 Let's talk about the few American Beast Wars variations that made the "official" list, some that didn't but deserve to, and some that only the insane like to collect. Yes, it's all here!
Transmetals, the beginning of the end of "true" variations. It seems that once Hasbro introduced the Transmetals line of toys, all thoughts of color changes being 'variants' on MSipher's list were thrown out the window. Which is a shame, because I believe many of these qualify. Below you'll find a complete list of the color changes in this line. With pics!
The Transmetal 2 line doesn't get by unscathed...in fact, nearly every one of them suffered some subtle shading flaws, in some cases resulting in four different variants! It's at this point that even I must agree that some of these might rightfully not be counted...however, in the interests of fairness, I STILL list them and picture them all here. I leave it up to the reader to decide how many of these should be counted as true. I look at it this way...if it was enough of a difference to be mentioned here, then maybe you SHOULD count it. :-)
The 'bonus' area is sort of a catch-all area for the Beast Wars section. Here you will find unconfirmed items, and items that either do not fit into one of the other catagories, or are not yet big enough to justify their own catagory.
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Darn near the world over knows about the three different color eyes on the original Beast Wars Cheetor. What they may not know id that the green-eyed cheetor came with a variant, too: half-pupils vs full-pupils. (Pic) Click here for additional Cheetor information!
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More and more people have seen the change in the original Tarantulas' paint on the claw:
The first release, rocky-bubble Tarantulas came with the yellow stripe around the ball joint 'elbow' of the forearm. The subsequent releases (smooth-bubble and European release) did not have the yellow stripe. |
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And then there's the remolds and recolors WITHIN the first line itself, such as Cheetor and Tigatron:
Basically, Tigatron is a recoloring of the Cheetor mold. |
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...Terrasaur and Lazerbeak (am I seeing a pattern here?): Terrasaur takes the cake in the original release of Beast Wars with the most number of recolors. We have the Lazerbeak recolor, and the Botcon 97 Fractyl, which is discussed in the BotCon subsection of the Variants page. Note also that Lazerbeak has a rubsign indent, and is missing the gun-notch (when compared to Terrasaur).
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Then there's Dinobot and Grimlock, the FIRST recoloring of that mold: (There's a fox kids re-release talked about further on.)
Grimlock also came in two flavors himself; you could have the smooth-turning dino legs, similar to Dinobot, OR you could have the 'ratcheting' dino leg joints, like the fox-kids recolor Dinobot. Hm. That leads me to speculate that they used a Grimlock mold for him, instead of Dinobot...note also that the second-release of Grimlock has a rubsign-indent (makes it easy to tell them all apart, eh? :-)
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...Wolfang and his recolor (and slight remold), that erstwhile canine K-9. K-9 also came with (and you will find this eventually leads into an entire catagory of new variant) a spray-apps change: his nose can come either with a touch of black on the nose, or an entire swath of it.
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...Waspinator, and his buzzy-buddy Buzzsaw:
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One of what is to eventually become a 'controvertial' color variant in the Beast Wars line, the Bat Primal came with either dark red or light red highlights:
Note: There is a recolored Botcon version of the bat Primal. And yes, what review of Primal would be complete without a variant on the big monkey! Here's a pic, of all things, on the inside of his arm joint, where you could have one spring, or four. No, I have no idea why:
Note: There is an Universe version of this figure. |
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A color change occurred. Could be during seperate runs of the toy, or it could be because he was made in two different factories. Either way, his bee comes in light versus dark yellow, and all the red parts on his body come in either light or dark red:
Note: There is a Botcon version of this mold, called Sandstorm. |
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An odd change...the blue on PC's claws came in either light, or dark blue. Also of interest is the change in robot eyes; full-paint versus slits.
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Did you know that there was more than one color change in the Transmetal line? Of course you did! We all know about the blue versus green Transmetal Rhinox... ...and in the grand tradition of variations, it's time to shatter an "official" myth already. As it turns out, there are actually THREE variations, not TWO. There's a pale green, a green, and a blue variation on this fellow. See for yourselves:
Note: There is a Fox Kids recolor of this figure.
Note: There is an Armada version of this figure. |
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I'm sure everyone is sick to death of the color changes on TM Megs and Primal. TM Megatron has been summed up quite well by Particle Man, as: basically there's purple, which was the first year release and looks like the show, blue, which was the second year release and is actually unpainted in a few spots that were painted on the original, and finally the red or pink variant, which is an exceedingly rare variant on the purple and appears almost red in light. Now, if only we could get everyone to hop on this bandwagon...they could be considered "true" variants. On this page, they are. :-)
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The school of Primal goes like this: blue, blue-purple, and of course purple. I myself like to call the pure blue Op "light" blue, and the blue-purple Op the dark, or "dirty" blue Op. A rose by any other name...
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There were three versions of TM Tarantulas. A red one, a gold one, and a light-gold one.
Also of interest, from spooie, is this chromeless weapon for our spider-bot. We're hoping more of these turn up. :-) No chrome weapon.
Note: There is a Fox Kids recolor of this figure in this section. |
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There was a silver TM Waspinator, in addition to the gold one.
Note: There is a Fox Kids recolor of this figure in this section. |
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There were THREE transmetal Cheetors. In addition to gold, there was bronze (reddish-gold) and white (chrome).
In addition, we have an unexplained mold-change, wherein the yellow chrome plastic piece is longer on some versions than others. I can only presume that the extended one was an earlier version, as I see mostly short types around here. Whether this was a deliberate change or not remains to be seen. (Pic) Note: There is a Fox Kid's recolor of this mold.
Note: There is an Armada version of this figure. |
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There were three versions of TM Airrazor.
Note: There is an Armada version of this figure. |
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Even Transmetal Terrasaur decided to hop onto the variations bandwagon, sporting a silver version as well as the greenish-gold version:
An interesting note, the gold TM Terrorsaur has green beak paint that is angled from top left to bottom right. The silver variant has the opposite paint direction:
Note: There is a Beastmachiens version of this figure.
Note: There is an Armada/Universe version of this figure. |
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Or my personal favorite: the three variations of tm Rampage, as seen below...
There was pink, gold, and orange. I know that supposedly these, like every other transmetal I listed here, were all considered production mistakes, but did you look at the wide range of differences? This is not a simple color swap like Primal and Megs. I submit that at least Rampage was, like TM Rhinox, a deleberate color-change decision. Thus, it should be considered a "real" variant. In addition, between the first and second releases, they decided to replace a screw with a rivet in the arms of the unit:
Concieveably, the rivet will only be found in the 2nd-issue boxes, and the screw in the first-issue boxes.
Note: There is also a Botcon-2000 exclusive recoloring of Rampage. |
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And yes, before you ask, Depthcharge underwent a change from pale gold to chrome silver, despite all the hype otherwise:
My feeling on this, again, is that you can find one version in the first-issue box, and the other in the 2nd issue box. Note also the change in the lettering on his name (bright to dull) between versions. |
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Transmetal Rattrap couldn't keep his head up during those long, boring speeches, so Optimus had Hasbro install a little tab on his neck. Now, Rattraps head works just fine. :-) And of course, we wouldn't want to forget his color variants. :-) (Pic). In addition, as one of the molds ran on, it became apparent that some of the details were being lost. (Pic) Presumably, since this loss of details does not show up on later incarnations of the toy, they either used one of the better ones, or they cleaned the thing off. :-)
...and if that wasn't enough (and it never is) Walmart decided that they needed an exclusive recolor of this fellow. Introducing Wal-rat Blue. Or should we say, Walrat Blue and Purple, as *he* came in two versions, too:
Note: There is a Fox Kids recolor of this toy. |
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Even everyone's most-hated shelf-warmer, Transmetal Scavanger, weasels his way into the lineup with his normal, and his no name on ass variant.
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Optimal Optimus: Feeling PRIME! Looks like even Optimal Optimus didn't get away without some changes. Sigh. Here we have two different transmetal colors; blue, and dark-blue. In addition, there were a total of three possible variations on the small spray-op circles on Optimal. Faded, light-orange, and dark orange. In addition, the spray-ops on his handgun can be more, or less:
What can you find where? The dark orange spray-ops seem to be found mostly at Kaybe, while the dark-blue transmetalized coating seems to show up in the first-issue optimal boxes.
Note: There is a recolored Beast Machines version of this mold named Primal Prime. |
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Yes, even the fuzors were not immune. Silverbolt had light gold inner feathers in the first release, and darker brown ones in subsequent releases.
Note: There is a Botcon '99 version of this toy called Windrazor.
Note: There is an Universe version of this figure. |
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Airhammer came in either a light-blue, or a dark blue head:
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Noctorro decided to come in either brown or gold:
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The first batch of TM2 Prowls that have found their way into my collection come with either solid blue wings, solid green wings, or a mixture of blue and green. In addition, the first release came with light gold circles on his chest, while subsequent releases came with the standard dark circles on his chest.
...and in the grand tradition of giving a heart condition to the collector's market, they've released a recolored version of this fellow. Meet the black and blue prowl, as seen on the right. Must have gotten into a fight with Grimlock...
This Prowl also came with some subtle variations; either a solid transmetal blue chest, or a blue chest with silver highlights on the bottom. |
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TM2 Optimus Minor (lousy monkey) had the gall to change his chest color FOUR times! We used to just call them silver and gold versions, but as time has gone on we can actually seperate out light gold and dark gold versions as well. Is it anal? Sure! Do we include it anyways? Absolutely! We strive for accuracy here!
Shawn also notes that: "...on his beast mode "helmet", they altered the location of the bottom hole/pin by about an eighth of an inch. This also serves to make the "notch" at the back of the head rounded at the top, instead of squared off." (Pic) For whatever reason, there was a color-change as well...monkeybot's tail went from high-gloss orange to flat, light red:
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Of course, his friends Sonar and Scarem weren't any better. Sonar came either in deep red or hot pink, along with light or dark fur:
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While Scarem, like Tm Op, came in four flavors: purple, light purple, blue, and light blue.
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Poor Transmetal 2 Dinobot...as if he didn't have enough problems already, he has to go through an identity crisis of color. He's been seen sporting both purple, and pink transmetal parts. Or gray-purple, versus pink-purple, if you prefer. It's always tricky trying to describe these faint color differences:
There's also a difference between these two chrome variations in the color of the highlights (painted parts). Note that the highlights are darker on the gray-purple version. This is best seen on the cheetor example farther down. And if you think that's bad, now he's joined Prowl and shown up at Walmart as a re-color! Must have fallen into a bottle of Tide, what with this white and light blue look:
To make matters worse, this unit has ALSO shown up with the two variant chrome schemes, for a total (so far) of 4 variants.
Note: There is a later variant of this Dinobot called Rapticon, listed in the Beast Machines section of the vari-site. |
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TM2 Ramulas red, light red, and pink. Why, I don't know. It was bad enough when there were two variations on him, but to have to have discovered a third? Note:Mmany folks saw a green Ramulus at Botcon 2001 (art room display; featured in the BC01 comic, as well). At the organizer panel they said, to their knowledge, this was a production sample, released only at the Hasbro employee store, with a probable run of 500. (Pic)
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And yes, TM2 Cheetor goes through some growing pains. He's changed his spots...well, he didn't really have any left, so he changed his color instead. And boy, was it SLIGHT. We're talking one of those one-shade-off kind of things. But it's there. Purple, versus purple-gray. Accept no substitutes!
And like Dinobot above, his highlights (painted parts) are darker on the purple-gray than on the light purple one, as seen below:
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In the latest batch of TM2's to hit the pegs at Target, Spittor comes in two flavors: green chrome with dull pink eyes, or yellowish-green chrome with bright pink eyes. Stinkbomb comes with gold, and just-a-shade-lighter gold coloring. In addition, the yellow paint on this fellow's back is either dark or light, depending on the tail color. Dark yellow goes with gold, and light yellow goes with the just-a-shade-lighter gold. And Nightglider comes in THREE flavors of brown! Dark brown, medium brown, and light brown. In addition, the circles on his wings go from dull red on the light one, to bright red on the dark one. I have also noticed a difference in the blue "fur" on him, as well as a difference in the amount of metalflake on the wings.
Note: There are RID versions of these 3 toys. |
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Iguanas fares no better, with bright red chrome fins, and dull red chrome fins.
Note: There is a Universe version of this figure. |
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Then there's our friend Jawbreaker, sporting either a pale orange mohawk, or a flame red one. Guess he was having a bad hair day. It's interesting to note that his shoulders came in two flavors of red as well...one is deep red, while the second one is more of a 'hot pink' color.
Note: Jawbreaker was recolored and re-released in the 2005 Universe line. |
 I'm Kidding! Well, sort of...considering that my 1st-issue unit pops completely apart without help, while the second-release at least waits until I can transform it...there's actually a slight variation in the releases (other than package) with the green transmetalizing...1-st issue units, and the ones that shipped with TM2 BA have a color difference...although it's so slight, I can't prove it in the scan.
Note: There is a RID version of this unit, called Skybite. |
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If you compare these two units, you will see that they have the mandibles in beastmode reversed (easily viewed thru the bubble:) There's also a color-change; some units came out gold, and some reddish-gold.
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The variant that wasn't? Boy, are we having fun now. :-) OK, so here's the scoop...the first release of TM2 BA had a manufacturing defect...when you went to transform it, it would break. :-) No joke! In addition, 1st-releases came with a removable 'bra', and there was more yellow paint on the organic tooth in spider mode. 2nd-release BA had the manufacturing problem fixed, and...they remembered to fix the bra so that it doesn't pop off. In addition, this one has more yellow paint on the robotic tooth. It should also be noted that there is a diference in the amount of red paint, as well as a hue change, on both the spider head, and the robot head between these two releases. They also swapped the teeth on the detachable weapon, ie the organic 'tooth' is on the left in the first-release, and on the right in the second-release.
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Heads Up! Poor Tigrhawk...and poor us! Always looking for the purple version that they show on the boxart, and instead always getting a blue one instead. Well, guess what? We STILL don't have one! :-) Actually, what we do find is that Tigerhawk comes with three possible armor colors: light blue, blue, and purple blue:
There is also a change in the pupil of the tiger head; 1st-release came with the pupil only going halfway down, while later-releases had the pupil going down all the way:
For a detailed explanation of the number and release-order of all the TigerHawk variants, Click here!!
Note: There is an Universe version of this figure. |
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Ah, the TM2 dragon Megs...seems some people think that they saw one with an all-red-head. They mean that, instead of having a red head with faint purple highlights (seen when you move it around in the light), instead they have a red head with no highlights. No one has been able to come forward to prove this, so I suspect it was a simple matter of the lighting in the toy store. HOWEVER...there was one small change. 1st-releases had substantially more yellow in the chest area, while later releases showed more red:
And of course, every blessed one of them had the head-movement tab put on upside down. You have to unscrew it yourself and reverse it if you want it to work right. Also, for those of you that need to know, the extra missles clip into the wings! They forgot to mention it in the paperwork. But wait! There's more! Later releases of Megatron (and all releases, so far, of Cryotek) have a tab molded into the base of the neck. Initial releases of Megatron did not:
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Lucky us! A promo was released for a short time that included recolored toys, and a free video! Coming of the Fuzors, Part 1. Here's a comparison shot of both toys in their original form, and the re-release:
I've always thought it odd that they didn't release the featured toys with the videos, such as Quickstrike and Silverbolt, instead of these two. Heck, Razorclaw never appears in it, much less ANY BW episode! Gotta wonder about those marketing people, sometimes. |
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In a bold attempt to get even more money out of the market (and considering how much the original BW toys were selling for, who can blame them) Hasbro/Kenner decided to re-release several of the Beast Wars toys under the Fox Kids banner. 4 original toys, and a slew of Transmetal units. All were recolored to distinguish between releases, as pictured below: The four originals, Cheetor, Dinobot, Rhinox, and Waspinator, and their re-released Fox Kids recolors:
There's absolutely no way for me to prove this with my scanner, but the recolored cheetor came with either bright shiny spots, or in some cases flat, dull spots. But who cares, right? :-) It's also interesting to note that the accessory to the original Transmetal Waspinator and the FOX Kids repaint edition are different. The original has a little hole in the weapon grip, while the repaint's accessory has a little tiny piece of metal inside that hole. ...and then...a whole slew of transmetal recolors were released. Here they are, in order of release: Transmetal Cheetor and Transmetal Tarantulas were the first ones out of the gate:
And as a side note (and as we can't leave this sort of thing alone here), Cheets once again came in a variant on the recolor: gold, and light-gold. TM Rattrap and TM Rhinox are making a showing as recolors as well. Boy, as if we didn't have ENOUGH variants of these guys already. This makes the fourth-variant of both these guys to grace our pages. Yipee!
...well, technically 5 variations on them, if you count the Rattrap dark versus light coloring, and the Rhinox gold versus yellow circles:
TM Airrazor, the recolor, has been released:
...and big suprise...like her initial release, she has a color variation on this one, too. Sigh. We have light blue, versus dark blue. There's also a 'transition' unit, with a blue top, and light blue engine pods.
...and then we have the recolor of TM Waspinator.
Sigh. In fact, not only is there a recolor, but there's already a color variant. I hate these things:
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Blue eagle eyes, black eagle eyes? (UNCONFIRMED) A persistant rumor...the Silverbolt portion of Magnaboss supposedly came with blue eagle eyes as well as the standard black...no one has come forward with scans to prove this, however. My guess would be that some people's black would be midnight blue to others... One difference, however, that CAN be confirmed: Silverbolt, the eagle, came as brown, or gold. This occurs both on his feathertips, and on the plastic itself:
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To tell you the truth, I was tempted to list these with the Beast Machines...but the card says otherwise. :-) Here we have Soundwave in light yellow and dark yellow colors, and Razorclaw with red and pink eyes:
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I have to tell you, I thought the TM2 Cheetor mold was crap. However, TA is definately an improvement on the original. Slightly remolded (panels now fit, and there's a new spark crystal, of course) as well as recolored. Like the original TM2 Cheets, there's a color variation in the chrome plating; yes, light and dark again, as well as the highlights.
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Not much can be said that hasn't already about the micro-playsets. I shouldn't even have this here, as Raksha is in-charge of Artifacts, but people insisted. :-) So just this once...Arachnid (and whats-his-name) came with either green, or yellow plastic parts and accs:
There are also some variations on the beast Happy Meal toys from McDonalds. They have their own seperate page now. :-) |
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To be continued...at least as long as they make TFs with transmetalized parts, or decide to keep re-releasing recolors on the originals...let's pray that they don't. Oh wait, look, they did, 10 years later: To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Beast Wars, Hasbro re-released 8 of them: The first six were Cheetor, Rhinox, Dinobot, Waspinator, Tarantulas, and Transmetal Rattrap (essentially, the same molds they've been using for the fox kids recolors, although now they claim to boast 'show accurate' colors). All in 'deluxe' (14.99 versus 9.99) packaging, and including as a bonus, one of 6 pieces needed to build Transmutate, a character that (until now) had no figure. In-addition, the mega-sized Primal Gorilla and Megatron T-rex were remolded and released as a two-pack exclusive to Toys R Us (originally a Japan-only set, natch).
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