Pretty Mayhem DASH'

 

Somewhere between the running in the sun, shooting fireworks, and pool parties is some unfortunate tragedies. Summer is fun... and scary. Continuing our ongoing look at fireworks and monster Transformers this week is Sparkdash. Those lovable Firecons and Sparkabots we've been talking about also were featured in the Japanese Transformers in Masterforce. The Decepticon Sparkdash were drone foot soldiers similar to the Seacons in this series. The Autobot Sparkdash were toy only, not appearing in cartoon or manga. 

Unlike the G2 versions, the full teams were released in different colors (some characters more than others) and with different names. The Firecons are the only Sparkdash to appear in the fiction. Manga was of course black and white, but on the cartoon, they had the same colors as the Hasbro versions and not their Takara toys. Like other toys of the time, the Masterforce releases came out around the same time as the G1 versions. All the neat monsters in Masterforce help add to it's more unique spot in Transformers history. It's got more in common with more traditional super robot or tokusatsu productions. All those scary monsters  and fireworks sure make for a fun and spooky summer.

Pretty Mayhem Redux

 

To be completely honest, I've always associated bright neon colors with summer. Probably from various water gun fights, pool floats, and various summer time stuff. Weirdly enough, despite being so bright and colorful, there's always been something threatening about neon colors. Probably thanks to their use in various cyber punk, post apocalyptic media, and Halloween costumes.

Following up on our fireworks themed post from last week is a look at the Sparkabots! Sparkabots are one of those weird areas of Transformers that are somewhere between obscurity and urban legend. I've seen a person or two dismiss their existence or disregard them as bootlegs. They are real however, and absolutely fantastic.

European Generation 2 is an extremely interesting time. G1 didn't really end. It just stopped in the States while continuing in other parts of the world. This time of Transformers in Europe is often referred to by some fans as G1.5. In the States, G2 was the relaunch of Transformers after pausing in 1990. During that two year gap in US Transformers, the G2 symbols and branding were used on those European toys... but sold as just Transformers without the additional branding until 1994. Many of these were sold in G2 later on. 

Of course you can't talk about G2 without mentioning the bright neon colors and the reuse of G1 molds in them. That brings us here today. A European market only version of the Sparkabots was released in 1994. In G1, the Autobot Sparkabots were matched up against the scary Decepticon Firecons. However this odd new version of the Sparkabots combined members of those teams to form a new group of Sparkabots. 

Blaze and Sizzle were joined by Flamefeather and Sparkstalker. However this union only existed in name only as the Firecons were still Decepticons. The two different teams were sold under the shared banner with only two members each. Cindersaur did later join his teammates in 2010 though. The toys use the same molds, however now in some amazingly eye searing neon translucent colors. They're quite nice looking, though thanks to the unfortunate issue with translucent plastic aging... finding them in decent shape for a decent price now is a bit of a challenge.  

Art provided with permission by Draconis130

Pretty Mayhem

 

People tend to shoot a lot of fireworks in the summer. They do here anyway. Between Memorial Day and Independence Day, there's a good chunk of the planet getting blown up in some festive displays. I'm not complaining, it's fun to shoot them off and they're pretty to look at. But summer is a spooky season. Remember Silver Bullet?

It's pretty common on Cybertron as well. The Sparkabots, whom shoot festive sparks are often at odds with the Firecons. Decepticon monsters who breathe sparking fire. It's a true yin and yang on the battlefield.  The heroic Autobots vs the evil Decepticons. Valor versus venom... and the prettiest fireworks display.

Bios: Fizzle

Function: Military Strategist 

"Planning a battle is ten times more important than fighting it."

Overloads his circuits with grandiose schemes and cheap fuel. Acts as if his true worth is measured not by what he does, but how much he talks about doing it. If he could run on his own hot air, he'd go forever. In car Mode, leaves trails of flame in his path. Capable of going from 0 to 200 mph in 8 seconds. Prone to stalling on left turns. Possesses superior logistics and geographical data banks.

Sparkabots and Firecons UK commercial

I love Firecons, love them. Though it dawns upon me, I don't have an original Flamefeather. I have just about every new version of him except the original. I have the G2 Redux Cindersaur, but none of the other G2 Firecons. I need to fix this situation.

Weekly Spotlight:Guzzle

It's better to have fought and lost than never to have fought at all.

A battle-hardened survivor of the software wars of Polyhex. His hunger for combat is only equaled by his hunger for fuel. Tough, no nonsense, has few enemies and even fewer friends. He can thread a washer from 2.5 miles with a blast from his plasma cannon. Flame exhaust in tank Mode incinerates on contact. Requires considerable fuel consumption.