Top 5 Best Beast Wars Neo Toys

Good list!

Shout-out to Magmatron,he owns the look of faction leader

Great list WJ.

Big Convoy is one of my all time favorite transformers. Highlight of my collection. Awesome figure.

Great List WJ!. I had the Big Convoy/Magmatron 2 pack, as well as the later Beast Machines Dinobot subline Magmatron that came out in North America. I wanted more BW neo, but only got a few. I got Sling as a "free Bonus" with some other toys. Also got the BM Dinobots versions of Guiledart and Saberback (cant remember their Beast machine names off the top of my head). I was really surprised that at the time Hasbro had chosen to import some of those BW Neo toys, I wish they would have done more of them.

TulioDude wrote:

This picture is vaguely pornographic if y ou think about it...

Pretty good list will! I have every Neo mold, and there are some good ones. Personally, my list would go as follows:

5) Colada - this is a snake that really works the transformation and makes a great robot while also being posable in both modes. He is so good! Plus the colors are ace and the snake tail arm that works as a flail is really neat. I adore it even if he is a snake.

4) Magmatron - Let's just start with the fact that he is 3 beast modes in 1, and that each of those beasts are so different but make such a great looking robot mode. Solid robot, limited posing, but it is still super cool looking, and has some presence to it. and all 3 heads are visible on the torso, super neat!

3) Longrack - Another weird and fun figure. I love how solid the beast mode is, and how tall it is. He makes such a great giraffe, and the robot mode uses that to make a weird but posable and excellent looking robot mode. That headsculpt is ace!

2) Heinrad - such a weird and unique dude, I love this toy. From the working alarm clock in his belly to the headsculpt with goggles, and even the fact that his beast mode head is articulated despite splitting in half to form shoulder pads. Such a great figure. Only real weakness is in the lower legs, the beast fur pieces get in the way of posing.

1) Big Convoy - this one will always be my favorite Neo mold, and one of the best Beast molds ever made. I love the giant mammoth, and the really stocky robot mode it forms. It screams badassery and bulkiness, and the colors on the encore release coupled with the matrix just make the set. This is one of the best beast molds ever made.

Honorable mentions:

Guiledart is pretty neat, and the beast mode nice and thumpy. Bit hindered in robot mode but still pretty neat.

Sharkedge is super fun, really solid, and the beast mode is one of the coolest I own. He is really close to breaking onto the list, but just a bit lower than Colada for 5th favorite.

Hardhead is also pretty fun, I love the colors on him and the domehead retooling is super neat. Not quite my favorite but the beast mode is a pleasant surprise

Always liked Break. Beast mode was spot on, robot mode looked like some kind of weird egg bird cracked in half and then it has a weapon mode that would compliment red factions Mr Toots. The perfectly wrong target master.

Heinlad better than Big Convoy? Stop.

First-Aid wrote:

TulioDude wrote:

This picture is vaguely pornographic if y ou think about it...

Supposedly, most fans call that configuration "Dino-Orgy-Mode", but I've always said "Crime-Against-God-Mode".

See, in that anime that almost became Android-Voltron, the 3 component bots could combine different ways (ala Getter Robo), like Underground-Mode and Underwater-Mode, with God-Mode being the most powerful. So for the Con made up of 3 prehistoric beasts with multiple combinations, one of which looks like mad science...

Dinocentipede?

Ohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohohoho!

Will, Will, Will, you devil, you...

The timing of this thread...

This thread being all about Beast Wars Neo toys...

You have no idea how the timing of this thread is so... impeccable!



Two months ago, back in May, I placed an order for something from RobotKingdom. An item that they had only one of in stock, and which just so happened to be Beast Wars Neo-related.

The item was too big for air mail, so thanks to the pandemic, it had to be put on the slow boat.

Two months later and it finally arrived at my place a few days ago. I opened it up yesterday, and boy howdy, do I got something to share with y'all.

This toy, this Beast Wars Neo toy, is apparently something that is not widely known about here in the Western World. For you see, this toy doesn't even have its own TFWiki article (at the time of this typing), and isn't even mentioned on the Wiki at all (outside of some currently redlinked edits on the BWN toyline page and the general Matrix page that I made awhile back, so not even the show's episode pages mention it).

What I have here to share with you guys is, specifically, not a Beast Wars Neo action figure, but rather, a Beast Wars Neo... role play toy!

Behold... The MATRIX CANNON!!!

(Disclaimer: these pics are not actually mine; they are pics of the toy that I found via a Google Image Search since I have not yet taken any pics of my copy, but these are still of the same item in question)






In-fiction, the Matrix Cannon is one of the standard issue firearms of the Maximal faction, belonging to no single individual. While the packaging boasts about its being "the strongest Cybertron (Maximal) gun" and which "only true warriors can have", it certainly pales in comparison to the destructive might of Big Convoy's personal weapon, the Big Cannon. And while multiple Maximals could wield it in the show, Stampy was the one who was most often seen using it, but in which cases no significant attention was ever given to either it or its fancy-sounding name.

Yeah, one would think that with a name like "Matrix Cannon" it would have some special relation to either the Energon Matrices of Maximal leaders or to the original Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Yet, by all appearances, it does not seem to have any such connection, with the name just being an attention-grabber. Still, that does not detract at all from this toy.

As pictured above, the toy is packaged inside a big Styrofoam tray and held in place by two little removable Styrofoam rectangles, each at the front and back of the gun. The Styrofoam tray itself is covered by a cardboard sleeve that features all of the box art seen in the above images. The sleeve is attached to the Styrofoam by some small pieces of tape. Getting past this tape will allow the sleeve to be slid off of the Styrofoam in a sideways direction, revealing the Matrix Cannon contained within.

The gun itself has electronic lights and sounds and even functions as a sort of shooting game. Inside its translucent barrel are several tiny, round plastic pellets called Energy Bullets that are launched forward by a spring-loaded mechanism activated by pulling the gun's trigger. The pellets are shot forward inside the gun's barrel in an attempt to hit a specific targeted area on the orange and purple sphere seen inside the barrel in the above pics. This sphere is the Matrix Core, and has a little hole carved into the side of it that the Energy Bullets are supposed to hit. The Matrix Core balances around inside the barrel by a gravity weight that keeps it always facing in approximately the same direction.

On the back of the gun is a little translucent sight window that enables the gun's wielder to align the sight with the Matrix Core's hole. Getting one pellet to hit that hole will cause the red Energy Counter on the top of the gun to light up and make a noise. Getting four consecutive hits on the Matrix Core's hole will then cause all three Energy Counters on the top and sides of the gun to flash and make a new sound. According to the packaging, this means that the gun's power has been raised to maximum power, at which point "you can surely lead the Cybertrons (Maximals) to victory!"

Despite being for children, this game isn't quite as easy as it sounds, as hitting the targeted area on the Matrix Core can be tricky if the gun isn't aligned absolutely perfectly. But thankfully, the whole thing is contained with the gun's barrel, so there's no danger of either losing any of the Energy Bullets or accidentally shooting them at someone or something. The pellets themselves are especially tiny, so they'd be very easy for anyone to choke on.

Anyway, once the ammunition runs out, you simply tilt the gun forward to get all of the pellets into a little shaft under the Matrix Core, and then tilt the gun backward to make all of the pellets run down the body of the gun to bring them back to the launch chamber at the back of the gun. You then pull the refill lever on the side of the gun to open a small door that let's the pellets return to the chamber where the firing mechanism is, and then resume play as normal. There are no additional levels of difficultly, as it is a simple game of merely hitting the target four times to make all of the lights flash.

Overall, the design aesthetic of this thing feels very similar to the look that would, years later, be applied to toys of the 2004 Super Sentai series Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, which would be adapted into Power Rangers S.P.D. in 2005. In fact, one not in the know probably wouldn't have even guessed that it was a Beast Wars toy at all. It's a mostly off-white/light gray gun with a futuristic design, sporting red flashing lights that give it a sort of "space police" motif. Purplish-blue highlights the gun as its secondary color, while the sides of the chamber are adorned by pre-applied black decals with squares colored green, blue, yellow, and red that, upon closer inspection, have what looks to be some sort of circuitry-styled pattern.

All of the sound effects are blast noises, so there are no voice clips included. The barrel's tip is colored medium gray and is a solid piece connected to the gun's body by a screw at the center of the tip. The Matrix Core inside the barrel is an orange sphere covered in purple "islands" (for lack of a better term) that it make it look like some kind of planet design, while its hole resembles a sort of planetary crater that also calls to mind the design of a certain Monster Planet who also featured in Beast Wars Neo.

The Matrix Cannon requires two AA batteries, which are inserted into the gun's handle in the similar manner to how an ammo magazine would be inserted into the handle of a handgun.

All in all, I am satisfied with this thing. It's a kids toy at its finest and doesn't try to be anything more than that, but that's what I was expecting. I went into this thing mostly blind, unsure if it would just be a lights & sounds toy or if it could actually fire any kind of projectile like a Nerf gun. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, while it does shoot plastic pellets, they are confined within the sealed barrel of the gun and thus cannot be lost or cause any harm. My original plan was to buy this thing and bring it with me to RoboCon to play with and show to people there, but that didn't happen thanks to the pandemic forcing the con to be switched to a virtual online convention. Still, I am happy to have this thing as a part of my Beast Wars collection.

Thanks for sharing Sabr, and yeah, this is perfect for this thread

I hoped that at least in the honorable mentions this Magmatron, Killer Punch, Survive, Sharp Edge and Hardhead.

Especially Kilerpunch, since he is an excellent and improved Guiledart remold, a difficult figure to obtain at present.

Hey Sabr, our Unleash the Beast Wars thread covers all Beast Wars/Machines related toys if you want to share over there too!

RacerCheetor also just reminded me that Killerpunch is out there. i have the mold as Guiledart, but not the Killerpunch tooling. That might actually be the last Neo mold I need (though technically i have it already, just not the retool). I do have Bazooka too, that is a fun figure. Wish I could find Survive, I need the bear mold in some form.

I've also never formed the Dino-centipede, and don't really intend to either.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Hey Sabr, our Unleash the Beast Wars thread covers all Beast Wars/Machines related toys if you want to share over there too!

I think I just may, thanks.

The only one of these toy I own is Big Convoy. So... good list! But yeah, the toys on it are pretty cool-looking. I love that Longrack's got his tongue sticking out oin beast mode.

I agree with WJ that if I had to pick just one 'Con in the line, it'd be Archadis, though I prefer Airraptor's deco since gold is my least favorite color. A vain character who worries about losing feathers in battle, so his toy actually has feather-losing-action!

And as awesome as it was to finally get a Styracosaurus, the only one who could possibly unseat the great Achaeopterix in my mind is Bazooka, our first Ankylosaurus (that didn't start out as great-horny-toad/turtle monster). He's just a perfect example of how a basic-size figure can cram just as many action features/weapons as a deluxe or larger and still work, partly because his weapon can be held as an axe or gun, even in the puppet hand. When BBTS clearanced them, I bought 3 extras, printed off Ben Yee's review to slip in the boxes, then donated them to Toys For Tots. Even if I could only get one small TF one Christmas, Bazooka would've kept me entertained, and I hope some less fortunate kids out there felt the same, and appreciated the coolness of getting a toy most American kids would never own (until the WalMart Armada Dinobots anyway; sometimes I regret not getting any of them).

And having worked at ToysRUs for over a decade, it still feels so wrong that Longrack never got imported as an exclusive. One time I was talking to a 5-year-old contemplating Cybertron Longrack, and when I told him that in Japan he used to be a giraffe, the look on his face implied that I broke the poor tyke's brain. I actually felt kind of bad about that afterward.

Big Convoy looks great but i can't help but laugh at Heinrad. He is too oddly proportioned in beast mode

I's still like to know what Heinrad's name even means.

(FWIW, it's pronounced like "Hine-rad" [Silent E on that "Hine" part])

Rogue-Primal wrote:Big Convoy looks great but i can't help but laugh at Heinrad. He is too oddly proportioned in beast mode

He is oddly proportioned, not at all close to the true proportions of mythological tanukis

He's more of a cartoon-ized version of a real life Japanese raccoon dog.

Good list! I'd be tempted to add some of the dino Predacons as honourable mentions, but as I don't own them I can't really comment. In terms of aesthetics though I adore Guiledart, and Sabreback's skull necklace forming from the actual dinosaur skull is amazing.

Also, whilst probably a pain to pose thanks to the COLOSSAL shells, I always liked how Dead End looked. Aside from being a nautilus and having a cool colour scheme, I always thought the design was interesting- the shoulder shields gave me Zeon vibes somehow.

Sabrblade wrote:I's still like to know what Heinrad's name even means.

(FWIW, it's pronounced like "Hine-rad" [Silent E on that "Hine" part])

Kinda like Heinz beans... unless people pronounce that Heenz beans...not so sure how Heinrad could have any other way of being pronounced.

blackeyedprime wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:I's still like to know what Heinrad's name even means.

(FWIW, it's pronounced like "Hine-rad" [Silent E on that "Hine" part])

Kinda like Heinz beans... unless people pronounce that Heenz beans...not so sure how Heinrad could have any other way of being pronounced.

You never know. To this day, I still hear people say Ginrai's name wrong (it's "Jin-rye").

Sabrblade wrote:He's more of a cartoon-ized version of a real life Japanese raccoon dog.

Last time I checked, real life Japanese racoon dogs don't carry sake.



Jokes aside, he's a mix of both, hence why I wasn't sure to include him on par with dragons and the like in my top 5 mythological alt mode TFs list.

Sabrblade wrote:I still hear people say Ginrai's name wrong (it's "Jin-rye").

It's the same people who say GIF with a hard G.

Black Hat wrote:Good list! I'd be tempted to add some of the dino Predacons as honourable mentions, but as I don't own them I can't really comment. In terms of aesthetics though I adore Guiledart, and Sabreback's skull necklace forming from the actual dinosaur skull is amazing.

I agree with all of that and own them both (they come together in that Korean 2 pack right?). But in both cases, they are just too kibbletastic to be on par with the rest, in my opinion.

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:I still hear people say Ginrai's name wrong (it's "Jin-rye").

It's the same people who say GIF with a hard G.

Except those same people'd be right, as the file extension is short for "Graphic Interchange Format"

Sabrblade wrote:He's more of a cartoon-ized version of a real life Japanese raccoon dog.

Which I love, such cute little guys.

Still love that his head splits in half but is still mostly posable

I like how his head can look up to make the beast mode quadrupedal.

Sabrblade wrote:I like how his head can look up to make the beast mode quadrupedal.

Also like that too. Beast mode is pretty posable thanks to it.

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:He's more of a cartoon-ized version of a real life Japanese raccoon dog.

Last time I checked, real life Japanese racoon dogs don't carry sake.



Jokes aside, he's a mix of both, hence why I wasn't sure to include him on par with dragons and the like in my top 5 mythological alt mode TFs list.

Sabrblade wrote:I still hear people say Ginrai's name wrong (it's "Jin-rye").

It's the same people who say GIF with a hard G.

Hey now, I know how to pronounce Ginrai's name properly.

But with GIF... I don't care what the creator of the format says, a hard G sounds more natural for it (as opposed to sounding like a peanut butter brand). Especially since "Graphics", the first word in the acronym, starts with a hard G.

Jelze Bunnycat wrote:Except those same people'd be right, as the file extension is short for "Graphic Interchange Format"

Thing is, the guy who invented the format insists it should be said with a soft G despite that. It makes me want to pronounce the full name starting with a soft G to poke fun at the lack of logic.

lol, I knew my GIF comment was gonna spark this.

william-james88 wrote:lol, I knew my GIF comment was gonna spark this.

And yet, you opened the can of worms anyway.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

william-james88 wrote:lol, I knew my GIF comment was gonna spark this.

And yet, you opened the can of worms anyway.

Of course, why would I waste such an opportunity?!

Also, all the comments regarding Heinrad firther cement how he is the best in this series. Probably the most unique of all Transformers toys ever done.