Beast Wars Rampage was one of the gems out of the Beast Wars series. He had an awesome character in the show, and an awesome action figure that managed to pull off the Transmetal "triple changer" gimmick better than most of the other Transmetal figures! A king crab, that turns into a giant robot, that turns into a tank! While I would like for an updated version of this guy for the Generations toy line, I know that I'll just be disappointed with it!

The transformation from crab to bot is troublesome, as lots of his crab mode kibble gets in the way. This shell(fish)former still manages to be more than just that though, as both modes are enjoyable. However the robot mode has limited mobility because of the crab mode parts. It could have been worse, of course, since we got MUCH worse toys out of transformers between 2002 and 2006.




Once in robot mode, Rampage's chrome is mostly relegated to backpack ornamentation (as is the rest of his crab mode). The underslung, triple-barreled cannon and hidden shotgun make an appearance, arming the shellformer-fish up to the teeth... or... mouthparts? The facial likeness is also pretty spot-on when compared to the show model, which doesn't happen much in transformers!

Most of the toys articulation went to the crab mode, with a total of 20 for the crab and 11 for the robot! While he lacks articulation in the bicep, waist, and thighs, he's still as poseable as any of the other Beast Wars figures. The backpack of everything does make posing him awkward, though.

I think his tank mode is more successful than his robot mode, to be honest! It's got rubber, moving treds, a crab head, three cannon barrels, and a chromed shell! This is easily my second favorite tank transformer (2007 movie Brawl being #1)! Amusing since his tank mode is considered a "secondary" mode. The only thing he's really missing is a little partner/pilot and a place to sit him!

I suppose THIS will have to do! It's hard to choose third favorites out of the Beast Wars toy line (first and second place already taken by Inferno and TM Tarantulas, respectively). Optimal Optimus is great, Transmetal Scavanger is hilarious (and Inferno), but Rampage has an awesome factor that's hard to ignore! Of course I have a bias opinion, so I just mentally put Scavanger/TM Inferno in third place, so THIS GUY GETS FOURTH!

Congratulations Rampage!