Wheeljack [Legacy United/ Deluxe Class]

Transformers is a funny line. Now in it's 41st year, it's been reinvented countless times while still revisiting older settings quite often. As a life long fan whose been around since it launched, there's a clear split down the middle of before the 2007 movie and after. Before that movie, there was tons of reinvention with some revisiting. Ever since the movie, there's been tons of revisiting with some reinvention. I say that as today we'll be looking at the Legacy United update of Wheeljack... the one from Transformers Armada.

Beast Machines was fundamentally the end of the mainstream G1 timeline (excluding prose, comics, etc). Robots in Disguise (2001) served as a filler while Hasbro changed directions behind the scenes. Originally, Beast Machines was to be followed up with Transtech. Transtech would have continued the story with a combination of classic and beast era characters. However, as Beast Machines wasn't as successful as Beast Wars before it and things were getting pretty convoluted for what was meant to be a kids show... it was time to refresh.

Transformers Armada kicked off what was called The Unicron Trilogy with cartoons,comics,video games, merchandise, and of course toys. Armada reintroduced the Autobots and Decepticons on a new adventure chasing after Mini-Cons and ending with a big showdown with Unicron. There was a mixture of new and old characters with a lot of name reuses... which sometimes lead to a lot of confusion. That's where Wheeljack comes in. Some of you might have noticed he's definitely not the classic Wheeljack you're familiar with. This Wheeljack used to be a young Autobot warrior, who was believed to have died in battle. However, Wheeljack survived and believed he had been abandoned. The understandably angry bot joined the Decepticons and became quite the adversary for Hot Shot, whom he had blamed for the abandonment. That's the reason for the cool scratched out Autobot symbol and admittedly hard to see in the picture (it got a little lost in the black) Deceptcion emblem underneath.

Now you might have thought he looks more like Sideswipe and that the name Sideswipe would fit the character better. Well... it would have, but there was another Autobot named Side Swipe... who didn't look anything like traditional Sideswipe. Somehow, a lot of names got thrown around leading to this kind of madness and for whatever reason it just stuck. Don't ask me, I had nothing to do with it. Even more confusing was that a year later In Energon, there was a PERFECT new Wheeljack figure... that was named Downshift. Because there was already a recent Wheeljack. Pass the Tylenol. For what it's worth, his name is Rampage in Japan... which I like. In Hungry his name is Volán Jack. That translates to 'Steering-Wheel Jack'... and I kinda love it.

I've spent a lot of time talking about the time Wheeljack originally came out and his confusing name, but not a lot about his newest toy that we're looking at today. As many of you can tell, he's based on the Siege Sideswipe toy mold that's been heavily reused in Transformers Generations. It's a great toy, but I've covered the details before a few times. I've gotten most of the molds uses and really like it. Wheeljack does have a new head sculpt that resembles his original toy and show model quite a bit.

While there isn't any Mini-Con unlock-able gimmicks as in the original, he does have those clubs weapons. They were firing missiles from the Mini-Con gimmick that could hold as melee weapons. In the cartoon, lasers would fire from them... it never was very clear what they were exactly... admittedly they were a bit of strangeness in a very cool toy. The clubs serve as running boards in car mode and they look pretty neat. The car mode has a new front fascia and doors to make it resemble the original more. He does include Sideswipes missile launcher which can be held as a gun. I love those classic shoulder launchers, they look great on anyone.

Wheeljack is colored to match his show model, which matched his Japanese toy deco. The Hasbro version featured yellow stripes in place of the blue ones and a more grayish car mode. It was never quite clear as to why the difference. Often the toy designers answer to someone in marketing, so they could have been given an order based on... anything. It still looked great and there was a future recolor of the mold as Drench in Transformers Universe planned at the time. That toy never came to be, but a similar design was used for the BotCon exclusive Shattered Glass Sideswipe that used the Armada Wheeljack toy mold.

This Sideswipe always felt like the toy Wheeljack was meant to be and has always been popular. It's popped up in Blokees and even inspired a character in SSSS. Gridman, which I've talked about here before. Wheeljack and SG Sideswipe have a great look and it's not surprising to see it get homaged. I've always felt like the blue stripes on the black resemble Nightracer and Shadow Striker. That's neat. Both the Hasbro and Takara versions looked great, but I'm glad this version is show accurate. Wheeljack is a cool character with a great toy regardless of his confusing name. To me he's a solid representation of the time shortly before the launch of the 2007 live action Transformers movie. I don't think that was what the Hasbro designers had in mind when they decided to update him, but that's what they did... and I'm glad.

Bios: Signal Flare

"My imagination is the key to winning."

Signal Flare is an Autobot Omnicon and one of the greatest energon welders of his kind. His Omnicon brothers depend greatly on his skills and experience. In vehicle mode, he projects a powerful energon beam from his radar dish that can take the shape of massive tools or weapons. Signal Flare is a silent warrior that prefers mastering the artistry of his energon weapons to battle.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 4 Endurance: 5
Rank: 9 Courage: 8 Fireblast: 10 Skill: 9

Bios: Overhaul

One tough Autobot, Overhaul has never thought much of intellectual pursuits. His solution to a complex problem is generally to stomp on it until it gets simple or stops being a problem. He's never felt that he's had the respect his strength deserves from the other Autobots, but now that he's on the Jungle Planet -- where might makes right -- he feels right at home.

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 5 Speed: 4.5 Endurance: 8
Rank: 4 Courage: 8 Fireblast: 6 Skill: 7

Bios: Excellion

An outsider among the Autobots because of his brooding attitude, Excellion is one of the very few Autobot warriors who the Decepticons think of with any respect, but that respect is earned. Excellion has made an art of speed and stealth, moving back and forth across enemy lines as if he were invisible. More than once, he has retrieved vital information from within a Decepticon stronghold, or quickly and quietly disposed of a particularly annoying enemy agent.

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 8.5 Endurance: 8
Rank: 6.5 Courage: 9 Fireblast: 7 Skill: 9

Bios: Gunbarrel

"Death from Above."

Air superiority is the key in any military victory. Whether it is taking out targets on the ground, air, or sea the Air Military Mini-Con Team are the boys for the job. Their quick response time and ability to move troops and munitions to an intended destination make them a vital link in the chain of any military operation. They are known for the lightning speed of their assaults, injecting fear into the hearts of their enemies and leaving the battlefield strewn with glowing metal wreckage.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 9 Endurance: 6

Rank: 6 Courage: 8 Firepower: 9 Skill: 7

Bios: Beachcomber

"I never spotted a Decepticon I didn't dislike."

Beachcomber is a young Autobot warrior responsible for the seaside patrol of Ocean City, one of the Autobot bases of operation. He is programmed with infrared optic scanners that allow him to spot an approaching enemy up to five miles. Whether it is day or night, few Decepticons have been able to infiltrate Ocean City during Beachcomber's watch. Although he is very serious about his job as guardian, Beachcomber likes letting loose with his Autobot comrades. He is a known trickster and enjoys telling a joke or two...especially when the subject of the joke is Megatron.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 9 Endurance: 8
Rank: 5 Courage: 7 Fireblast: 7 Skill: 6

Bios: Sparkplug

"We must all learn to live in peace!"

Sparkplug is the Mini-Con partner of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime. Sparkplug converts into a superfast sports car and helps Optimus Prime on reconnaissance missions. He also combined with Optimus Prime in battles to increase the Autobot leader's strength.

Strength:9 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 9 Endurance: 9 

Rank:5 Courage: 10 Firepower: 9 Skill: 9

Bios- Sparkplug

We must all learn to live in peace!

Sparkplug is the Mini-Con partner of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime. Sparkplug converts into a super fast sports car and helps Optimus Prime on reconnaissance missions. He also combined with Optimus Prime in battles to increase the Autobot leader's strength.

Galactic Heroes from Cybertron

I like Transformers Armada. I liked it then, I like it now. I enjoy looking back at the fun time I had with it and at various alternate versions of it. For example, this commercial for the Korean version of Armada called Galactic Heroes: Cybertrons. It's funny how just something simple like another language, different music, and a new logo can make something you've seen a million times look new.

Looking back at the Gamera VMU game I was talking about yesterday and the catch 'em all-ness of Armada... man that really was a trope of it's time huh? Late 90's/Early 2000's, that was a general thing. I wonder why a Tamogochi style game for Armada didn't happen? I would be surprised if one did and I didn't know about it. The little oddball things usually get passed over by the news sites, but at the time they literally reported everything. So I guess I would have known.

STOMP STOMP STOMP

I've said before a few million times that I really like big chunky robot toys. That was part of the reason I loved Armada so much. The was one guy from Armada really took the cake in that department that was ever so fun to play with. Scavenger may look like a Constructicon, he's got the colors, the name, and the look. So much that his Japanese name was Devastor, because freaking look at him. Armada was like that, full of homages while still doing something different. Scavenger in this case is an Autobot, which follows in the Build Team's lead of Autobot Constrution equipment guys.

Scavenger's Mini-Con is named Rollbar, who's a likeable enough Mini-Con that can turn into a dune buggy type vehicle. In robot mode Scavenger has a few 'dead' Mini-Con ports, but most notably is his hip mounted missile launcher that can be fired when attaching a Mini-Con. Yes it's weird. His Mini-Con interaction is more notable in vehicle mode, I'll get to that in a minute. As you can tell by the picture above, Scavenger is a big old boy with some big old arms. Though you've probably noticed his legs, they have no articulation whatsoever. Instead they feature the robot modes biggest and most fun play feature. As you push Scavenger across the floor, he stomps his feet making zany robot noises. He just stomps around in a lovable manner that won my heart over the first time I tried it for myself. It's a silly toy and I love it. 

Downshifting on Cybertron

Sometimes weird things happen. In Downshift from Cybertron's case, he was very obviously somebody else. Though depending on what story whatever Hasbro rep gave you, he was Downshift. Despite his naming causing a few headaches, the character got a great toy in Energon which was followed by an even better toy in Cybertron. That's what I'm focusing on here, a really great second toy of a character who isn't who all appearances would lead you to believe, but somebody else.

Since everybodies talking about Jetfire

There's a lot of talk about Jetfire these days, which is easy to understand. He has a new and exciting Siege toy that just about everyone wants (including me). With a legacy character like Jetfire, you can't help but to think back to older Jetfire toys when a new one comes out. I was very fond of his toys during the Unicron Trilogy. The Armada Jetfire toy was a great figure intended to homage Galaxy Shuttle. Energon, the follow up to Armada, followed this Jetfire with a new one that always reminded me of Dai Atlas (it's the shoulders).

Energon was a line of many gimmicks. Most remembered was the Powerlinx feature found on most Autobots. Autobots that could Powerlinx with one another could either form the top half or bottom half of a more powerful form. At OTFCC 2003 after the line was shown at the Hasbro panel, many fans were comparing it to Landcross, as that team shared the same gimmick. I can still remember staring at those display cases, excited for these new figures. They just looked so good then ... and honestly still do now 16 years later.

Armada Unicron Commercial

Seeing as Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I've got a lot of gobbling to do myself. It's funny, though I was all over this Unicron toy on it's release in 2003, I've never seen this commercial. It's kind of standard fair except for the clips from the 1986 movie instead of the Armada cartoon. Considering the toy was releasing in summer and the Unicron related episodes of Armada didn't air until later... they probably weren't ready by this commercials production. Which is ironic considering the US version of the show was rushed to meet the networks demands, leading to the shows famous dubious quality. Though I do have one big question about the whole thing.

What did Optimus say?

Psychic Lover- Dream Again (Transformers Armada/Micron Legend Theme)

Micron Legend TV Magazine preview video

I don't car what anyone says (obviously), I loved Armada and had such a great time during it's era.

Armada Jetfire

You can fall alone or you can fall together!

Jetfire adopted the form of Earth's most advanced and adventurous craft - the Space Shuttle. He is Optimus Prime's executive officer, second in command and has the honorable and rare task of being able to combine with him - redefining the term teamwork. He exemplifies all of the special qualities found in Autobot commanders: courageous, tactically skilled, and a natural leader. Taking the time to know each Autobot, Jetfire understands their individual strengths and weaknesses - in battle, he knows exactly where each soldier will excel. While relaxed with the troops, he becomes all business when it's time for action. He is heroic in battle, caring not about size or number of enemies; with a take on all comers' mentality. Equally efficient and effective on the ground and in the air, he is air mobile and ground capable.

Psychic Lover- Transformer-Dream Again (Micron Legend theme music)

Psychic Lover made an official music video for their song which was the the theme music for Micron Legend (Armada). It's pretty much the Transformers equivalent of the cursed video from The Ring. Only instead of having seven days until you die, you show it to everyone you know who doesn't like Transformers.

Sometimes I wish we got the Japanese themes on US airings. Not that the US music is particularly bad, but there's something to be said about using a popular bands song instead of another take on the 'More than Meets the Eye' jingle.

You know, I really liked Armada.

Armada/Galaxy Hero Cybertron Commercial

Interestingly enough, on Korean television, Armada was called Galaxy Hero Cybertron. 

Neat huh?

Galaxy Force Korean intro

One thing I really appreciate (if you haven't noticed) is the differences in shows in various countries. I've made note here before of my interest in Korean robot shows and it occurred to me to see how the Korean versions of shows I already know go. The Korean version is basically the second intro for the Japanese version, which is still drastically different from the Cybertron intro. Glad I choose Galaxy Force/Cybertron, I could almost be convinced it was a different show. Super neat.

Put mah jet pants on

Armada toys were so stinking fun to get.