Phil's Beast Wars Transmetal, Walmart, Fox Kids and
Beast Wars 10th Anniversary Rattrap Review

Transmetal Rattrap

Rattrap gets a size class upgrade when going to his Transmetal form - he becomes a deluxe where he was previously a basic. This new rat for has an articulated tail - 12 segments including the base and the tip that either bend up & down or to the sides in relation to the previous piece. There's not a lot of articulation in Beast mode other than that. There's 2 large wheels mounted on the rear hips, and 2 smaller wheels behind the front legs. The larger wheels and the middle of the body are picked out in metallic red, most of the head and the rear of the body is brown, the feet and the tail are a sort of brassy colour, and there's a little grey visible through the sides of the beast.

To TF vehicle mode - pull wheel panels to the sides at the back and fold rear legs in. Twist front legs so wheels are facing downwards. Fold the tail out straight behind it and flip the exhaust pipes out from the rear of the beast. It's basically a rat on wheels. Of all the TM vehicle modes only Waspinator's and Airazor's are any great shakes.

To TF robot - fold up rear wheels and remove tail. Unpeg robot legs from under rat and fold out in front of rat. Fold head halves out to each side. Fold the arm underneath him out to form his right arm. Fold out the arm inside him. Fold robot body and legs down, and then push on neck to pop robot head out . Rotate robot legs at thigh and straighten ankles.

Robot mode is articulated at ankles, knees and elbows, with a bicep and thigh swivel joint and ball & sockets at his shoulders and hips. His tail becomes a whip - preferred the gun he had as a basic robot. It appears as if his head is open and you can see brain within - this is picked out in orange as is some chest highlights, and there's some blue paint highlights on head and chest.

Overall - not bad, but I'm not so hot on most of the Transmetal characters as I am the original beast toys.

Walmart Transmetal Rattrap

Walmart Rattrap aka Walrat aka TM Pakrat - after the early Botcon exclusive - is the first TF store exclusive that I can remember. He's a basic paint swap - blue for brown, metallic blue for metallic red, a pink/silver/grey for the brassy gold, and a more blue grey for the grey bits. The brain and chest highlights are now coloured green.

V nice repaint, works.

Puzzle Rattrap

Puzzle Rattrap was a Japanese exclusive packed with a Jigsaw puzzle - hence the name ! Again he's a basic paint swap - white for brown, metallic orange for metallic red, a silver/blue for the brassy gold, and a orange for the grey bits. The brain and chest highlights are now coloured blue.

Great colour combination, looks good. But rare - The only one I could find on eBay was Ł50 !

Fox Kids Transmetal Rattrap

FK Rattrap is another example of the random throwing of paint at a toy seemingly practiced at times on this range. Red for brown, metallic blue for metallic red, a pale grey for the brassy gold, and a shiny grey for the grey bits. The brain and chest highlights are now coloured green. It's a tiny bit bright in places, not as bad as FK TM Rhinox but it's not a terribly great repaint.

Tenth Anniversary Rattrap

As part of the 10th anniversary of Beast Wars some of the original toys are being re-released. They're repainted to closer match their appearance in the TV show, and come with a Region 0 DVD which should play OK in UK players - and a piece of the Transmutate character - when you have all 6 Beast Wars anniversary figures you can build the Transmutate figure. Transmetal Rattrap comes with A Better Mousetrap on DVD and Transmutate's right arm.

Ah yes the odd ball in the Tenth Anniversary assortment. Want an opinion ? This should have been a Basic Rattrap vs Basic Terrorsaur 2 pack. Wave 3 could then have been Blackarachnia, Tigertron and Airazor vs Quickstrike, Wave 4 could have been TM Cheetor, TM Tarantulus and TM Rattrap and Wave 5 could have been Silverbolt, TM2 Cheetor and TM2 Dinobot getting re-releases of all the show deluxe and basic figures out there.

Rattrap's main paint difference is his bronzey and grey plastics both becomes silver. Unlike earlier photos his red vac metal paint is still red vac metal. His robot mode acquires a maximal symbol on his left breast panel over his heart.

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