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Zob's Thoughts on Legacy Voyager-Class Predacon Inferno
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Zobovor
Nov 19, 2022, 2:10:11 PM11/19/22
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In a rare showing from Hasbro Pulse, I got this toy delivered to my doorstep and still have yet to see it anywhere at retail. I'm surprised, but pleased!
The great updates to the main cast of Beast Wars continue to impress, and we're at a point now where every major Maximal and Predacon from season one has received a new toy. (Given the existence of the new Transmetal 2 Megatron, it seems clear Hasbro is looking at forms from season two and three as well, and before too long, we may have the entire TV show cast in their various Transmetal bodies.)
Inferno is part of wave three, shipping with the new version of Armada Starscream, a toy I didn't buy.
The new Inferno is about 6.5" at the head, which reflects his status as a larger-than-average character on the show. Where the 1996 vintage toy was a couple of different shades of red plastic (a translucent red for most of the toy, along with a lighter opaque shade of red) this version is a bright opaque red, with some parts painted a metallic silvery-blue or a metallic purple, which closely matches the colors given to the CGI model. The head sculpt is exceptional, and captures the look of this psychotic Predacon to a tee. It even has an articulated robot-mode jaw so he can open his mouth and scream at the Maximals.
The original Inferno toy had a piece of the ant's head that came off and became a handheld weapon. This version comes with one accessory, the rocket thrusters for his flight mode, which can also be equipped as a handheld gun. So, he can shoot or he can fly, but not both at the same time. You can mount the thrusters to his rear section and achieve his "blender butt" mode by unfolding the four panels of his insect abdomen. There is no gear-driven spinning gimmick here as there was with the vintage toy, however.
Transformation is similar to the 1996 toy in some ways. The basic concept is the same—the chest becomes the ant head (the mandibles are tucked inside the ant's head); the blender butt becomes the abdomen. Unlike the old toy, whose robot legs and robot arms each turned into a pair of insect legs, this version doesn't use the robot limbs at all. (There are little fake ant legs embedded in the front of the robot shins, but they're just for looks.) The robot legs tuck under the abdomen, and the robot arms fold up and sort of hide under the ant's body. This allows, at least, for the six insect legs to be all the same color, and proportioned correctly with respect to each other. So, I like that.
The beast mode is about seven inches long, still mostly red with some airbrushed purple on his back. The ant's head and abdomen both have a little bit of pivoting up-and-down movement, the mandibles open and close, the antennae can pivot up and down, and each insect leg is articulated at the base. He stands better than the 1996 toy, which had a lot of joints in the insect legs (since four of them were made from the robot arms and legs) and tended to flop down on his belly quite a bit. The CGI model for his beast mode had very large pincers and oversized eyes mounted close to the top of the head; this version is more like a real fire ant, with much smaller eyes mounted to the sides of the head. But, this is the signature look we've seen for the Beast Wars updates since Kingdom. They don't adhere to the fidelity of the CGI look for the beast modes. It makes him look cute, not quite as vicious.
The rocket thruster can't exactly store in the abdomen for beast mode since the robot legs are mostly stuffed in there, but you can mount it to the top of the ant mode as a fire ant firearm.
It would have been nice to have his flamethrower weapon as well (I'm sure a third-party add-on will end up in my collection some day), but aside from that I'm quite pleased with him as an update. It will be interesting to see if they end up completing the media cast from Beast Wars. (I'm especially excited about a Fuzor Silverbolt whose wings can fold up onto his back instead of hanging awkwardly from his shoulders!)
Zob (still needs to get a Strange Friend on eBay so I can have a Transmutate, too)
The great updates to the main cast of Beast Wars continue to impress, and we're at a point now where every major Maximal and Predacon from season one has received a new toy. (Given the existence of the new Transmetal 2 Megatron, it seems clear Hasbro is looking at forms from season two and three as well, and before too long, we may have the entire TV show cast in their various Transmetal bodies.)
Inferno is part of wave three, shipping with the new version of Armada Starscream, a toy I didn't buy.
The new Inferno is about 6.5" at the head, which reflects his status as a larger-than-average character on the show. Where the 1996 vintage toy was a couple of different shades of red plastic (a translucent red for most of the toy, along with a lighter opaque shade of red) this version is a bright opaque red, with some parts painted a metallic silvery-blue or a metallic purple, which closely matches the colors given to the CGI model. The head sculpt is exceptional, and captures the look of this psychotic Predacon to a tee. It even has an articulated robot-mode jaw so he can open his mouth and scream at the Maximals.
The original Inferno toy had a piece of the ant's head that came off and became a handheld weapon. This version comes with one accessory, the rocket thrusters for his flight mode, which can also be equipped as a handheld gun. So, he can shoot or he can fly, but not both at the same time. You can mount the thrusters to his rear section and achieve his "blender butt" mode by unfolding the four panels of his insect abdomen. There is no gear-driven spinning gimmick here as there was with the vintage toy, however.
Transformation is similar to the 1996 toy in some ways. The basic concept is the same—the chest becomes the ant head (the mandibles are tucked inside the ant's head); the blender butt becomes the abdomen. Unlike the old toy, whose robot legs and robot arms each turned into a pair of insect legs, this version doesn't use the robot limbs at all. (There are little fake ant legs embedded in the front of the robot shins, but they're just for looks.) The robot legs tuck under the abdomen, and the robot arms fold up and sort of hide under the ant's body. This allows, at least, for the six insect legs to be all the same color, and proportioned correctly with respect to each other. So, I like that.
The beast mode is about seven inches long, still mostly red with some airbrushed purple on his back. The ant's head and abdomen both have a little bit of pivoting up-and-down movement, the mandibles open and close, the antennae can pivot up and down, and each insect leg is articulated at the base. He stands better than the 1996 toy, which had a lot of joints in the insect legs (since four of them were made from the robot arms and legs) and tended to flop down on his belly quite a bit. The CGI model for his beast mode had very large pincers and oversized eyes mounted close to the top of the head; this version is more like a real fire ant, with much smaller eyes mounted to the sides of the head. But, this is the signature look we've seen for the Beast Wars updates since Kingdom. They don't adhere to the fidelity of the CGI look for the beast modes. It makes him look cute, not quite as vicious.
The rocket thruster can't exactly store in the abdomen for beast mode since the robot legs are mostly stuffed in there, but you can mount it to the top of the ant mode as a fire ant firearm.
It would have been nice to have his flamethrower weapon as well (I'm sure a third-party add-on will end up in my collection some day), but aside from that I'm quite pleased with him as an update. It will be interesting to see if they end up completing the media cast from Beast Wars. (I'm especially excited about a Fuzor Silverbolt whose wings can fold up onto his back instead of hanging awkwardly from his shoulders!)
Zob (still needs to get a Strange Friend on eBay so I can have a Transmutate, too)
Codigo Postal
Nov 30, 2022, 1:35:11 PM11/30/22
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Zobovor
Nov 30, 2022, 8:34:55 PM11/30/22
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On Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 11:35:11 AM UTC-7, Codigo Postal wrote:
> Tempting. I'm strangely content with my original flavor Inferno - it's the curse of BW: they were already fairly poseable and screen-accurate, so the Kingdom updates don't seem as much of an upgrade by comparison.
I mean, it's certainly not a world of difference in the same way as, say, G1 Starscream and Earthrise Starscream. I will say that I have a particular disdain for translucent toys who are not named Mirage. With opaque parts, at least you can pretend there are electronics and circuitry and things underneath the outer skin. With a see-through toy, there's quite patently none of that.
> Tempting. I'm strangely content with my original flavor Inferno - it's the curse of BW: they were already fairly poseable and screen-accurate, so the Kingdom updates don't seem as much of an upgrade by comparison.
But, yeah, it's harder to vastly improve a toy that already had full articulation and a reasonably good transformation. Some of the Beast Wars updates have actually been worse than the original toys, which is an impressive feat.
Zob (finally did order the Strange Friend, because I need a Transmutate in my life)
Codigo Postal
Nov 30, 2022, 8:49:48 PM11/30/22
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If anyone is deserving - at last- of a quality, screen-accurate, figure - it's Rhinox.
Zobovor
Dec 2, 2022, 10:14:01 AM12/2/22
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On Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 6:49:48 PM UTC-7, Codigo Postal wrote:
> I don't believe we've heard about any further BW updates other than TM2 Megatron
Just heard something yesterday about a new Fuzor Silverbolt and TM2 Tigerhawk. Hasbro ain't done with Beast Wars yet!
> I don't believe we've heard about any further BW updates other than TM2 Megatron
Zob (Beast Machines Botanica when?)
Codigo Postal
Dec 2, 2022, 10:27:02 AM12/2/22
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