"The Terrifying Mammoth From The Remote World Of Visceros"
 
 

Terrifying indeed ...the Terraphant certainly lived up to its name! Released in 1979, a large boxed item featuring beautifully rendered artwork by Ken Kelly, it was molded in black, green and purple plastic, and contained some interesting features.

 
A great hybrid of elephant and tank, the head fit onto a swivel stand over top a hole in the front of the main body. The underside of the head contained a thin plastic tube, that was fed through the body, to come out in the back and could fit onto a thin "nipple" on the rear pump housing section. This rear section was mounted to the main body, and could be filled with water. Then a hollow transparent pump, or "bellows" was placed on top of the opening, and when pushed down, the water would be forced through the tube and out the "trunk"! A great play feature indeed, and as long as water was the only thing added into the Terraphant, it proved much safer than those pesky rubber tipped missiles.
 
The main body acted as a sort of "troop transport" which had a large open section to hold figures. The head also contained a seat and was the main cockpit for a pilot/driver Alien, and was fitted with 2 large purple "ear" shields, that could swivel back and forth as a protective cover for him.
 
The 2 green legs, which contained 4 black wheel halves each, held in place by a black wheel mount, and inserted into the purple wheel housing or "feet", could be placed on the front of the body or onto the sides of the large lower body section when in standing tank mode. The lower body section was made up of large green spinning wheels, which held 2 large rubber tank treads. The Mego commercial shows a possibly motorized prototype, which seems to move by itself, and firing missile tusks. The finished version of course did not have these features.
 
Ron Pringle's Micropola magazine also shows a very different orange and green prototype, which also contained the "glow-in-the-dark brain" feature used throughout the rest of the Aliens line. The final accessory included with this beast was a small green antenna, which fit into any of the 5mm holes on the main body, often missing from a loose example. Terraphant also included a sticker and instruction sheet.