The Energon Pub

Beast Wars is back!

It's been 7 years since the last Beast Wars galleries and Seibertron.com is proud to announce their return with new Galleries of Takara Beast Wars Metals VS-41 Silverbolt and Rampage. The Takara Metals Silverbolt and Ramage are using the same mold of their original domestic releases while sporting some changes. The Takara Silverbolt utilizing a lighter grey plastic and painted irises and pupils for the wolf mode eyes. While the Takara version of Rampage utilizes a silver paint for details and gradients instead of orange, has a more prominent purple "X" on the upper side of his crab mode, it also uses translucent red plastic for the body instead of orange. We've mirrored the below images for your viewing pleasures and Keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates, plus the best galleries around!

Beast Wars Metals Rampage
















Beast Wars Metals Silverbolt

Well, I guess we know what Ryan got at BotCon this year.

That Ramage is fantastic. I do prefer the silver detailing.

Out of the silverbolts though, think I'll stick to getting the Hasbro version. Prefer the darker grey.

Wow. Awesome pics. I thought Transmutate was pretty random but then I remembered the episode lol; great idea for the pics!

ZeroWolf wrote:That Ramage is fantastic. I do prefer the silver detailing.
Out of the silverbolts though, think I'll stick to getting the Hasbro version. Prefer the darker grey.

you can go either way with silverbolt. if you see him in the show when he's clean (CR chamber fresh) he looks that light. but most other times the grey seems more accurate. and that rampage kills hasbros.

i got this set too, actually just a few months ago. it really cant be beat!

Oh man, those eyes on Takara Silverbolt look so good!

Hey Ryan, do you also have the little-known running change variant of Hasbro's Rampage that changed the orange paint apps on his head and torso to a subdued pinkish silver?

Here's a pic of it (not mine, though) that compares it to the first-run Hasbro version (on the right) and the Takara version (on the left):

Malicron wrote:Well, I guess we know what Ryan got at BotCon this year.

These have been in my collection for quite a while. BotCon is really tough for me to find much these days because there's not much that I don't have any more. Microns, G1 Japanese and odd variants are mostly what I chase at BotCon.

This year, aside from the BotCon exclusives themselves, I only walked away with a Beast Wars Metals Rattle Puzzle set that I had been chasing for a while. Basically just waiting to find one for under a $100. Found one courtesy of my buddy Tony at Tempting Toys. I also got 2 Microns from the Japanese guys but the Podcast crew would be able to tell you their names. I don't know even know which ones I got ... just that they were ones that I didn't have.

Sabrblade wrote:Oh man, those eyes on Takara Silverbolt look so good!

Hey Ryan, do you also have the little-known running change variant of Hasbro's Rampage that changed the orange paint apps on his head and torso to a subdued pinkish silver?

Here's a pic of it (not mine, though) that compares it to the first-run Hasbro version (on the right) and the Takara version (on the left):

And this right here is what I love about collecting Transformers 30 years in. I had no idea there was a running change with the Hasbro version of Rampage. THAT is the show accurate version. I was really bummed by the translucent plastic on Takara's Rampage. It looks awesome, don't get me wrong, but I was hoping for a more show accurate Rampage. Takara's paint apps on Hasbro's Rampage looks fantastic. Is the backside different or just the head and chest?

I'm also surprised I haven't come across the variant yet with all of the collections I've been buying for the Seibertron.com store. I have a pile of Rampages in varying degrees of completeness and condition, but all of them are the orange paint variant.

Seibertron wrote:Is the backside different or just the head and chest?

From what I've read, it's just the paint apps on the head and chest that are different.

It's enough to make me regret not waiting until later to get my Rampage back when I was a kid, as mine is the more ubiquitously-known first-run variant.

Funnily enough, this other variant wasn't brought to the fandom's attention until about 15 years after it came out.

Seibertron wrote: I have a pile of Rampages in varying degrees of completeness and condition, but all of them are the orange paint variant.

Any chance you have an extra missile launcher with the three missiles? If so how much? =D

mooncake623 wrote:

Seibertron wrote: I have a pile of Rampages in varying degrees of completeness and condition, but all of them are the orange paint variant.

Any chance you have an extra missile launcher with the three missiles? If so how much? =D

Unfortunately, I don't. The accessories and the legs are what I'm looking for in lots I purchase.

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:Is the backside different or just the head and chest?

From what I've read, it's just the paint apps on the head and chest that are different.

It's enough to make me regret not waiting until later to get my Rampage back when I was a kid, as mine is the more ubiquitously-known first-run variant.

Funnily enough, this other variant wasn't brought to the fandom's attention until about 15 years after it came out.

So I bought a new version of Rampage on eBay this morning. I looked up Rampage's packaging variants. There are several. The one I purchased is sealed and has all of the final packaging variants that I could find online, the biggest one being that it says "King Crab" underneath his name like the rest of the 1999 product line has (whereas Rampage was originally a 1998 product). Also notice the differences in the "sunburst" versus the arrow usage as well as the Hasbro logos versus the Kenner logos.

Here's the one I bought: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... SA:US:3160





Versus this one in the gallery ...





If the that final packaging variant doesn't have the Rampage variant in it, then it's either a super rare variant OR there's more than meets the eye going on with the only one we've seen in a picture.

And I've apparently been too busy the past 5 years to realize that the red version of ROTF Rampage is basically an homage to Beast Wars Rampage. Perhaps unintentionally, but still pretty cool!!!

Man, that Transmetal packaging is just sublime. I feel like the product packaging has been regressing in the past 7-8 years.

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Oh man, those eyes on Takara Silverbolt look so good!

Hey Ryan, do you also have the little-known running change variant of Hasbro's Rampage that changed the orange paint apps on his head and torso to a subdued pinkish silver?

Here's a pic of it (not mine, though) that compares it to the first-run Hasbro version (on the right) and the Takara version (on the left):

And this right here is what I love about collecting Transformers 30 years in. I had no idea there was a running change with the Hasbro version of Rampage. THAT is the show accurate version. I was really bummed by the translucent plastic on Takara's Rampage. It looks awesome, don't get me wrong, but I was hoping for a more show accurate Rampage. Takara's paint apps on Hasbro's Rampage looks fantastic. Is the backside different or just the head and chest?

I'm also surprised I haven't come across the variant yet with all of the collections I've been buying for the Seibertron.com store. I have a pile of Rampages in varying degrees of completeness and condition, but all of them are the orange paint variant.

Has anyone else come across this silver paint variant? I find it really odd that there seems to only be one photo and only one sample of this known to date. I just opened the brand new sealed packaging variant that I purchased off eBay last week, and it had the orange painted version in it just like all of the examples that are known to exist. The one I opened was one from 1999 with product code "554455.0300". I believe the "0300" means this is the 3rd packaging variant (preceded by 0000 and 0200 if I recall correctly). If there was a 0305 or a 0400 I would believe that might contain the silver painted variant but it's tough to want to keep chasing down a Rampage variant if there's only 1 example out there.

It's also possible that instead of a running change that it was just a fluke, right? Does anyone know if the Japanese Beast wars Transformers were produced at the same factory as the Hasbro produced ones? If so, it could have just been a one-off that made it through with part of Takara's paint on a Hasbro version, right?

Seibertron wrote:Has anyone else come across this silver paint variant? I find it really odd that there seems to only be one photo and only one sample of this known to date. I just opened the brand new sealed packaging variant that I purchased off eBay last week, and it had the orange painted version in it just like all of the examples that are known to exist. The one I opened was one from 1999 with product code "554455.0300". I believe the "0300" means this is the 3rd packaging variant (preceded by 0000 and 0200 if I recall correctly). If there was a 0305 or a 0400 I would believe that might contain the silver painted variant but it's tough to want to keep chasing down a Rampage variant if there's only 1 example out there.

It's also possible that instead of a running change that it was just a fluke, right? Does anyone know if the Japanese Beast wars Transformers were produced at the same factory as the Hasbro produced ones? If so, it could have just been a one-off that made it through with part of Takara's paint on a Hasbro version, right?

This website talks about a rare pink with washed out chrome variant:

http://home.earthlink.net/~dmalderman/y ... etals.html

Might the flipside of this one have the silver paint? Seems odd that there would be two variants (though I guess not really odd in the context of Beast Wars variants, just moreso about the lack of knowledge about the existence of the Rampage variants versus the other more well known Beast Wars variants).

FWIW, the following is the source of this discovery - http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/92142-a-tale-of-three-rampages/

The OP asks about the figure, and further down the page, another user recognizes it:

It's definitely a running change. Back when Rampage first came out, I got mine first and it was the orange version. A friend of mine at the time got Rampage a few months later and it was the silver version. Being kids, we were bewildered at the time and thought we'd run across something super special. Once the TM2 Dinobot and Prowl thing happened, we just accepted that "running changes" were normal.

I didn't know people didn't know this was a thing.

I'm now wondering if it could have been a very limited run at the tail end of Rampage's release. Like if it was only the final batch of Rampages that had their head/torso orange changed to pinkish silver (and by which point everyone who wanted of Rampage might have already gotten one and wouldn't have widely noticed a later-released variant possibly only visible in robot mode).

And from left field, we here at Seibertron.com are pleased to present to the public new galleries of Beast Wars: Transmetal 2 Maximals Nightglider and Stinkbomb, and their Predacon nemesis Spittor! These suckers, part of the 1999 line-up of Transmetal 2 Basics, may look familiar to those who are fans of the Robots in Disguise (2001) fiction... these characters are the predecessors of popular Robots in Disguise stooges Predacons Dark Scream, Gas Skunk, and Slapper, respectively. As always, take a peek at the preliminary images below, and if you'd like to view the full gallery of each character, click either the links or the images of each character to be taken to the full gallery of the respective toy!

Beast Wars Nightglider






Beast Wars Stinkbomb






Beast Wars Spittor

Bit of trivia: Dark Scream's fist holes are wider than Nightglider's, as Dark Scream's sword was made thicker than Nightglider's.

Or at least, that's how it was for my Dark Scream and Nightglider.

Sabrblade wrote:...Dark Scream's sword was made thicker than Nightglider's.

You know what they say about dudes with thick swords.

Mindmaster wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:...Dark Scream's sword was made thicker than Nightglider's.

You know what they say about dudes with thick swords.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:...Dark Scream's sword was made thicker than Nightglider's.

You know what they say about dudes with thick swords.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

#Sideways# wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Mindmaster wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:...Dark Scream's sword was made thicker than Nightglider's.

You know what they say about dudes with thick swords.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

What? She can already see the comments that'll be posted for the future Snapper gallery? And here I thought Windblade, of all fembots, would avoid the female-character-amongst-a-predominantly-male-cast-with-a-poorly-defined-intuition-power trope...

Speaking of changes to Nightglider, has any evidence ever surfaced that he was originally supposed to be an Archeopteryx, but got a new head(s?) at the last minute? That's just what he always looked like to me, what with the tail shape, and his wings looking so much more like feathers than flaps of skin.

And yes, I already knew about Archadis' existence when I formed this theory 15 years ago.

And there WAS a running change to my all time favorite TM2, Spittor?!? Damn, I may have to start Beast Huntin' again.
"Toilet-Brush of Omens, give me sight-beyond-sight!"

Oh, and have any Transmetal 2s displayed the same flaking problems as their predecessors?

hey seibs! i know you recently acquired a beast wars returns strika. can i assume you have a full set of BWR figures? when are you planning to get some of those galleries up?