Welcome to the final installment of the Lost Transformers.
Titanium
Titanium was a short-lived sub-line of Transformers that were made with die-cast metal parts just like the original line of "Generation 1" Transformers that had been adapted from Diaclone and Microman. The quality of the line was hit or miss but was still popular with collectors due to the variety of characters that were made, especially the toys that were based on the "War Within" comic series.
At the 2007 Botcon, Hasbro displayed several prototypes of canceled Titanium figures. Cosmos was an updated version of the Minibot that transformed into a flying saucer that was much more detailed than the "G1" original. The next addition to the "War Within" series would have been Bumblebee with a planned repaint as Cliffjumper.
Also displayed was Arcee, designed after her original appearance in "Transformers the Movie" and season 3 of the "G1" cartoon. Although Hasbro has released several transformable Arcee figures over the past several years, there has yet to be an official toy of her "G1" incarnation. Titanium Shockwave was based on his original toy right down to the rubber-covered wire connected to his arm. Would it have dried and cracked over time as badly as the original is known to do? We'll never know.
Transtech
Most Transformers lines have had lost figures, but Transtech represents an entire lost line. Planned as a sequel to "Beast Machines", the Transtech series would have featured characters from both the Beast Era as well as Generation 1 including Cheetor, Silverbolt, Shockwave, Starscream, Depth Charge, and, of course, Optimus and Megatron. There was also a mysterious new character called Immorticon. The Transtech designs were first revealed as concept sketches by Draxhall Jump. The concepts were unlike anything seen in Transformers up to that time although some of the Transtech aesthetic would later show up in the live-action films. Transtech was ultimately abandoned as Hasbro decided to release takara's "Car Robots" line as "Robots in Disguise" while they worked toward the start of what would become known as "The Unicron Trilogy". Based on the look of these sketches, if this line had been released there's no doubt it would have been as divisive to the fan base as "Beast Machines" was.
Some time later, a couple of prototypes would turn up on the forums of Behind the Toys showing what Transtech Cheetor and Starscream would have looked like. Both figures would have been Deluxe class. These would make great additions to the current "Generations" line, but considering these hard copies were made 10 years ago, I don't hold out much hope.
Did I say "next week"? Sorry, I meant "3 months". Actually life (plus a computer crash which cost me all my research) intervened. But we're back on track now. Here we go!
Botcon/OTFCC
We all commonly refer to the annual Transformers convention as "Botcon", but for a few years, due to legal reasons, it was called the Official Transformers Collectors Convention, or OTFCC for short. OTFCC had many grand designs when it came to exclusives, but financial difficulties resulted in the organizers losing the official Transformers license. That in turn resulted in many planned exclusives being left on the drawing board.
Hot Spot/Defensor was the most ambitious of these which actually made it to prototype stage. The figure was a repaint and retool of "Robots in Disguise" Optimus Prime (known in Japan as "Car Robots" Fire Convoy). Repainted to look like the G1 Protectobot leader, the smaller robot would have been Hot Spot with the super Optimus Prime combined form being called Defensor. Hasbro later released a similar toy in their 6" Titanium line but it was not as impressive as this exclusive would have been.
The rest of the planned OTFCC exclusives never made it to prototype stage, but concept drawings have surfaced. Devcon, the G1 cartoon bounty hunter, would have been created using the "Energon" Slugslinger mold, while the Wreckers' Roadbuster would have been reborn using the "Energon" Strongarm mold.
A second use of the "Energon" Strongarm figure would have been a new version of G1 Brawn. Lastly, there was a new version of "Beast Wars" dragon Megatron using the "Robots in Disguise" Megatron 6-changer mold. The RiD Megatron would later be used as the convention exclusive Deathsaurus figure after the official convention was again reborn as Botcon.
Also of note is the Wreckers catalog that was created for the 2001 Botcon. A variety of main line and convention exclusive toys made up the roster of the resurrected Wreckers team, but there were also a few figures that appeared only as hand-painted samples. 3H, the proprietors of Botcon at the time, had no plans to release these figures which included Transmetal Fractyl, Devcon and Alpha Trion.
The entire Wreckers catalog can still be seen here.
Beast Wars
Not many unproduced "Beast Wars" prototypes have turned up, but there was an interesting set of concept drawings that surfaced. Among these are Transmetal versions of characters that did not get Transmetal (I) figures...Scorponok, Tigatron and Blackarachnia. There are also a couple of unproduced Fuzor characters, one of which looks like Optimus Primal as a griffin! These look like they would have been great additions to the Beast Wars.
Transformers Animated
One of the most recent Transformers lines, "Transformers Animated", has a tremendous fan following and there was much disappointment when it came to an end in the US. While most of the planned figures have made it to retail, this triple-changer Megatron prototype that recently surfaced is not planned for release. "Animated" fans hold out hope that Takara-Tomy will see fit to produce it as the "Transformers Animated" toys and series have just made their way to Japan.
In 2003, Hasbro launched a line of toys under the name "Transformers Universe". This was a line made up entirely of repainted figures from older lines and was hoped to see the return of some sought after older figures. Instead, Universe saw the re-release of mostly newer figures, many of which were presented in color choices that ranged from uninspired to "wtf were they thinking"? As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, your mileage may vary.
Many of the unreleased Universe items were to be store exclusives. Thanks to TFW2005 for the following information.
Two different "Battle-in-a-Box" sets were released for Universe, and a third planned for a Target exclusive. "Smokescreen vs. Drench" would have been a repainted Armada Hot Shot and Wheeljack as G1 Smokescreen and the G2 color changer Deluge. Fear not, Smokescreen fans, there have been several Smokescreen figures since this set was canceled, and a figure very similar to Drench was released as Shattered Glass Sideswipe, a Borcon 2008 exclusive, so you Drench/Deluge fans can get him for a highly inflated eBay price.
Another set of "VS." 2-packs were proposed for Wal-Mart under the name "Halloween Horrorcons". Releasing figures to coincide with a particular holiday would have been pretty unique, and the return of the Horrorcon sub-group from G1 would have been fun, but the deal fell through when Wal-Mart became uninterested.
Blackarachnia vs. Leatherhide would have seen the "Beast Wars" Tarantulas/Blackarachnia mold paired with the "Beast Wars" Mutant Soundwave. Weren't the Mutants the most reviled Beast era toys? Pretty sure they were.
Nightprowler vs. Waspinator was the original "Beast Wars" Cheetor with the "Beast Wars" Transmetal Waspinator. Nightprowler is actually kinda cool looking. The purple Waspy, not so much. Maybe because I have such bad memories of Universe Silverbolt.
Menasor...presumably named such because Hasbro couldn't get the rights to Motormaster....was a repaint of the "Machine Wars" Optimus Prime mold, which was in turn a repaint of the European toy Thunderclash. The other large "Machine Wars" toys all saw a release in Universe, but this one never made it. They did get so far as to commission the package art, though.
Another "Prime" mold that fell by the wayside was the uproariously garish Toxitron. Ole' Toxi here would have been a repaint of Laser Optimus Prime, aka Robots in Disguise Scourge, that would have most likely offended even hardcore G2 collectors. Toxitron would have made a great conversation piece for anyone's Optimus Prime shelf.
Not all canceled Universe toys wound up in limbo. Spacewarp, which was Armada Jetfire repainted as G1 Astrotrain, was to be a Toys 'R Us exclusive. The Piranhacons, aka the G1 Seacons, were planned for Wal-Mart. Both became Transformers Collectors Club toys, albeit at more than twice the price they would have been at retail. There were other Universe figures that appeared in product listings, yet no prototypes have surfaced. These include Sonar, Optimus Minor, Thrustor and a set of Stunticon Spychangers. We can only speculate as to what these would have looked like.
(Let's be honest, they'd probably be ugly.)
I've got more to come next week including Botcon, Titanium and.... Transtech!
Some years after the end of Generation 1, Hasbro attempted to recapture the glory of the Transformers with a new line dubbed "Generation 2", known as G2 to fans. G2 consisted of a variety of recolors of some original toys and, later in the line, some all-new molds. There were quite a few toys planned for G2 that were never released.
The most infamous of the G2 unreleased repaints are the Protectobots and Stunticons. Only a few pieces of each team are known to exist and they have become a Holy Grail among Transformer collectors. Both teams received an.... interesting.... set of colors, as did much of the G2 line. Only Stunticon Breakdown saw an eventual release as the 1994 Botcon exclusive toy, limited to 300 pieces. Was it a bad thing that these never saw the light of day? Take a look at the colors and make your own judgment.
Decepticon jets Starscream and Ramjet saw an initial re-release in G2, but recolors of both were planned. Dubbed "Jungle Camo Starscream" and "Desert Camo Ramjet", only samples of these have been seen at auction. The Classics line figure Acid Storm looks much like the jungle camo version of Starscream.
Hasbro apparently planned to expand the G2 line further by repainting a variety of molds, a strategy they continue to use to this day quite vigorously. Here's a selection of proposed repaints. First, the Laser Cycles, which would have been called Jazz and Soundwave...
...the Autorollers Roadblock and Dirtbag as "General" Optimus Prime and "Sgt." Hound....
....and the "Hero" molds for both Optimus Prime and Megatron.
Repaints of all these molds would appear eventually in various lines including "Beast Wars 2", "Robots in Disguise" and "Robot Masters".
Some new molds were created, then canceled. Two new Autorollers were to join Roadblack and Dirtbag, a jet and a tank. These molds were used by Takara several years later in the "Beast Wars 2" series.
The Go-Bots line was to be expanded further with a "racing rig" playset that would have worked the same as traditional Matchbox or Hot Wheels stunt sets. New recolors of the Go-Bots in rally car style were planned for the playset. Of course the question arises...why would a robot that transforms into a car need to drive a tractor-trailer rig? Let's not dwell on it.
One of the most unusual items to be proposed during the G2 era was this Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover vehicle. This transforming APC would have been packaged with an exclusive Joe figure. There have been many Transformer/Joe crossovers in the comics, yet, despite there being a line of Transformer toys crossing over with Star Wars and Marvel, no actual Transformer/Joe figures have been produced. Seems like a perfect match that would have kids and fans alike excited at the possibilities.
Whenever a new Transformers series is started, Hasbro, Takara-Tomy and all their designers start thinking long term but, inevitably, every line must end. Items that were planned sometimes get scrapped due to cost, lack of retail support, a new direction for the brand, or a dozen other reasons. Over the next few weeks, I'll be looking at all the Transformers toys that were left on the drawing board. Where to start? How about at the beginning.....
Generation 1
Two of the most infamous unreleased Transformers came from "Transformers the Movie. A toy was proposed for everyone's favorite femmebot, Arcee. Some may say it was fortunate that the first Arcee toy was never produced as it hardly did her justice. A second Arcee figure made it to the drawing board some time later, a repaint of Headmaster Chromedome, but it never left the initial design stage.
The absolute grand-daddy of all Transformers prototypes has to be the chaos-bringer himself, Unicron. A massive prototype was made that has been shown at Botcon. Cost probably led to the toy not being released to the general public. Takara also made a sample that went one step further and added an electronic moon that would rotate around Unicron's planet mode. Takara would tease Transfans one more time when another version of Unicron turned up as a prototype during the Beast Wars Neo line until the first actual Unicron figure was released during the Armada line in 2003.
As G1 was winding down several new concepts were tried to keep the line fresh. Unproduced samples of these sub-groups have surfaced over the years.
A new concept for the Pretenders were the Double Pretenders which would have seen two robots in the Pretender shells. Samples have been seen of a gorilla warrior and a spider-like creature.
The Micromasters almost got their own command center which would have transformed into a carrying case. Something similar was released by Tonka for their Go-Bots line, but this Transformer version never made it into production.
Action Masters, the sub-group everyone loves to hate ("Transformers that don't transform? That's stupid!") also had more figures planned. Here's an example of a vehicle that would have turned into armor for an Action Master figure, as well as another proposed transforming vehicle.
One of the most bizarre Transformers concepts were the Generators. These figures would have a blob-like organic center surrounded by a transforming shell. Looks like these may have been inspired by both the concept of the Trans-Organics from the G1 cartoon as well as Krang from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I don't know how well they would have gone over with fans, but I'm guessing they would have been one of the most reviled Transformers concepts ever.
Much of the facts and images from this post come from Super Toy Archive, a great site to read about the history of modern action figures.
SPOILER WARNING - THIS POST CONTAINS SEVERAL SPOILERS FOR THE IDW ALLIANCE AND DEFIANCE COMICS AS WELL AS THE VEILED THREAT NOVEL AND POSSIBLY REVENGE OF THE FALLEN ITSELF. PROCEED ONLY IF YOU DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE SPOILED.
Just released is the Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen prequel novel THE VEILED THREAT by Alan Dean Foster. clocking in at 281 pages for $7.99 US, it promises to bridge the gap between the first and second movies.
But before we get into the novel, just to catch everybody up on where we are, I’ll summarize the relevant portions of the IDW prequel comics stating with Defiance and then on to Alliance.
In the distant past the Allspark created a race of interdimensional beings on the planet that would become Cyberton. After beginning to cyberform their planet, they learned that the Allspark needed to be periodically renewed, and that the only way to do this was through the energies of an exploding star, so, being unable to search themselves, the Allspark provided by creating the Transformers. Seekers like Jetfire were sent to find suitable stars and constructors like the Constructicons were then sent to build harvesters to reap exploding stars’ energy to channel into the Allspark. A harvester was built on Earth, but before the sun was destroyed, one of the interdimensional beings, The Fallen, betrayed his brethren and destroyed their sarcophagi, which apparently house their essences, but before he could seize all the power for himself, his fellows managed to entomb him within his own sarcophagus artifact. The Harvester failed to activate and had an Egyptian pyramid built around it by the natives.
So, fast-forward to Optimus Prime and his archeological team finding The Fallen’s sarcophagus on Cybertron. The Fallen begins talking to Megatron and orders him to begin a war of conquest and a search for the Harvester. Decepticon/Autobot war ensues and the Nemesis is built to aid in the search. The Fallen’s sarcophagus leaves onboard with Soundwave and most of the other Decepticons as the war rages. When the Allspark is launched into space, Megatron follows but stops to answer a distress call from the Nemesis, which appears to have crashed landed on an ice world and been abandoned, except for The Fallen’s artifact. He orders Megatron to continue his search for the Allspark, which ultimately leads him to Earth.
The events of the older prequel comics and the movie take place, as well as the Reign of Starscream miniseries before going right into Alliance.
The Autobots clean-up the remaining Allspark-created mechs from the MissionCity battle and then begin making preparations to dispose of the remains of the deceased Decepticons. Barricade is revealed to be alive and Starscream returns from his adventures on Cybertron to fight a resurrected Wreckage. In the course of the fight, he loses Frenzy’s head and destroys Bumblebee’s just-repaired vocal circuits. Starscream flees after the battle and Frenzy’s head is swiped by Simmons before Sector Seven is officially disbanded. Meanwhile, Soundwave arrives on Mars and heads for Earth. Several other retail-exclusive repaint Decepticons arrive and begin wreaking havoc. Jazz is buried at sea inside Optimus Prime’s trailer, and the defeated Decepticons are dumped in the ocean. A shard of the Allspark, which revived Wreckage, is given to the Autobots for safekeeping at their new base on Diego Garcia, where they have teamed up with Epps, Lennox, and the remains of Sector Seven to form NEST, an anti-Decepticon strike force. NEST then proceeds to defeat or capture all of the newcomer Decepticons and misses out on getting Barricade several times. Bumblebee is sent to look after Sam Witwicky, and new Autobots arrive from space, Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia, a third motorcycle sister, and an ice cream truck. The story ends with NEST preparing to confront the Constructicon Demolisher in Shanghai.
The events of the novel seem to take place within the middle of the Alliance series, although exactly where seems a little abstract.
The novel opens with Megatron, dead, at the bottom of the sea, and this is where he stays throughout the book, no miraculous resurrections here. Cut to the Gulf of Aden where pirates attack a freighter which just so happens to be ferrying Epps, Lennox, Ironhide, Ratchet, and other NEST members to their base on Diego Garcia. Ironhide soon transforms to robot mode and scares the pirates off. Arriving at DG, the boys meet up with cybernetics expert Kaminari Ishihara, who has been swimming in the lagoon with the newly arrived Autobot veteran Longarm serving as lifeguard. Everyone enters a briefing where a sighting of Starscream in Zambia is discussed and a plan is hatched with Optimus Prime to confront him.
Meanwhile, we find that Agent Simmons is now, with the disbanding of Sector Seven, working in his mother’s deli in New York. He’s also tinkering with Frenzy’s disembodied head in his basement.
In Africa, we lean that Starscream is not only in the area, he’s gaining control over local rebel groups by using his internal synthesizers to create gold coins. He is also accompanied by three other Decepticons, Dropkick, Macerator, and Payload. They soon attack a local dam construction site, making short work of the security forces, and proceed to steal mass quantities of explosives.
The NEST team soon arrives in Africa with Prime, Ironhide, and Ratchet as well as new arrivals Salvage and Beachbreak, who transforms into a commando jetski. The Autobots soon engage Dropkick, Macerator, and Payload in battle in the ZambeziRiver. This is all part of Starscream’s brilliant plan, however, as the Autobots soon discover that the current is pushing them towards Victoria Falls. Everyone but Prime and Macerator gets out in time, the dueling pair going over the side. Starscream swoops in to save Macerator while Prime dangles helplessly. Eventually the NEST team manages to haul Prime up using Beachbreak’s tow-cable, but the celebration is short lived as Starscream swoops in and knocks the diminutive Beachbreak off the falls and to his death.
The Autobots and their human allies soon realize that Starscream may try and destroy a series of dams along the Zambezi and head off after the fleeing Decepticons. At one of the dams, the ground-based Decepticons attack. Payload heads to the valley floor to try and crack the dam with repeated blasts while Dropkick and Macerator fend off the arriving Autobots.
After a short scuffle, Prime manages to knock Macerator over the side of the dam before dispatching his dangling foe with his built-in sword. Ratchet takes repeated hits from Payload while trying to melt the fissures in the cracking dam back together. Both Ratchet and the dam are ultimately saved when the humans enter the dam and open the flood gates, knocking Payload downriver and out of the book. A damaged Dropkick escapes and everyone returns to Deigo Garcia.
Again, we cut back to Simmons in his basement, experimenting on Frenzy and brooding that that punk kid Sam Witwicky has a hot girlfriend and is going to Princeton. Frenzy tries to subvert the building’s electrical system, and after a little chaos, Simmons decides he needs to move the Decepticon head to a space beneath his mother’s deli.
Back at NEST headquarters, two more Decepticon presences are detected and a pair of teams are readied to head out and take care of them. Epps and Russian scientist Petr Andronov accompany Longarm and impetuous young motorcycle Knockout to Peru to find Decepticons that have been detected in the deep jungles. On a steep mountain pass, the party is attacked by Decepticons Ruination and Blademaster. Despite inexperienced and risky behavior by Knockout, Both are severely damaged and driven off.
Simultaneously, Lennox, Ishihara, Prime, Ironhide, and Salvage arrive in the Western Australian Outback and begin searching for Decepticons. Lennox soon realizes that the ‘Cons are attacking sites with energy reserves, oil and coal in Peru and uranium in Australia. The team decides that there is a second group of Decepticons not under Starscream’s command, harvesting massive amounts of energy in an attempt to revive Megatron.
Arriving at a uranium mining site, the NEST team discovers a trio of construction vehicles which, naturally, turn out to be Decepticons. The leader, Kickback, takes Prime on and is quickly run through with the Autobot leader’s sword. The other two, Tread and Trample, are quickly killed through the combined efforts of the rest of the team.
Back at DG, a small crab Decepticon infiltrates the base and hacks into the NEST computers before sneaking back into the sea and an unknown accomplice. Despite the break-in, the NEST team continues their usual business, discussing different ways the Decepticons could draw massive quantities of power to revive Megatron.
In Italy, Starscream enters into a deal with an Italian criminal named Bruno Carrera to help destroy Optimus Prime in exchange for dominion over Europe when the Decepticons triumph. A plan is hatched and Swindle and Deadend begin ripping through the streets of Rome causing general chaos and trying to draw the Autobots out. After an extended chase where Knockout proves he has what it takes and more, Starscream challenges Prime to single combat inside the Coliseum.
Prime and the Autobots enter the ancient structure, and Prime promptly falls through a trap door to a subway tunnel extension and into a strong set of restraints arranged by Carrera. Starscream then proceeds to attack the remaining Autobots while a helpless Prime is confronted by a vengeful Barricade. Before the Decepticon can dispatch Prime, the humans attack Barricade and Prime manages to work himself free. He easily hands Barricade his skidplate and returns to the surface where Starscream has fled.
On his way to whatever scheme he has cooked up next, Starscream takes the time to visit Carrera at this villa, where he pays him back for his “failure”.
Finally, Epps and Lennox are relaxing on the beach back at DG when Knockout approached and informs them that something significant is happening, mentioning how he is unfamiliar with the term “shanghaied”.
...
Overall, the book isn’t bad. The Transformer fights are pretty well written and exciting, and the characterization of the robots is as complete as that of any of the humans. The story is fast-paced and there is very little filler. That being said, the story is more pointless than the last Movie prequel novel. The first 250 pages of the book seem to be about Starscream consolidating power while a second cabal of Decepticons works to undermine him and revive Megatron, but in the last 30 pages the story takes a hard left turn into the Rome battle and never returns. There’s no resolution to anything really. The asides with Simmons are especially meaningless and only serve to set up what I assume will be a story thread in the movie. The last quarter of the book begins to feel like the old 80’s cartoon, with the Decepticons searching for energy sources and Starscream allying with the crime boss. It’s not bad per se, but it breaks with the tone that had been established for the Movieverse already.
Events in the book mesh pretty well with what has been established in the two IDW prequel series. Some plot points and character appearances are a little cumbersome when you try to reconcile the novel with the comics, but nothing directly contradicts anything else.
Some items of note:
The battle in MissionCity and, the presence of the Transformers themselves, are a target of a huge cover-up and misinformation campaign by the governments of the world. How many people are buying into it is uncertain.
The acronym NEST is never explained in the book. I know I've seen what it stands for online somewhere, but it escapes me at the moment.
At the base at Diego Garcia, Ironhide is stockpiling Energon, which is described as a Transformer energy source. Energon is manufactured from existing energy sources and does exist naturally in the universe in a more unstable form. There is evidence that it exists naturally on Earth, but the Autobots don’t have the time or resources to search for it. Energon doesn’t figure in to the story at any point, and the mention seems more like a nod to G1 and Beast Wars.
At one point when Epps and Ironhide are talking shop, it’s revealed that each Transformer has a specialty, and according to their specialty, they create ammo, supplies, etc through nannoengineering, quantum alteration of volatile compounds, and subatomic metaflux metallurgy. Essentially, eating scrap and creating stuff internally.
Quite a few words are spent describing how extremely hot Kaminari Ishihara is. This, coupled with her being super-smart and a skilled martial artist, serves to turn her into nothing more than some sort of fantasy figure for dudes instead of a viable character.
As for the Transformers…
Optimus Prime - Prime is Prime. This Prime, however, is a little more direct and brutal than usual, impaling two Decepticons with his sword with no hesitation.
Ironhide - Ironhide’s direct approach and habit of wanting to solve every problem by blasting or crushing it is still amusing. He does seem to have warmed up to humans a bit since the Movie.
Ratchet - Ratchet again proves that he’s the most action-oriented, battle-tested Ratchet yet.
Longarm - The obligatory grizzled veteran, Longarm does seem to genuinely enjoy being on Earth and interacting with the planet’s fascinating organics, even to the extent of playing with feral cats using his Tow-truck mode’s headlights.
Don't make Longarm slap you!
Salvage – A new arrival to Earth, Salvage has no real personality to speak of. Sharing the name and pickup truck mode of his toy version even if he wasn’t created by the Allspark like the toy bio says.
Knockout - Another new arrival, Knockout is the Movieverse’s version of Cheetor/Hot Shot/Animated Bumblebee. A young, impetuous motorcycle with a desire to prove himself, he endangers the team on the Chile mission and Longarm has to smack him across the face to straighten him out. A scene where Epps helps him alter his holographic rider from 50’s era Marlon Brando to something less conspicuous is pretty entertaining.
Bumblebee is too seasoned and competent, so make way for Knockout!
Beachbreak – The little commando jetski that could. His completely original name betrays him as cannon-fodder at the outset.
Starscream - Starscream is the devious, power-hungry schemer we’ve come to expect. A lot closer to his G1 version here than in any previous movie material, a quick mention is made of his recent time on Cybertron in the Reign of Starscream comic miniseries.
Barricade - Not dead.
Frenzy - Not dead either, just an angry little head.
Dropkick - Another pickup truck, Dropkick is pretty much you basic Decepticon. He exhibits none of the manic-depressive traits his toy bio points towards.
Macerator - Macerator is a garbage truck with a massive shredding mechanism mounted to him. He’s a mean little brawler who likes to tangle with Prime, and get his skidplate kicked for it.
Payload – Unlike the armored car toy version, this Payload is an anti-aircraft tank that spends most of his time using his weapons systems to the utmost.
Ruination – A V-22 Ospery with a bad attitude. No mention is made of the established Osprey Decepticon Incinerator.
Blademaster – An undetermined type of helicopter, Blademaster isn’t around long enough to matter.
Kickback – Kickbak is the seeming leader of the small band of “constructicons” intent on reviving Megatron. He’s brash and confident, in no way hesitant when attacking Optimus prime. He uses his Bulldozer blade in robot mode as a shield, and his other hand is a huge warhammer which can emit a devastating sonic blast.
Tread and Trample – A identical pair of excavators who are an example of Transformer twins. The sometimes speak in perfect unison and are very aware of each other’s actions and situation. Sort of like the Crimson Twins for GI Joe, but without finishing each other’s sentences.
Swindle - A mean Decepticon street-racer, only slightly beyond his drone origins.
Deadend - Not really all that different from Swindle.
Deadend - Fast and Furious?
Decepticon Crab Infiltrator – An unnamed tiny spybot. He doesn’t speak and seems to be a mech not unlike Scorponok or Frenzy.
Overall, the book is a light and mostly entertaining read. The Transformer battles are the high points, and make up for the lack of any substantive narrative. It’s great beach, airplane, or lunch break reading. It’s probably by no means essential to a greater enjoyment of the Movieverse, but I do feel comfortable recommending it to any Transfan with a few hours to kill.
But that’s just my take, if you’ve read it, let me know what you think!
With the election just around the corner, the Cybertronian people are turning out for what may be the biggest election in eons. To let you know the fair and balanced truth of our Prime candidates, here’s Slamdance and Rook:
SLAMDANCE: Hello, Cybertron and with the election nearing, many Cybertronians are wondering just who should be the lucky candidate for Prime? For the Generation Ones, we have Grimlock. For the Generation Twos, we have Rodimus. Grimlock supports a strong military to protect the citizens of Cybertron from Decepticon insurgents as well as mining for more Energon as well as looking into alternative fuel sources, such as Nucleon. Rodimus supports socialism.
ROOK: That’s a hardly fair. Rodimus supports many issues that resonates with the population. He’s not only for alternative fuel sources but his main concern is to bolster our economy, as we teeter on a recession. We were so close to entering a new Golden Age but the current Optimus administration totally bungled our fuel sources along with our economy with his meaningless war.
SLAMDANCE: The war was not the fault of the Optimus Administration, but that of the Sentinel Administration.
ROOK: Oh, you First Gens like to believe that.
SLAMDANCE: It’s true, had Sentinel Prime been strong to actually stand up to these Decepticons when they were a lesser threat, we could have avoided a long drawn out war. Optimus didn’t start the war. They did. He just finished it.
ROOK: But he didn’t finish it. The Decepticons are still around, and now there’s a multitude of smaller factions rising up in the vacuum of the Decepticons. Sweep uprising, Quintesson terrorism, and let’s not forget that there’s the Predacons right over there, that while we’re running around chasing fictional boogey bots who might want to drop a Hate Plague on us, their economy is booming an we’re heading toward the largest transfer of power in Cybertronian history. That’s why Rodimus is the right choice for change. Grimlock is just another Optimus Prime. We just cannot afford another four million more years.
SLAMDANCE: Grimlock is nothing like Optimus Prime. They’ve opposed each other on several key accords.
ROOK: But he still sided with Optimus, 90% of the time.
SLAMDANCE: Because he was working toward a same goal, a safer and more secure Cybertron. While he disagreed with many of Optimus’ policies, that is one goal that they both shared. A desire for a safe ad peaceful planet. Something I’m not too sure Rodimus feels the same about. Rodimus may one day be a great leader, but right now, he’s too young and inexperienced. He doesn’t have the credentials that Grimlock has.
ROOK: Grimlock is a dinosaur. He’s too old and out of touch with today’s Cybertronian. Right now, the average blue chassied Cybertronian worker is feeling the Energon crunch. Grimlock, like Optimus, wants to give Energon breaks to the larger Gestalts and Citybots, leaving your average Joe Six-Cylinder out in the cold, struggling just to get new tires on their wheels. Rodimus wants to distribute the Energon evenly, allowing everyone to have an opportunity for greatness, as opposed to the select few. And as far as his lack of experience goes, you certainly can’t say that about Rodimus’ running mate, Ultra Magnus. He was even appointed by Prime for a while to be his replacement. That’s a lot more of a credential than Grimlock has, much less his running mate Moonracer. I mean, I speak for the rest of Cybertron when I say “Who?”
SLAMDANCE: Moonracer has been around a lot longer than Rodimus, and has much more experience. She was part of the resistance movement against Shockwave during the Great War and served under Elita-1. She’s served as a strong leader and role model and said no to the Space Bridge to nowhere. And at the very lease, she sees eye to eye with Grimlock on the issues. Ultra Magnus is the exact opposite of Rodimus’ claims. He’s been preaching “change” since he started his campaign, but Magnus, who’s been around since before we both came online is the exact OPPOSITE of change! He’s the living contradiction for his entire campaign. He’s had the opportunity to step up to plate and swing for leadership multiple times, and he’s always bunted the ball. How is this supposed to be any different?
ROOK: Well with Magnus, Rodimus has a spokesman that can speak to the people. Together they czn make true change for Cybertron and make it quickly.
SLAMDANCE: Just because Rodimus is faster, doesn’t make him better.
ROOK: Why is it whenever you First Gens always bring up the race issue?Yes, Rodimus turns into a race car and he’s not a slow lumbering lizard or semi truck. That doesn’t mean he’s incapable of the job.
SLAMDANCE: I never said-
ROOK: You First Gens always want to remain stuck in the past and never move forward, but you have to. We’re not immovable die cast bricks anymore. Embrace the change.
SLAMDANCE: Is that your answer for every time you Second Gens start to lose an argument? To play the racing card? Fine, we’ll go that route. Rodimus has had a few too many questionable acquaintances over the years. Pacifistic Anti-Cybertronians, like the Paradrons. Friendships with unrepentant Decepticons like Blitzwing. And let us not forget how a keen-eyed future leader like Rodimus can be mentored by Kup for so long and supposedly miss all that he said? His “record breaking funding’ for his campaign seems to have questionable sources, like Nebulon and the Matrix Templars. And I won’t even bring up his religious beliefs, where he claims to be the chosen one.
ROOK: Shall we go into Grimlock’s associations with the Dynobot 5? The simple fact is that we need change for Cybertron and Grimlock wants to put us back in the past as opposed to moving us toward the future where we need to be, which is what Rodimus wants to do.
SLAMDANCE: That’s most certainly debatable, but we are out of time. Thank you for joining us tonight. Join us again next time as we talk with Former Optimus Aide, Prowl and his thoughts on Grimlock.
ROOK: Good night folks. Vote early and vote often!
"We bitch because a toy is made for children. Think about it. This is who we are. We are the Transfandom."
Years ago, that line was cynically spoken in content that as a fandom, we Transformers fans tend to be a rather unruly and insensitive bunch. But there is one thing we have that most other fandoms do not... We can learn from our mistakes. As a group, we can learn to realize that Generation One was not the end all be all of greatness and that the Movie or Transformers: Animated is not going to destroy the fandom anymore than Beast Machines, Action Masters or the Cybernet Spacecube did. We can learn to accept TRUKK can indeed be MUNKY and he can even have flames too. That both Hasbro and Takara can produce both good and bad toys and that they both do indeed care about thier fans.
We can learn. We just have trouble admitting it!
Years ago, there was an online eMag, one of the first in the fandom called the Matrix. It was a fun and rather well liked production that eventually fell apart due to creative differences. However the heart and the spirit continues to live on in all of us.
We are fans of Transformers. These are our words and our thoughts.
