Name: Tankor
Series: Beast Machines
Allegiance: Vehicon
Function: Predacon General
Alternate Mode: Tank
TANK MODE
Height: 8cm Length: 15.5cm Width: 9.5cm
A charcoal Cybertronian tank with twin sets of black treads at front and back, Tankor has extensive silver highlights along with brick red Cybertronian markings all over the toy. The turret is silver plastic with some blood red details here and there (a red plastic rather than the brick red markings), and sports a black and silver missile launcher on the right side. The centre panel at the front is a transparent panel with an orange spray underneath the back two-thirds. This is a good colour scheme with some really thoughtful paint applications. Sure, there are two reds, two silvers and an orange, but the theme comes together well and brings a heavily mechanical feel to the toy.
As with many Vehicons, there's an implied face on the small, flattish turret. There's a transparent window at the front that resembles an eyestrip, while the turret itself rotates. The left side sports a blood red panel that opens backwards to reveal a red Vehicon spark crystal. The turret-face, two sets of treads and Cybertronian marking really make this a non-Earthly vehicle.
There's quite a bit of play value here, with four wheels underneath the treads allowing Tankor to roll. The front wheels are even rubberised, although the rear ones don't grip as well and they tend to slide while the front tyres roll. The turret rotates through 360°, there's a dial at the back which turns the turret thanks to internal gears - 2.5 turns of the dial will take the turret through one revolution. The cannon lifts up and can actually go right through 180° and point at the ground behind Tankor. It has a ratcheting base, so there's no worries about the cannon flopping down. The cannon itself is actually a missile launcher, a small black button on the side will release the clear missile.
There's another, not quite as successful, gimmick here. The orange panel at the front can slip and lift up onto either side, while the front opens to allow a clear gap. Inside this gap are twin chromed buzzsaws, which spin when you roll Tankor forward (this is why Tankor has rubber tyres). The idea is a very good one and the buzzsaws will spin, giving Tankor a jaws of death thing. The fenders don't actually clip into place though, and without the panels clipped into one another the result is a rather unstable front. Worse still, even with this gimmick stowed, the orange panels are the only thing holding the front together - making Tankor fragile at the best of times.
As is usual for a Beast Machines toy, there's great attention to detail here, with nice colours and a quite a bit of engineering in this tank. The turret and missile launcher don't really represent anything exceptional for a mega though, so the problems caused by the buzzsaw gimmick are a disappointment. Still, the buzzsaw itself works well in itself, so it's not all bad. If Tankor were a deluxe this would be a great tank mode, but at that level it's so-so.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Open the front panels and unlock the teeth which will become his hands. Flip the rear treads up and back which will largely unlock the tank. Open the front fenders out to the sides, fold down the waist and rotate the lower section of the robot mode. Push the shoulders into place, turn the turret around and fold down the dial to lock the turret in place as a backpack. Flip out the missile launcher as a shoulder cannon.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 15.5cm Width: 13cm
With a black torso, charcoal boots, silver feet, forearms, head and thighs, Tankor again has a unified colour scheme. There are of course red highlights, although it's nowhere near as prominent as it was on the tank mode. The transparent orange is limited to shoulder panels and the tip of the missile on his left shoulder. Tankor has a black mouth and a black eyestrip, there's even a single red eye nestled in there although it's very difficult to pick out. Some yellow detailing on the chest rounds out a unified yet unspectacular colour scheme, which would have been a lot more interesting with some more red.
With tall boots and giant forearms, a short torso and tiny upper arms, Tankor is a brutish looking robot, which makes sense for a show Vehicon I suppose. The rubber tyres sit in full view on his forearms while the red undersides of the buzzsaws are on the insides of his forearms. Rather than hands Tankor has claws, that open out to reveal serrated teeth. With these claws, the brutish proportions and giant missile launcher on his shoulder, it's pretty obvious Tankor is built for destruction (which is again appropriate).
There's not really a lot of play value outside of Tankor's poseability, which is quite good. The missile launcher is about all we have to play with in the way of gimmicks, although the buzzsaws are exposed and can spin if you spin the tyres. His head is locked into place now (it only turns in tank mode) but the lower jaw can open and shut. The shoulders and elbows both rotate and and bend and the claws can open and close. His waist turns while the hips are ball joints. The knees can both bend and rotate, although Tankor has fixed feet and no heelspurs. The poseability is about as good as it's going to get on a blocky, chunky toy, only the fixed head is disappointing. The effective poseability is limited a little by the lack of heelspurs and hipjoints that tend to sag if you open his legs.
Remember how I said the tank mode is good for a deluxe? Well this robot mode would be average on a deluxe. For a mega this is a pretty unimpressive robot mode, Tankor really needs something more here. Some more red would have helped but what I really would have liked to see is something else in the way of play value - another weapon would have been ideal. It doesn't help that the transformation is fairly simple while the weak hip joints take away a lot of the fun.
VARIATIONS
None as such although there is a TFU repaint.
OVERALL
Tankor would have been a good deluxe, but is a substandard mega - this size class proved poor right through Beast Machines. The tank mode is fun, despite being a little unstable. His transformation is simple while the robot mode has very little to really inspire. Tankor is by no means a bad toy mind you, but he'd be much better value as a deluxe. I'd still recommend him to Vehicon fans, but I'm not sure if he's worth the retail price - 6.5/10
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