Beast Wars: Hasbro's Gone Too Far

I'm a Beast Wars fan. Generally, I've hated everything Hasbro's done to the show to sell more toys, but this time, Hasbro's crossed the line.

I've hated practically every upgrade that Hasbro's been behind. I hated the Transmental Cheetor and RatTrap when I first saw them, but eventually grew to accept them. I thought OpOp looked hideous when I first saw him, but now I love the current Optimus incarnation.

Lately, we've been given a clone Transmetal Dinobot and a Transmetal II Cheetor. The Transmetal Dinobot clone is surprisingly beautiful. I won't get into the whole Dinobot storyline and how he is the father of humanity.

The Transmetal II Cheetor is another story. I thought it was the most hideous thing I had ever seen. Within a few weeks, it dropped down to number two, as I gradually accepted it. What took the spot of the most hideous creation I've ever seen?

TRANSMETAL BLACKARACHNIA. Black Arachnia was the most beautiful and elegant bot I've ever seen. She was perfect. Seductive. Deadly. Poisonous.

Well, not any longer. D. C. Fontana did a wonderful job on the script, but it was only damage control. Hasbro went too far with redesigning our favorite arachnid. (On a side note: I love the Transmetal Terranchalus) Black Arachnia is now a blue bot with gold accents. The overall design is just so hideous.

I know I've used hideous far too many times already, but it is the only word that does justice.

Blackarachnia now appears to have blue skin with a golden armor done in a Greek style. Her beast mode is just as bad. It's an uninspiried dumbed up version of Terranchalus's Transmetal beast mode.

What's next? Rhinox is long overdue for a new body. Will they mess with SilverBolt... whose forms, both beast and bot, are simply inspired? What about Waspinator? Doesn't he deserve a body that would make fans vomit? Maybe a fourth body for Optimus or Cheetor?

Why doesn't Hasbro realize that they're killing DiTillio and Forward with this crap?

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Peter Tatara
3.7.1999