Almost 10 years ago, I bought the G1 Seacons reissue from BBTS on clearance. I really didn't like the feel of that set because it felt cheap. Really cheap. Almost knock-off like. So I sold it some months later.
When the Select King Poseidon was announced and in online stores, my bad experience with the "G1" and the absurd price of the separate releases made me skip him.
Some months later, the God Neptune set was announced. This time, the struggle was real. The colors were WAY better than the pink and aqua original. Despite having "only" five members, the set had a complete combiner in it.
I never preorderd the set because it's still pricey and I knew I had to get the Beast Wars original. I remembered having seen it on Mandarake some years ago and I skipped it....
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2020 being a crap year for everyone and having gone through some bad shizz these last months, I had to treat myself. So half a Canadian grand later on my credit card (YOLO!) I ordered the Select set from a Canadian online store and the original (100% complete) on Japanese Ebay. I ordered both one day or two appart... and both arrived at the same time!
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It's DOUBLE GRAIL time with some comparison between the 1998 Beast Wars original, and the 2020 Select release!
First is Hardshell. Being made of dark green and what seem bronze plastics, one must be extremely careful when handling him. Both him and the classic have the combiner chest plate and a turtle shell.
I'll be frank. The modern Select Hardshell have a very, very weak turtle mode compared to the BW/G1 original. The Select is thin, lanky, and have hollows all over while the original ooze with POWER.
While the Select have a garbage beast mode, his robot mode naturally blow the original out of the water.
The original still have a solid bot mode, but it can barely pose and is very back heavy.
Select Hardshell can overkill it with the combiner parts.
Next is Sea Phantom.
A shark with legs. A land shark. Why not?
The Select Sea Phantom have a weaker beast mode than the original, but the difference is not as great as with Hardshell. Also, my BW original cannot fold down his fish head completely for reasons. I won't dare forcing it.
The original limbs bots are just a big
oof. They were really derpy and brickish. All modern Selects will win in bot mode for sure. In the original set, the only weapon it came with was the big sword. For the Select, every members come with their weapons.
Next is a very fun guy, Coelagon the pirhana guy.
The Select beast mode is pretty damn solid and almost as good as the original.
It's unfortunate that the Select partform his fish tail, but at least it can be used as a gun. The original bot mode is derpy, but look like a strongmen.
Next is Terromander, the mantha.
The Select beast mode is as big of a failure as was Hardshell. It's horrible and lack the personality of the original. Also, huge box butt.
Obviously, the Select bot mode is absolutely marvelous while the original beg to be mercy-killed.
Finally, my favorite member, Scylla, the lovable fembot in love!
This girl is the highlight of both set with their hilarious and bad-ass beast modes. Both are equally awesome. Select Scylla can even turn her huge head!
Scylla was a female in the Beast Wars 2 cartoon. So for the Select release, they went the extra mile to give her a proper fembot body. Really appreciated. Plus the silly original is actually pretty good looking too!
Finally, time to COMBINE!
Both God Neptunes are absolutely stunning.
The original can only move is arms a bit and that's it. He's a brick. But a cool brick.
Unfortunately, the Select cannot do more than the original. Despite having a huge posing potential, none of his joints are solid enough for him to hols any fancey poses. He'll just ragdoll into a messy heap if you try anything remotely fancy.
The original have a messy back but the Select is surprisignly clean.
Overall, I don't regret spending any cents on these toys. Both are a lot of fun and there was many times when the transformation have surprised me. Plus these colors ROCK.
A great addition to my CW/G1 display!
So, what do you think?
Are you also the kind of person like me who love to own the old vintage original version of a toy just as a contrast to it's more modern equivalent?
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