Kingdom Terrorsaur

Prelude: Every Transformers series needs a Starscream, the scheming second-in-command who intends to take his evil leader’s place. For the first season of Beast Wars, this role was filled by Terrorsaur, who had no equal when it came to dramatically shouting the Predacon transformation code “Terrorize”! 25 years after his original toy and untimely death in the season 1 finale, Terrorsaur is back with a new toy in Kingdom’s Golden Disc collection. Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: There are some instances where a toy and the character it represents differ wildly. In the TV series Terrorsaur was a pretty big guy, while his toy was only Basic class. The new Kingdom Terrorsaur, however, is an extensive retool of Kingdom Airazor, a Deluxe-class figure, so he is a good deal taller than he used to be. Thanks to his wingspan, broader chestplate, and the beast head sticking up behind his robot head, he actually appears to be a good deal taller than Airazor, despite being the same height.

Comparisons aside, Terrorsaur is a very nice figure that strongly resembles his TV counterpart both in color and shape. Okay, the TV version was able to completely fold away the wings on his back, which the figure cannot do, but apart from that the resemblance is top notch. Very nicely done. Much like Airazor, Terrorsaur is very well articulated and can strike all kinds of poses, including spreading his wings if you want. Which leads me to the two minor downsides of this figure: one, the balljoints on the feet are pretty loose. It apparently varies, as some people got Terrorsaurs that could barely stand while mine is just a bit wobbly, but be aware that it’s an issue. And two: the left wing easily pops out when moved. It just as easily snaps back in and holds in place for spread-wings-poses, so it’s really just a minor annoyance, but still.

Apart from that, though, I really like this robot mode. Sadly it lacks the shoulder cannons Terrorsaur sported in the TV series, but he comes with a gun that he can holster at his hip or on his wings, and he has those two spikes on his arms for close combat. Be advised: for some reason those arm spikes are separate pieces and are wrapped in paper on the back side of his packaging inlay. Thankfully someone told me about that beforehand, otherwise I might have thrown them out with the packaging.

So bottom line for the robot mode: very nicely done. Definitely the best Terrorsaur robot we have gotten yet, especially seeing as he is “just” a retool.

Alternate Mode: Of course Terrorsaur transforms into a Pteranodon and here, too, he somehow manages to appear much bigger than his mold-mate Airazor. The mold remains my all-time favorite bird mold for the way it manages to fold together most of the robot into a pretty slim underbelly for the avian mode. I very much like the new head sculpt we have gotten for the beast mode, as this one, too, looks like it jumped right off the TV screen. Opening the beak, you can basically hear Terrorsaur scream “Terrorize!” if you listen closely enough. Very nicely done.

Not that much more I can write here. Terrorsaur does a great job as a Pteranodon, just like Airazor did as a falcon. No complaints.

Remarks: Despite dying at the very start of the second season of Beast Wars, Terrorsaur remains a firm favorite (like most of the Beast Wars characters, actually), both for his distinctive voice, his Starscream-y ways, and the way that he was blown to pieces by Airazor in her debut episode “The Spark”. Which makes it somewhat karmic, I think, that he ends up being a retool of Airazor, right? Anyway, I love the dramatic red dude and I am very glad we got a new version of him that finally does the character justice. Nothing against the old Basic Beast, it was a fine little toy, but did not really fit with the character we saw on TV.

Terrorsaur was an Amazon exclusive and rather hard to get in the early days. Amazon Germany ended up having him weeks ahead of Amazon US, in the end only Amazon UK had him in store, and my American buddy James ended up getting his Terrorsaur from the UK via Germany because Amazon US had cancelled his preorder. Talk about globalization. So bottom line: an excellent figure, very nicely portraying a fabulous character. Well worth getting for any Beast Wars fan.

Rating: A-

Picture Gallery: