DSC_0469
I don't think there are actually that many forgettable characters in Beast Wars, and certainly none of the recurring cast. Rhinox served several roles - scientist, enforcer, inventor. All wrapped up in the most adorable alt mode ou could ever want -a rhino.
As much as I loved the guy, I didn't exactly jump on the preorder when MP59 was announced. It was close to $300 CAD before shipping and I didn't like him enough to pay that. Turns out it was a good thing I didn't because a week after it was released in Japan, a few stores there were having massive sales, dropping the price by 35%.
That's how I ended up with one from Amazon JP for about $250 CAD shipped.
I guess if I had to describe the size, I'd probably say Seeker like - pretty big, but the bigger ones are generally the more massive figures. Accessories seem to be adequate, with an extra face, trader twin Gattling Guns (with accurate blades for once), and a few things my memory doesn't really bring up, namely what I think is a Spark extraction device and a Spark.. maybe it was from the episode where Primal takes on Optimus Prime's spark to keep it safe while the body is being repaired?
The Beast mode offers more articulation than the original toy, which truth be told, isn't saying that much. You get lower leg articulation (swivel) and the head can be pulled out so you get some neck articulation a long with a moving jaw and articulated eyes. I have no idea how this compares to more recent releases like the Kingdom version, but I suspect if it's anything like with Rattrap, this is probably much better. For what it's worth, it's certainly a much better looking Rhino, and like the others in the series at least the mode LOOKS like animation model.
Transformation into Bot mode involves quite a few panel shifts and tucking things away, but ultimately the experience itself wasn't as stressful as with other figures with known joint quality issues. The robot mode is pretty faithful to the animation. There are of course things that aren't going to be accurate (such as the extra bulk needing to be taken into account) but overall it looks gorgeous. Love the giant hands even if the thumb articulation is kind of weird. There's probably also some angry mob upset about hollowness of the torso, which to be fair isn't nearly as bad as other offenders.
The alternate face plate shows more teeth so when you open the mouth it looks more natural... as if a robot with teeth ever looked natural to begin with.
If there is one low point to the figure, it's robot mode articulation. It's not terrible, it's just that after all that work to turn it into a humanoid, I'd have hoped for something with better articulation than a Voyager. Pretty as he is, Rhinox only has maybe 30 degrees of waist swivel in either direction and shoulders are standard, which means no butterfly joints for arm crossing action. Other areas function as expected - unfortunately for me they fused the second and third fingers on each hand. Head articulation is pretty good with a very good head tilt range of motion.
Overall when it comes to posing, it's really what you'd get with a good Mainline figure, so basically it's alright.
Paint Applications are gorgeous. Colour choices are ripped right from the show. There are some flaws here and there, which is typical of mass manufactured products such as this. I didn't notice anything that was a show stopper so for me this seemed fine.
Build Quality seems to be wonderful. Everything fit together nicely, nothing seemed overly fragile, joints did their job.
DSC_0469
I don't think there are actually that many forgettable characters in Beast Wars, and certainly none of the recurring cast. Rhinox served several roles - scientist, enforcer, inventor. All wrapped up in the most adorable alt mode ou could ever want -a rhino.
As much as I loved the guy, I didn't exactly jump on the preorder when MP59 was announced. It was close to $300 CAD before shipping and I didn't like him enough to pay that. Turns out it was a good thing I didn't because a week after it was released in Japan, a few stores there were having massive sales, dropping the price by 35%.
That's how I ended up with one from Amazon JP for about $250 CAD shipped.
I guess if I had to describe the size, I'd probably say Seeker like - pretty big, but the bigger ones are generally the more massive figures. Accessories seem to be adequate, with an extra face, trader twin Gattling Guns (with accurate blades for once), and a few things my memory doesn't really bring up, namely what I think is a Spark extraction device and a Spark.. maybe it was from the episode where Primal takes on Optimus Prime's spark to keep it safe while the body is being repaired?
The Beast mode offers more articulation than the original toy, which truth be told, isn't saying that much. You get lower leg articulation (swivel) and the head can be pulled out so you get some neck articulation a long with a moving jaw and articulated eyes. I have no idea how this compares to more recent releases like the Kingdom version, but I suspect if it's anything like with Rattrap, this is probably much better. For what it's worth, it's certainly a much better looking Rhino, and like the others in the series at least the mode LOOKS like animation model.
Transformation into Bot mode involves quite a few panel shifts and tucking things away, but ultimately the experience itself wasn't as stressful as with other figures with known joint quality issues. The robot mode is pretty faithful to the animation. There are of course things that aren't going to be accurate (such as the extra bulk needing to be taken into account) but overall it looks gorgeous. Love the giant hands even if the thumb articulation is kind of weird. There's probably also some angry mob upset about hollowness of the torso, which to be fair isn't nearly as bad as other offenders.
The alternate face plate shows more teeth so when you open the mouth it looks more natural... as if a robot with teeth ever looked natural to begin with.
If there is one low point to the figure, it's robot mode articulation. It's not terrible, it's just that after all that work to turn it into a humanoid, I'd have hoped for something with better articulation than a Voyager. Pretty as he is, Rhinox only has maybe 30 degrees of waist swivel in either direction and shoulders are standard, which means no butterfly joints for arm crossing action. Other areas function as expected - unfortunately for me they fused the second and third fingers on each hand. Head articulation is pretty good with a very good head tilt range of motion.
Overall when it comes to posing, it's really what you'd get with a good Mainline figure, so basically it's alright.
Paint Applications are gorgeous. Colour choices are ripped right from the show. There are some flaws here and there, which is typical of mass manufactured products such as this. I didn't notice anything that was a show stopper so for me this seemed fine.
Build Quality seems to be wonderful. Everything fit together nicely, nothing seemed overly fragile, joints did their job.