HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Will the roar of the Tiger, who´s taking the lead over 2022, scare away the global pandemic in which we´ve been globally living since the Year of the Rat (2020) or are we up for another year full of restrictions and uncertainties?
Despite the doubts one thing that´ll remain is the passion for our beloved 80´s toy line Battle Beasts and even though the end of 2021 ended a bit slow, with a temporary post stop on Instagram by The White Rabbit @Beastformers (also on Twitter) and a minimal amount of posts during the whole year of 2021 on the Beastformers Blog it doesn´t mean this trend will continue into 2022.
In this annual openings post on the Beastformers Blog there´ll be a quick Review over 2021 and a Preview into this new year but not before taking a quick look at the past NYE on Planet Beast;
Due to the Instagram Post stop this image of NYE on Planet Beast was only shared via Twitter (there was an Instagram Story to wish all IG Friends, Fellow Collectors and Followers all over the World a Happy New Year). Tiger Burn took care of the Fireworks on Planet Beast and even thought it seems to have celebrated NYE in solitude the Beasts we´re just keeping a safe distance from each other and the eyes were all focused on the Night Sky which was lit up by beautiful bouquets of fireworks which looked suspiciously familiar…
REVIEW 2021
First a look into the numbers, how did the Beastformers Blog do in 2021 after the record breaking year of 2020? Well the growth and thus the interest in the Battle Beasts line seems to continue because despite the lack of new posts and updates the visitor and view numbers continued to rise. Because let´s not forget that the goal of the Beastformers Blog is to document and preserve the information about the Battle Beasts line as good as possible and obviously for free. And even though this means it can take a while before new information is added, due to missing puzzle pieces or uncertainties because don´t underestimate the amount of research and discussions that are on going before stories/post/pages are added here, there´s already a whole lot of interesting information out here that is consulted on an almost daily base and seems to be much appreciated by fellow collectors from all over the world!
In 2021 the Beastformers Blog
was visited/consulted by more than 6900 visitors
from 87(!!)* different countries all over the world.
Ranging from just 1 view up to 27,780 views coming from the US.
Total amount of views for 2021 was a little over 58,750!
* With more and more people using a VPN it´s likely that the actual number of unique different countries is lower.
In the openings post of 2021 was mentioned that it´d be doubtful if the record breaking growth of each year was likely to continue but apparently there are still enough passionate collectors of this toy line around who´re, even after almost 35 years (1987) since the release of the Battle Beasts, still enjoying the Beasts!
As the view numbers show the biggest group of Battle Beasts collectors can be found in the US but it is great to see that the interest is coming from almost all continents. Last year the Beastformers Blog was ranked #1 in the Google search results for Beastformers (obviously) but it seems to have dropped a little most likely due to the reduced number of activity (new posts). But quality will always succeed over algorithms in the end and those who know and area seriously into this line will probably find the Beastformers Blog one way or anther. So keep on spreading the word and help fellow collectors to find the Beastformers Blog
Best 9 on Instagram
Moving on with an Instagram tradition and although you´re expected to use a program that´ll select your most liked pictures of that year The White Rabbit refuses to give in to that so it´s selected the best 9 pictures from 2021 on Instagram posted on @Beastformers which also (partially) describe the year the best.
Starting from Top Left to Bottom Right (random order of importance);
- Skull Grotesque probably remains the most elusive and sought after regular Beast out there which makes it no so weird it´s been connected to the @BeastformerShop as the messenger Beast. It´s just an awesome sculpt so the picture says it all.
- The Beastformers Checklist was probably the ¨talk of the town¨ in 2021 and it probably will remain that way for 2022. It started of smooth but what at first seemed a simply task with all the ¨knowledge¨ we´ve gathered throughout the years by simply composing a detailed and complete checklist of all of the ¨COMMON¨ 76 Battle Beasts, and probably later on the 36 Laser Beasts, was highly underestimated. And the progress of this Checklist is currently stuck in the quicksand which the Series 2 turned out to be… More news on this further down in the Preview of 2022!
- Randomly seem to have started with sort of a new series on Instagram showing Two generations of Beasts showing the Beast Saga (2012-2013) and Battle Beasts (1987-1988) side by side.
- Loads of Beasts simply seem to do well on Instagram as this picture of a Series 1 set received over 200 likes and was probably one of the most liked pictures of 2021.
- Personal taste… can´t help it, The Turquoise Rabbit is simply what started it all.
- The Fennecs showing of the 3 different symbols (Fire, Wood, Water) found inside the Laser Beasts Jewels a.k.a Orbs.
- An awesome Custom Carp painted by a very talented warhammer painter who wanted to remain anonymous. It´s the first time a warhammer painter was commissioned to paint a Battle Beasts for the Beastformers Collection and it turned out in this interesting and stunning piece!
- The #BeastformersBattle was another ¨talk of the town¨ early in 2021 because with the start of the Beastformers Checklist this fun Sunday´s series on @Beastformers came to an (temporary?!) end…
- In 2021 a few awesome pieces from the Beastformers Collection made it to fellow collectors who´ve been able to scoop up a few items via the Exlusive** @BeastformerShop will it Pop Up again in 2022?
** Exlusive: Merging of Exclusive and Elusive.
What a year it was 2021… time to look ahead now!
PREVIEW 2022
The Year of the Tiger has started and with three Tigers (#3 Ferocious Tiger, #50 Sabresword Tiger, #81 Tiger Burn) it´s one of the very few Beasts that appears three times in the Battle Beasts and Laser Beasts line, can you name another? And on top of that there´s even a Tiger Battle Chariot the Battling Tearin´ Tiger. So based on this it can´t be anything else than that 2022 will be the year of the Beasts!
Let´s get rolling…
In the header image of this opening post of 2022 there are a few Beasts shown in the background behind Tiger Burn which will or might play a role in regards to possible new posts or research for the Beastformers Blog. Some are still unsure but on definitely needs some clarification because that´s also what causes the problems for the Beastformers Checklist. Wolfgang Walrus…
Pausing the Beastformers Checklist
Sad but true the weekly scheduled update to the Beastformers Checklist with a new Beast added to the Checklist every Sunday will be paused until further notice. To clarify this does NOT mean that it won´t be finished anymore because it will and hopefully sooner than later. But at this point in time and with the correct order in which they´ll be posted on Social Media (Instagram) in mind that´s the only solution in order to not hold the hole @Beastformers account hostage for much longer.
Cause of the problem? Wolfgang Walrus. It was to be expected that with some weird and illogical oddities found amongst the mold details of some Series 2 Beasts that this would be a bit harder to go through but it´s quite an understatement to say that it´s been really underestimated. Those of you who´ve been following this closely will probably know that it´s already a tough cookie to tackle Kickback Kangaroo earlier on in order to determine which one of the different mold versions found was to be considered the ¨COMMON¨ (most released) version that should be added to the Beastformers Checklist. Well where there were 3 different options for the Kangaroo strangely enough for the Walrus we´re already looking at a possible 6 to 7 different options. Upside down numbers, moved positions of the numbers and even subtle offsets of the figure number make that even defining the different options in order to run these through the BB Community for extra input and fact checking is already a hard task to break down in order to clearly present what we´re looking for. To many of you looking into this line at such a detailed level is probably over the top but it are those details that help us to understand the line better and it will eventually result in one of the best, accurate and most complete checklists out there.
How can you help?
To ¨speed up¨ the process very now and then the BB Community is asked for their input in order to verify some of our findings and/or to see what else might show up by a concept of what´s called ¨Fact checking with the BB Community¨. This is done via Instagram (Stories) and also a topic on LittleRubberGuys (LRG) has been opened for it HERE (you need a free LRG account to see images and participate). Via these ways and with discussions with fellow collectors with large collections it´s ¨simply¨ a matter of checking a large amount of Beasts and gather as much as input as possible to determine whether one of the available options can be considered the ¨COMMON¨ version with a clear lead in numbers. All input is much needed and appreciated so try to follow via Instagram and keep an eye out for special Posts or Stories in regards to this and for those who´re less active on Social Media please join in on the conversation via LRG. Either way is ok but please don´t join in on both because that´d only make this more complex. Thanks for your input!
Now what?
That the Sunday tradition of the Beastformers Checklist is now disrupted is a shame but in order to make up for that another one will return! It has already filled in a few temporary gaps during the search for the Kangaroo and it still seems to be highly appreciated so from Sunday January 9th 2022 the #BeastformersBattle will return until the Beastformers Checklist will continue again.
Any (new) plans for 2022?
It can be clear that the Beastformers Team and the Beastformers Archaeology (BA) Project are fully focused on the continuation and eventually completion of the Beastformers Checklist so this will be priority number 1 but with only 52 Sundays in 2022 of which a number will already be taken over by the Beastformers Battle it´s obviously impossible to actually complete the Checklist for this year including the Laser Beasts. But with a bit of luck, input from the BB Community and less complicated figures further on hopefully all 76 Battle Beasts will be available to check and consult via the Beastformers Checklist by the end of this year! Apart from this priority there are no major plans for 2022 with the Blog other than maintaining what´s already been built here and trying to add a few more topics and stories in order to preserve the Battle Beasts line!
General notice for 2021
There are no plans to change anything about the look or order of the Beastformers Blog so this place will remain the familiar place you might´ve gotten used to by now.
And although the main look will stay the same remember that the header can be changing slightly announcing a new upcoming Pop Up of the Beastformer Shop, so if you´re curious about that Follow the signs of the Grotesque!
As always…
The ever present but still unused Donation Button remains present. If a Battle Beasts fan or collector decides to show some appreciation by supporting the Beastformers Blog with a little donation please use that button. No worries also without donations the Beastformers Blog will stay freely accessible for everyone but if you wish to support this platform with a few Dollars, Euros, Yen or whatever currency it´d be much appreciated. For more information check; Why the Donation Button?
Our Official Social Media channel @Beastformers (Instagram and Twitter ONLY) will remain the same and stay active during 2022 as well to update you with news and pictures regarding the Blog and Battle Beasts in general. You can always consult/contact The White Rabbit via those channels if you have Battle Beasts related questions or use the contact option on the Beastformers Blog. Keep in mind that there are NO Official accounts related to the Beastformers Blog on Facebook!
And similar to last year, a note:
Please use the Search option
Even though most of the main subjects on the Beastformers Blog are organized and added to the menu in the bar above some of the quick posts are not added or subdivided within the menu. This is done on purpose to prevent extremely long pop out menu´s showing up but the downside of that is that these posts might get out of sight while they are still there. So if there´s something you can´t find via the menu please try to fill in some catchwords or search terms via the Search box on the right to see if there might be any results in most cases you´ll probably get one or more hits and if you don´t feel free to ask. You can use the contact options mentioned in the menu or reach out to The White Rabbit via social media.
Let´s try and make the Beastformers Checklist a combined goal for this year within the BB Community so that by the end of 2022 all 76 Battle Beasts are documented properly and it can be a valuable source to consult for us as the collectors of today as well as for those who might join in the future.
Enjoy the Beasts!
The Beastformers Team
Beastformers Blog 
Happy New Year! Looking forward to whats to come in 2022 for this site!