Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Skipping past another redeco in the Robotmasters line brings us to #22 in the series, Lio Convoy. This is a new sculpt, but a pared down rendition of Lio Convoy from the 1998 Beast Wars II line . This 2004 Lio Convoy too turns into a lion. (The skipped over RM-21 was another Beast Convoy, but deco'ed all in red to become "Burning Beast Convoy." RM-23 was a redeco of Lio Convoy with metallic parts and came bundled with a DVD.   

Apexus is the third of the 2007 Micron Boosters released via blind-box packaging in Japan. A Maximal, he turns into a mechanical tiger. He is a redeco of the Classics Mini-Con, Snarl.

The mighty beast form of Optimus Primal (first revealed in 1995) gets a revamp with a new redeo and status as Autobot leader. He turns into a technorganic gorilla and was available at retail as part of the Universe line in 2003.

The Beast Machines line was suddenly cancelled in 2001 for a variety of reasons -- including that the overproduction of Star Wars toys for The Phantom Menace left Hasbro reeling, prompting them to close down Kenner, and rethink their Transformers line. As a stopgap solution, they imported Japanese Transformers toys (in an echo of how the toyline started in the first place), turning the Car Robots line into Robots in Disguise for 2001. A few toys designed for Beast Machines made it into the Robots in Disguise line, even though the narrative of the series didn't really allow for it.  So here's Air Attack Optimus Primal, a massive Maximal toy released exclusively to Toys R Us in 2002. He turns from a robot into a techno-organic gorilla. He is extremely well articulated, down to each individual finger being poseable. He has battery operated LEDs, and voice clips of Gerry Chalk, the Optimus Primal actor from Beast Machines. 

A frenzied Maximal warrior, Hammerstrike's strange body twists and turns into a techno-organic hammerhead shark. He was available in 2001 in the final year of the Beast Machines line.

The ever popular Cheetor got one more incarnation out of the Beast Machine lines before it ended abruptly in 2001. This version is Night Slash Cheetor, named for his black armor and the spring-loaded swords that deploy from these clever shoulder mounts. He turns into a mechanical cheetah.   

Blast Punch Optimus Primal may sound like a Kool-Aid flavor, but he is in fact the 2001 iteration of the venerable Maximal leader. He turns into a techno-organic gorilla and his robot mode features a spring-loaded rocket-firing gimmick. He's a hefty toy with a lot of poseability.   

With his Samurai-styling and proud stance, Battle Unicorn is a cool design from the late Beast Machines toyline, released in 2001. He's a Maximal and turns into a mostly mechanical techno-organic unicorn, as his name clearly indicates. His mane and tail become his mighty power axe.

Maximal leader Optimus Primal turns into a techno-organic gorilla with a number of distinctive clear plastic blue segments in his body traditionally reserved to depict Energon -- like his bright green energy shuriken. He does not resemble his animation model in the Beast Machines series (his simplistic Happy Meals toy does a better job at that). He was available in 2000. 

Primal Prime is the second time I've drawn this particular design. First it was used as  Optimal Optimus in the Beast Wars line in 1998. It was recast in traditional Optimus Prime colors (red and blue) in 2000. He is not Optimus Primal or Optimus Prime, but a new creation somewhere in between. The toy is backed with electronic and mechanical play features, and turns from hulking robot to gorilla to air guardian jet to armored convoy vehicle. 

The last of the Maximals available in a Happy Meals is their leader, Optimus Primal. Still a gorilla since the start of the Beast Wars line, this Beast Machine incarnation is a simplified representation of his CG animation model. Primal was available at participating McDonalds in 2000. 

The reckless youth character from Beast Machines got the Happy Meal toy treatment: Nightscream is now far more properly scaled to interact with other toys rather than the enormous rendition of his character his main line toy got . He turns into a bat. He was available in 2000 at participating McDonalds.   

Rattrap, as one of the main characters in the Beast Machines animated series, received a Happy Meals toy. It was pretty faithful to his animated incarnation, given the production limitations of an inexpensive fast food toy, right down to that unsettling face. He turned into a mechanical rat, just what you want with your dinner. He was available at McDonalds in 2000.  

 It's Cheetor... again. This drawing is meant to represent his simplified Happy Meals Toy version, available at McDonalds in 2000. He turns into a mechanical cheetah.

Kicking off a run of Maximals available as toys in McDonalds Happy Meals with Blackarachnia. The former Predacon turned Maximal was available sealed in a plastic baggy. The toy is a pretty simplistic approximation of the Beast Machines animation model. This drawing tries to find a middle ground between cheap piece of plastic and presentable robot. Blackarachnia still turns into a mechanical arachnid. She was available in 2000.

One of the largest (or, rather, tallest I suppose) Beast Machines toy ever released is the Supreme edition of Cheetor. His mechanical cheetah mode is about the size of an actual cat. His spindly robot mode is nearly a foot tall. He's loaded with play features both electronic and articulated. He was available in 2000; in Japan, he came out in 2004. 

Dillo is another of the Deployers who, like Mol , has no distinct robot mode. This Maximal has what is supposedly an armadillo mode, though I'm not really seeing it.  And he turns into some sort of catapult with projectile-launching play features. He's basically an accessory for your more traditional Transformers. He was available in 2000, first in blue and purple, and then later redeco'ed in 2001 in red and blue. 

An unusual toy in the Beast Machines line, Che is less a character and more a play accessory. Che is a Beast Rider battle chariot, built by Cheetor (according to the on-pack bio) for firepower and speed. It doesn't transform, though its clawed arms can change configuration -- either forward for attack, or back for speed. The chariot is wind-up motorized and can fit most basic Maximal figures (ironically, most Beast Machines Cheetors are too big). Che was available in 2000 and re-released in 2001 with a different paint scheme. 

It's Magmatron... again. I posted him not too long ago, as part of the Beast Wars Neo line , but he's back as part of Beast Machines. It's the same toy as the Japanese release, with some modifications to bring the pointy bits into US safety standards. The insignia on the toy are still that of Predacons, even though the character is a Maximal in its US release. It was a Target exclusive in 2000. Magmatron consists of three individual dinosaur components: a gigantosaur (his lower body), an elasmosaur (his upper body) and a quetzalcoatlus (his winged back and head).  

Rapticon is another of the Maximal Dinobots added to the Beast Machines lineup. The design is a redeco of Dinobot 2 from the Beast Wars Transmetal line . He turns into a mechanical velociraptor, and was available in 2000.