Transformers Legacy Tarantulas review

Tarantulas was one of the crucial members of not just the Predacon faction, but the whole Beast Era in general. Between his role as a mad scientist with a signature cackle and a treacherous character on-par with Starscream, this arachno-freak's only downfall was an encounter with the Vol and Tigerhawk. Megatron's nickname for him, Unicron's spawn, might be debatable if it's accurate or not, though he is a member of the Tripredacus Council, a group of Predacons that want to restore their faction to former glory their way. With all that said, we now have a Tarantulas after he was absent in the entirety of Kingdom, but with Hasbro wanting to make the Legacy line successful, you really can't blame them.

Here is Tarantulas in his beast mode. His name sums up what he turns into, but it's a pretty solid take on the appearance of the arachnid in question. The legs, body, and mandibles are not super thin as with a normal spider, which makes sense since these are meant to be more prominent in comparison. While Tarantulas himself isn't hairy like the real creatures, the textures added onto the beast mode at least represent a bit of organic skin that makes this feel closer to the actual specimens rather than just a robot. The bumps around the thorax and abdomen make it feel interesting, as does the small dose of yellow-gold around the abdomen and claws, and the green eyes further help them stand out among the sea of purple balanced on black legs. The weapon storage is fine from the bottom, being reserved for the buzzsaw as well as the bow and arrow.

For an arachnid-themed comparison, here he is next to Blackarachnia, best known for improving on the MP release in some areas with the robot kibble storage, and I have to say it's nice to see these two not be repaints of each other; apart from their different genders, these two are different types of arachnids from one another, with the former being thin and spindly as a black widow while the latter is bigger and is pretty much the same name used to summarize the character.

And for a beast mode size comparison, here he is next to the other Predacons from Season 1. The scale in real life is not like the scale we have in the show, but I do like seeing the faction now complete after missing out on Tarantulas in the Kingdom line. That being said, I realize now how much purple there is within the team; almost all of Megatron and Tarantulas are purple, while Scorponok's claws and Waspinator's wings and eyes also share the same color. Terrorsaur is the only character to not have any purple on him, though Scorponok's red legs and stinger help him fit in.

Transformation is pretty similar to Blackarachnia's at first glance, as it mostly revolves around the arms and spider legs ending up in mostly the same spots, and the legs and backpack having a similar transformation, but things like the use of a waist swivel and where the abdomen goes are what make the figure work differently from Blackarachnia. And the resulting robot mode nails the look that Tarantulas is known for, being a wider and bulkier character while maintaining that freaky element of the creepy-crawler beast kibble, like the legs, and his waist having eyes on it (at least I think those are eyes). As with most Beast Wars figures, the colors may not be as saturated or shiny as on the CGI models, but they are still on point, and it's also nice to have the more toxic deco remain prominent on the robot mode like with the beast mode and character design in the show. The legs don't have the same display options that Blackarachnia had, so they have to point forwards like in the show.

Head sculpt is pretty spot-on to the show, opting for the mutant head feature that was given to some Predacons, like Waspinator, and this was done so he can look freakier than he already is. Blackarachnia, on the other hand, uses a more defined version of the normal robot head. The articulation is the same as with Tarantulas' fellow spiderbot; ball jointed head, swivel shoulders, biceps, hips, and thighs, hinge elbows, knees, and ankles, but new to him is a waist swivel! Also, the legs are articulated each on ball joints.

His accessories are able to go on each hand individually or together as part of a combined weapon. The buzzsaw is actually from the Transmetal version of the character.

For a robot mode design comparison, it's funny how Blackarachnia is slightly shorter than Blackarachnia despite being bulkier and wider by comparison. Either way, I greatly appreciate that neither of them reused parts from one another, not even the feet are reused!

And for a Season 1 size comparison, he looks great along with the other Predacons, and I remember saying how Terrorsaur might feel too similar to the less-fluid look of the Legacy line with how rigid he looks compared to the other Beasties, but he turned out to be better than Terrorsaur by comparison! It's great to have the cackling Predacon alongside the other members, and fear not, I will add Blackarachnia into a group shot once Inferno is released. But until then, get him!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐