Thrilling 30 Rhinox

Robot Mode: Let us start with the fact that this robot here is as perfect a match to the character from the TV series “Beast Wars” as is humanly possible, I believe. As a matter of fact there is but one tiny little thing I can nag here and it’s that TV Rhinox had rather prominent lips, which this toy figure here lacks. Otherwise, though, the resemblance is fabulous. Oh, little side note: Rhinox is somewhat mistransformed fresh out of the package, you need to fold in the hip piece where the legs are attached. This makes him the stocky bruiser we know and love.

Rhinox is almost as broad as he is tall and nicely conveys an image of power. His articulation doesn’t suffer for it, though, he is fully posable. The only slight limitation is in the legs, as the big rhinoceros plates on his lower legs somewhat limit how far he can bend his knees. Otherwise, though, no complaints here as well. Okay, twisting wrists might have been nice, too.

The original Rhinox toy came with a rather strange weapon, a kind of spinning morning star thingy. The TV series just took the central part of that weapon and had him use it as a Gatling Gun, often referred to by fans as the “Chain Guns of Doom”. Now that name is almost official, as Generations Rhinox comes with two “Gatling Guns of Doom” that leave out the silly morning stars and chains and simply gives us the two big guns Rinox used to shred Predacons with in the series. When he doesn’t need them the guns are stored on the backs of his shoulders.

So bottom line: a near-perfect Rhinox robot mode, finally. Definitely the best Beast Wars inspired homage yet.

Beast Mode: As you might have guessed from the name, Rhinox transforms into a rhinoceros (lat. Rhinocerotidae). It takes some fiddling to line up all the various hide plates until he becomes a solid whole, but it works fine and the resulting rhino looks pretty good. It’s almost immobile, sadly, as moving the limbs would crack open the disguise, but I don’t think too many people will want to do that many poses in this mode anyway.

The Gatling Guns of Doom are fully integrated into the beast mode, being stored in the belly of the beast. The rhino’s mouth can open, but don’t open it too wide or you’ll see Rhinox’ robot head in there. So to sum it up: a fully satisfying beast mode.

Remarks: Rhinox was the backbone of the Maximal crew in the Beast Wars series. He was by far the smartest of the bunch, a brilliant engineer, and incredibly strong and tough to boot. He was close to being too perfect, but made up for that by being a sympathetic, laid-back guy who was more interested in smelling flowers than fighting. He had a definite dark side to him, though, as was evident when he was forcibly changed into a Predacon for one episode and later when he became the evil Tankor.

For all that he was among the greatest Transformers characters ever, his original toy was mediocre at best. Now, though, we have finally gotten the Rhinox we wanted. I really can’t think of anything bad to say about this figure, so unless you are simply not a fan of Beast Wars at all and dislike beast-formers violently, I fully recommend this figure to you. Go and buy it now!

Rating: A