This section is intended for anyone to post any rumors, gossip, or spoilers you might have heard about the show.

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Aaargh! Alright, so I haven't been posting any nits for Beast Machines. But I love the show! I suppose I watch it with the nitpicking part of my brain turned off.

So what is our Christmas gift from Fox Kids? No new episodes until September. Nine months! Thank the Gods for Beast Wars reruns.

Until then...

I've never heard of Beast Wars till I saw them on here but you can find lots of links to them on Yahoo for anyone interested in doing so. I found them while still searching for classic cereals.

What kind of cereal do Maximals & Predicons eat?
Rice Chipsies

What sound does it make?
Spark, Crackle & Zap

According to head writing guy Bob Skir (click here for his page), the new season will feature two new characters, both females. He also says he argued until he was "blue in the face" to have Nightscream be female to make a nice, gender-balanced group.

Bob Skir's page continues to taunt us. In his latest FAQ page he confirms that there will be two new female characters--one unattached romantically (go Cheetor!). He also tells us that you Canadian punks are going to get the new season before we do (punks!). Then, near the bottom, he talks about how an old problem is going to rear its "ugly, floating head".

Unicron! Unicron returns! Oh, yeah.

>He also tells us that you Canadian punks are > going to get the new season before we do

Your lucky at least seeing Season 1...We in the UK have yet to see even Season 2 of Beast Wars never mind any Beast Machines....I've had to d/l the shows from a site

I wouldn't exactly consider it lucky to see the first season of Beast Machines. ;-)

*grins* Give it a chance KAM. How many TV proggies have done well in their first season. IMHO there are very few that can concider the 1st season the best or even a close 2nd or 3rd

Although technically the first season of Beast Machines isn't it really the 4th season of the Maximal storyline?

Hopefully when the next season starts they will have learned from their mistakes this season and make the show worth watching again, and I am plannning to watch the season premiere, but if they just return to doing the same old, same old of this season...

I'm hoping the big wipe was a sign that the writers will be getting back to more fun stories. I don't need more dark & depressing.

Time to step out of the shadows :P

It one of these Catch22 problems for the writers isn't it. I know of alot of ppl who really like BeastMachines (myself included) over the sometimes too 'cartoony' way BeastWars was made, mainly because BM does away with the dumbing down of the show and actually gets round to doing some serious stuff. IMHO BeastMachines is alot closer to the old G1 cartoons than BeastWars (OK I admit,being from the UK, I've only seen season 1 of BW so shoot away with possible "your wrong" comments)

Perhaps this discussion should move over to the Beast Wars vs Beast Machines board?

I do think there is a difference between fun & cartoony.
The eye popping, characters being flattened to paper thinness, bots being reduced to ashes & returning to normal, etc., etc., was cartoony & over the top.
Fun on the other hand refers to the characters' sense of humor, the way characters react in certain situations, the fact that the characters could be lighthearted instead of moping all the time...
(I don't mind darker themes being explored, but I think the Beast Machines could use the robot version of Prozac. ;-)

And the second season of BW does deal with some serious themes, with Dinobot getting possibly one of the best episodes.

The third season also had some serious shows as well.

Just a bit of useless info. If anyone in Canada watched Beast Wars you'd know it was called Beasties. This was because YTV, the network that showed it didn't want a program aimed towards children to have the word "War" in the title. The same went for the other Mainframe produced cartoon War Planets - Shadowraiders. They shortened it to just Shadowraiders. And since YTV had a major hand in making these cartoons, they could change the animation and have the voice actors say something different with no problems.

So THAT'S why the name change!
Let's see, here...YTV has no problem with creating and airing a dark, adult-themed cartoon (in which the characters continually reference the 'Beast Wars'!)...just as long as the TITLE isn't offending anybody? How hypocritical is that?
Also it's kinda silly, given that they air the show weeknights at 11:30 pm. Exactly who is still going be awake at that hour that'll be upset by the term 'wars'?

I have an interesting rumor about the next series.

There are two possiblilites that I have heard. One would be having a group of Maxamals discover a long lost group of Autobots and Decepticons. The two groups then battle each other.

The other rumor is that they might be re-releasing the original Transformers that have been redone with CGI, but keeping all the original voices. So they will be redoing the vidio, but not he audio.

I don't remember off hand where I heard these romurs and I have no idea how true they are.

Judging from just how good the CGI Autobots and Decepticons looked near the end of Beast Wars, the revamped G1 (or would it now be G3?) show might be a good idea.

Ok. I've heard that its official that Robot Cars (Car Robots? Whatever.) is comming to the US? Confirmation? Denial? Please tell me whats happening!!!! :-)

Okay, first post here in a while...

According to what I have heard and read, Beast Machines bombed in Japan, because it was too dark (I agree, although it did have some good parts).
The show was replaced next season by a series called Beast Wars Neo, in which Optimus Primal was a Mastadon instead of a Gorilla. I know the previous for a fact; I saw pics of Primal as a Mastadon in a Toy magazine, and read a brief article about Beast Wars Neo somewhere else.
I don't know if Megatron was the villain in Neo, or what Maximals and Predacons were used, or what they transformed into. No idea what the setting is, either: Cybertron, Earth, both, or a new setting.

Can anyone add any information to what I've just posted?

Have you tried an internet search?

Yep, and I don't speak Japanese. I looked at a few english-language sites, but didn't find much.

(I think KAM is a Decepticon! :p )

Best site for alot of info on the different Japanese BW series is www.bwtf.com (Actually, the whole sites one HUGE collection of TF info, one of the best ones out there).

Another thing of note is the guy that runs the site (Benson Yee) had a huge hand in the creation of Ravage in "The Agenga" trilogy....possibly the one reason why Ravage turned out so well in it.

*grumbles*...That should of been "The Agenda"

Whoa! I thought Ravage rocked in that one! I even liked it when he tranformed into a cassette and played heavy metal!!

(My favorite episode was the one with the return of Starscream, though)

Impudent lupine. When I conquer the universe I’ll have to teach you some manners.

Beast Wars Neo
This series is set after the Beast Wars II series. It covers the adventures of the Cybertron commander Big Convoy, the Destron commander Magmatron, and their armies and allies on their mission to collect the Angolmois energy capsules last seen dispersed into space at the end of Beast Wars II. Along the way they encounter the Blentrons, led by the newly-revived ancient enemy Unicron.

It is rumored that Galvatron will return in this series after his previous defeat, with some of the US Fuzor toys as his troops.

Cybertrons
Big Convoy is the commander. His beast mode is a giant mammoth, which can swing out his robot form's giant gun. He carries a removable Matrix object inside his robot chest. Underneath his lower arms are tongfas, which can be swung out to lie underneath his fists. Missiles are hidden inside his mammoth form's sides, and can be used in all modes.

Longrack is the second in command. He transforms into a giraffe. His most notable feature is his grabber claw, hidden inside the giraffe neck, which he can use to catch Destrons.

Machkick is a horse and a veteran.

Break is a young brash warrior with a penguin mode. (Sounds like Ratrap's personality.) Break also has a cannon mode that can be held up like a Targetmaster by larger Cybertrons like Longrack and Big Convoy.

Corada looks like a conquistador. Has a cobra mode and an artillery mode behind which small Cybertrons like Stampy and Break can operate and look out through.

Stampy is a rabbit.

Rockbuster is ?

Randy is ?

Sharpedge is a shark?

Bump is an armadillo?

Survive is ?

Destrons
Magmatron is the Destron commander. An all-around warrior more wildly evil than even Galvatron. His main weapon is the Magma-Blade sword, which can also be repositioned in his fist and used as a launcher to fire the blade itself. His robot form is actually a combination of three creatures, Landsaurus (a gigantosaur), Seasaurus (an elasmosaur), and Skysaurus (a variant of a quetzalcoatl), who can't transform into individual robots. The three beasts can also combine into a single big creature, the Magmasaurus.

Guiledart A major devious strategist and Magmatron's right-hand soldier. Transforms into a triceratops who can really pretend to be dead, luring the curious close enough to be attacked.

Bazooka is an ankylosaur.

Dead End (apparently not related to Dead End of the original Transformers series) is an ammonite. He lives for battle.

Saberback is a stegosaur uses his tail's weapon, called the Triple-Claws, to look like a flower. He can trap and/or attack anyone who gets too close to it.

Archadis is an archaeornis.

Hardhead is pachycephalosaurus.

Sling is ?

Hydra is ?

Crazybolt is ?

Blentron???
Heinrad is a raccoon/dog

Which site did you get that from, and did they have any pics (of the toys or tv series)?!

BladeWolf A big, huge black wolf. Can fire his front claws as missiles and spit shruiken from his mouth. In robot mode, is a ninja, who wields two kama blades and a pistol that fires armor-piercing darts containing acid. Can also transform into a `werewolf' mode that enables him to use the other forms' weapons, but can't move as fast as the other two modes.

Boy, that would make a cool Transformer, wouldn't it? ;)

I'm guessing that Survive isn't a naked gay man named Rich....

A couple of different websites, but mainly Prime Sabor's.

Survive is apparently a repaint of Polar Claw.

Here's a few links.

Prime Saber's Beast Wars Neo Transformers Page
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/manwood/484/TF/BWNeo.html

Beast Wars Japan- Beast Wars Neo
http://members.aol.com/unicron2k5/bwarsn.html

BW Neo
http://members.spree.com/jgabriel/BWNeo/BWNeo.htm

Transforce: Beast Wars II
http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/primus/beastwarstwo.htm

Beast Wars Neo Transformers Pictures of the Cartoon TV Show
http://www.bigbot.com/beast_wars_neo/

Your Best Source for Anime & Japanese Toys, and Other Hard To find Imp...
http://www.ngtoys.com/

"Impudent lupine"
Me or BF? I hate to correct someone great such as yourself KAM...but if its me that would be Feline =^_^=

Interesting thing I found while wandering around the local Forbidden Planet, apparently Beast Machines has its own Dinobots (One of my fave groups in the original G1). The one TF I saw was obviously the replacement for Grimlock...called Terrorclaw or something, can't remember. I was rather disappointed that it didn't show the rest of the team of Dinobots.

SK, KAM was referring to me with the `impudent lupine' remark, although its too late for that. I used to use the name BladeWolf on a few boards over in the Nitcentral Adventures section of the Kitchen Sink.

I saw some Beast Machines from a line called Dragon Riders when I was at the local K-Mart the other day. I'm waiting to hear if Anne McCaffery is suing over this!

I already checked out the bwtf site, and it HAS been bookmarked.

I'm guessing by your name, Cheetor is your favorite Beast Warrior\Machine? (Mine's a tie between Rattrap and Cheetor!)

First he was GundamWolf, then BladeWolf, so I tend to think of him as Wolf, even though he is going by his initials now.

Boy, using your initials, how unimaginitive can you g... um, never mind.

Is MacCaffery still alive?

My favorite is Dinobot. And Rattrap is second.

Of course for eye candy, Transmetal Blackarachnia, although her original look was good too.

*AHHSS* That explain a few things...My apologies then KAM.

Yep, got it in one BF, The reason...I'm just a bit of a Big Cat freak anyway. But, in a case of "You probably don't want to know/care but I'm going to tell you anyway" heres my fave incarnations of him:
1st: BM
2nd: TM2
3rd: Original
4th: BM Original Variation (Just a different texture used…but looks good)
5th: TM (never liked it all that much...)

As for a second favourite, well its sort of a tie between Rattrap (BW. I tend to agree that he got a bit of a bad deal in BM) and Dinobot. After those two comes Silverbolt (BW) and Waspinator.

Hmmm....my favorite versions of Rattrap:

1. BW, TM
2. BW, original version
3. BM (He looks cool in rat mode, but as a robot...ugh!)


Cheetor:

1. BM (Ninja Kitty, as I call him...)
2. BW, Transmetal
3. Original (I consider the variation the same version, just altered a little)
4. BW, Transmetal 2 (looked more like a Cheetah\Hyena hybrid in animal mode to me)

And can anyone confirm something for me; did the guy who did Starscream's voice in the original Transformers series also do Cobra Commander on G.I. Joe, or did they just sound a lot alike?

And since there used to be a G.I. Joe board and no one posted on it much, can someone here who is also a G.I. Joe fan recommend any G.I. Joe websites (I only care about the 80's version, not the original or current versions)?

I liked Rattrap's Transmetal beast form. Don't remember too many differences between his original & TM robot forms.

What's this about Cheetor's original & variation? Did they alter his form during Season 1 of BW?

I hesitate to call any of the Beast Machines good looking, but yeah, that was one gnarly looking rat. Optimus was probably the best looking of BM.

Yes, Chris Latta played both. There's a discussion about some of his various parts on the Samaritan Snare board under NextGen's season 2.

MikeC (Religious Musings) was moderator of GI Joe, so you might ask him.

Hmmm...he was in `Stop or My Mom Will Shoot'?! I bet he didn't put that in his resume!

I knew he was dead, but I didn't know he stood in for Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer on the Simpsons.

He was one of my favorite voice actors; I can still remember a classic line Cobra Commander once said on G.I. Joe: `Don't trust anyone...not even yourself!'

Anyone ever see the episodes of Transformers where Cobra Commander appeared? Too bad they didn't make it a G.I. Joe\Transformers cross-over!

Rattrap...Rattrap...*hmmss* I'd go with you BF.

>What's this about Cheetor's original & variation? Did they alter his form during Season 1 of BW?

If you look closely at Cheetor in the first Beast Machines ep at the "de-evolved" Cheetor you'll see he has black rings round his eyes...I think its the same mesh model from BW with just a different skin on it. As far as I can remember there are a number of other things I noticed as well that I can't remember, I don't have the ep to paw atm.

> Anyone ever see the episodes of Transformers where Cobra Commander appeared? Too bad they didn't make it a G.I.Joe\Transformers cross-over!

Actually..There was a TF/G.I. Joe cross over at one point. But it was only through the UK Comics (Issues 249 until issue 305). Have a read at some of them from http://uktfcomics.cjb.net/

I always liked Chris as well...

Actually, they did a G.I. Joe\Transformers crossover as a mini-series (it may have been reprints of those UK comics), and later again near the end of the G.I. Joe series (4 issues, I believe).

Yeahs...wasn't it in there that Bumblebee was rebuilt as Goldbug?


http://members.nbci.com/zobovor/bloopers.html <--Rather an interesting site. Seems some of our works already been done.

Bumblebee was also rebuilt as Goldbug in the actual cartoon "Return of Optimus Prime", if I recall correctly...

Matt Nelson

I think so, if you're talking about the 4-issue Mini-series; I think he was damaged in #1 or 2 and rebuit in #3, or at the beginning of #4. I have the Goldbug toy, as a matter of fact. It was one of the cars that rolls on its own after you pull it back. I think it was the last Transformer I bought, as a matter of fact, or at least the next to last.

(I almost bought the Silverbolt Fuzor, but didn't; I MAY buy one or two of the Car Robots when they come out, just for nostalgia's sake.)

I still have all my old G1 TF toys under a chair in my room. ^_^
My first ever TF was Tracks I believe...last....I dunno. Think it was Nightbeat or some such...

Thanks Kitty. I wouldn't have spotted those differences unless, maybe, I had seen a season 1 BW before BM.

Ideas for new series:
My Mother The Transformer.

Transfarmers (Just watch out for the cows, they're really Skrulls. ;-)

Gears (Sometimes you want to go where every bot knows your name)

How about:

Iron Chef Decepticon (`nuff said)

Nightscream Court (Gives a new meaning to `Bull, the baliff'!)

Who wants to be a Mega-huge Transforming Robot, with your host....Rattrap! (If you miss the first question, they feed you to Waspinator!)

And all those shows will air during Optimus Prime-time. ;-)

*groans*

On ABC! The Autobot Broadcasting Company!

I've never seen Transformers: The Movie, by the way, but I have part of the comic book adaptation (I think I'm missing the last issue)...

Why not CBS, the Cybertron Broadcasting System?

There's also UPN (Unicron Planetary Network), but very few people watch it. Their highest rated show is Starscream: Voyager.

I hate to break into this beautiful line of puns, but... Does anyone remember a series called "Gobots?" (I think it was Go-bots.) As a child, I truly loved the Transformers and many other cool machine-turns-into-other-thing shows, like MASK, Voltron and Robotech.
Recently, while digging through a box of old toys, I found a few Transformers-type toys labled Go-bots. Are they a mutation of Transformers or what?

*acks and forms a cross with his fingers* Away with ye, ye foul beastie! ;)

Not you Cathrine...the Go-Bots. *grins*
Yes, I remember the Go-Bots. Unfortunately I always thought they were the poor cousin. Thought up to cash in on the TF craze. Mind you, saying that, I still remember the show and even have an Episode or two of it in RM format....purely for sentimental purposes.

Hmmm... I remember watching Go-Bots, but I don't actually remember the shows themselves. Obviously they left quite an impression.

I did like the Mission: Impossible style way that MASK used characters, rather than having all members in every episode, but I didn't like the way they would just drop what they were doing when called.
A teacher would get the signal and leave a clssroom of kids. I'll bet that went over well with the principal, school board & PTA.
What if one the team had been a brain surgeon? "Whoops! I have to go! Nurse, if you see something that looks like a tumor, just yank it out."

I probably saw very few Transformer eps first run. Years later I did catch a bunch in reruns, which included the Headmasters & possibly some of the other Japanese translations. This probably explains why I was confused on one of the Beast Wars boards about Megatron changing his name to Galvatron. I saw them mixed up & out of order.

GoBots should not even be mentioned! I had a few (about 4 or so) of them when I was a kid. The tv series was c-r-a-p, and so were most of the toys!

Now what I would like to see is a revival of `Shogun Warriors'!

Actually, the Go-bot toys I have are pretty much broken (missing arms and legs and such), so the toys were c-r-a-p too. Meanwhile, my Transformers are still in good working order (yes, I still play with my toys from time to time). Guess that shows who's the best in Transformer-land! (hee hee)

Also, whatever happened to that guy and kid who were allies to the Autobots back in the original series (I think it was the original series)? Did they just disapear into oblivian or what?

And, a quick confession, I always thought the blond guy from MASK (you know, the leader) and Princess Alora from Voltron should have hooked up.

The guy from MASK is named `Matt Trakker'. The only MASK toys I ever had were the Condor Motorcycle that turned into a helicopter & a blister pack set with Matt Tracker in a green and dark green outfit with some kind of backpack and climbing gear.

Y'know, a live-action version of MASK would be cool, but think of the budget they'd have to spend on the vehicles!

Mission Impossible with vehicles, KAM? Yeah, you've got a point there. I think that's what the producers of Team Knight Rider were going for, but the less said about that show, the better! (The blonde with the motorcycle was hot, though)

cstadulis, the father and son from the original series were Sparkplug and Spike, respectively. Sparkplug was not seen in the movie or afterward. But Spike was shown as an adult with a son who was between 5 and 10. (Spike's memorable line from the movie was "Oh ••••!", said while Unicron was eating one of Cybertron's moons and he was on the surface). Spike survived digestion and later was one of the human counterparts for the HeadMasters.

To answer your earlier question, sometime after the original Gobots stopped production, its company was bought by the one that made Transformers. The Transformers' Gobots line supposedly was done for trademark protection (so no other company could pilfer the name "Gobots"). To my knowledge, there was never supposed to be a connection between the two Gobots toy lines.

I don’t remember a Gobots cartoon. I had at least one Gobot and, of course, dozens and dozens of Transformers.

I know there was a cartoon, because I can still hum the theme song (I have severe brain song syndrome, as described by Dave Barry in his "Book of Bad Songs").

I have it in MP3 format actually if anyones after it.

SporredKitty ?! *ack*..Didn't notice that. Taks what you get for trying to do five things at once.

He's been infected with Spores! AHHHH!

Wiigii!

*yeesh*...Can someone erase last night for me. It obviously wasn't a good night. ;)

But it was so amusing for the rest of us. ;-)

Would you deny us that pleasure.

So! News on the new show? Please!?

By the way, I'm in the process of locating my transformers episode collection. I moved my computer up to my bedroom and the CDs have gone missing. As soon as I find them, though, I'm gonna watch 'em all, write synopsiseseses (synopsi?), and find nits!

Favorite TF from G1: Bumblebee
Favorite TF from BW: Rattrap (why does a TF have a Brooklyn accent again?)
Favorite TF from BM: Rattrap

Well that was a fun week last week...*sighs*. Onto other things...

Anyone hear about that rumor that they're doing a Live reshoot of Transformers - The Movie?
Came as quite a shock...apparently they're going to combine CGI with animatronics and stuff. Think Rodger Rabbit style stuff but far more advanced...sounds cool.

Anyways...Does anyone here have TF:TM on DVD? I'm sure there are some differences between it and the one I have on VHS. I know the main differences between the UK/US movie but this was smaller things like sound snippets and stuff.....

Uh...what would be the point of a live-action Transformers movie? The whole thing would be special F/X anyway, and probably wouldn't allow for anywhere near as much creativity as the current all-animation format.
And then of course they'd cast Matthew Broderick as Spike, and the whole thing would just go RIGHT down the tubes...

Acht, anyone notice the date?

April 3rd where I live.

With the trend of taking movies & turning them into Broadway shows I wonder how long it'll be before we see Transformers: The Musical?

I just hope they don't tamper with the theme song. That's a classic.;-)

No! Transformers: The Opera!!!

Transformers: The Ballet!!

I see... Will Smith doing a hip hop version of the classic theme song for Transformers: The Big Movie Spectacle! (a big-budget version with eye-poppin' special effects and the smart-aleck Smith as Spike) I can hear the movie producers drooling now!

AAAAAAGGGGHHHH! cstadulis, you stop that right now...or I'll be forced to hum 'Muskrat Love' at you!

Incidentally, I remember the GoBots for one reason: The chief bad guy was named Cy-Kill. Which I (as an impressionable preteen) thought was rather nifty.

Hee hee hee :o

But seriously, does anyone know when Transformers (in any of its mutations such as Beast Wars, Beast Machines, etc.) airs in Northeast Ohio, if at all? I can never find it, though I do work strange hours as a reporter. Is it still on Fox Kids or has it been banished to the netherworld of very, very early airings, or is it still airing at all?

Sorry C Live in the UK...

Going with the current trend, how about Transformers: The Soap Opera...just /think/ of the possibilities ^_^

How about Transformers: The Prequel? Or, going along with the current Trek rumors, just skip the Transformers part of the title and go with "Prequel."

Well, they filmed a live-action Gundam movie (shown on tv, and only in Canada and Japan, d*mmit), so why not a live-action Transformers movie? Of course, knowing Hollywood, the Transformers would be actual vehicles instead of computer-generated, and would only be in robot mode for the first ten and last ten minutes of the movie.

Matthew Broderick as Spike?! Please don't say that! Not even in jest!

(Devlin and Emmerich should be boiled in oil for what they did to Godzilla)

Their making Stargate and ID4 can forgive much....

Sorry, Merat. I'm a HUGE Godzilla fan (have been ever since I was about 9 or 10), and they have to do a LOT more than that for me to forgive them!

Besides, I like the Stargate SG-1 tv show (have to watch the syndicated episodes; I don't get Showtime) more than the movie, and they have nothing to do with it!

Hey, check out http://scifi.ign.com/toys/6583.html - it's a review of the Black Battle Convoy toy, which the reviewer describes as a repaint of Bruticus and a cool "evil Optimus Prime."

Hopefully, it will come to America with the Car Robots toys under the Robots in Disguise label. Also, it does look really cool.

Repaint of Bruticus? The only Bruticus I'm familiar with is the G1 Combaticon. Bruticus is the Combaticons' merged form, and their leader is Onslaught, who transforms in a semi.

But neither Onslaught nor Bruticus look anything like this guy.

I like the model. The cab especially looks more realistic than what we saw with the previous Optimus models. I've not seen a lot of the Car Robots, but Convoy makes it look like this line might be closest in resemblence to G1.

Does anyone know why the Optimus Primal and Megatron toys from Beast Wars were originally a bat and a crocodile, but were changed before the cartoon came out?

Also, does anyone know anything about an Onyx Primal toy?

The July 2001 issue of Wizard announces that Fox Kids will bring over the Japanese series, "Transformers: Car Robots" this fall. It will be renamed "Transformers: Robots In Disguise". It will feature Autobots and Predacons. Optimus Prime is a fire engine. The Predacons are of course led by Megatron and it takes place on Earth in the future. Just wonder how this will fit in with the continuity with the original cartoon and Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

I believe that at Optimus Prime was alive at the end of the original Transformers series. All we know after that is that 400 or so years later, the Autobots and Decepticons have been upgraded to Maxamals and Predicons, or at least shrunk down to their Beast Wars sizes.

I'm guessing that Beast Machines and Beast Wars won't even be mentioned, or if they are, it will only be mentioned in passing.

I want to see Beast Wars Neo! It has a Maximal who turns into a Penguin AND into a Bazooka!

The new series is normal animation, not CGI, by the way.

***Does anyone know why the Optimus Primal and Megatron toys from Beast Wars were originally a bat and a crocodile, but were changed before the cartoon came out?***

Because the designs for the T-Rex and Gorilla weren't going to be done by the target release day. So they called the bat and croc Prime and Megatron so they could have the names out there for the first series.


Actually the original cartoon went on for about 4 more seasons in Japan. I'd imagine they just grabbed one of those.

Actually, the new show will be combining both cell and CGI animation. Hope it looks better than some of the other cartoons of that type.

The thing I'm hoping for is them bringing back the voices of the original Transformers. Most of them are still alive. (Too bad no Starscream.) Grimlock and the Constructacons are also in this series.

*Starts becomming very excited about the new show*

By the way, I know that as one of the advocates of the original Transformers boards I should have been posting nits all this time, but during the move to my new house, all my Transformers episodes were misplaced. However, they have been found and I will begin watching Transformers tonight and nitpicking.

> I will begin watching Transformers tonight and nitpicking.

Do we have enough space on the server for all the errors?

Oh, I hope so.

Corey, what happened to the guy who did Starscream (and Cobra Commander from GI Joe)? He passed away? How old was he?

Luigi, look up Chris Latta in the Internet Movie Database. That should give you all the info you need.

That's it! Chris Latta! I remember his name now. I thought the guy's first name was Chris. I wonder if Peter Cullen, who did Prime, is still around. I know he's done car commercials, but not any recently that I can remember.

Thanks, BF.

Holy s**t! Chris Latta was Christopher Collins?!! The guy who played the Pakled captain in Samaritan Snare(TNG) and Captain Kargan in A Matter of Honor(TNG)? Of course!! The voices match! And he's dead? Man, he was only 45! (He also played Durg in The Passenger(DS9) and the Albino's henchman in Blood Oath(DS9).) Man, it's one of those moments when you realize two actors you're familiar with turn out to be one and the same! Too bad he died. He was too young.

Don't mention it, Luigi. I agree, though. He was a darn good actor. And too young. (Why do no-talents (like Leonardo DiCaprio and Pauly Shore) stick around forever, but GOOD actors die before their time?!

I believe Peter Cullen is still alive, but possibly semi-retired. I'm pretty sure he hasn't done any animation work in a while.

Peter Cullen has been doing voice work for Disney for the past several years. Most recently "House of Mouse" and "The Book of Pooh" as the voice of Eeyore and some others.

Of course to me he'll always be the voice of Optimus Prime and the original voice of K.A.R.R. (K.I.T.T.'s evil twin) on Knight Rider (K.A.R.R. stands for Knight Automated Roving Robot, the name of the Knight Rider episode was "Trust Doesn't Rust" for anyone who didn't know).

For anyone who's interested, at www.ign.com, in the toys section, they had a review of the new-release Construticons in celebration of the upcoming Car Robots/Robots in Disguise show starting this fall. The reviewer said the toys didn't hold a candle to the original toys.

On an aside, I always thought they should have called K.A.R.R. K.A.T.T. Then it would have been K.I.T.T. and K.A.T.T. (lame joke)

Man, Peter Cullen was K.A.R.R.? Man, I'm learning new things about actors every day!

Well, as they said in Beast Wars, "Diecast construction... its a lost art."

Peter Cullen was K.A.R.R. in the episode that Nawdle mentioned. I believe someone else did the voice in the episode where K.A.R.R. returned and was destroyed once and for all.

I had no idea he was doing Eeyore's voice! The last time I remember seeing his name listed in the credits for an animated series was about six years ago!

I'm a bit disappointed that both Fox and YTV have stopped showing Beast Wars and Beast Machines. Before Fox bought it, Beast Wars was in syndication. Do any stations in the US still show it?

Not in the Cleveland area, unfortunately.

Ok, anyone who wants to get a gander at the Robots in Disguise toys coming to America, check out http://scifi.ign.com/toys/7364.html They devoted a nice big article to the figures, profiling the differences between Japan and U.S. releases, cost and other stuff. A very good article.

www.imdb.com announces that "Robots In Disguise" will debeut on September 8, 2001

Site I found on the message board at http://www.tfarchive.com

http://www.superdeformers.com

I think those here would appreciate it.

http://www.melonpool.com/d/19990214.html

I couldn't find a good place for nit picking the comics so I'll stick it here. In The comics Optimus Prime is blown up when he "looses" a video game. As a plot device the human running the game backs up his entire personality and centuries of memories... on a 5.25" :o

Beast Wars, season one, episodes 1-7 and 8-14 are now available on two DVDs.

At least when they backed Lister up onto a tape, they meant it to be a joke.

DVD NEWS: Transformers Season 1 G1 is comming out in a box set on April 23rd for Region 1 (Lotta ones here). It is available for pre-order from amazon.com at $44.96 with a list price of $59.95. This set looks great!

Volume 3 of Beast Wars has been released on DVD. They feature episodes 15 - 21.

Also, the first half of season 2 of the original Transformers has also been released. They feature episode 17 - 40 on 4 discs.

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