General Information:
Release Year: September 2006
Retailer: Botcon 2006 Exclusive
Price: $299 for Botcon 2006 registration that included boxed set, $249 for members of the fan club
Accessories: Gun, Missile, Golden Disk with "holder" (Cyber Key)
When you think about Rhinox, you think big, and that's what we wanted to focus on when a sculpt was chosen to represent the character before his arrival on Earth in "Beast Wars". Taking a cue from a line in "Beast Wars" Part One where Rhinox is called a "big bulldozer" by Rattrap, Landmine seemed to be the natural sculpt to choose. Take a look at Cybertron Landmine's review for a detailed look at the base figure. This review will focus on the changes made to the sculpt for this release.
Vehicle Mode:
The yellow plastic on Landmine has been replaced with a metallic brown color, akin to the one used for the 10th Anniversary Rhinox figure but darker. The metallic blue plastic on Landmine has been replaced with black plastic and the brown parts have been replaced with metallic green. Several of the red and orange color details have been replaced with metallic gold such as the decos on the shovel and the sides of the vehicle. For those who like "realistic" type decos, the silver crape marks on the shovel ends have been kept intact.
Rhinox has three deco patterns not found on Landmine. The first are Maximal symbols tampographed onto each wheel cover on the front. The second are black lines tracing the sculpted details of the ladders on the sides of the vehicle. The third actually involves a switch. Instead of painting in the side windows of the vehicle, metallic gold details fill in the vent detail and the angled detail behind the vents on the sides.
Rhinox's missile launcher is cast in the same brown color as the main body. The details are painted metallic gold and the missile is black. He retains the same functionality as Landmine, with the ability to convert to an "attack" mode with saw blades coming out of the rear wheels.
Robot Mode:
In robot mode the one to one replacement of plastic colors carries over from the vehicle mode. This includes the newly revealed robot head, which takes the brown plastic from Landmine and replaces it with green. The deco on Landmine's head is different than the one on Rhinox. The face isn't painted but the outer edges and crest are painted metallic gold. The idea was to have the head resemble the animated one more. His eyes are painted red, also to match his animated counterpart.
Like the vehicle mode, the red detailing has been replaced with metallic gold. This includes the Autobot symbol sculpted into the chest - helping it blend in more with the beige. Ideally we would have loved to sculpt a Maximal symbol in there instead. However costs would have been prohibitive in that respect and it was opted to perhaps play it as if Rhinox wore the symbol to honor his ancestors. Having the Maximal symbols on his legs help emphasize his status as a Maximal, so it all balances out.
Final Thoughts:
Rhinox has always been one of my favorite Beast Wars characters, and it was great to see him get the "pre-Beast Wars" treatment. The sculpt is very appropriate for the character and it is great to see how well it works without any soft of resculpting. Recommended.
