Transquito (Predacon) - 1997

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...

 

K-9 (Maximal) - 1997

 

The second year of Beast Wars releases inevitably saw some recolours and retools from the first, it makes financial sense to wring every last use out of the molds you have for the toys, and it diversifies the line somewhat, giving you more characters to play with. Not that the show would be able to take advantage of this of course, and unless mandated by Hasbro, they tended to stick with the same characters. Which is a shame, because it means we never got to see Wolfang, and his retooled line cousin, K-9.

K-9, far from being the Doctor's tin dog here, is styled as a guard officer, very good at his job, perhaps even *too* good - he will often suspect his own comrades of impropriety as well as the Predacons, and keep his attention shifting between them both - but if he trusts you, that trust is unwavering, and you have an ally for life. Formatted to look like a German Shepherd dog, this certainly seems to be the best for for his personality type, and apart from a little bit of Obvious Hand Syndrome, he pulls off the look brilliantly, looking like a very good boy indeed. His tail also turns into a missile launcher, which, because it's Kenner, does have a bit of a Batman grappling hook vibe to it, but we'll find that more and more as we go along.

The package art is really nice too - none of the spikiness and downright weirdness that you got with the Predacons (although like I say, you ain't seen nothing yet) - K-9 is presented as a driven and heroic type, jumping into battle to defeat the evil of his foes, his teeth gritted and his jaw lanterned - it also includes the shield that usually sits on his back in robot mode, and becomes the back of his German Shepherd mode. Oh partsforming, I do love your cheating ways. Expect more of that in the future, for sure.

K-9 then is a very good example of a second year Beast Wars figure - more of the same from the first year, but with a bit more swagger, because now they know that the kids are getting into it. After this year, they really start to play with the concept, and go into some very strange places indeed...