Battle Beasts
Battle Beasts (ビーストフォーマー, Bīsutofōmā) is a line of small 2" tall action figure toys, in the form of anthropomorphised animals with body armor and a unique weapon.
The entire Laser Beast line was released in Japan, and in small numbers in America and Europe.
The intelligent race of animals called BeastFormers lived in peace on Planet Beast.
However, the scheming evil hand of the Decepticons bent on domination of the entire universe to the peaceful Planet Beast was fast approaching.
In order to ask for help from the Autobots, the Cybertron Beast's strongest warrior Platinum Tiger had to make his way to the occupied communication room of the palace.
As soon as Platinum Tiger unwittingly set foot in the palace, a sudden flash of light trapped the strongest warrior in the holography mirror.
Each Battle Beast had a heat sensitive sticker on his chest which, when rubbed would reveal the warrior's strength.
The Sunburst was extremely rare, in a ten pack in Japan, or Pirate Leo was available in America as a variant, despite claims that there were others of that affiliation.
There was a total of three series adding up to 76 Battle Beasts beginning with #1, Pirate Lion and ending with #76, Ossified Orangutan.
The fourth and final series released was named Shadow Warriors, or Laser Beasts in Japan.
North America only received 12 of the new Laser Beasts, which were packaged as "Shadow Warriors" in two-pack blister cards.
Some of the lower numbered Lasers were produced in Europe and a few came with unique shields and sleds that like the guns, resembled the animal it belonged to.
Six of the 12 shields were released only in Europe; #89 Brown Lion, #92 Hustlebear, #95 Dragon Seahorn, #97 Seapanic, #98 Puzzlecolor and #100 Scope Cougar.
For the Battle Beast line, three chariots and three bases were released that looked like animals, and each came with one figure that was not unique to the vehicle.
The three bases were the Blazing Eagle (known as the Firebird in a toy commercial for the vehicles), Shocking Shark and Wood Beetle.
To date, there are four known types of Drills to exist, all of which are the same design but feature different colors; Gold, Maroon, Yellow and Blue.
There were several promotional figures released in Japan throughout the run that could be obtained in certain ways, mainly through mail-aways or by purchasing special sets.
The Clear Gator and Sunburst Lion could be obtained by purchasing a Japanese 10-pack set that contained either one figure or the other although the owner couldn't tell until he or she opened the package.
The Stone Cobra was sent out in two different waves due to a larger demand than Takara originally expected.
Starting with the second series of figures in America, a 23" x 30" poster was available via mail order featuring drawings of all the Battle Beasts as well as their names.
They centered primarily on seven characters: Horny Toad, Knight Owl, and Gargantuan Gorilla dealing with the betrayal of Chameleon, Rocky Rhino, Blitzkrieg Bat, and Cutthroat Cuttlefish, who interrupted a ceremony with the Soulspirit causing madness and constant sign changes among their people.
The final issue implied that Pirate Lion, piloting the Shocking Shark with first mate Webslinger Spider, was the Sunburst Warrior who would be able to set things aright.
In 2011 Takara Tomy announced the Beast Saga line, a spiritual successor to the original figures.
At the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, Diamond Select Toys acquired the Battle Beasts brand name after Hasbro allowed the trademark to lapse.
announced Rise of the Beasts, a forthcoming line of minifigures with articulated arms and necks inspired by the original 1980s toys.
In August 2014, factory test shots were posted as an update to the Kickstarter project and an estimated release date of full production figures was given as November or December 2014.
