Tarantulas [Legacy United 4-Pack/Deluxe Class]

If you would have told me I'd end up with a Tarantulas in his original prototype colors a few years ago, I probably would have scoffed. If anything it'd be a convention exclusive or something. However thanks to the Target Exclusive Legacy United 4 Pack... here it is. A recolor of the Kingdom Tarantulas figure with a new head makes for a good base to finally give this version life. I quite liked the Kingdom Tarantulas, so it's probably to no surprise that I like this version. I'm mostly in awe of it's existence. I'd expect a toy based on his Fox Kids deco before this, but I'm not complaining.

I'm really happy with his orange colors. Partially because it makes me think of one of those plastic spider rings at Halloween, but also because it's kinda freaky. Gives a mutated vibe to him... which leads us to his new head. The original Beast Wars toys often had a regular head and a Mutant Head gimmick. The idea was the character's head would change for battle and often which head was the regular or mutant would be swapped for new characters made from repainting a toy mold. Blackarachnia was a repaint of Tarantulas that used his Mutant Head for a main head. Mainframe took some creative liberties with that to create the Blackarachnia we all know today. This new take on the original Mutant Head looks the part, though is painted with more colors than the original prototype featured. That prototype had a gray head, while this is in more classic Tarantulas colors. He actually matches up with the Tarantulas released under the 10th Anniversary Beast Wars line. I wonder if that's intentional or just a neat coincidence.

Aside from the head and colors, Tarantulas is the same toy as his Kingdom release. Nothing seemed loose on mine, so I think the mold has held up well. I liked the figure then and I like it now. Part of me wonders if that prototype could have became a Japanese BotCon Exclusive like Double Punch and Barbearian. Another part of me is considering if the orange colors were inspired by Creepy Crawlies as they were popular at the time. As someone who loves Beast Wars, I'm obviously happy with this toy. It's cool to have a little bit of random history put out in toy form after almost 30 years. Not to mention, Tarantulas is such an established character... seeing him in a different set of colors is neat. With the Mutant Head I almost want to make Monster Gobot comparisons. He seemed like the perfect figure to start a new year at Zone Base off with. Hello 2025!