Bios: Wheeljack

Function - Mechanical Engineer

Wheeljack is a genius at combining throw-away objects into incredibly effective weapons. He is also a spectacular driver who never passes up a chance to show off his high-speed prowess. Arsenal includes a magnetic inducer sheel, gyro inhibitor and an ever-changing array of new gadgets.

 "Never do what your enemy expects you to do."

 

 

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Bios: Prowl

Function - Military Strategist

Prowl is a strategic genius. His logic center is the most sophisticated in the Autobot army, capable of analyzing complex combat situations and making strategic decisions almost instantaneously. Unexpected events, however, have been known to scramble his circuit. Launches powerful wire-guided missiles and high corrosive-acid pellets.

"Logic is the ultimate weapon"

 

 

 

 

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Bios: Grimlock

"Respect builds great warriors."

Function: Backhoe

A seasoned warrior, Grimlock is second in command of the construction Autobots. He looks very harsh, but is really calm and upbeat. He works closely with the Construction Team leader to pass on the tactics and experience he has gained in his many battles. He can be counted on to assess every situation and come up with a good plan of action.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 10 Speed: 7 Endurance: 9 Rank: 7 Courage: 10 Firepower: 6 Skill: 9

Send (Wrecker) Hook

 

Robotmasters was a neat Transformers line from the mid-2000's that I have a lot of love for. A mixture of new and old toy molds in fantastic decos in a Transformers multiversal showdown in the Blastizone (a suburb here on Planet Zone). It was pure robot anarchy and I loved it. Wrecker-Hook was one of the early stand outs. Outside of Japan we know him as Tow-Line. He was a lovable character in Robots in Disguise that took his tow truck alt mode a little too seriously.

However by 2004 he had somehow lost his memory and became a Decepticon! During this time Wrecker-Hook became a capable mechanic who can fix almost anything. He got a visible upgrade as well. From the green and purple as an Autobot to black and red with gnarly flames as a Decepticon! Wrecker-Hook seemingly improved himself as a bad guy. Even made himself a new friend in Wingstun!

The Adventures Of Bumblegrim And Mandy

I don't know why or when the Buzzworthy Bumblebee was decided to be an outlet for older toys molds or why Target was the place for it. However I'm enjoying it, so whoever had that idea, good job. It takes me back to Universe. When Universe was a place for mold reissues in interesting new colors not when it became the new banner for Classics. Before it became Generations. Damn Hasbro, y'all got to get these names worked out.  Regardless, it reminds me of the first version of Universe when it was a fun outlet for repaints. I was a fan of Crash Combiners, so obviously I'm all for more of them.

I found myself in Target this past Saturday and grabbed Bumblegrim. Despite being RID 2015 toys, with the Evergreen box art, I'm guessing these are supposed to be regular G1-ish Bumblebee and Grimlock. They're certainly colored more to be that way. Also, they have the new naming of 'Crash and Combine' on the packaging instead of Crash Combiners. I guess it's to describe the gimmick without using a potentially expired trademark. The toys look good, a little better than I remember actually. I'll admit the alt forms are a little rough, particularly Grimlock's. Combiner toys often sacrifice one mode for the benefit of the others and it's definitely the dino mode. Bumblebee doesn't come out too bad, just not great. They're pretty simple transformations as you can expect.

The combination is basically the act of cramming the two together. Grimlock you have to pre-arrange to properly get him to form into Bumblegrim's legs. Bumblebee pretty much goes directly from car to upper body. This is the kind of toy where the gimmick is actually the toy more-so than the figure. It's a fun and silly little robot toy meant to be played with. As a super mode, Bumblegrim is ok. He's basically Bumblebee with a Optimus type helmet. I wish there was a weapon. I could really see a sword in those hands. After a few years, it's good to play with a Crash Combiner again. They were just this odd little thing that was fun while it lasted... and are still fun a few years later.

Bios: Megatron

Function: Predacon Leader

"The Earth is mine!"

The brilliant and evil leader of the Predacons, Megatron will destroy anything and anyone in order to get what he wants. And what he wants on Earth is the energy contained in the planet. But Megatron has no interest in sharing - he'll conquer the planet and take it all for himself. He has survived numerous battles and is an excellent fighter - making him a deadly enemy. His many victories have helped him gain the power of a six-step change skill.

Bios: Side Burn

Function: Speedy Knight

"Think you can keep up? I doubt it !"

Side Burn is a born exhibitionist; if its loud, fast, or haphazard, you can't bet he's tried it. Then bragged about it at a local Energon pub. Upgraded with a new Spark engine, Side Burn is now topping land speeds once thought to be unreachable and still hasn't found his limit. Although he'd be more than happy on the track, watching the world streak by his windshield in an indecipherable blur, Side Burn knows that his speed will someday provide a key advantage in the war against the Decepticons. Even if Prowl and his other friends in the newly-formed Autobot military don't share his outlook.

Israeli Robots in Disg...that's G1

Wait. So... I was expecting 2001 Robots in Disguise footage in Hebrew and instead was given clips of G1 with... Axel F? That's kinda amazing. I'm not sure if the Israeli version of RID was just a repackaged G1 or if this was just some neat commercial package made for Fox Kids there. I tried finding some info on the wiki, but nope. I do have to say, I absolutely LOVE that logo.

I'd make a more clever title, but crap Webdiver is 18 years old

There's specific times that make you realize more time has passed than you realized. Earlier I was thinking about 2001 and going crazy for Robots In Disguise toys. A lot of us were, except for those who had already gotten most of the line earlier by importing them. It was around that time Takara released Webdiver. Another transforming robot line with cartoon that was pretty similar to Transformers, like they did with Brave. I don't think it was very popular in Japan as there wasn't anymore series after the original. Or maybe putting the resources into other projects kept any more Webdiver from being released. Sadly, it was one and done.

That being said, it was pretty popular around the Transformers world. Not hugely popular, but maybe on a underground/cult level. Lot's of those TF fans who already had most of the RID stuff from importing seemed to latch onto it, as well as a good bit of general Transformers and robot toy fans. It was just a cool line. Great transforming robot toys and the video game gimmick was years ahead of it's time. I've only got two figures, in hindsight I should have gotten more. For awhile there you could get them for a song. These days not so much, but it was 18 years ago I suppose.

Little Black Truck

 
It's said that dynamite comes in small packages, and I don't know if that's true but... that was a horrible start. Whatever. Robots in Disguise (2001) was the Transformers line that brought Autobots and Decepticons back into the fray and ended the beast era. Some like to argue that RID was part of the beast era due to the Predacon characters. I've also seen people argue with the cashier at Arby's that they sold cheeseburgers, sssssooooo....

Any who, RID was a unique line in the history of Transformers. Transtech was intended to follow Beast Machines as a hybrid beast/vehicle series. For whatever reason is given today plans were changed and the decision to go a new route was made. That new route ended up being Armada and needed a little more time to develop. In Japan Takara had already experimented with a more traditional TF show called Car Robots. Hasbro fast tracked Car Robots into Robots in Disguise to have a Transformers series on shelves and on TV to fill the time needed. Car Robots was a relatively short anime with a small toy line mostly consisting of repainted toy molds and a few new toys. Hasbro took that and added more repaints to fill out the line. One of the new Decepticons was a evil clone of Fire Convoy/Optimus Prime named Black Convoy/Scourge whom was a black and teal repaint of the G2 Laser Optimus Prime toy.

Hasbro expanded the Spy Changer by releasing same sized versions of the shows main characters. This was probably the most direct beginning of the Legends/Legion style of toys offering lower priced figures of the main characters. It was in this assortment that we got the really neat Spy Changer version of Scourge. Spy Changers were originally made from the G2 Gobots toy molds and were really great little toys. Basically you had a Hot Wheels size car that was even compatible with a Hot Wheels car track! They'd transform into simple robots full of charm. It's not hard for readers to guess I loved them.

For a short time it looked like this was the only toy of the character getting made and the Spy Changer versions were flying off the shelves! Unlike other Spy Changers, Scourge didn't come with a weapon, nor did he have his trailer. During this time there was a ton of people creating their own custom weapons and trailers for the toy. It was pretty fun to take in and watch.

In what has to be the only time it happened, a toy based on a repaint of another character got repainted into the original toys colors. Later a Spy Changers version of Optimus Prime was made from the Scourge toy as part of a line of Spy Changers based on the classic G1 characters. That was a mess of words that barley formed a coherent sentence and I'm not sorry for it. This little line was available as a discount line at Family Dollar type stores, though a year prior were exclusive to Kay Bee Toy stores in different packaging. Laser Optimus Prime was a good looking toy, Scourge was a good looking toy, so it goes without saying this was a good looking toy.

This little series was fun to collect, easy and cheap, you couldn't help but to acquire multiples without thinking or worrying about it. At a small local sci fi con, I had ran a Transformers panel and had them on hand as raffle prizes. I don't think I know anyone who hated them and if anyone did hate them... how? This great little mold got another use just a short while later in a really fun way.

I don't have to tell you the 2007 Transformers movie was a big hit. It's just a fact and there's no arguing that. Unless you're stupid and well, you're on your own there dummy. A movie meant to sell toys is going to have a ton of merchandise, it's why they made it. One such thing was a the pictured above pre-order exclusive for the DVD in Japan.

That pre-order exclusive was the last version of the great little mold, but what a way to go out! Now as the movie version of Optimus Prime the toy looks awesome. I distinctly remember the summer before the movies release (which is an awkward was of saying 2006) pictures of the movie characters first started hitting the internet and everyone was talking. Optimus's truck was shown before his robot mode and while some were hung up on G1, several thought they looked cool (money walks and bullshit talks). I saw the long nose truck and hoped for a repeat of the Laser Optimus toy as it was excellent and man those flames looked cool. While the actual toy was pretty different, I clearly wasn't the only one who had that idea.

FFFFIIIIIIIIYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAA

Devastating at Target

Whomever cleaned up this image at the TFWIKI is a hero

In Transformers, repaints are inevitable. You either deal with it or complain about it endlessly (and generally have your comments muted by everyone else in the thread). Another inevitability is a team of combining construction vehicles will be Devastator at some point. It's going to happen. Fortunately this isn't as boring as some make it out to be (unless a Hasbro rep is around). In the case of the Target exclusive Devastator, it actually resulted in a neat looking toy.

A repaint of the Build Team from Robots in Disguise/Car Robots, Devastator was available at Target in 2006 in two different boxes with two different team members in each. As with the Build Team, this version of the Constructions was a four member team and the three different limb components could be used in whatever configuration with the main body/head component staying the same. I normally used Hightower for the upper body/arms as I felt it made for a more bulky looking robot.

I had already been a fan of the Build Team, so buying this set was a no brainer back then. Not to mention the classic Devastator colors looked great on the toys. A few years earlier a yellow version had been released in a gift set exclusive to Walmart, which served as a G2 version for some fans. The toy hasn't been in any fiction unfortunately. Being the toy was sold in the Universe line, but clearly had the Robots in Disguise logo on the package lead to the 'Ask Vector Prime' page to describe the team as the Build Team from RID that had been reformatted into bad guys. For a short run series like the original RID, little story bits like that are really fun and neat.

They call him the Streak

Some of the more cool toys that have come around in the history of Transformers are the non show characters. While this kind of character doesn't happen as much these days, there was a time when they were a good portion of a toy line. In Beast Machines there was some really good figures in the off camera character category. Maybe even better than the main cast folks. Spy Streak was one such toy.

A basic class Vehicon, Spy Streak was a sci fi jet that would look at home in a shoot 'em up video game or a tokusatsu production. Of course being that Vehicons were Cybertronian based vehicles in alt mode, this was a good fit for the theme. In robot mode he had a fun design that fit in with robot designs at the time, while having an alien looking appearance. Simply put, Spy Streak looked like he was from another planet.

The toy mold got used again in Robots in Disguise (the 2001 line) Nightcruz. Nightcruz was a great repaint with the jet parts being mostly black with white robot bits. Blue and yellow accents with dry brushing bringing out the jets tech detail made for a great looking toy. Released in a cool 3 pack with Scavenger and Mirage GT (also Beast Machines toy molds), the toy fit in with the look of the new molds of the line while helping to add more product to shelves.

The toy got used one more time a few years later in the original version of Transformers Universe as Fireflight. Now in an awesome white and blue-gray deco with red highlights, this is my favorite version of the toy. While I normally don't mind when a name gets reused, I do wish Fireflight had a more original name to make the figure more than just another repaint. Fireflight came packed with two Mini-Cons to put the toy in the deluxe price class making for a great little set of toys.

Fictionally non of these great toys got more than a background appearance in BotCon/OTFCC comics. During the 3H fan club, I submitted a bio for Fireflight to the magazine shortly before that clubs demise. At the time I had made him into a version of Randal from Clerks. Looking back now, that was terrible.

A RID in time

For some reason Robots in Disguise (the one from 2001) has gone down as one of the more obscure lines in the history of Transformers. It's weird as for the most part as it was reasonably popular. Sure some of the toys were overly complicated, but boy did those molds get a lot of use for a few years there. The cartoon was silly, but generally well liked. In fact, I don't know why silly is a bad thing. Something can be light hearted and still feature mature story telling. I wouldn't call the cartoon mature story telling, but it certainly was a fun show to watch.

In fact most people were really looking forward to it coming out. I can understand people who weren't around at the time not being very aware of it, but a lot of us are still around. I had a ton of fun hunting down all of the toys. After it was over and Transformers had moved onto Armada, RID was the comparison those who didn't like Armada made often. They liked RID so much and found the toys to be so much better and now... poof. It's just gone from popular memory.

The show cannot be released on video due to a ridiculous amount of legalities and probably a lack of interest in some of the folks involved. I hope that one day it does get an official release, it 'd be nice to have a legit copy of the show. It was a good TF series that got treated unfairly by history. It'd be nice to see it get some love again. 

Transformers Adventure Ultimate Optimus Prime commercial

Still wish I would have gotten one of these.

R.E.V.

Plan well, win easy.

R.E.V. is the tactical officer of the Spy Changers and an advisor to Hot Shot. As smart as he is fast, R.E.V. never misses a detail. He can leap from one building to another with such ease that he looks as if he's flying. His main weapon is a shotgun.

Omega Prime commercial

I'm really jealous of those kids. Not because they have those toys, I have them too, but the fact that they were able to get them transformed while running down the stairs and across their yards like that. Those were pretty complex figures.

That took skill.

Transformers Crash Combiners Italia commercial

Robots in Disguise One Step Soundwave

After putting it off forever, I finally bought the One Step Changer Soundwave from Robots in Disguise and boy are my arms tired. Mainly because I've been changing him back and forth over and over. I had been intending to get Heatseeker before Soundwave, but as I never see him anymore, I just grabbed Soundwave and don't regret it at all. Soundwave is a classic Transformers character that's Robots in Disguise design just looks great.

In vehicle mode Soundwave is some sort of boxy truck/SUV/Crossover thing that fits for a modern update. He looks like he'd fit in with late Euro G1 or with most G2 toys. Which I've noted before is my draw to these more simple toys in that they're seemingly lost toys from that era. Soundwave transforms extremely simply (per the gimmick). Just pull the front of the truck over the robot and the parts mostly arrange themselves into place with a small amount of adjustment. They really should call these One Step and a little fiddling Changers, or as they're known these days, Turbo Changers.

Soundwave looks great in robot mode. Like most of these Turbo Changers, he's limited in articulation, really just arms and head. Which is fine as it's a simple toy and like I said... it feels more like an older toy. He's got a decent paint deco going on, looking like classic Soundwave well enough. I can't help but to wish his cannon fired or he had some sort of other weapon. He just needs some big honking accessory to polish off the presentation. Either way, for the price and for just the toy on it's own, it's pretty great.

TF Car Robo meet up, wish I could go

【告知】
7/15(日)13：００～都内会議室にてＴＦカーロボオフ会開催します！
カーロボットが好きな方大歓迎です！
お菓子や飲み物、ちょっとしたゲームも企画しています！
よろしくお願いします！！
※今回募集人数が少ないので注意です！
[TwiPla] ＴＦカーロボオフ会 https://t.co/BR3HRZVtzL pic.twitter.com/thiwmokFaG

— テノ@ カーロボオフ会募集中 (@teno_sss7) June 15, 2018

Translation-
  [Announcement] 7/15 (Sun) 13:00 ~ TF Car Robo-off meeting will be held in the conference room in Tokyo! If you like car robots, you are welcome! We also organize sweets, drinks and a little game! Thank you!! ※ because the number of recruitment is small this time, it is attention! [TWIPLA] tf car robo off Kai http://twipla.jp/events/322058