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Series: Beast Wars
Allegiance: Predacon
Categories: Basic
Year: 1997
Arising from miles beneath the planet's surface, Drill Bit digs his way up through the ground to surprise Maximal enemies when they least expect it. His diamond-tipped, titanium-alloy destruction drill can bore through anything -- even the Maximals' latest high-tech battle armor! Drill Bit lives underground in a subterranean series of twisting tunnels that go straight to the mysterious planet's center, where molten lava mixed with Energon crystals fuels his constant thirst for more power.
Robot Mode: A pretty typical Beast Wars Basic-class figure, Drill Bit is basically a robot with an animal shell on his back. A piece of the animal shell (the rear piece, to be exact) forms his chest, while the rest of the robot is folded up in beast mode. Unlike quite a few other insect/beetle Transformers Drill Bit leaves most of his insect legs safely tucked away on his back, so he only has to contend with two more which stick out sideways from his knees. Doesn't impede his excellent articulation any, so thumbs up for that.
As his name implies, Drill Bit has a drill with him. It's attached to his left arm, which is formed from the front snout of the beast mode. He can either fold it upwards to rest against his upper arm, or flip it down for action. Also worth mentioning: his body has a lot of sculpted details, but lacks a few more color highlights to really bring them out. That's just about my only complaint, though. Otherwise, a nice Beast Wars Basic-class figure with no serious flaws or drawbacks.
Alternate Mode: Drill Bit transforms into a boll weevil (lat. Anthonomus grandis), a small beetle species whose taste for cotton nearly managed to wipe out the entire cotton-based industry in the American South in the early 20th century. Look-wise the beetle looks pretty cool, though I'm fairly certain there are no beetles with actual purple legs out there. The detail work that's gone into the torso is pretty amazing, though, and the whole thing is made from a slightly translucent plastic.
Articulation is pretty much zero, though. The only thing that moves is the drill, which can flip out from underneath the beetle's body, so it's usable in both modes. There is a small black wheel on the underside of the drill, so when you drag the beetle across the floor, the drill spins. A small but nicely designed gimmick, especially in the usually gimmick-less Basic class. So bottom line: a good, solid alternate mode with no real flaws.
Remarks: Drill Bit is yet another Beast Wars figure that was not selected for an appearance in the TV series. He did play a minor role in the IDW Beast Wars comics, though, being among Magmatron's original followers. He spent most of the rest of the series being tossed around by various Maximals, though. Drill Bit was renamed Drill Nuts for his Japanese release and appeared in the Beast Wars II TV series. Now given the Japanese like of phallic drill weapons in general and adding the term nuts to that... paint your own highly disturbing picture here. Anyway, Drill Nuts was the Wheeljack of the Insectrons in Beast Wars II, inventing such wondrous gadgets as the Boomerang Bomb.
As a toy Drill Bit is yet another solid Beast Wars Basic-class figure. Nothing special, but nothing bad one can really say about him, either. Recommended to Beast Wars completists and fans of phallic drill weapons.
Rating: C+
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