These little guys were released here in the United States in 1987 by Hasbro, but, as is the case with a lot of the toy lines we loved, they found their start in Japan a year prior.
Battle Beasts were created by Takara of Japan and were originally called BeastFormers. Why? Well because the original intention was that these would tie into the Transformer universe.
The story line actually connects to the Transformers Headmasters series, a sort of spin off transformers series that ran in Japan, in that they come from Planet Beast. At some point the Decepticons wreak havoc and the Battle Beasts split into the two warring factions Autobots and Decepticons.
In Japan they had heat sensitive stickers on their chest that, similar to the G1 Mini spies run of transformers, you could rub to show which faction they followed. When Hasbro released these toys in the US they dropped any tie to the Transformers and opted to give them a life all their own. The heat stickers were replaced with stickers that showed what element they fell under, Fire, Wood or Water.
At the time this was a high tech way of playing Rock Paper Scissors. Fire beat wood, Wood beat Water and Water beat Fire. A few of the Battle Beasts had Sunburst stickers hidden on their chest which was the equivalent of Chuck Norris… it beat everything!
Let’s discuss the toys themselves. These were 2-inch-tall, anthropomorphized animal/human hybrid looking figures. Each character wore armor and came with their own weapon, although a few actually had a weapon for a hand!
Three series were released in the U.S., and a few vehicles as well. They typically came in a two pack and you didn’t know ahead of time what element the character was. In all there were 76 characters released in the US. In Japan a fourth series, Laser Beasts, was also released. Laser Beasts had clear gems in the bellies that showed their signs when held up to a light. Japan got 36 of these, but in the US we only got 12, and here they were called Shadow Warriors.
Depending on condition a loose figure can range anywhere from $10 up and it isn’t uncommon to find carded figures coming in the hundreds.
Personally, I really dug these little dudes and wouldn’t mind having a few more in my collection.
I want to give a special shout to the following page for helping anyone along who might be interested in collecting Battle Beasts.
This is a great site that helps to explain the numbering system as well as giving a few pointers on how to start your collection.
So there you have it, Battle Beasts! Whether you’re a Transformer fan looking to expand their collection to related figures, or just someone who wants a cool 80’s toy line to hunt for I recommend these.
Next time we’ll be taking a look at Micro Machines And remember, when it comes to collecting Rewind Toys, the hunt is half the fun.
Jason Emmitt, signing off.
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