BEAST
WARS: TOY REVIEW
Name: POISON BITE
Allegiance: Mutant Beast
Function: Special Operations
Beast Modes: Barracuda / Scorpion
Price: 10 USD
BARRACUDA MODE
Height: 6.5cm with fin support
Length: 20cm
Width: 3.5cm minus fins
Well, it's a new idea in Beast Wars, taking a bit from
Bandai's "Digimon" line, where an animal turns into...an animal. First
Duocons, then Fuzors, now this. Anyway, Poison Bite is packaged as a barracuda.
He's made of red plastic throughout, with some blue on the fins, large
yellow body stripes in black outline(organic flame detailing?), some blue
on the "nose"(fish have no noses ("so how do they
smell? Terrible! *boom tish!* -Goktimus)), blue eyes, and
white teeth. Poseability? It's a fish. The front fins
move, and the jaw moves, but the jaw joint has a bump,
so it only has 2 poses- open and closed. The jaw is 2 separate pieces like
on Transmetal 2 Cybershark, but holds together perfectly. He also has an
overbite.
The majority of the body has small bumps moulded into
the design, as does the tail. The tail is kind of
odd, being 4 of the alt mode legs fit together. Little "kibble"
is visible, mostly the stinger on the belly.
TRANSFORMATION TO SCORPION MODE
Split the tail, open the side panels, and rotate the top
head penel around. Separate the head halves to the sides. Fold the scorpion
face and stinger out from underneath. Fold the tail halves forward and
peg them in place. Pose the legs, and fold the front fins over the fish
face halves to hide them. Push the back fins down. The official instructions
don't include
a few steps for some reason. (probably
because American Transformer instructions suck - Goktimus)
SCORPION MODE
Height: 7cm at highest pose, not counting the tail
Width: 6cm body
Well, it does a decent job of forming a scorpion from
a fish, even if the scorpion is a bit odd. The fish head forms the claws,
the tail forms the legs, and everything else is either just unfolded, or
new. He's still solid red plastic, with the earlier mentioned colours,
and some more yellow with black on the tail, blue fangs, and yellow fangs.
The legs are almost useless, as while the first 2 on each side are clearly
legs, the back 2 are connected by a skin web, and are attached. Each legs
is also stuck in one spot, despite being on ball joints. Still, he has
4 joints per arm, 1 per lower claw, and 3 in the tail. He's somewhat ugly
from the bottom, but he's supposed to be seen from the top. Quickstrike
had this problem as well. The claws are rather nice,
and the fins hide the faces nicely.
Gimmicks: Push down on the stinger. His orbot face
pops out. Though it looks more like a mutant scorpion robot face. The panel
inside the right claw opens to reveal a piece of robotic equipment. Could
be a cannon, but it can't fold out to fire. Still, he gets some robotic
pieces.
INSIGNIA LOCATION
Inside the right claw.
OVERALL
Well, no matter how weird the concept seems, with a bit of
work, it can be done right. And unlike the other Mutants, Poison Bite is
that one "bit of work". Personally, I was a bit indifferent to the idea,
but thankfully, the line wasn't that bad of an idea, and shows promise
if they make more than the 4 planned. Plus the Beast Wars name gets revived,
with the old packaging style, and the Transmetal repaints, and promise
of even more BW toys, the line isn't gone yet to it's predecessor Beast
Machines. Even G1 continues years after the show, so I see no reason for
Beast Wars to quit now. An "A" figure, just suffers from some scorpion
problems.
This review was written by Kasady
Voorhees.
Photographs courtesy of Benson Yee.
BEAST TRIVIA #1: Barracuda
The word barracuda refers to any of twenty species of predatory
fish of the Sphyraenidae family and Perciformes order. Barracudas
are found in all warm and tropical regions. Some also range in more temperate
areas. Swift and powerful, they are slender in form, with small scales,
two well-separated dorsal fins, a jutting lower jaw and a large mouth with
many large, sharp teeth. Size varies from 1.2 to no more than 1.8 metres
in the great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) of the Atlantic, Caribbean
and western Pacific.
Barracudas are primarily fish eaters, preying on small fish such as
mullets, anchovies and grunts. Esteemed as sports fish, barracudas (especially
the smaller forms) are valued as food. In certain seas, however, they may
become impregnated with a toxic substance known as ciguatera. Barracudas
are often regarded as fearsome fish, potentially dangerous to humans. Th
threat, thoguh probably exaggerated, is real. The great barracuda is known
to have been involved in attacks on swimmers.
Bibliography: Encyclopaedia
Brittanica
BEAST TRIVIA #2: Scorpion
There are around 800 species of the arachnid order Scorpionida.
They have elongated bodies and a segmented tail tipped with a venomous
stinger. Scorpions range in size from 13 to 175 millimetres and have six
pairs of appendages. The chelicerae, the small first pair, are used to
tear prey apart. The pedipalps, the second pair, are large and have strong,
clawlike pincers, which are held horizontally in front and are used as
feelers and for grasping prey. The last four pairs, each equipped with
a pincer, are walking legs.
Scorpions are nocturnal and feed mainly on insects and spiders. They
grasp the prey with their large, powerful pedipalps and tear it apart,
sucking the tissue fluids. Large prey is usually paralysed before it is
eaten.
During mating, the male and female perform a courtship dance. In Buthotus
alticola this dance is preceded by a twining and untwining of the vertically
held tails. After copulation the male is often devoured by the female (talk
about a messy divorce...). Fertilised eggs develop inside the female and
the young, which are born alive, stay on the female's back for about 12
days.
At least two types of scorpion poison exist. One is local in effect
and comparatively harmless to humans. The other is a dangerous neurotoxin
(nerve poison) that may cause death. Most scorpions prefer to retreat rather
than to fight and do not sting humans unless molested.
Bibliography: Encylopaedia
Brittanica
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