an entire army in his chest. Then Blaster came into the picture, and the war between the radio's began. Unfortunately, for the entire second season Blaster only had his Autobot commrades to rely on! But all that changed in Transformers: The Movie(and Scramble City for our Japanese readers) when we were introduced to this little guy:
Comin' through!
Like Ravage, Ramhorn actually spoke in one episode of the American TV series. Unlike Ravage he had several lines of dialogue. He had several other apperances as well, but for some reason he seems to get overshadowed by Steeljaw a lot. Kind of odd considering there's really nothing wrong with his figure. He's got weaponry that rivals any of Soundwave's tapes(unless you happen to lose them), and he's one of the most articulated Transformers. Counting the tail and head, he has 14 points of articulation. It's hard to find that on modern transformers!
On the Decepticon front, the Predacons gave us Headstrong:
Colorblind since 1986.
Don't have much to say on him, because I don't have his figure. However, he doesn't look very articulate, and the bright yellow and red makes me think the dayglo 90's took inspiration from him. Oh, and he has one horn. That makes him a...Unocerous?
Thing were pretty Rhino quiet over the next few years, but during the tail end of G1 Hasbro/Takara managed to give us not one, not two, not three, not even four, but FIVE Rhino Transformers!
The first was Stranglehold:
These horns look sharp enough to peirce dry wall!
The second was Rhino Breast, who came with Drillhorn, a Rhino inspired robot!
I can see the tagline now: From beast, to gun, to sports bra!
Also in the Victory line was Greatshot, a remold of Sixshot. His beast mode was modified to be, you guessed it, a rhino:
http://www.tfu.info/1989/Cybertron/GreatShot/greatshot.htmNext up is a double feature, in which Rhino's are the only beast to be used as partners to two seperate Action Masters with two different factions using two seperate molds! They are:
Top-Heavy, who came with Skyfall:
I'm surpsingly stable!
The other was Fire Beast, who came with Charger:
I become a hat!
Moving into G2, unless you were a dinosaur you didn’t get a beast mode! But no biggie, because Hasbro decided they needed to kick it up a notch(BAM!) and base an entire line around animals! Enter: Beast Wars.
The first Rhino-former to come from this legendary line was not actually Rhinox, but the aptly named Rhino:
My feet smell like crap!
Rhino’s an ok little Maxi, and really isn’t too bad for a McDonald’s figure. He less articulated than Panther, but has feet and hands that look like feet and hands, plus I guess his Transformation is the most intricate.
Putting him aside, let’s move on to one of the most memorable characters in Transformer history, Rhinox:
My grandma, what sharp teeth you have….
*Insert Smiling Bob joke here*
Now then, if you haven’t seen Beast Wars, your probably wondering why he was so memorable. To that I say this: Beast Wars really is quite awesome, and you should watch it to see why. But really, the reason why he’s memorable is despite having a Transmetal upgrade him and Waspinator are the only two characters to stay in their original form from the very first episode to the very last. Rhinox struck the killing blow to the Nemesis, and the Chaingun of Doom is a force to be reckoned with. Oh, and he beat Megatron and the Predacons by farting. By FARTING. You don’t get more hilariously awesome than that. He was also a top notch scientist, the most devious Predacon one episode, and was possibly the most physically strong of all of them.
Now I don’t’ have his original Beast Wars figure, but I have his Transmetal one, and it really is a pretty nice one. Well articulated, a somewhat sensible vehicle mode, and he has two horns, which look pretty deadly.
The next series, Beast Machines, avoided Rhinos entirely. Rhinox was still around of course, but he was Tankor now wanted to destroy the organic. A complete 180 from just wanting to smell the flowers, but I guess he was a scientist first and environmentalist second.
So, think that’s the end of the list? Not by a long shot pal! We’ve still got one more to go, and he’s both the best and the worst!!
My hand is also my butt….
Ladies and gents, I present to you, Backstop! I picked this guy up for $5 from the Dollar General. Mostly on a whim, and I gotta say, I love his beast mode!! Out of all the bunch listed, he’s my favorite. Good beast mode articulation, nice detailed sculpt, and generally looks powerful. His Cyber Key power is dumb, but that doesn’t matter. However, even though he has a fun simple transformation, his robot mode is…not good. Poor articulation, no neck, and just looks generally awkward. Almost charmingly so…
So gang, that wraps it up for Rhinos. Wait, you want more? All right, I’ll leave you with a look at what could have been:
Yep, that’s Animated Rhinox. Wonder how he would have fit in?
I'm a teacher so I've seen more than enough girls with traditionally boyish pursuits (and vicey-versy). But I do love me some Godzilla. Especially when he uses Ebirah's own severed claw to make fun of him.
(All in jest of course!)
Such similar presentation. I wish i had Ramhorn & all of Blasters tapes for that matter. (SW's too!)
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