Transformer of the Day for December 10, 2009
MEANSTREAK
-Faction: Autobot (Powermaster II)
-Era: Generation Two (1993-1995)
-Function: Street Fighter
-Motto: “Leave Nothing But a Blurr”
-Notable Toy: Powermaster (Hasbro, 1995)
Notes: I’ve always wondered the origins of European exclusives like Meanstreak. Were they a throwback to the days when Hasbro relied on other companies like Palitoy to distribute their wares, or someone getting creative in head office with tailenders? Even stranger, just as Generation Two was moving forward into something approaching the articulation of what we would see in Beast Wars, these Powermasters have battle charger levels of mobility. Still, can you complain when you get a rare toy racing across the floor?
Transformer of the Day for November 17, 2009
JOLT
-Faction: Decepticon (Laser Rod)
-Era: Generation Two (1983-1995)
-Function: Sneak Attack Specialist
-Motto: “Live Fast, Ride Hard, and Leave a Great Looking Chassis“
-Notable Toy: Deluxe (Hasbro, 1994)
Notes: To think that the basis of GM’s fuel efficient dreams was once a villainous dragster, given almost as minimal facetime in the medium available to him (Marvel comics) as his heroic namesake in Revenge of the Fallen. But Jolt is noteable for the poseability that he brought to the Generation Two line, and he served as a harbinger of new characters. The difference of course is we actually liked these ones…
(Apologies and thanks to bbts.com and shmax.com for the toy image.)
Transformer of the Day for September 24, 2009
DELUGE
-Faction: Decepticon (Colour Changer)
-Era: Generation Two (1993-1995)
-Function: Scientific Advisor
-Motto: “Let Me Study the Battle Plans… I’ll Think up Something Really Unpleasant - and Then Make It Even Nastier”
-Notable Toy: Deluxe (Hasbro, 1993)
Notes: Deluge was one of four North American released colour changers. Like the Autobot Drench, his name was reused by his opposite faction, becoming the Auqaspeeder, Deluge, although there are no other simularities between the two characters. Another case of me versus my wicked self.
(Apologies and thanks to bbts.com and shmax.com for the toy pics.)
Transformer of the Day for September 22, 2009
DRENCH
-Faction: Decepticon (Stormtrooper)
-Era: Generation Two (1993-1995)
-Function: Coordinator
-Motto: “A Well Run Campaign is My Greatest Pleasure”
-Notable Toy: European Exclusive (Hasbro, 1993)
Notes: But like a fraternal twin, the Decepticon known as Drench bears no resemblance to his Autobot namesake. He was a way of doubling the number of colour changers available in Europe, facilitating the release of four Stormtrooper and four Aquaformers. Generation Two was a strange time. And yet, clearly, it is time to let the battle of the Drenches begin! Which one will inspire a repaint?…
(Apologies and thanks to bbts.com and shmax.com for the toy pics.)
Transformer of the Day for September 2, 2009
RANSACK
-Faction: Decepticon
-Era: Generation Two (1993-1995)
-Function: Reconnaissance Fighter
-Motto: “If There’s A Chance for Destruction, I’ll Take It”
-Notable Toy: Basic (Ransack, 1994)
Notes: One of the new G2 figures produced by Hasbro, Ransack was part of the Rotorforce themed figures and featured launching rotorblades. In a way, Ransack’s vehicle design harkens back to the old style World War Two-era plane that would serve as the basis for the Combaticon’s Blast Off. It’s a shame the master mould is likely too degraded for such an exclusive.
(Apologies and thanks to bbts.com and shmax.com for the toy pic.)
Transformer of the Day for August 30, 2009
SMOKESCREEN
-Faction: Decepticon
-Era: Generation Two (1993-1995)
-Function: Sneak Attack Specialist
-Motto: “When You Least Expect It, Expect Us”
-Notable Toy: Reissue (Takara, 1989)
Notes: Smokescreen is certainly among the stranger of toys in the Transformers Universe. He represents the first time that a pre-existing name has switched factions and forms. Interestingly enough, his body appears to foreshadow the transformation of Energon Starscream. And he is one of the few transformers whose combiner form is that of a vehicle, rather than a robot. How he forms his particular gestalt, however, is best kept off the written page. Although the tech spec almost reads as if Smokescreen and the larger Dreadwing are one and the same, I imagine him as an independent brains of the operation.
“What are we going to do today, Smokescreen?”
“Same as we always do, Dreadwing, try and take over the world.”
Transformer of the Day for August 18, 2009
AQUABLAST
-Faction: Decepticon (Stormtrooper)
-Era: Generation Two (1993-1995)
-Function: Engineer
-Motto: “Listen! That’s the Music of One of my Super-Tuned, Ultra-Hot Engines… And Think What Terror it Must Strike in the Hearts of Those Autobot Cowards…”
-Notable Toy: Deluxe (Hasbro, 1993)
Notes: Aquablast was the first time I acquired a foreign-based Transformer, and he came into my possession during the resurgence of Beast Wars. And of course he was removed from his card backing. Although he was quickly followed by the G2 European Powermasters and Tarantulas, he continues to hold a special place on the toy shelf.
(Apologies and thanks to bbts.com and shmax.com for the actual Hasbro toy pic.)
Transformer of the Day for May 26, 2009
JHIAXUS
-Faction: Decepticon
-Era: Generation Two (1993-1995)
-Function: Leader
-Motto: “The Past is a Roadblock to the Future”
-Proposed Toy: Crossformer Ironman (Hasbro, 2008)
Notes: The villain behind the curtain in the short-lived Marvel Generation Two comic book, Jihaxus was raised as a possible exclusive in the form of Gobot Aerobot. Although he actually appears on the shelves as a recoloured deluxe Jetstorm, he still needs something. Given his recent reappearance in the IDWverse under the command of Nova Prime, it’s time that Jihaxus got some respect. And wouldn’t a refitted Marvel Crossover Ironman made a good mould? Yes…
Transformer of the Day for March 15, 2009
AQUABLAST
-Faction: Decepticon
-Era: “Generation Two (1993-1995)
-Function: Engineer
-Motto: “Listen! That’s the Music of One of My Super-Tuned, Ultra-Hot Engines! And Think what Terror it Must Strike In the Hearts of Those Autobot Cowards…”
-Notable Toy: Stormtrooper (Hasbro, 1993)
Notes: Aquablast was the first Transformer which I acquired through an exchange (in his case, for a Beast Wars figure the specifics of which now allude me). He was also one of the first I ever contemplated leaving mint on card. But he is simply too lovely a figure to remain in packaging forever.
Transformer of the Day for January 30, 2009
STAXX
-Faction: Decepticon (Powermaster II)
-Era: Generation 2 (1993-1995)
-Function: Highway Destruction
-Motto: “I Was Born to be Wild, Born to Be Bad”
-Notable Toy: Powermaster (Hasbro Europe, 1995)
Notes: One of the strangest assortments to come out in the history of Transformersdom, Staxx (along with his contemporaries, Ironhide, Meanstreak and Bulletbike) were available only in continental Europe and Australia as, wait for it, Powermasters. With no articulation to speak of and pull-back engines reminiscent of the mini-spies, these four characters don’t resemble anything that would follow. They are what they are, a throwback to an earlier time.
(Apologies and thanks to the futuristgroup for the toy image.)