Longhorn
Beast mode is a bull.
This mode is almost PERFECT. The detailing is pretty good, there are no
extras to speak of, and the coloring choice isn't bad in my opinion either.
The proportions are good, with only the horns exaggerated slightly- but
that's the style of the Beast Machines Maximals, having certain features
slightly exaggerated. There's even a ring in this bull's nose! The only
thing that looks slightly odd is the large gap in the underbelly, but this
is necessary for transformation, and doesn't subtract very much from the
look of this toy. Hasbro advertises Longhorn as having "head-butting action"
in this mode- if you push down a piece of fur sticking up on his back,
his head "butts". This isn't really much more than just having Longhorn's
beast head move up slightly, though, and this action is pretty weak. It
looks more like Longhorn is shaking his head "yes". The allegiance orb
is under a small panel on Longhorn's left upper back leg.
When looking at the
robot mode, it's quite obvious Hasbro made a few sacrifices in this mode
to make the other mode look great. This mode is not nearly as good as the
other one, in my opinion. First, the upper legs look pretty chunky and
odd-looking when compared with the lower legs. Although this looked fine
in beast mode, it looks kinda weird in this mode. Second, the hands are
merely molded onto the insides of the beast mode hooves. It makes it look
like Longhorn has his hands clutched together into fists, holding some
kinda weird weapon thingy that looks like a hoof. Kind of a poor idea,
if you ask me. Hasbro could easily have thought of a way to at least swing
the hooves back into the lower arms or something. Third, there is a large
gap between the robot head and the beast mode had, and it looks unfinished.
Fourth, the beast mode had in the middle of Longhorn's chest looks very
odd. True, in a lot of the original Beast Wars, there were animal heads
on the chests, but there were not sides of the chest coming up to meet
it! This makes it look like Longhorn is some kind of mutated two-headed
bull creature in this mode, and it makes it look like he pierced his belly
button. Finally, the two heads and the parts connecting them can jiggle
a bit in this mode if you don't have him standing straight up, which can
get kinda annoying after a while. Also, there's no waist articulation,
which is kind of a disappointment. On the positive side, this mode still
retains the cool color scheme and detailing from the previous mode. The
bit of hair sticking up out of Longhorn's upper back makes it look like
Longhorn sorta has a ponytail, too, which is kind of neat.
An excellent transformer
in beast mode, but I am not impressed with the robot mode.
Review by Beastbot