SNARL
TRANSFORMERS: BEAST WARS (KENNER)
“Snarl is seldom seen until the instant he attacks. His camouflage coloring allows him to sneak into Predacon base-camps undetected. Powerful legs give him the ability to lunge forward to attack startled enemies, and in robot mode he can jump straight up to escape incoming missile fire. Snarl is a fearless fighter whose gnashing, serrated teeth and razor-sharp claws are enough to fend off would-be attackers. if they know what’s good for them!”
If there’s one era of Transformers I’m decidedly light on coverage around here, it’s Beast Wars, which is, honestly kind of amusing, given its the incarnation of the franchise that really introduced me to the whole concept. I guess I had other focuses in the ‘90s for the most part, so they never quite clicked with me. As such, I don’t have a ton of connection to this version of things (with the most notable exception being Silverbolt, who is one of my favorites in general). That said, it didn’t *totally* pass me by back in the day, so let’s look at one of the very few figures I actually got during the original run, Snarl, who, it should be noted, is not the G1 guy who turns into a stegosaurus.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Snarl was released in the second year of Kenner’s Beast Wars line, as part of the fourth wave of “Basics,” the smallest of the main classes. In a three figure assortment, he was the lone Maximal. Yay for good guys. Snarl was notably not included in the cartoon, so he’s just a toyline guy (though his Japanese equivalent, Tasmanian Kid, was in the Beast Wars II anime, so there’s *sort of* some cartoon coverage there). In robot mode, the figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 11 practical points of articulation. Beast Wars marked a real turning point for articulation in the Transformers world, and Snarl showcases that, with a range of motion that’s on par with, if not a bit above the standard for the era in which he was released. His robot mode is a pretty fun, rather basic and by the numbers design. It’s got a bit of kibble, especially on the back, but the main bot works in the beast elements rather cleverly. He’s got sort of a cannon thing that mounts on his arm, which is neat, if not terribly involved or anything. Snarl’s alternate beast mode is a Tasmanian devil…well, allegedly, anyway. Whether it, you know, actually looks like a Tasmanian devil is a different matter. Common opinion is that he looks more like a quoll? Honestly, I don’t really know much about either animal (at least in real life; I’m obviously familiar with the Looney Tunes character, who this beast mode *also* doesn’t look like). It’s at least a pretty neat look, with a fairly intuitive transformation sequence, and the end result is sufficiently different from his robot mode. The cannon thing becomes his tail, and it is tied into his action feature. There’s a spring-loaded launching thing, which, in contrast to the usual set-up, actually has the spring in the “missile” part, which launches the main figure forward. It doesn’t do a lot, really just scooting him forward maybe an inch if he’s on a smooth surface, but it’s good for general amusement.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
This figure was either my first or second Transformer…I don’t know exactly which, but definitely in the first two. I got him on a trip to, I think either Toy Works or Toy Liquidators, which I went on with my Nana, most likely in celebration of finishing up Kindergarten (which also means it was probably my last notable day of fun before I fell down my parents’ kitchen stairs and broke my collarbone, landing myself in a brace for most of my first summer break), where I was allowed to pick out a selection of stuff. The break down was two Toy Biz Marvels, a Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible (bought because his name was also Ethan, and pretty much no other reason), and this guy, who I mostly got because he turned into a Tasmanian devil…or at least a close approximation. I don’t know why exactly this guy called out to me, or even why he stuck with my collection, but he did, and I even managed to unearth his tail a few months ago to complete him. He’s just a thoroughly fun little figure, and I quite like that.
