COUNTDOWN: 8 more Beast Wars toys that deserve Generations updates!

Despite being – gasp! – almost thirty years old, Beast Wars endures as a fan-favourite Transformers series, which has continued to be referenced with more modern media and toys even today.

Yet, although we may never again see the glut of new figures found during 2021’s Kingdom line, plenty of classic Beast-era names still exist that could – and should! – be brought back for an updated spin as part of the ongoing Generations brand, be it Age of the Primes or whatever comes after. Oh, and before everyone gangs together in unison to shout, “Transmetals!” with the force of ten suns, we’ve opted to keep this list focused on the purely organic offerings from the ’90s line-up. After our initial Countdown, here are 8 more vintage Beast bots that deserve new toys.

#8: K-9

They say every dog deserves its day, and such a statement is certainly true of this proud pup. Sure, he may have been a (surprisingly extensive) retool of Wolfang originally, and yes, the ultra-punny moniker was a rather flagrant intellectual property violation. Still, there’s no denying the appeal of this particular pooch, with his lovable German Shepherd alternate form and a rather stylish-looking robot mode to boot. It’s also not hard to imagine what a modern remake of such a character could achieve, with additional articulation versus the original’s entirely static canine configuration, for one thing. Oh, and naturally, you could reverse such a design into Wolfang and, indeed, the classic cross-faction Telemocha repaint of that character, too!

#7: Crazybolt

They don’t often grant names like they did during the ’90s anymore, eh? It takes a specific time and era to conceive of a work of art like “Crazybolt”, after all. However, it’s arguably much more appropriate for this redeco design than the Kenner original, as despite being called “Iguanus”, you cannot convince me this thing turns into an iguana. Whatever the case and the colour scheme, it remains one of the most ubiquitous toys of the period, with the Basic class figure seemingly having passed through the hands of just about every person alive at the time. Its flipchanger gimmick is a staple of early Beast Wars, but it could be great fun to see a more traditionally transformable take delivered in modern times, too!

#6: Mach Kick

Think of the weirdest Transformers toy you can, and the chances are you still haven’t quite come close to conjuring up something in the sphere of 1999’s Mach Kick. This foal-themed Beast Wars Neo oddity has “realistic” nylon hair (complete with robot mode ponytail!), a nightmarish neck-elongation gimmick and one of the singularly most frustrating transformation schemes known to humankind (you might even say it’s a ‘mare!). It’s a truly peculiar pony all told, and I have zero clue how a current Generations effort could even come close to doing it justice. Still, I’d love to see them try.

#5: Bantor

With a name like “Bantor”, you know the toy is going to be something. Still, surely nothing could prepare you for this asymmetrical abomination! Fuzors were rather offbeat and outlandish by their very nature, yet the tiger and mandrill mash-up still somehow manages to delight and horrify in equal measure. With inexplicable beast proportions and animal kibble aplenty hanging off his arms in humanoid form, there’s a decent dose of quirk to the classic design. That vintage toy retains its charm, mind, but perhaps a new update could make sense of some of it all in a way that might prove intriguing to see!

#4: Onyx Primal

We mentioned crocodile Megatron on our original list, so seeing its pack-in opposite number up for consideration here should be no great shock. Yet, in this case, it’s the Botcon-exclusive repaint which would arguably be more intriguing than the classic grey and blue bat Optimus release, as Onyx Primal remains an oddity of a character with only that one toy to his name. The white, black and gold colour scheme is unmistakable for being a Batman homage, but could still pack a major punch on a modern figure today. One can only speculate that such a re-do might also add additional articulation to the wings, so let’s hope the idea comes up to bat before too long!

#3: Longrack

This one should be obvious. It’s a robot that transforms into a giraffe. A GIRAFFE. Does more need to be said? Well, even assuming everyone is already bought in on the core concept, there’s plenty to enjoy about this vintage Neo toy, which has become a fan-favourite over the years purely on account of the adorableness of its alternate mode. That it also boasts a licking tongue gimmick and a frankly unfathomable third ‘battle’ configuration is but the icing on the cake, although again, the argument here should have been won simply at ‘giraffe’.

#2: Quickstrike

As the only Fuzor besides Silverbolt to break out of relative obscurity, it’s still a surprise to consider that 1998’s Quickstrike only has this one toy depicting his hideous classic form. Rumours are swirling such an update may indeed be on the way before too long, in which case we can only hope it captures the same sense of unparalleled awesomeness as the original, which understood the assignment and didn’t scrimp on the body horror one bit. It’s also, not for nothing, one of the most cartoon-accurate toys of the era (and especially with the additional paint found on the Takara Metals release), so a potential Generations makeover will have to do some heavy lifting to compete in this case!

#1: Tripredacus

Whilst this arguably remains a hot take even today, I stand by my regular assertion that Beast Wars Tripredacus is one of the all-around best Transformers combiners of all. With a full complement of independently satisfying component robots, all of which work well in both their individual modes, this was also one of the first two wholly non-partsforming gestalt forms the franchise ever attempted, and the results stand up even by modern standards. Sure, Tripredacus here will be written off by some because of its outlandish appearance, and especially those mangled insectoid appendages, but make no mistake, this is engineering brilliance that still shines even after two-and-a-half decades. It would be fascinating to see what a modern effort could achieve with this frightful character design, no matter how unlikely such a prospect seems right now!

So that’s our list! What other classic Beast Wars toys deserve an update?

TTFN