JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:SeaconsSaw that one coming? You probably did, but while most G1 Beast Modes have awkward proportions at times (I'm looking at you, Pounce and Wingspan), the Seacons manage to look sleek and somewhat normal even with those extra limbs, some more than others. Plus, their coherent colors does wonders for Piranacon
Don't ask about the G1 Predacons, as I don't have them.
Seacons are undeniably awesome. The extra limbs only make them more fun, and how about that three clawed hand on Tentakil? I love that little detail in particular. And Snaptrap is a Turtle! I love turtles! That reminds me. Settle in guys for a blast from the past, my odes to Rhinos and Turtles from the thread " 26 Greatest Alt. Modes Of All Time!". Simple copy and paste:
Rhino's!!!!!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.htm
That sludgin' salesman said I'd grow a beanstalk!
Next 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…
Turtle Power!!!!!!Now before I begin, let me just say that I love turtles, even if they’re not the teenaged mutant ninja variety. Don’t really know why, but it probably has something to do with the fact that they were very easy to find and catch when I was a kid. These days not so much, as I haven’t seen one on my hill forever, but enough talk, HAVE AT YOU!!!!!
Back in 1987 the interest in Transformers was dwindling, but Hasbro was still releasing several product lines, and one of those lines was Battle Beasts. Had Season 4 continued maybe we would have had a crossover, maybe not. Japan however did get a Season 4(or the start of an exclusive trilogy of shows, take your pick) that did crossover with Battle Beasts, being sold in Autobot and Decepticon packaging(at least at first, far as I can gather) to boot. One of those characters was the Decepticon named “Black Turtle”, and he did appear in the show, if only as a brief cameo. Seriously my copy of Headmasters is a bootleg and has poor quality, so if he did more I apologize in advance. Anyways, his American Counterpart was named Hardtop Tortoise:
Dr. Claw would have words with you chump…
So what do I have to say about him? Eh, not too much, cause I don’t have the figure, and I wouldn’t have included it if I didn’t just notice it on the TF Wiki. Overall it doesn’t look like he has a shell, and if he does it’s probably not much to write home about. The claw hand adds a little personality to the figure, but overall he doesn’t look very turtle-y.
Moving on, during the middle years of G1 we were introduced the last of the Scramble Combiners, the Seacons. The leader of that group was Snaptrap, who was aptly named “Turtlar” in Japan, and is the first full fledged Transformer entry on our list:
He’s packin’ heat in that shell!
Now this figure I do have, so I can comment fully on him. First of all, he has the most articulated beast mode of all the things on our list. Opening and closing jaws, 360 degree rotation of the legs, knees on the back legs, it’s good stuff. Plus he’s got a rare action feature in that flicking the switch on his back moves the cannons, simulating them firing. The colors are ok, but I think his Beast Wars II repaint Half Shell looks better:
Argh! I’m a Pirate! Johnny Depp’s playing me in Transformers 3!
The Universe one I would have bought if it wasn't Hasbro Club exclusive, but I suppose the colors aren’t that great.
Overall, I gotta admit, despite being a perfectly fine alt. mode that does look cool and having a great looking robot mode, I can’t say the Snaptrap mold sells me as being a turtle. Some alien creature that is meant to resemble a turtle, maybe. The reason has to be because he doesn’t really have a shell. It’s doesn’t come around and over his legs/body, plus the head is beakless.
The next entry on this list comes from McDonald’s, because kids love food that’s made from all the other parts of chicken they couldn’t find a use for. I guess you could call it the Hot Dog of McDonald’s. Ladies and gentlemen, the McNugget O Saurus:
Product Placement!!
Now before anyone calls me on it, yes I know that it isn’t a Hasbro endorsed product, and thus not canon. It’s also only vaguely a turtle(never was a fan of the head), but since this isn’t an “official” list, I’ll include it. All in all, I’ve had this guy since I was a kid, and I think he was one of my favorites, though I think Hot-Cakes A Dactyl got more play, cause that figures pretty fun. Actually the only one I’m missing from the set is the Ice Cream cone, though it’s the worst of the bunch, only looking like a Dinosaur wearing an Ice Cream cone suit. Railroading back on topic, this figure(and I use that term loosely) does have an ability only one other item on this list has, and that is it can retract it’s head, legs, and tail into it’s shell:
Yes that’s it’s alt. mode technically, but that’s what turtles do. It’s a shame no Transformer can do that.
Ok, so since I’m off on a tangent, here’s a look at a couple robotic turtles that get it right:
Tor, the Shuttlezord:
I beat Serpenterra!!!
Now this is another figure I don’t have, but would love too. Now THAT is a robotic turtle. The shell is huge, but the head looks fantastic. Not too big, not too small, and it has a beak. The cannons on the side look huge an imposing, and don’t detract from the overall look. One quick glance is enough to identify what it is immediately. He even has a robot mode!
Well done Bandai, well done….from a sculpting point of view. According to reviews, this guy is a brick(like all Zords), and honestly, while I do like his robot mode somewhat, I’d hazard a guess even Grandus would laugh at it.
But that wouldn’t be the only turtle Bandai would do, because the most recent(or possibly, second to most recent, I really don’t keep up) also had a turtle mecha, the Kame Origami:
Plastic Paper!
Again, like the McNugget, the “shell” mode is essentially the transformed state. The combination point and those extra bits on the bottom also prevent it from becoming a perfect circle, this hindering that mode. Of course, since it’s not actually meant to look like a protected turtle the point is moot, but I bring it up anyway. All in all, it’s cool to see a sea turtle get a nod, and the overall sculpt screams turtle, so I like it. Articulation according to the review however is unsurprisingly non-existent.
Now then, before I get off track again, let’s move on to the real reason f….OH WHAT THE SHELL!!
COWABUNGA!!!!!!
Hey, it’s technically a Transformer. Poseability is moot, the arm isn’t hidden very well, and the rear legs are too thin. The overall form basically looks like what a turtle in the TMNT world looks like, so I guess it’s ok. Somewhat interesting thing though is that despite transforming(or mutating) articulation is not lost on these turtles at all in their anthropomorphic state. The arms actually have a little better range of motion than the average turtle, and the ankles are jointed. So anyway guys, I promise that’s the last tangent I’m going on.
Ok, now let’s once again move into the Beast Wars. The show is on the air, I’m enjoying what I’m able to see of it, and what do I find in the stores? Snapper!!!!!!!
I’m awesome! Awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome….
Hands down, one of, if not the, favorite Predacons in my collection. Why? Cause he’s a turtle! What a fine looking turtle he is too. Ok, the front legs are a little too short and the back a little too long, but the sculpt is just perfect. Robot modes not to shabby either, and his weapons not only cool, it blends in with his alt. mode so well it’s hard to tell it’s even there. Do the limbs retract? Sadly no, but it’s only a basic, so you take what you can get.
Words can’t express why I like this figure, but I just do. Heck, the only reason I wrote my most recently released Mosaic (
http://transformers-mosaic.deviantart.com/art/Jabberjaw-158429059 ) is because he was little more than a background character during “The Gathering” and “The Ascending”.
Well that wraps it up for turtle transformers as a whole, but there is one more figure that deserves a mention while I’m at it:
Fu-sion-ha!!!
This ladies and gentlemen is Terragator. He’s what it would look like if Megatron(alligator version) and Snapper did the fusion dance from DBZ. As far as Fuzors go, I suppose it’s really kind of boring, as it’s an alligator wearing a snapping turtle shell. But it looks good, and the shell is excellently detailed. He has an odd action feature that opens his jaws by pushing one of his robot mode arms forward. It doesn’t stay open, and all in all doesn’t add or subtract from the figure. He’s a fun robot and a fun figure, with accessories. Without them you can’t have an alt. mode, and a very plain looking robot mode with a goofy alligator head on one shoulder.
Pretty much any beast era Megatron or variation is good.
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