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Transformer of the Day for November 16, 2009

JOLT

-Faction: Autobot
-Era: Movie (2007, 2009, 2011)
-Function: Strategist
-Motto: “War is No Place for Seriousness“
-Notable Toy: Deluxe Two-Pack (Hasbro, 199

Notes: I know what I said about the movie and the toy line. So why on earth am I spotlighting Revenge of the Fallen toys in my TF of the Day, particularly given that I’ve already done the Fallen (before I knew what a rotten tomato the movie was going to be), to say nothing of Sideswipe just last week? Maybe I just feel bad for the fellow, and for GM. I mean here he is, GM’s new Volt, off to save the planet and the corporate pocket book, and he gets like two seconds of screen time using a name that was already loosely affiliated with the movie as a Decepticon. Seriously, this is marketing? When the clearest picture of the guy you can get is the one above? Jeez!

Transformer of the Day for November 14, 2009

SPEEDBOT

-Faction: Go-Bots
-Era: Playskool Gobots (2002-2005)
-Function: Earth Defense
-Motto: “Catch Me If You Can”
-Notable Toy: Transformers Go-Bots (Playskool, 2004)

Notes: Back when the first four pre-school Transformers hit the market, the 1-2-3 Transformers that would become the Go-Go-Gobots, they all had cutesy Autobot logos. And while this eventually changed in North America to a single capital G, it was also so classy to see the original logo. Speedbot may have evolved along the way, and the metallic late reissue of the original is too much fun, but for no other reason than showing off the classic package, let’s go with the original.

Transformer of the Day for November 12, 2009

SIDESWIPE

-Faction: Autobot (or at least what passes as an Autobot in the movie sequel)
-Era: Movie (2007, 2009, 2011)
-Function: Warrior
-Motto: “Speed is a Weapon that’s All Mine“
-Notable Toy: Human Alliance (Hasbro, 2009)

Notes: No, he’s no Sideswipe we’ve seen before, even if he is coming soon to toy shelves in a familiar reddish hue.. Putting aside the appalling badness of Revenge of the Fallen (and it was appalling bad!), I could almost get to like this Sideswipe. Except he’s silver, he bears too close a resemblance to Jazz (which really shows the care and concern that a certain director shows for these characters that he brings in a replacement that is indiscernible from his fallen predecessor). Was black not an option? Anyway, the Human Alliance version does bring Sgt. Epp to toy shelves and there is some good in that.

Transformer of the Day for November 10, 2009

DEPTH CHARGE

-Faction: Maximal
-Era: Beast Wars (1996-1998)
-Function: Aquatic Forces Commander
-Motto: “Follow My Orders or Get Out of My Face“
-Notable Toy: Ultra (Hasbro, 1998)

Notes: Other than saying I am not going to make any Dark Knight comments, I am not going to make any Dark Knight comments. Instead I want to talk about the name. Because Depth Charge was only the second Maximal whose name did not instantly tell you his transformation. Oh, it’s pretty easy to figure out that he’s a water-based mammal, but nonetheless, it is not automatic. A nice change I think.

I know I literally just got done saying that we were back on track, but then work and insufficient daylight hours got in the way of keeping to that pledge. Characters went up with unformatted pictures (like Megatron, Predatron and Crosswise) or missing pictures entirely (like Bumblebee and Rav). And then the posts just stopped for the weekend, leaving Onslaught, Cheetor, Brushguard and Heatwave stranded.

When it rains, it pours.

However, I’m happy to report we are back on track with pictures ready to go for future entries until the end of the month. Now I just have to make sure to write them all. But as a bonus, I had the chance to fix some previous posts. Like replacing the picture of Dirge in February, Tigatron from April, and Grimlock in September.

Transformer of the Day for November 9, 2009

SPINISTER

-Faction: Decepticon (Targetmaster)
-Era: Generation One (1984-1992)
-Function: Aerial Assault
-Motto: “Respect Your Foes Abilities As You Would Your Own“
-Notable Toy: Deluxe (Hasbro, 1988)

Notes: Early on in Generation One, Hasbro fell into a pattern with its Decepticon forces. Each year, it would release a series of three deluxe jets to round out the battle force. Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp arrived in 1984. Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust arrived in 1985. For the 1986 movie, there were only two fighters in Cyclonus and Scourge, and very space-based in terms of vehicle modes, but they were quickly followed in 1987 by Triggerhappy, Misfire and Slugslinger. But 1988 saw the break in this pattern. Oh there was still a trio of reinforcements, just this time only one was a jet (Needlenose), while Quake was forced to ground and Spinister took advantage of his helicopter mode. Still, it is nice to do things in threes.

Transformer of the Day for November 8, 2009

HEATWAVE

-Faction: Decepticon
-Era: Shattered Verse (2008-Present)
-Function: Weapons / Systems Design
-Motto: “This is Quantum Hexi-crypto, Totally Unbreakable; I’ll need Three Minutes.“
-Notable Toy: Exclusive (Hasbro, 2009)

Notes: You will have to forgive me but I don’t know how to classify Heatwave. He’s clearly of two worlds, being part of the Universe line of toys that have been part of the Transformers Collectors’ Club official annual premium (and the leader of the group of combiners now certainly known as Nexus Prime). But he is also an officer from the Shattered Glass universe, a heroic Decepticon uniting two Autobots and two Decepticons who are all something more. Gotta say though, I personally would have preferred the solid colours of the prototype (as shown above) to the translucent colours of the actual release.

(Apologies and thanks to transformersclub.com for the toy pics.)