COUNTDOWN: 9 Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Toys That Were Proud to Be Hideous

Beast Wars is one of the most unusual corners of Transformers at the best of times, but in 1999, things went up a considerable notch with the arrival of the Transmetal 2 subline.

The previous year’s Transmetal concept flipped the typical script by delivering enhanced robotic beast modes paired with more organic, animalistic robot forms. Transmetal 2 took this a significant step further, meshing the robotic and beastly elements together across both modes simultaneously — one ghastly hybrid of execution, with the savage stylings of the sculpts dialled up to eleven, producing some rather purposefully hideous designs and some of the most distinctive toys the franchise has ever seen.

This list focuses specifically on the non-show characters to demonstrate just how wildly creative the line was at this point and how memorable so many of these toys remain. They’re not going to be for everyone, but we should be so lucky to see such bold swings again.

#9: Jawbreaker

Jawbreaker is a good litmus test for whether the Transmetal 2 aesthetic is going to be for you or not. That hyena beast form is undeniably handsome, though in the most irregular and chaotic manner possible — with overt 1990s flourishes aplenty, including jagged blades protruding from its limbs and a spinning bonesaw jutting rather unsubtly from its arched back. It’s the zenith of the subline’s excess, going overboard in just about every regard in the best possible way, even if the overall package is, well, a lot to take in, to say the least.

Yet it’s the robot mode which is the real challenge, as a fairly gnarly and unexpected transformation reveals a true monstrosity marketed as a Maximal — all hideous twisted limbs and asymmetric brutality in the sculpt. We were used to animal heads acting in place of hands by this point, but Jawbreaker unapologetically pushes it further still, refusing to conform to any notion of being aesthetically safe or easy to accept. It’s a righteously repulsive thing, and one with the kind of jaw-dropping attention to detail that showcases why these toys remain such a treat to behold even years on.

#8: Stinkbomb

One element I always appreciated about individual Beast Wars toys was being gifted an animal form not previously seen in the line at that point. And sure enough, by the time 1999 rolled round, it was high time a skunk joined the selection — and it could not have arrived during a more fitting moment than Transmetal 2. As one of the Basic class figures, Stinkbomb naturally errs on the simpler side of design, yet still packs plenty of punch with that gorgeous gold-chromed tail and vibrant burnt orange finish.

It’s the over-the-top embellishments of the robot mode that reveal the real charm on offer, though — animalistic touches such as the beast feet on proud display, an idiosyncratic masked face offering a pop of red paint for contrast, and that gleaming tail reimagined as a deadly ponytail all adding up to a figure that pushes the boundaries of what the Basic price point could deliver. It says everything that the same mould made a comeback as Gas Skunk in Takara’s Car Robots roster just a year later, sporting a surprisingly similar colour scheme — proof positive that they got it right the first time.

#7: Scarem

Another Basic class beast, though one which proves to be amongst the most outlandish designs the subline had to offer in just about every sense. Insectoid antagonists were nothing new during the late 1990s, having been a staple of Beast Wars since its earliest days — yet few could claim to be as quirky or as grotesque as Scarem, who arrives complete with large pickaxe-like mandibles for arms and a frankly bizarre leg-splitting feature that allows the robot form to walk on four limbs or two, making him feel like some inherently hideous half-breed robot bug.

Genuinely nothing about this toy looks or feels like a traditional Transformers figure — if you presented it to someone unfamiliar with the line, they would absolutely peg it as belonging to an entirely different toy franchise. And yet it’s also emblematic of what made Transmetal 2 work so well to begin with — that willingness to take risks and deliver unexpected designs, no matter how shocking the outcome.

#6: Prowl

Though pretty uniformly populated by new characters devoid of direct connections to the classic Transformers cast of the 1980s (the odd exception aside), Beast Wars was certainly not afraid to repurpose familiar names for its animal-themed interpretations. Despite ‘Prowl’ being synonymous with a police car for many, it also turned out to be the perfect appellative for not one but two separate toys during this era, beginning with 1997’s lion as part of the Magnaboss combiner trio. You’d be forgiven for thinking there couldn’t be a more appropriate beast form to apply such a moniker to — but I am forever pleased that the powers that be saw fit to reuse it for this 1999 Transmetal 2 design, because, well… it’s Pr-OWL!

Seriously, it doesn’t get better — or punnier — than this, and I love it unreservedly. Oh, and the toy itself is also gorgeous to behold, delivering a jagged, uncompromising interpretation of what a one-eyed, mutated robotic owl should look like. In truth, this one is a bit of a faff to handle and features some of the most egregiously flaking chrome of the bunch — but still, so pretty.

#5: Spittor

1999’s Spittor is one of the few examples of a non-cartoon name returning in Transmetal 2 form, taking the poison-arrow frog of two years prior and overhauling it into a more intense take in just about every sense. If ever you needed a demonstration of how far the budgets of this subline were pushed compared to what came before, a quick comparison of these two Basic class figures tells the story immediately — just look at how loaded with flourishes the Transmetal 2 design truly is.

Spittor Mark 2 feels almost akin to a Deluxe, somehow more substantial in size, stacked with chrome, lathered in paint and packed with greebled detail besides. It’s also the perfect proof of how ungainly and twisted things had become by this point — contorted limbs, a severely hunched silhouette, and the kind of asymmetrical styling synonymous with the subline at large. Gruesome stuff.

#4: Iguanus

Another returning name given a subsequent outing, though where Spittor remained largely faithful to its predecessor, Iguanus takes merely the core idea of the original and sprints off in an entirely unexpected direction — and at a larger scale. Now a fully-formed Deluxe, this lizard-like design — only loosely inspired by an actual iguana, despite the name — is more grandiose in every sense, doing away with the flipchanger gimmick of early Beast Wars in favour of a truly nightmarish overhaul that feels right at home in the garish Transmetal 2 canon. Covered in moulded detail and adorned with rich layers of beautifully-applied paint, this is one of those toys that demands to be appreciated up close, even if the chrome is surprisingly reserved this time around, peeking out only from the bases of the individual frill sections around the beast’s neck.

That these same adornments serve as a sort of ‘skirt’ for the robot form is genuinely inspired design — even if, yes, they continuously pop off should you so much as look at them the wrong way — and that’s to say nothing of the other oddities baked into the overall package. A toy that asks a lot of its audience in recognising it as anything resembling a typical Transformer, yet so quintessentially Transmetal 2 that it cannot help but compel admiration all the same.

#3: Ramulus

If there were any justice in this world, character designs like Ramulus would become recurring mainstays of the Transformers roster, purely for how unapologetically creative and distinct they are from the norm. As it stands, this late-nineties banger remains a true testament to the period in which it was born — all over-the-top aggressive energy mixed with maximum aesthetic flair. The very fact that the wild goat alternate mode is permanently doubled over into a charging position, ever-ready to headbutt an assailant at a moment’s notice, is proof positive of the vibe on offer here.

The robot mode’s gnarled, teeth-clenched expression and its bulging bicep-like torso erupting from what appears to be a fabulously rose-chromed gilet cannot help but back that up further. If exaggeration was par for the course in Transmetal 2, then Ramulus is the hole in one — a sure sign of what this chapter of the Beast Wars saga did best, distilled into one fantastically realised design. Unfortunately, he’s also one of the worst candidates for chrome flaking of the bunch — but then, a thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.

#2: Tripredacus Agent

Right, I’m throwing in a major curveball here. Yes, I said this list would steer clear of designs featured in the accompanying animation — and yes, this one began life representing the third iteration of Beast Wars’ poster boy, Cheetor. But hear me out, because I feel fully justified in including the 2001 Walmart-exclusive repaint known as Tripredacus Agent (one assumes ‘Ravage’ was off the trademark table by that point) for one good reason: I genuinely loathed the original 1999 yellow release at the time, and it took finally acquiring this black makeover to fully appreciate what the design has to offer.

Back then, this grisly specimen was a hard pill to swallow as a follow-up to two rather fabulous previous renditions of the Maximal character, and especially its 1998 Transmetal predecessor. It felt simpler in scope — even in how it opted to use the four beast limbs directly as the robot’s arms and legs, rather than pursuing a more creative solution as the earlier toys had — and featured puzzling choices such as non-articulated elbows, which seemed a genuine step back in a line celebrated for its previously unmatched poseability. The accompanying cartoon portraying it as Cheetor’s awkward, hormonal teenager phase didn’t help matters either, and when my copy eventually broke — one of the shoulder joints snapping clean off — I was more than happy to write it off as one of the rare disappointments of the Beast Wars era.

Imagine my surprise, then, when Tripredacus Agent changed my mind fairly comprehensively, even if I still feel a slight sense of dissonance when considering the design as Cheetor. The black repaint strips away all of that baggage, delivering the same gnarly aesthetic but now with gorgeous gold chrome adorning the arm, thigh, and prominently-placed blaster accessory — and suddenly, everything clicks. It’s allowed me to appreciate one of the signature moulds of the Transmetal 2 roster all over again, and to recognise that even if it’s far from flawless, there’s absolutely something worth admiring in what they were going for.

#1: Scourge

If the toys so far have nudged the boundaries of acceptability, then this final entry may just sprint away with them entirely — even the most ardent advocates for Transformers doing bold, creative things might find themselves recoiling at Scourge’s mere presence. To be fair, it’s an undeniably audacious swing in just about every regard: from the sheer unbridled excess of the multi-coloured locust alternate mode to the frankly absurd non-humanoid proportions and heavily kibbled presentation of the robot form, this toy is genuinely something else. Yet it’s precisely that same overindulgence, that flat refusal to compromise in any direction, which makes the design work against all odds — delivering something so unmistakably singular that it could only have emerged from the Transmetal 2 line-up.

Make no mistake, handling the thing is no easy task. Limbs and wings are everywhere, each moving independently on their own ball joints in a preposterous cacophony of articulation, meaning the toy isn’t so much posed with intent as it is wrestled into whatever position achieves even a semblance of stability. And yet no one could deny — or perhaps they could! — what a beastly beauty it is to behold, once again demonstrating the calibre of finish that few toys could claim at a mainline Deluxe price point these days. Scourge is arguably the ultimate expression of everything Transmetal 2 delivered to excess — and that same unconstrained, uninhibited weirdness is precisely what makes it the perfect note to end on.

So that’s our list! Which of these non-cartoon Transmetal 2 toys is your favourite — and do you think we’ll ever see their like again?

TTFN