The only Mega class sized offering in wave three of the Beast Wars line, Transquito is in fact a triple changer, transforming as he did from robot (with uncanny valley-esque hands that almost appear human, at least to me) to mosquito, to a whip spider-like nightmare of a third mode, which is disconcerting to this day. I have to say, I bloody well love it. Predacons should always have that creepy gnarly edge to them, especially the insectformers, and Transquito has that in spades.
Never in the cartoon (because so few of the Beast Wars toys ever were), Transquito's character can be described best as an irritant, much like the corrosive fluid that he uses to mark out his territory - both Maximals AND Predacons are supposed to despise him, and that completely fits with his Beast Mode, because I find very few people in this world are fond of mosquitoes, given their stature as disease-carrying vampires. Still, that would have been interesting to see in the show, an outcast that Megatron would go to only in times of great need, when they absolutely, positively, HAD to go with the nuclear option.
As for ol' Transquito's package art, they're going for the "spiky terror" aesthetic again, aren't they? He looks completely horrific, as it should be, all spikes and legs and they even manage to get his mouth-firing missile gimmick in there, which is always lovely to see. It's worth pointing out his speed score as well, getting a solid 9.0 because let's face it, mosquitoes are speedy little buggers, aren't they? Stands to reason a robot that transforms into one would be too.
You can still find Transquito haunting eBay, although not as many people have him as you might think, given that he was one of the most notorious shelfwarmers of the Beast Wars era, still clogging up Toys R Us'es in the year 2000, when the line had effectively ended! Maybe people were put off by the spikiness, although I think he's great, and will definitely be looking for one for myself in the very near future...
