General Information:
Release Year: July 2004
Retailer: Japanese exclusive
Price: $15 (Depending on Import Retailer)
Accessories: Calamity Defenser (Translucent Green Shield), Break Ball (Morning Star), Maser Gun

Images:

• In Package
• Card Art
• Beast Mode
• Beast Mode (Side View)
• Beast Mode (Back View)
• With Armordillo and Bump (Beast Modes)
• Robot Mode
• Robot Mode (Alternate Pose)
• Robot Mode (With Calamity Defenser weapon)
• Robot Mode (With Arsenal Force)

Robotmasters has not only dug into the Machine Wars era for redecos, they also went to the Beast Wars era to do the same. This time around, their chosen sculpt is the one from the Maximal known as Armordillo, one of the last "spring loaded transform" type Maximals in the Beast Wars line. This mold would later go on to be released in Japan as part of their Beast Wars line in a Volcano Playset. The mold appeared once again, this time with a new deco as Bump in Beast Wars Neo. However, unlike all the previous releases, this time this sculpt is being used for a Destron!

Tech Specs (Translated by Doug Dlin):
Name: Psycho Orb
Function: Inspection

Profile: Destron soldier brought along by Beast Megatron from the planet Energois. ?Has armor that can withstand temperatures up to 6000˚ C, and can attack enemies from unseen places using psychokinesis, which arguably makes
him the ultimate soldier.

Weapon(s): Calamity Defenser, Break Ball, Maser Gun

Robot Mode:
Psycho Orb's sculpt is one of the more interesting ones to come out of Beast Wars. Over the years, my appreciation for the design has grown a bit. In this form, the head sculpt is a rather unique one with a more rounded head and circles on either side of the face. His gritted teeth expression helps him easily pass as a bad guy instead of a good guy. You only need to look at the arms and legs for trademark "techno-organic" bits. For instance, his knee area looks like it has armor plating on, but the feet end in claws that look organic. Perhaps there is no greater juxtoposition of techno and organic than the weapons he carries, each half animal foot/ankle and half weapon.

Psycho Orb's weapons are really neat concepts. I like how he has both a melee and range weapon, and the detail on them is nicely done down to the chains on the morning star. You can tuck away one of these weapons to allow him to use his shield, the "Calamity Defenser", which is a translucent green piece that can be combined with the other Destron weapons in wave one to form the "Arsenal Force" super weapon.

Psycho Orb's color scheme differs a lot from his predecessors. Whereas they were bright colors like red and orange, Psycho Orb is mostly brown. Gray, yellow and gold help round out the color set, but in essence, he leans towards earth-tones as opposed to anything too bright. The gold paint on the brown is done nicely and doesn't overwhelm the brown. One touch I really like is the Decepticon symbol added to the top of his chest. A really nice touch.

Transformation to Beast Mode:

1. Detach the weapons from either hand and flip the feet up.
2. Raise the robot arms straight up.
3. Push the tail piece on the back down and snap it into place.
4. Attach the melee weapon to the hole on the rear, right side.
5. Attach the gun weapon to the hole on the rear, left side.

Beast Mode:
Psycho Orb's beast mode is an armadillo, granted it's a rather evil looking one. Even as a Maximal, it was pretty interesting how fierce this guy looked. What probably makes it so is the experession on his beast mode head. The eyes have no pupils and his sharp teeth show through nicely. The big digging claws on his front arms help this appearance too.

The sculpt for this toy is rather intricate. The beast mode has a grid pattern that goes from head to tail. However, it's not like every single square is the same size. The designers did a good job of having the sizes of the grid change from front to back, giving it a more organic appearance.

The color of the plastic is mostly brown and gray. A beautiful paint spray op is applied to the head and back in gold. The claws are all painted yellow. It's a simple color scheme, but one that looks really nice.

Final Thoughts:
Psycho Orb is a cool little toy. Now, granted, if you really just want the sculpt, it might be cheaper for you to get an Armordillo on ebay. But if you want to complete your Robotmasters set and get one of the crucial pieces for the Arsenal Force, this is the toy for you.