259 replies to this topic

[Jabroniville]

This is a thing I've been working on for some time, and was maybe thinking of a blog post or whatever, but I didn't think anyone would care. After finding THIS forum, I think I finally have a place for it. It's a bit of a description of each individual Battle Beast, its details & colors, possible Variants, and a description of the animals upon which is is based. I actually found an old topic where an actual Ecologist was going through each species and delivering notes, and people seemed into it (unfortunately, it died several years ago). So hopefully people might find this interesting, and have an opportunity to talk about some of their favorite Beasts as they come.

(Note: The early descriptive stuff is worded in a way that it's basically describing the Beasts to someone completely unfamiliar with the line, which will come off as "well, DUH" to actual collectors like you all. I left it here for completion's sake).

 

BATTLE BEASTS:

 

* Battle Beasts are objectively rather simple in theory- they're anthropomorphic, two-legged, two-armed creatures wearing suits of armor- a torso covering, shoulder-pads, wrist-guards, and boots that reveal the front and back of the feet. They have odd numbers of fingers and toes- some just have "Mitten" hands, too.

 

* The Beasts have a couple different types of armor. One is a "Two-Piece", where the top is a large block of torso-covering armor, while there's a smaller codpiece covering the crotch and butt. The "One-Piece" is basically the same, except the two pieces are connected. These two take up the vast majority, but a handful of different ones exist when they want to shake things up- characters like the Zebra, Hawk & Orangutan feature entirely different set-ups.

 

* The all have a "Symbol" (usually called a "rub" online)- it's a black sticker that, when touched or warmed up, will reveal one of three symbols- Fire, Wood or Water. The theme being that Water beats Fire (obvious), Fire beats Wood (again obvious), and that Wood... floats on Water? Okayyyy... This is the main "gimmick" of the entire line (almost ALL kids' toys back then had to feature some kind of "gimmick", though a handful eschewed that- He-Man and G.I. Joe were pretty standard-issue and not fancy). The stickers are generally placed on the centre of the upper piece of the armor- I usually call them "Chest Symbols" for this reason. A small handful place them either lower or to the side- one notable exception is the Bat, who features one on his WING. The "Symbols" are usually the first thing to go on the toys- since little kids had to "rub" them to make them show their symbol, the sticker got shuffled around a lot, and wasn't really attached by anything but simple glue.

 

* The colors are rather simple- one body color, and one color for the armor (only a couple of exceptions exist). There will also be a third color I call the "secondary color", typically with the eyes and a small portion of the armor. Others use four colors- in this case, the eyes will usually be different. Very rarely, you will see FIVE colors used- these imply another, extra detail (such as the Racoon's mask).

 

* Semi-unusually, you will see Variants. These rarer Beasts will feature a different, usually subtle, color scheme. The Tiger often features different shades of pink for his Secondary Color, while Squirely Squirrel has a rare version with yellow vents instead of red (his normal secondary color, which is unchanged elsewhere on the figure). A few, like the Bighorn Sheep, are in different shades than normal, while others (the Walrus & Mouse) feature actual FLAWS in the paint-jobs, resulting in unpainted tusks & teeth (yes, factory flaws actually make things MORE expensive). Most-unusual are the Beasts of an entirely-different color- the rare Weasel is actually PINK in one form. Most-notable and obvious is Jaded Jag, who is ordinarily wearing red armor, but a rare version features a DARK BLUE set instead.

 

* 75 of the 76 Beasts are of modern-day, living animals- the majority of which are mammals (though reptiles and birds are also very common). Most of the "famous" animals are depicted, leaving out very few (Cetaceans are notably-absent, but the Wolf is easily the most famous absentee). However, only the Spider exists for the Arachnids, and there are no Insects whatsoever. Domesticated animals are a bit rare, but there are three different examples of Canis familiaris- the dog. There are often quite a few representatives of each Order or Family- there's a Horse and a Zebra, for example. Six Cats. The three Dogs, plus a Fox. There's a regular Snake and, much later, a Cobra. The Boar is eventually joined by a common Pig. There's also several members of the Bovine Family represented- a domestic Cow, a Bison, plus Water Buffalo, Antelope, and Musk Ox. Three Bears, two Cephalopods, and a handful of Apes, as well. Naturally, a "sequel" line, the Laser Beasts, turns a lot of this on its head by including several new animal types (and even some fictional ones!).

 

* Every Beast comes with his own unique weapon. I never noticed it as a kid (as the numbers were not a major feature of the toys), but they're set up in groups- #1-9 have bright silver weapons. #10-18 have dark bronze. #19-28 have dark grey. #29-40 have bright gold (among the most eye-catching). #41-52 have a lighter, slightly-reddish bronze. #53-64 have very light grey weapons, and #64-76 are the most-distinctive, being dark purple. All of the weapons have the Beast's # written on them somewhat-prominently.

 

* Speaking of the Beast #s- a few of them appear on the Beasts in some form or another. This is something I've literally never noticed until doing this series, as I'd never really looked them over in THAT much detail before, but you'll find the occasional guy with his # imprinted on the back of his head, or sometimes on his armor. Some have letters as well (something about production "lots"). The Hasbro logo, copywrite symbol, and sometimes Takara's name will also appear on the figure- most of them are smart enough to just stick this on the bottom of the feet, where you'll never see them, but a few figures have this prominently stamped on their BACK, which is a bit silly (this is more common on early Beasts). A few Beasts will actually have a hole on the bottom of their feet, though nothing in the line appears to have a peg for them.

 

* The numbers are largely immaterial, but you notice certain trends. The earliest, the "Silver Weapon" guys, are usually the ones I see as the most-iconic, and most-common Beasts- the Deer, Bird, Snake & Lion in particular are ultra-common, with the Lion being the line's "centerpiece", if such a thing exists. As a kid, I thought the Lion & Rhino were the most-righteous-looking minis in the entire line, and I used them as the leaders of the two "factions" I envisioned, with all the evil-looking Beasts on the Lion's side. The Silver weapons are almost all rather thin and fragile-looking. The "Dark Bronze Weapon" guys are much like the first, but less-extraordinary, and feature some of the plainer guys (in addition to some odd ones like the Giraffe). "Dark Grey Weapon" guys actually feature some of the coolest designs, coming at the end of "Series I"- the Bison & Horse in particular are ENORMOUS compared to the other toys, and the Crab & Spider are in the "Top Five Most-Iconic", easily. Their weapons are all oddly rather large.

 

* Series II toys break down as such: The "Gold Weapon" series has a lot of variation- some plainer types (Racoon, Hippo), alongside some of the series's best (Chameleon, Octopus, Anteater). These weapons are some of the best, with crazy-inventive stuff like the Anteaters three-crescent thing, and the Moose's "Antler Weapon". The "Reddish-Bronze Weapon" series is a bit more plain, but also features the Cuttlefish, Seahorse & Polar Bear- some of my favorites.

 

* Series III features the rarest and hardest-to-find Beasts. The "Light-Grey Weapon" series features a lot of thin weapons, and some very inventive, unique characters, as the toy designers were taking risks and trying new things- the Panda, Lizard & Panther have some great designs, and almost ALL of the weapons are phenomenal here. They take things here like Tapirs & Pigs, and make cool toys out of them- quite impressive. The last set, the "Purple Weapon" crew, are the most-outlandish, and have big, solid weapons. Here, you'll find oddities like the Flamingo, Penguin & Orangutan, who break a lot of the "rules" of the line. Some of them are great (I actually dig the Bovine), but others are weak and plain. These are probably my favorite weapons. Out of this last set, many of them are Beasts I never saw as a kid.

 

* I owned about 54 of the 76- not bad, and quite spoiled as these things went (that's nothin' on my DINO RIDERS stuff, however).

 

I owned: Lion, Bird, Deer, Carp, Snake, Toad, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Bear, Bat, Gator, Fox, Giraffe, Porcupine, Shark, Dog, Horse, Weasel, Bison, Sheep, Spider, Crab, Iguana, Armadillo, Jag, Hippo, Moose, Chameleon, Kangaroo, Octopus, Walrus, Mouse, Racoon, Anteater, Duck, Mole, Cuttlefish, Beaver, Seahorse, Owl, Camel, Polarbear, Squirrel, Sabre-Sword Tiger, Bulldog, Skunk, Pig, Rooster, Ox, Pangolin, Sloth, Aardvark, Bovine

I didn't own: Tiger, Gorilla, Boar, Rabbit, Tortoise, Panda, Lizard, Koala, Tyrant, Black Panther, Tapir, Cobra, Mandrill, Pointer, Zebra, Hawk, Duckbill, Crow, Flamingo, Antelope, Penguin, Orangutan

 

* What I notice: Most of the missing ones are from the "Light Grey" & "Purple" weapon series, meaning than I missed most of Series III. I actually never even SAW most of these as a kid- I had a friend who owned the Pointer & Flamingo, and they looked insanely exotic to me (expect to see a lot of the descriptor "exotic" in these, by the way- I'm bad for repetition ), as I didn't have them. In fact, it wasn't until I was an adult, checking out Battle Beasts online, that I ever even SAW most of these other guys! Despite that, you'll see the Gorilla & Boar on some of the advertising boxes, so I guess I SHOULD have, but I didn't. In fact, most of these guys remained a mystery to me even years later, as I'd since forgotten about most of the Beasts I'd never owned, until wandering by sellers at Comic Expos and spotting "hey, that looks like a Battle Beast"- I noticed the Tapir, Gorilla & Zebra like they were all-new things to me.

 

At Cons, I would find the Tiger, Cobra, Orangutan, Tarsier (he came cheap, thanks to a broken-off arm) and Penguin (I remember one dealer who only missed the Chameleon, asking if I already had one). At the Old Strathcona Antique Mall in town, I would find a guy selling a few fully-armed versions of my broken ones, PLUS the Tapir & Tortoise (who I always THOUGHT I owned, as he looks familiar- but I can't find him). Then, when I finally decided to start collecting in earnest, I went to a Calgary Expo seller and spent probably WAY too much on a handful of guys- the Boar included. Something like $75 for three figures is really WAY too much, I've discovered, but I was caught in the moment, and I often pay more for the "object-in-hand".

 

To this day, however, I still view the Beasts I'd never owned as these crazy, exotic toys. Things like the Panda, Lizard & Penguin just look INSANE to me, and I would have LOVED the Panther as a kid- even now he looks almost impossibly-cool.

Edited by Jabroniville, 16 October 2016 - 10:41 PM.

[Jabroniville]

 

#21: DANGER DOG:

Japanese Name: Bowdog

 

 

Animal Basis: Dog (vaguely terrier-like). The domesticated dog is, naturally, descended from the Wolf, and the two species can breed interchangeably enough that they aren't really truly "separate species" at all- science actually kind of had to change the meaning of the descriptor just for this purpose (though you'll note that many biological terms for animals are really just meaningless descriptions- things like "species" and "subspecies" are just pretend words that help us define things, when the natural world just kind of does what it does). Dogs were likely the very FIRST animals domesticated. Interestingly, they have the greatest amount of variation amongst one simple species known to science- a Dachshund, a Rottweiler and a Great Dane are all the same scientific Species, despite being vastly different in size, appearance and more. Apparently, it's because of some kind of "Variable DNA" that easily mutates over time, allowing the creation of whole new types within a generation or two. Dogs are now used for companionship, play, sport, hunting, rescue, police/army work, etc.

 

-Dog Breeding is a controversial thing for many reasons- in many cases, long-term breeding has created inbreeding, poor behavioral traits, genetic conditions (hip problems are common in larger breeds- as are shorter life spans), and in many cases, the animals have no survival capabilities- some breeds are actually INCAPABLE of breeding without human intervention- their heads are now too broad to fit through the birth canal. It doesn't help that Hybrids benefit from "Hybrid Vigor" and are much healthier, and that Dog Breeding was, for centuries, a sign of the wealthy upper classes.

 

-Dogs are also notable for being one of the most fearless animals in the world- many breeds have been trained to take on basically anything, and never stop being aggressive. This is a relic of the era of "animal fighting" (though many cultures still practice that today)- dogs are one of the few animals trained to literally fight to the death. This can be a great advantage in situations where they're against a larger, stronger opponent, who will usually hold something back for its own protection.

 

-The Terrier breeds, as this wide-mouthed individual appears to be (though with his pointed ears, he might be more or a doberman or a rottweiler- it's kind of hard to tell), were bred to kill rodents- their small, squat bodies allowed them to run into tunnels, under houses and more. Their original purpose now taken up by cats and exterminators, they are now more likely to be associated with "toy" breeds, though some are still rather large.

 

Toy Description: Easily one of the weakest, plainest designs for the Battle Beasts, I had a few of this guy, and was never terribly-impressed. He stands as one of the most "generic" guys- a good signifier for the line and its various traits, but nothing special about him, really. His colors are plain and simple (he's the least-colorful Beast in the line, actually- only THREE! Very few other Beasts match that), and he has no "extra" details that make him special. Peculiarly, the "cut-out" part of his armor reveals a completely rectangular "block" on what is ostensibly supposed to be HIS FUR, so that it may show the "Hasbro" logo and other identifying marks. Most Beasts would include this, you know, on the FEET or something, not on the poor bastard's back. He has a "21" on the back of his head, and a "C" on one leg.

 

Colors: Only three (sharing the spot for least-colorful with the Bear). His body color is a fairly-rich reddish-brown, and his armor is a pastel, minty-green. His secondary color, for his eyes, knee-pads and two sets of double-lights on his chest, are a pastel yellow.

Armor: Among the more generic in the line. Very blocky armor with rounded edges- his Symbol is actually on his stomach rather than on the chest, with two sets of lights above it. The armor has a "cut out" on the sides of the Symbol, resulting in bare sides and back. He has a small cross-shaped head covering, the shoulders are a bit spiky, and he has big rounded knee-pads. He has some of the blankest space on his armor compared to most Beasts, with large portions of the chest and crotch being simple and flat.

Weapon: A dark grey, very large (physically the largest weapon in the entire line, actually) club/ax thing. Actually, it's really unclear just what this thing is supposed to be- it has a spade-shaped profile, but with two large "horns" coming off the top, and two cut-outs in the middle. It looks more like a giant logo than a weapon.

Hands & Feet: "Mitten" hands. Four-toed feet.

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: Yep- I owned two. One of my least-favorites, both armless.

Variants: No "official" ones, but of the four I have, one poor armless fool has a very glossy finish over the entire thing, giving him a different sort of appearance.

 

Overall Score: 3/10 (meh)

 

 

Edited by Jabroniville, 24 October 2016 - 10:49 PM.

[Exactobeast]

Nice work! Looking forward to more

[Jabroniville]

 

#3: FEROCIOUS TIGER:

Japanese Name: Goldar

 

 

Animal Basis: Ferocious Tiger could really be any one of the various tigris subspecies, most of which look alike, and differ mainly in size. Tigers are the monsters of the Cat family, being a few hundred pounds heavier than the Lions at maximum, and they are NASTY fighters, legendary the world over for power, beauty and skill. When you're a step below "Dragon" on the Chinese hierarchy of bad-ass, you know you're tough. Their striped coats are totally fascinating, but it leaves them a major enemy- man. Moreso than many other cats, Tigers are hunted for their hides, as well as dong medicine, and so they're Critically Endangered over a huge portion of their range, and several subspecies are either extinct or near-death- the Bali, Caspian & Javan Tigers have all died out in the past one-hundred years. There's also the ridiculously-awesome white variant of the Bengal Tiger, though attempts to recapture that over and over again has left them very, VERY inbred. Similarly, there's a "Golden Tabby" variant that has brownish stripes.

 

-Tigers are extremely popular throughout the world- Animal Planet even named it the most popular animal alive, getting 21% of a viewer poll. They're sacred to pretty much every Asian country (the same ones that exterminate them for dong medicine), show up in tons of literature, movies & comics (several comic book characters have "Tiger" in their name somewhere- Tigerstryke, Tiger Tyger, White Tiger, Bronze Tiger, even Tiger Shark kinda counts), from Shere Khan (a semi-crippled Tiger in The Jungle Book, hence why he hunted man) to Hobbes from Bill Watterson's immortal comic strip.

 

-Tigers, like other big cats, can bring down animals several times larger than them (past even the Moose- Horses, Elk, Buffalo & even GIRAFFES are all prey for cats this size), and are only opposed by equally-large predators like Bears (which outweighs the Tiger, but beat them in power), or by the mighty Hippopotamus, Elephant and Rhino. 

 

-Tigers, being enormously-strong, very stealthy, and living in close proximity to some of the most densely-populated nations in the world, is a tremendous danger to man. There are estimates that at least 373,000 people have been killed by Tigers between 1800 and 2009. 50 or 60 people per weretaken in the Sundarbans of India before precautions were taken. One Tigress in Nepal & North India managed to kill about *436* people over the course of her life! And these are usually weakened, INJURED Tigers! They are able to differentiate between armed and unarmed people, sneak up behind people despite weighing in excess of 600 lbs., and kill anyone they can reach. It's only their knowledge that man is dangerous that really holds them back, as many Tigers avoid humans intensely.

 

Toy Description: A nice-looking, well-detailed Beast, the Tiger actually features raised "stripes" all along his exposed body. Like the other "raised detail" Beasts, these aren't colored and simply act as extra detail, but it's a nice touch. His face is the most "cat-like" of the series's Cats, as he features pronounced "whiskers", pointed ears, and a tiny little muzzle more akin to a housecat than a mighty tiger. He has very thin armor compared to most Beasts, but his profile is heavily-altered by a large "missile launcher" of sorts on his left shoulder. It's so large that his whiskers actually aren't visible on this side! His boots have "3" and "F" on them.

 

Colors: Four. His body color is a bright canary yellow (rather than a tiger's more-natural ochre/orange). His armor is a glossy, rich brown, and his armor highlights are bright pink. His eyes are an oddly different shade of pink- more red in nature.

Armor: Very thin and streamlined compared to most Beasts. The leggings are small and have narrow kneepads on top. The upper portion is rounded (to the point where the Symbol actually points diagonally downwards), with trapezoidal "headlights" above the Symbol. A tall, rounded Missile Launcher sits on the left shoulder, with three circles denoting his payload. The shoulder pads are actually separated from the armor, being tiny little patches on his shoulders. The "Hasbro" markings are on his back, and the top & bottom are separate pieces connected only by the Symbol. He has a small band of armor on the very top of his head.

Weapon: A light silver double-sided club, with four spikes on each end.

Hands & Feet: Three-fingered hands & three-toed feet.

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: Nope. Though he looks similar enough to the Jaguar that I had to think about it a bit when I discovered him at one Comic Expo.

Variants: The secondary colors of his armor are known to vary greatly, though one isn't really a "Variant" so much as the thing just plain varies. The pink is noticeably brighter on one of the two I have, and much glossier overall.

 

Overall Score: 5/10 (pretty average)

 

 

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:44 PM.

[Jabroniville]

 

#55: KILLER KOALA

Japanese Name: Koala Gray

 

Animal Basis:

 

Koalas are one of the most-iconic symbols of Australia, using their famously-cute faces to make them utterly-collectable in plush form. 30-pound animals, they spend almost their entire lives in Eucalyptus trees, only eating the distinctively-scented leaves. Not really threatened, they are nonetheless frequently-victimized by non-native cats & dogs, as well as cars when they come down to move from tree to tree. They are a HUGE pain in the ass to keep in zoos from more-temperate regions than Australia, as Eucalyptus leaves only grow in hot regions, and thus have to be flown in daily.

 

-Welcome to nature's proof that Australia is wacked-out and weird (as the saying goes, "Only nine of the top ten most-poisonous snakes on Earth live in Australia. However, nine of the top NINE most-poisonous snakes live there."). Splitting off millennia ago on the island continent of Australia, marsupials evolved into dozens of completely unique forms, taking up nearly every single position on the food chain. I can't think of many orders that vary THIS much- tiny, slow tree-climbing Koalas, six-foot Kangaroos, the "Thylacoleo", a cat-like extinct predator, big fat Wombats, rodent-like Possums, etc. It's all here. The entirety of this Order is found in Australia, having evolved separately years ago, but the Oppossum family has split off elsewhere, creating even the North American Virginia Possum.

 

-Marsupials are unique in that the females have pouches that house offspring- most of which are born ultra-tiny and helpless, and forced to crawl from the womb to the mother's pouch, where it may suckle and finally grow to toddler-size. Scientists often split Marsupiala into seven different families, putting things like Opossums, Koalas, Kangaroos & Bandicoots into separate groups.

 

Toy Description: Killer Koala's a very distinctive Beast from one of the latter series. He's pretty plain as things go, save one fairly stand-out feature: one of his ears has been replaced with a small radar dish on the side of his head. A pretty naturalistic color scheme, plus the recognizable face of an Australian icon, and it's pretty obvious what kind of animal he is. One of the better weapons in the series, as well. This guy always looks SUPER-exotic to me, because of course I never had him as a kid. reading the occasional Battle Beasts thing as an adult, and I'd STILL forget he existed until I finally owned one. His left foot has a peg-hole in it.

 

Colors: Four. His body color is a naturalistic, light grey. His armor is primarily olive-green. The secondary color is red, for his eyes and two panels on his armor. There's also a single patch of dark grey, for his distinctive koala nose.

Armor: Pretty standard-issue, blocky armor. Of note is that the top & bottom are actually separate pieces, not even connected by the Symbol. His shoulder pads are trapezoids with other trapezoids attached to the top & side, as well as a long raised design on the front & back. His boots appear to have "vents" on them, and beside his Symbol you'll see two sets of rounded lights on red panels. Most-unusual is his Ear Radar Dish, with a little "radio piece" to speak into.

Weapon: A light grey battle axe, larger on one side, and with a very large "spire" coming from the shaft.

Hands & Feet: Three-fingered hands & three-toed feet.

Easily-Broken Bits: None, really. Though I'd imagine some would break off his radar dish ear.

 

Had it as a Kid: Nope- he's one of the most-exotic Beasts to me as a result.

Variants: None known.

 

Overall Score: 6.5/10 (quite good, but not amazing)

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:44 PM.

[Jabroniville]

 

#70: HARRIER HAWK

Japanese Name: Eagle Killer (!!) 
 

Animal Basis:

 

Harrier Hawk could really be any species of hawk, though his Japanese name implies he's an eagle (or a killer of eagles, I suppose). He kind of just has "generic bird features" and is gray all over. I suppose he could be a gray hawk. Hawks are kind of in the "middle" of the Birds of Prey family (Falconiformes), as they're usually larger than Falcons, but smaller than Eagles. They lack the speed of a peregrine or the power of an eagle, but they're plenty effective on their own. A Red-Tailed Hawk's distinctive "ke-ARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!" cry is typically used in movies as the call of a Bald Eagle (which usually just coughs or barks).

 

Toy Description: The Hawk's of the least-flashy "later series" Beasts, though a bit stand-outish in some ways- out of the handful of Birds, he comes off at first glance as the most-plain and under-detailed. He's fairly-blocky in stature, with squat arms and legs, and his wingspan is relatively-unimpresive. However, his armor is actually one of the most-unique in the series, and leaves a lot more of him uncovered than you'll usually see, while also looking rather cybernetic in appearance. He's got wires coming in and out of various places, part of his FACE is covered, and he's one of the only Beasts with totally assymetrical armor. It's just a pity that his regular body is so plain- the drab grey coloring doesn't help. His left foot has a peg-hole in it.

 

Colors: Four. His body color is a naturalistic, light grey. His armor is a slightly-turquoise blue, with a single red bit off on his chest. His eyes and beak are a dull yellow.

Armor: Though he comes off as fairly plain and generic at first, he's actually got one of the most-unique pieces of armor in the series- nobody else looks quite like him. For example, he completely-eschews the traditional "upper-block, underpants, shoulder-pads, boots" look- it's been completely altered into something else. First off, his armor only goes up the left side, in a large, all-covering bit, with some wires that trail down into his leg on both sides- front and back. His "boots" are actually just small coverings on each side of his shins, leaving shin & knee exposed, with two large wires that shoot up into his thighs. He has a pair of spikes that rest on his shoulders as well. Even more bizarrely (and I didn't even notice this until I looked really closely for this set), the armor extends up onto his FACE, with a whole half-side underneath his eye being covered in the blue armor, along with a long wire trailing behind it, into his back. And to top it off, there's a red block with minor details simply attached to the right part of his chest. Literally the only generic part of his armor is his Wrist-Bands, which are pretty typical.

Weapon: A big, purple tri-pronged dagger, almost like a giant sai. There's a small spade on the bottom as well.

Hands & Feet: "Mitten" hands and three-toed feet.

Easily-Broken Bits: Relatively-small bird wings. The pointy beak is very vulnerable to weathering.

 

Had it as a Kid: Nope.

Variants: Apparently the Japanese boxed version features lighter feathers, armor and even a lighter WEAPON. This is highly unusual for the Battle Beasts, as the weapons are almost always matched.

 

Overall Score: 5.5/10 (pretty good, but not one of my favorites. More unique than anything. I like his weapon the best )

 

 

Edited by Jabroniville, 24 October 2016 - 10:57 PM.

[Exactobeast]

Personally, I love the hawk. Any interest in adding a 1-10 scale on your opinion of each guy?

[Jabroniville]

Not a bad idea- I'll have to figure out my criteria for each ranking .

[Jabroniville]

Here's my scoring system:

1/10: Garbage (none of them are on this level)

2/10: Just the worst.

3/10: Pretty boring & dull.

4/10: Meh

5/10: Boring, but not bad. Some positive details, but nothing to write home about.

6/10: Above-Average. Not great, but not bad.

7/10: Very good.

8/10: Fantastic stuff- one of my favorites

9/10: Phenomenal. Just below the best.

10/10: The Best in the line.

[Jabroniville]

 

#37: WOLFGANG WALRUS (Koo-Koo Ka-Choo!)

Japanese Name: Sea Iron 

Animal Basis:

 

 

-The Pinnipeds are a well-known family of carnivores, but generally not liked as much as most other big sea animals (Whales, Sharks, Squid) because they're generally less-cool- most of them are big, fat things that are either very cute or very ugly. Their size makes them an ideal prey species for hungry large oceanic predators, which further detracts from their "cool" quotient- carnivores like Lions & Bears aren't victimized by other predators- they're at the TOP of their food chains. I mean, "Order- Carnivora" implies bad-ass power.

 

-That said, not everything in this family is a victimized weenie of an animal. Though the entire family is large (the smaller species weight 200 lbs., and the vast majority are well over 500 lbs.), the kings of the family, the Walrus & Elephant Seal, are MONSTERS and not to be trifled with. In fact, the Elephant Seal is the largest animal of THE ENTIRE Carnivora Order. Oh, and for the record, the differences between Seals and Sea Lions- True Seals have no external ears and have back-flippers that point backwards. Eared Seals (Sea Lions & Fur Seals) can rotate their back flippers to face forwards, and have small external ears. Then there's Walruses, which are separate. 

 

-Walruses are silly-looking. With giant fat muzzles, big rolly bodies, silly Seal-like appendages and big tusks, they're classic goofy creatures. But of course they're rather terrifying if you actually had to FIGHT one, being 2.5-ton super-heavyweights that do horrific damage with their tusks in combat situations. It's for the best that they're simple crustacean-hunters, sucking up slow-moving animals with their funny mouths and tongues. They save the tusks for beating the hell out of rival males like most large animals do- the animal kingdom's funny that way. And an adult male Walrus is powerful enough to fend off a Polar Bear if necessary- they're the second-largest animals in the entire Order of Carnivores (their only superior is the Elephant Seal).

 

Toy Description: A fairly-plain Battle Beast, but with one of the widest profiles in the series- he's short, but VERY squat. His hand is one of the weirdest "Weird Hands", in that it's not a weapon or even anything particularly-cool- it just looks like a deformity! It's just a long, flat "flipper", much too small to be much good. The rest of him is pretty-detailed, with complex designs on his wrists & boots, and the "walrus whiskers" are actually completely drawn-in. There's no mistaking what animal THIS guy is! The tusks are thankfully a different color than his body, though they "connect" with his armor & face in a way they shouldn't, as they go all the way back, rather than stick out up front. It's a bit unavoidable with something this small, but it leaves large patches of grey behind the white tusks, and it looks odd. Peculiarly, there's a "37" (denoting his number) on the back of his neck, and a "2" on his lower back, but hard to see. These are somewhat rare, and don't appear on many figures. His left foot has a peg-hole in it.

 

Colors: Four. His body color is a naturalistic, medium grey (though walruses are actually closer to pink/brown). His armor is a bright canary yellow, with red highlights. His eyes, tusks and another part of the armor are white.

Armor: A somewhat basic design in shape, but he's one of the few Beasts with two secondary colors on the armor- two sets of paired lights on his codpiece (which is separate from the top piece) are white, like his eyes and tusks. His shoulders sprout raised bits with red inside them (missiles?), while beside his Chest Symbol are two big red squares of almost-equal size! The rest is pretty generic, aside from large pointy kneepads.

Weapon: A large, golden, mechanical-looking spear/harpoon contraption.

Hands & Feet: One three-fingered hand, while the other is an odd, small "flipper" with five phalanges. Five-toed feet.

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: Yep- one armless one.

Variants: A pricey variant has his tusks uncolored. Why a variant that's actually less-detailed than the "standard" is more-expensive is one of those things that only toy collectors get to know about (and yes, I spent like $30 on a 2" toy ). But actually... it's pretty rad. All of the white becomes this cool blueish-green color! The lights on his crotch, and even his EYES! I figured this for a factory mistake until I noticed the completely different colors on him.

 

Overall Score: 7/10 (a very solid, substantial figure)

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:45 PM.

[Jabroniville]

 

#32: HUMMUNGUS HIPPOPOTAMUS

Japanese Name: Strong Hippo 

Animal Basis:

 

 

 

-These are generally the second or third-largest land animals in the world, depending on if you think sheer size or weight should be the deciding factor (White Rhinos are larger, but lighter than the heaviest male Hippos). The Hippopotamus surprises a lot of people, because they're rarely expecting these jovial-looking fatties to be the most dangerous animals in Africa. But there they are- 4,000-lb. super-heavyweights that can snap Crocodiles in half with one bite, and run down a human over open land. And they are SHOCKINGLY-aggressive animals- known for going berserk and just charging for no reason at all. They're so dangerous that no less than Steve Irwin (who chased and wrestled CROCODILES for a living) said that the most frightening thing he's ever done was to simply boat alongside a herd one time. And to add this this, there've been clips of bulls KILLING AND EATING baby Hippos!

-Hippos are terribly dangerous- every animal in Africa gives them a wide berth, for very good reason- Lions and Crocodiles, the baddest predators in Africa, would never be foolish enough to take on something this strong.

 

Toy Description: If you were to describe to someone the ultimate "Generic Battle Beast", this guy wouldn't be a bad option- he's not an awful figure by any means; he's just very plain and simple. A recognizable animal with recognizable colors in simple, colorful armor, with no extraneous bits or otherwise notable things about him. The "Hippo Head" is immediately clear, and he even has a semi-open mouth and tiny "tusks" visible- there's no mistaking him for something else.

 

For what it's worth, at least, he's one of the best of the "Three Color" guys- much better than the Bear & Dog, at least. His armor is well-designed and full of detail, and its bright enough to counteract his plain grey skin. His Beast # is written on the back of one boot, and the other has a "G" on it. His left foot has a peg-hole in it. And no, I don't know why they spelled it "Hummungus". 

 

Colors: Three. His body is a standard grey, which is pretty common for hippo figures (though hippos are often pink/purple-ish, as they sweat fluids to hydrate their sensitive skin), his armor is a light blue, and his eyes & armor bits are a deep, dark red.

Armor: Pretty generic, two-piece armor, with block bits everywhere. He has two "missile launcher" things on the shoulders, two red lights beside his Chest Symbol, and a red trapezoid on his crotch. The most-unusual feature is a pair of mechanical... things... on the sides of his head- they're not right for radio tranceivers or something for his ears (which are on the top of his head)- they're just an extra bit to make him more interesting.

Weapon: A simple, golden axe with three feather-shaped things coming off of the back (though they're clearly part of the "metal", and not designed to be actual feathers). It's pretty stand-outish given the bright golden coloring, but also VERY small, considering it's being carried by a hippopotamus.

Hands & Feet: Three-fingered hands & four-toed feet.

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: Yep- one of many whom I didn't care much for- he lost both of his arms.

Variants: None known.

 

Overall Score: 5/10 (Pretty generic)

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:45 PM.

[TheRiddler]

Love this thread

[Jabroniville]

 

#2: DEER STALKER

Japanese Name: Big Serow 

Animal Basis:

 

An elk, a red deer, and a Japanese Serow.

 

-Deer Stalker is named after a Serow, a common goat-antelope native to Asia. Though he looks NOTHING like one, and instead resembles some variety of deer, with cartoonish horns that don't really match a modern species so much as match a simplified version of a deer's antlers. I'm getting the impression that "serow" is just the word the Japanese use to describe ALL ungulates aside from cattle, because Fleet-Footed Antelope is also called a "Serow". Doing some research, apparently the Serow is widely though of as a kind of deer in Japan, though they are not closely related- their term for the animal is kamoshika, which contains the term for "deer" (shika), which probably explains why this guy has an incongruous name. Given that the guys at Takara are probably not Biologists, Zoologists or general science-guys, that's probably the best explanation for the name.

 

-Serow are actually quite small and have very little horns by ungulate standards. More similar to goats & sheep than cattle, they're also fairly common as a cheap "Filler Animal" in zoos, because sure as shootin' you'll see a boring old Serow in one of those trademark "Gigantic Uncovered Enclosures" that fills up space in a zoo, next to their big expensive Tiger Cage or something in the "Asia" section.

 

-Deer Stalker is really more likely just a kind of Deer- there are hundreds of species, and his horns could be almost any one of them. It's obviously not a moose or caribou/reindeer, but the multi-horned antlers could easily be those of an Elk or a Red Deer.

 

-Deer are a famous, but relatively common animal, and thus are viewed as a lot less cool these days than they were back in olden times, when it was likely the wildest animal that the common peasant (or even noble) would see in their lifetime, as "menageries" (zoos before zoos were a thing) were pretty rare. They're similar to the Antelopes, but notably have solid antlers that are shed & regrown each year, and exist largely in the Northern Hemisphere, living all over Europe, Asia and North America. Most of them are quite large- though things like the Pudu and Chevrotain are tiny animals smaller than most dogs (20-40 lbs. in weight). The regular Deer are fairly big, but often no bigger than really large humans, but once you get to the Caribou, Elk and Moose, forget about it.

 

-The famous antlers regrow each year, as I said, and are meant for combat between males, which is why only males have them (except for the Caribou/Reindeer, where the females do as well). Males generally beat the crap out of each other, with the strongest gaining the attentions of a female. The animal kingdom is relatively unforgiving in this manner- being a good-natured nerd is NOT the kind of thing that is well-rewarded in nature, and your woman would leave you the second a bigger, stronger male showed up and knocked you on your keister. If the human world were like that, UFC Champions would be the only guys around getting any action.

 

Fun Fact: Deer are actually the most dangerous animals in North America! Don't laugh- they're responsible for more human fatalities than any other animal. Granted, it's not quite the same as a bear charging in and getting his eat-on on a human being, but Deer cause an inordinate number of traffic accidents, on account of being numerous, fairly large, and constantly in the freaking way when you're trying to drive on Highway roads. One of these things coming through the windshield or making you swerve to avoid it... it's rather dangerous. Deer collisions actually kill about two hundred people a year, which is far in excess of dog attacks AND bee stings. Bambi is a f***ing murderous psycho-killer, y'all.

 

Toy Description: One of the very-earliest Beasts, and oddly one of the ones to break the rules the HARDEST- observe his giant goggles, lack of boots, shorts instead of a codpiece, and odd body shape. Nothing on him looks like the other Beasts- I think the only thing keeping him from looking super-exotic is that he was so early that he was absolutely mass-produced- as a kid I had THREE of him, and I ended up with even more due to various "Lots" going on sale. He also has a pair of very thin, very fragile antlers (god I keep calling them "horns" even though I KNOW better... but they really do look like horns, since they're straight) coming out the top of his head. Most-distinctive about him is probably the giant drill for a hand. There's a large "2" on his butt, and Copywrite info on his back. 

 

Colors: Three- his body is a dark, chestnut brown. His armor is a leafy, light green, and his Secondary Color is dark orange.

Armor: A very organic-looking one-piece set- the entire chest region is plainly-detailed, but curved, packing orange vents beside the Chest Symbol, and a very large orange "laser" mounted on his left shoulder. His shoulder pads are short, but project way upwards with curved edges. His left wrist-guard is a bulging shape that extends with a spike, and his right is a rounded guard with circles all over it. His codpiece is well-detailed, and features a pair of rounded rockets coming out of each side. Instead of boots, he has a set of armor SHORTS, ending at the knees. He has a large pair of green goggles covering his eyes, with an orange visor.

Weapon: A dark silver "Batt'leth"-like creation. Very small for a Battle Beast weapon, it's a handle with a large, flat "V" shape, with jagged points on both sides projecting towards the centre, outlying point of the "V".

Hands & Feet: A three-fingered right hand, while his left is a gigantic orange drill, complete with an edge wrapping around the whole thing. His legs end in very thin ankles that end in cloven hooves.

Easily-Broken Bits: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- oh jesus. Just look at those tiny, bendable, elongated antlers on his head. I'm amazed that ANY kid has an intact Deer because of those things (yet I managed it with two of them).

 

Had it as a Kid: Yes- three in total, in various stages of disrepair. Oddly, ALL THREE have their arms intact- only one is missing the tips of his horns.

Variants: A mild case- some are a bit glossier than others.

 

Overall Score: 8/10 (it's hard not to call him one of the best ones- I think the only thing holding him back is the fact that EVERY kid had one, making him seem "less special" than the other, later ones)

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:46 PM.

[Jabroniville]

Love this thread

Thanks! I have a weird kind of obsession with minor details, and I'd both had a ton of notes on Battle Beasts, and a ton of notes on different animals (for an RPG thread where I stat up numerous characters for the "Mutants & Masterminds" RPG), so it was nice to actually put them to use.

[Jabroniville]

 

#32: TARSIER TYRANT

Japanese Name: Demonkey 

Animal Basis: 

 

 

-Naturally, this guy's a Tarsier of an unknown species- most of these primates look pretty much alike. The Prosimians are a fairly large group of the "lesser" primates, much more primitive creatures such as the Loris, Lemur, Galago, Potto and their respective subgroups. These primitive creatures are tiny and have famously-large eyes- each as wide as the creature's own brain. These little things are stealthy, nocturnal bug-eaters. They have doglike snouts, with a better sense of smell than other Primates, but less manual dexterity. They're mostly arboreal, with their small size coming in handy. Unlike most Primates, the males and females around the same size, resulting in mutual aggression between all members of their family groups. Their eyesight is worse than most primates, and they're also a good bit less-intelligent.

 

Toy Description: This guy is easily the ugliest, weirdest-looking Beast in the entire line. Oddly, he's fairly late in the game (#56) to be so hideous- it's an unusual combination of being overly-plain and overly-bizarre. He has this big, freakish-looking face, with grotesquely-large yellow eyes (with dots in the centers, making him the only Beast with recognizable pupils), a muzzle with an ugly little grin, and pointy, bat-like ears on the top of his head. And his hand isn't a weapon so much as a huge, ugly, malformed "Giant Hand" with knobby knuckles. It just makes him look weird- not cool.

 

His armor isn't even very interesting or well-detailed- it's simple green, and his skin is plain brown. It all adds up to a Beast interesting more because he looks like a giant Design Fail than anything else. It's pretty weird, considering Tarsiers are famously-cute animals. And for some reason, he's the only Beast in the line I can think of whose animal name comes first, rather than last. Was "Tyrant Tarsier" too weird or something?

 

Colors: Four. His body is a plain brown, his armor is dark green, and he has small red bits on his armor. His eyes are bright yellow.

Armor: Very simple, two-piece armor without a lot of details. The most notable thing are the shoulder pads, which stick way out two the sides with big cylinder shapes. 

Weapon: Easily the coolest part about this figure- his light grey sword looks like a knife blown up to giant size, with three "notches" on the sides, and a moon-shaped pommel on the bottom. The latter-day weapons are the best in the series, and this one is no exception.

Hands & Feet: One three-fingered hand (almost like a mitten, though- the fingers aren't well-defined), and three-toed feet. The feet are flattened and very round (like an actual tarsier's), and his left hand has been altered- it's a gigantic, malformed, three-fingered hand with knobby knuckles. Though his arm is normal length, the hand is so big it almost touches the floor.

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: Nope- I found this one at a Comic Expo, sold for cheap because his arm had been broken off- I just glued it back together.

Variants: None known.

 

Overall Score: 3/10 (one of the uglier ones)

 

 

[Exactobeast]

That hand is the worst. Also, he has no torso! Hips touch chest.

[Jabroniville]

 

#74: FLEET-FOOTED ANTE-LOPE

Japanese Name: Little Serow 

Animal Basis:

 

 

-There are two ungulates in this line named "Serow", but in the West, he's called an Antelope. Generally, these poor bastards are pretty much like Deer, but live in Africa. They're sometimes small (the Dik-Dik, real animal and not a made-up vulgar kids' name), weighs less than 20 lbs. in some instances), sometimes very large (the Eland is as large as any cow breed in the world), but generally are a "Prey" species, and the most we usually see of them is some poor schmuck being chased down by Lions or Wild Dogs, or being surprised by a Crocodile. They're basically the "Washington Generals" of the Animal Kingdom. They differ from Deer both in habitat (they're almost exclusively African creatures), and the nature of their horns: they are not seasonal, and are keratin-sheathed bone, not to mention incredibly different in size and scope, with little pegs sometimes, giant spirals in others. And unlike antlers, they are never branched. And they're actually bovine, not cervids.

 

This guy's tiny little peglike horns seem to give the impression that he's a Klipspringer- a tiny antelope between 20-40 lbs. They probably have the neatest name in the family (Afrikaans for "rock jumper"). There's also the Oribi, Thomson's Gazelle, Duiker and Chousinga (a curiosity know for having TWO pairs of antlers!) around the same size, while the Blackbuck is about 95 lbs., and the hilariously-named Dik-Dik is a mere 15! Most of these differ from other Antelopes in that they form breeding pairs rather than herds, and maintain close, monogamous relationships throughout most of their lives.

 

Toy Description: This guy is proof that even a simple design can be very effective if there's some good design choices made in the creation process. Fleet-Footed Ante-Lope (no I don't know why they put a dash there; the animals are just called "Antelopes") only uses three colors, but the brown and the straight red play off each other very well, and the yellow kind of makes the whole design "pop". Even his eyes, which are red like his armor, kind of stand out (if they'd been yellow, like the secondary color, as most Beasts tend to be, he'd have looked much worse). He's a simple "bovine" design, and could theoretically be any kind of animal (like a goat), as his horns are rather small, and there's a little tuft of hair on the top of his head. He's also one of the only Beasts who can be said to be "smiling". His left foot has a peg-hole in it.

 

Colors: Only three. His body is a fairly rich brown, and his armor is straight red. There are two large yellow pieces beside his Chest Symbol. His eyes oddly match his armor, which is quite unusual for the line.

Armor: Two-piece armor with a lot of rounded edges. The "belt" of the codpiece actually looks like it's constructed out of a single "pipe" that wraps around. His wrist-guards are small, his boots are well-detailed, and his shoulder-pads have this distinctive design where a pair of diagonal, raised parts stick out. Beside his Chest Symbol, there are two very large, Symbol-sized yellow bits that don't look like anything in particular.

Weapon: A big purple "rifle", looking almost like a harpoon gun.

Hands & Feet: Simple "mitten" hands, with cloven hooves- typical for a bovine.

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: Nope. Oddly, now I have THREE- I spent money to buy one single Ante-Lope, then ended up with a second, armless one as part of a "Lot". I ended up sucking it up and buying a THIRD because I wanted his rare, hard to find weapon, then ended up accidentally buying ANOTHER one's weapon because I didn't see it on my Checklist and asked a nice eBay seller to put together another Lot of weapons for me.

Variants: None known.

 

Overall Score: 9/10 (I dunno- I just think this guy is rad)

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:46 PM.

[Exactobeast]

I never much liked him, but given my profile pic I guess I also have a hidden affinity.

[Jabroniville]

 

#47: HUNCHBACK CAMEL

Japanese Name: Yellow Camelus 

Animal Basis:

 

 

-Hunchback Camel is quite clearly a Bactrian Camel, recognizable for its "B"-shaped pair of humps (as opposed to the single "D" hump of the Dromedary). Despite that, it's rather orange and fur-less, closer to a Dromedary than the much furrier, darker-colored Bactrians. This is probably for two reasons- to make it more recognizable as a "camel" (most people would recognize the Middle Eastern Dromedary variety), and to increase the visibility of the humps on its back and add detail.

 

-Camels, Llamas, Alpacas & Guanacos are hilariously silly-looking creatures that have nonetheless been quite useful to humanity over the years, particularly for their desert-living ways, and the fact that many of them can carry humans on their backs. Camels make excellent mounts and weight-carriers (really important in the Middle East & Africa in the days before ATVs and Airplanes), and the other species all have great amounts of wool, handy for other things. For this reason, nearly all of the various species have been domesticated, leaving wild herds an extreme rarity. Be warned, though- despite not being fierce fighters (particularly compared to the rest of their Order), they have a nasty spit, and can still throw their weight around.

 

-Camels are more common mounts in deserts than Horses, for obvious reasons. Their whole bodies are designed to survive in arid, desert conditions, as they can survive weeks without water, long periods without food, and are much more immune to the ravages of heat than most large mammals (who overheat quite quickly- there's a reason almost all large mammals wallow in mud and water). They're big, ugly, nasty bastards, though- willing to spit, kick and bite at anyone who bothers them, despite the fact that most of the species have been tamed for centuries.

 

-Dromedary males can hit 1,320 lbs., and Bactrians are even larger, over 2,000 lbs.! Bactrians are critically-endangered in the wild, but like the Dromedaries, are frequently-domesticated. Neither species is TERRIBLY bad-ass, but large enough to fend off Wolves, so long as they're healthy.

 

Toy Description: For such a goofy-looking base animal, one that can't be easy to make bipedal, and especially one given such a basic color scheme (yellow and... yellow?), the Camel is actually a very nice figure. I think the colors actually make it stand out from the crowd. It helps that he's quite tall for a Beast- the long neck puts him above most of the others. Of notablility are the humps on his back- something that might seem hard to render properly on a bipedal figure, they actually work out quite well. The camel's trademark "grimace" is well-depicted considering that his head is probably the smallest of any animal in the line (it's both squat and narrow). So despite a rather "plain" appearance overall, I quite like this guy. 

 

Of note is his "#47" on the back of his head- certainly an odd placement, though I'd never noticed any of these tiny details until doing this set. There's also a tiny "C" on one of his boots. His left foot has a peg-hole in it.

 

Colors: Three. His body is a semi-tan yellow color, while his armor is a darker shade of yellow- making him one of the only Beasts to be two shades of the same color. His secondary color is red- its featured on his eyes, plus four vents- two beside his Chest Symbol, and two smaller ones just above those.

Armor: Two-piece armor with a lot of small details- his humps break up the outline on the back. Very "basic" otherwise. He also wears a "headset" of sorts- he has no visible ears, so they resemble earmuffs.

Weapon: A darkened bronze club on a bent pole. Actually, it's quite neat, despite being so odd. It looks vaguely like a giant potato with four spikes sticking off of it- curious, but it'd hurt like hell.

Hands & Feet: Two-fingered hands and two-toed feet- all very camel-like.

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: Yep- I found him rather generic and forgettable, especially because he lost his arms.

Variants: None known.

 

Overall Score: 6.5/10 (actually, pretty decent when he's all together)

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:47 PM.

[Jabroniville]

 

#41: RUN AMUCK DUCK

Japanese Name: Smileduck 

Animal Basis:

 

-Run Amuck Duck appears to be an adult-scale depiction of an American Pekin Duck's infant form. See, Pekin ducks are white with orange bills, but their DUCKLINGS are yellow with orange bills. These ducks were actually bred from Chinese mallards, and are a domesticated/feral species common throughout the United States, which is probably why this distinct color scheme was chosen. Ducks are fairly famous waterfowl, known for a quack that does not echo, an ability to consume bread, and the fact that they're common in zoos as freeloading arseholes who bogart the food of other animals that are TRAPPED in their pens, while ducks can fly freely.

-Sadly, almost literally any duck species would have been a cooler color scheme than the one Takara ended up with, because this guy's really plain. An actual male mallard, a Canada Goose, or any other kind of waterfowl would have looked better, too.

 

Toy Description: A peculiar-looking, but not spectacular, Beast. Ducks aren't exactly impressive-looking, and they chose a rather plain color for him with the yellow- not a good reference for a duck's plumage. When have you ever seen a YELLOW duck? The species is at least recognizable, and there's some unusual features, in that his armor's secondary color is entirely-reflected upon the feet. His "off hand" is a weird cudgel-like instrument, and his trademark "duck tail" is featured prominently on the rear. Overall, he's rather small in addition to being plain- not much of an intimidation factor with this guy. There's a little letter "B" on the back left portion of his torso armor. His left foot has a peg-hole in it.

 

Colors: Three. His body type is a dull yellow, and his armor a light blue. Oddly, his secondary color is profoundly-featured- a dark orange is reflected in his eyes, on his beak, around his Chest Symbol, on a set of "headlights" on the armor, and on his boots.

Armor: One of the more odd sets- the upper portion appears as a big "block", with the codpiece not going around the hips, but instead going like a sumo thong straight down- it ends before his tail, leaving it unmarred by armor. His "boots" are more like a ballerina's leggings, looking like a mere "strap" that goes down, leaving the front & back of the feet exposed. 

Weapon: A darkened bronze... thing. It's a short shaft, with another shape springing off of it. There's a very mechanical-looking spiked bit coming off the front, which points forward. It actually looks like an effective weapon, and a bit aquatic as well- an interesting overall look.

Hands & Feet: Three-fingered hand, and webbed "bird feet", with three front toes, and one back toe each. His left hand is a triangular, mechanical-looking spike/cudgel-type thing, springing off the side of his "wrist guard".

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: One forgotten, armless fool.

Variants: None known.

 

Overall Score: 5/10 (not one of my favorites, but not actively bad. Wins points for being different-looking)

Edited by Jabroniville, 16 November 2016 - 04:23 AM.

[Jabroniville]

Also, looking up "Yellow Duck" produces some fun Google results: http://www.dailymail...iral-image.html

[Exactobeast]

Hate this guys face. Hate his cod piece. Always think his legs will work out nicely, but never do. His torso fits awkwardly. However, that is one hell of a blade arm.

[Jabroniville]

Hate this guys face. Hate his cod piece. Always think his legs will work out nicely, but never do. His torso fits awkwardly. However, that is one hell of a blade arm.

Yeah, I'd imagine he'd be annoying if you were trying to use him for parts- he's built so differently from the other characters. And that tiny lil' face makes him rather unimpressive-looking compared to the other characters.

[Jabroniville]

 

#20: SAWTOOTH SHARK

Japanese Name: Bad Shark 

Animal Basis:

 

 

-Sawtooth Shark could be any known species of shark, just about- possibly Blue, Mako or Great White Shark. His features are so generic, and his colors so simple, that any fin-backed, sharp-toothed species is possible. The width of his head, and the fact that it's by far the most famous, seems to indicate a Great White, however.

 

-You won't find any more iconic fish than that of the Sharks, and there aren't any more feared predators out there. Their cold, giant, dead eyes that roll back when they bite; their horrific toothy grins; the grievous wounds they cause- they're just terrifying to behold. The fact that nearly all of them are WAY bigger than human beings adds to the fright of meeting one, not to mention their feeding frenzies. For years, humans hunted them, fearing evil man-eaters that actively hunted humans (World War II naval disasters did nothing to help this- SIX HUNDRED sailors were killed by sharks when the U.S.S. Indianapolis went down in the Pacific Ocean, as the survivors of the shipwreck were picked off over the course of a few days- Nightmare Fuel personified). Recent scientific study has proven that most sharks rarely attack humans (the list of more-dangerous animals is a mile long and includes weird things like the Box Jellyfish and Bees)- it's usually mistaken identity or "practice bites" to see if we taste good (apparently, we don't). But still, the horrifying power of these animals makes them pretty notable and legendary, so you'll see them as the "bad guy" a lot of the time.

 

-A varied species, the Sharks are all over the place in size, from puny six-inch Dogfish to 12-20-foot predators, to the MONSTROUS Whale & Basking Sharks. They have excellent senses- more than almost any other animal. These include Lateral Lines (allowing a "ranged touch") and Electrolocation (meaning that the muscle-contractions of animals are detectable at a distance)- which combine to make the Sharks the ULTIMATE undersea predator.

 

-The Great White is the titan of the predatory Sharks, being a huge animal with a legendary bite- there's no more terrifying animal in the seas than this one- the only ones worse are all long-gone. The Great White isn't just huge- it's agile! They've been spotted FLYING through the air in efforts to capture Sea Lions. Look at those teeth- massive, hand-sized serrated-edge cutters... it's no wonder he was the villain of Jaws I can't imagine anything worse out there. Great Whites are ALSO known for being the single shark most-likely to attack and kill humans- though they're rarely found to actually EAT us, a "test bite" from an animal this size nearly always results in a grievous, deadly wound that ends in exsanguination.

 

Toy Description: Of course the line would just HAVE to have a Shark- and here's Sawtooth. Sadly, he's one of the plainer, more-forgettable Beasts, though I've always found him rather iconic to the series. He's not bad overall- he's mid-sized, he has prominent "shark fins" all over (his head, tail, shoulder pads and boots all have them), and he's got a pretty nasty set of teeth. But overall, it's a tad forgettable- maybe it's because he's simply two shades of blue, for the most part. And his teeth aren't colored in- they're just blue like the rest of him. His armor is rather plain aside from the fins, too, and even his very BODY is without much detail short of a small fin coming off the back of his head. He's squat- almost hunchbacked thanks to his armor's shoulders springing up. Overall, I'm just not a fan. Despite that, I ended up with three of him- though most lack arms. His armor sports a "20", and the Hasbro & Takara insignias are on his butt for some reason- split up on each side of his tail.

 

Colors: Three. His body is a light blue, while his armor is a darker blue- two shades of the same color is shared by only one other Beast (the Camel). The secondary color is red- his slitted eyes and a large portion of his armor (from the Chest Symbol all the way down to his crotch).

Armor: A pretty plain, lower-detailed one-piece on the front and back. However, the extraneous bits are unique- his shoulder pads are separate from the armor, and sport little fins. His boots are short and squat, but also have fins pointing upwards. Laser-like things are on each side of his head, while a shark-fin like "tail" is coming out of his butt.

Weapon: A dark grey trident, rather bluntly-edged, with a set of three notches on the side prongs, front and back.

Hands & Feet: Mitten-hands. No toes, either- his feet just point forward in flat blue.

Easily-Broken Bits: None.

 

Had it as a Kid: I owned two- both armless.

Variants: Of the three I have, one sports a much darker set of armor, and he's "glossy" overall.

 

Overall Score: 6/10 (not bad, but pretty plain and basic)

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:48 PM.

[Jabroniville]

Other kinds of Shark:
 

 

Blue Shark

 

 

Oceanic Whitetip

 

 

 

Wobbegong/Carpet Shark

 

 

Frilled Shark (a VERY ancient species)

 

 

Nurse Sharks (known for a bulldog-like tenacity when biting)

 

 

Goblin Sharks (aka Tenguzame in Japan- they're named for the mythical Tengu and their famously-long noses)

 

 

 

Hammerheads

 

 

Megamouth (famous for being discovered VERY recently- only the 1970s!- making it possible there are OTHER monsters hidden beneath the depths)

 

 

Basking Shark (known for many possible Sea Monster sightings, as their decayed states look remarkably similar to plesiosaurs)

 

 

 

 

 

Whale Shark (the largest of all species)

Edited by Jabroniville, 15 January 2018 - 10:51 PM.