The Energon Pub

I'm really interesting in the current thoughts on Beast Wars Era toy collecting. This is a pretty diverse topic and I'm not exactly an expert in the field, I have less than 20 BW era figures. I've always wanted to get heavily into a collection but it looks like a daunting task. I know there's quite a handful of you guys who have 100% the BW era and pre-BW era, crazy!






While the 10th year BW anniversary figures weren't exactly top-tier, the Universe releases of Dinobot and Cheetor are commendable. Then there are the current Voy Rhinox + Dlx Waspinator and upcoming Dlx Rattrap, who all look like stellar figures, perhaps even good enough to replace their 90's predecessors in fan's collections. Where do the new Generations BW figures and Universe '08 BW figures fit into your collection? Are they replacements or simply stand alone pieces?



Have you invested into collecting the Pre-BW era from BotCon and TCC? Do you feel like the concept should have ended after the '06 convention?



Where does Takara's BWII and BW Neo fit into your collecting scope? Where did TCC's Ultra Mammoth go in your collection?

I'll raise some hackles by saying two things:
1) I define my Beast Wars collection as complete
2) My Beast Wars collection doesn't contain every Beast Wars figure.

What does that mean? It's not contradictory; I just don't have any interest in any character from the BW era that is a Transmetal, or a robot/vehicle figure. My BWII and BW Neo characters mix into this collection seamlessly. I have a mental lore where all three Primals fight against Megatron, Galvatron and Magmatron in a way that made sense to me.

What does this mean for any new Generations BW figures? I do not wish to put them in with my existing BW collection, as I like to keep that era as is. I think that for any newly released BW homages, I'll put them with my Neo-G1 line. I like the IDW explanation of these characters being off on a distant alien world.

My Pre-BW line from the Botcon 2006 set was a recent acquisition (thanks Fender Bender) to which I don't even have the space right now to display. I'm stuck in a quandary with what to do with them - do I display them separately, or do I somehow mix them in with my Autobots/Decepticons? For the time being I'm dodging that answer by keeping them in a bin. However I'm going to have to seriously re-think things since The Club is once again homaging BW characters in a non-BW setting.

im approaching the new figures the same way i approach classics/generations: theyre updated, new, and pretty but dont replace G1. why cut out the pieces that inspired the whole collection? i recently bought a pricey beast wars takara rattrap vs terrorsaur set (show accurate decos) fully knowing theres a newer better rattrap on the way. doesnt mean i dont love my original rattrap! just like MP prime doesnt replace my G1 prime. ill proudly display both.

as far as how ill display, im undecided. either theyll be side by side old and new, or the newbies will get theyre own spot together next to the originals.

this sort of comes at an odd time for me personally since im currently rebuilding my beast wars collection. my originals suffered a lot of play wear (i was a child once lol) and i essentially needed a fresh new set for display. who am i buying? currently its the best deco'd show characters (almost done!). but after reading the IDW BW comics it kinda makes me want to get... all the rest lol. cause who wasnt included in those books?? so who knows.

back to my new rattrap vs terrorsaur set, im happy i bought it. sure theres a new rattrap coming out. and they could even announce a new terrorsaur, it wouldnt make me regret my purchase. i love the old stuff and ill welcome any new additions!

It's interesting, as amazing as the recent BW figures are, it's not like the originals are horridly outdated and totally out of place on modern shelves. The main problem is that the show just took a huge artistic license on the characters (more so the S1 bots than later ones).... and, well, the flip-change and mutant-mask gimmicks. But, I mean, how could you even improve someone like, say, Quickstrike? It's not like with certain other lines where your only other option is a poorly-engineered brick. Which is convenient, since the non-show bots sure as heck aren't getting updates any time soon.

Anyways, I myself only collect organic Beast Warriors. No Transmetals, no pre-BW, nothing that isn't flesh and blood. Anything "living" is fair game - originals, II/Neo, Generation updates, potentially other lines - though right now I only have a small handful: the Pred Fuzors, Tripredacus, and Transquito. I'd like to get more, but they're just a low priority for me... despite my nostalgia for the line, biased towards organic beast forms, and my considering the show the best of the franchise. Yeah, I don't get how that happened...

Excellent questions. For me personally, I don’t try to complete sets, whether toy or cartoon. I just buy the figures that I like the most. I have a lot of BW figures. I have a good number of the first season toys, I wanted them, I’m glad I have them, but I love the Transmetals. I am glad that we are getting updates of the first season toys, I do feel they are outdated. But the Transmetals (funny just one season later) are still excellent toys, that I think look as good as Generations. So of the bigger ones are a little clunky, but the deluxe TM and TMII are superb toys to this day.

We have Cybertronian versions and Earth mode versions for so many characters thanks to shows over the years and especially WFC and FOC. I love them and I want both. Beast Wars is the same thing. I love seeing their Cybertronian forms. So yes, please give me a beast figure and a Earth or Cybertronian figure. The more they make the better. I love the idea, and find it pretty fun. I started a forum to continue to match new toys with vehicle modes to BW figures but it didn’t catch on.