Death's Head
26-08-11, 08:20 AM
A Maximal on his first release (switching his allegiance for a shiny Transmetal upgrade a year or so later - how fickle!) , Spittor is one of them there poison arrow frogs that look pretty, but would spit some horrible yuck at you which might kill you. Spittor is also nicely rendered in translucent blue plastics. Normally, I don't have much truck with translucent figures, but Beast Wars used such features sensibly, mixing clear and solid parts together. There's a slightly comical attempt to replicate the lashing tongue of a real frog. Pressing the tab on the toy's back launches a robotic clubbed tongue.
Unusually for a second wave figure, Spittor retains some nods to the present day in the form of an extra pair of legs (which I keep tucked up underneath as they are quite difficult to utilize without the beast mode looking really wonky). The designer was apparently inspired to give Spittor six legs having come across some mutated frogs at a pond where some humans had thoughtfully disposed of some chemicals. Another slow clap hands for humanity. Whilst it doesn't do much for the beast mode, it does stop the transformation being too obvious.
So, the rear frog legs swing up to form the robot arms, the mutant legs form the robot mode legs, and the frog's front leg's dangle over the robot's back. The frog head unclips and swings down to form the robot chest. It's a really nicely worked sequence and fun too!
Spittor's robot mode is a stout little fellow, with really long arms for *****-slapping his foes. He looks quite the little thug, so perhaps it's no suprise he ends up defecting to the Predacons. His head is suitably alien looking, with beady little eyes poking out. I really like how the orange splodges are carried over to the robot mode head too, which helps pick out the mouth and teeth detail sculpted into the head. The action feature is still accessible in robot mode, although it does end up making Spittor look a bit like He-Man's Mek-a-Neck.
A really fun basic sized figure with perhaps a little more going for it than the following year's Transmetal repaint.
Re-released with a new deco in 1998 (and packed in with a VHS tape of the Episode 'The Coming Of The Fuzors Part 1' ) to promote the new Transmetal and Fuzor lines, Spittor's 'Transmetal' repaint isn't quite as good as Claw Jaw's. The bright red dominates the toy, with the circuit print design looking a bit lost. The quality of the mould still shines through, but it doesn't feel as good as the original.
One of the things I enjoyed most about collecting Beast Wars at the time was having value added packs and retail promotional items available in the UK for the first time. The 1980s Robot points 'clip and save' promotion was something of a disappointment in the UK - offering only the cardboard S.T.A.R.S. command centre and the 'Time Warrior' watch available. Although Robot Points were printed on Generation 2 toys, no mail away premiums were offered. Beast Wars previously gave us a free VHS of 'The Beast Wars' when purchased with the Ultra class Optimus and Megatron figures. There was also a colour change glass given away with the purchase of any two Mega class figure (both offers at Woolworths). Whilst Toymaster gave you a free Beast Wars watch with the purchase of two Transmetal Mega class toys (they'd run out - I got a Star Wars watch when I made my purchases) , whilst Toys R Us gave away a further VHS tape 'Optimal Situation' on purchases of Beast Wars toys over £20 or more (or thereabouts). Even Universal got in on the act, running a competition to win a Beast Machines Basics toy (I won a Scavenger!) and giving away stickers with purchases of their series of VHS releases. All these were a great indicator of how well the line was doing at retail on both sides of the pond. In some ways, its difficult to see the rationale behind Hasbro's curtailing of the line in favour of Beast Machines when it had proved such a success. Still don't know what you could get for all those Beast Wars / Beast Machines Robot Points though...
413414415416417
Unusually for a second wave figure, Spittor retains some nods to the present day in the form of an extra pair of legs (which I keep tucked up underneath as they are quite difficult to utilize without the beast mode looking really wonky). The designer was apparently inspired to give Spittor six legs having come across some mutated frogs at a pond where some humans had thoughtfully disposed of some chemicals. Another slow clap hands for humanity. Whilst it doesn't do much for the beast mode, it does stop the transformation being too obvious.
So, the rear frog legs swing up to form the robot arms, the mutant legs form the robot mode legs, and the frog's front leg's dangle over the robot's back. The frog head unclips and swings down to form the robot chest. It's a really nicely worked sequence and fun too!
Spittor's robot mode is a stout little fellow, with really long arms for *****-slapping his foes. He looks quite the little thug, so perhaps it's no suprise he ends up defecting to the Predacons. His head is suitably alien looking, with beady little eyes poking out. I really like how the orange splodges are carried over to the robot mode head too, which helps pick out the mouth and teeth detail sculpted into the head. The action feature is still accessible in robot mode, although it does end up making Spittor look a bit like He-Man's Mek-a-Neck.
A really fun basic sized figure with perhaps a little more going for it than the following year's Transmetal repaint.
Re-released with a new deco in 1998 (and packed in with a VHS tape of the Episode 'The Coming Of The Fuzors Part 1' ) to promote the new Transmetal and Fuzor lines, Spittor's 'Transmetal' repaint isn't quite as good as Claw Jaw's. The bright red dominates the toy, with the circuit print design looking a bit lost. The quality of the mould still shines through, but it doesn't feel as good as the original.
One of the things I enjoyed most about collecting Beast Wars at the time was having value added packs and retail promotional items available in the UK for the first time. The 1980s Robot points 'clip and save' promotion was something of a disappointment in the UK - offering only the cardboard S.T.A.R.S. command centre and the 'Time Warrior' watch available. Although Robot Points were printed on Generation 2 toys, no mail away premiums were offered. Beast Wars previously gave us a free VHS of 'The Beast Wars' when purchased with the Ultra class Optimus and Megatron figures. There was also a colour change glass given away with the purchase of any two Mega class figure (both offers at Woolworths). Whilst Toymaster gave you a free Beast Wars watch with the purchase of two Transmetal Mega class toys (they'd run out - I got a Star Wars watch when I made my purchases) , whilst Toys R Us gave away a further VHS tape 'Optimal Situation' on purchases of Beast Wars toys over £20 or more (or thereabouts). Even Universal got in on the act, running a competition to win a Beast Machines Basics toy (I won a Scavenger!) and giving away stickers with purchases of their series of VHS releases. All these were a great indicator of how well the line was doing at retail on both sides of the pond. In some ways, its difficult to see the rationale behind Hasbro's curtailing of the line in favour of Beast Machines when it had proved such a success. Still don't know what you could get for all those Beast Wars / Beast Machines Robot Points though...
413414415416417