Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Hook, Constructicon surgical engineer. He was released in 1985. Turns into a crane truck.

 Bonecrusher, one of the original Constructicons released in 1985. He turns into a bulldozer. 

Scavenger, one of the Constructicons released in 1985. He turns into a steam shovel.  

Mixmaster, the Constructicon materials fabrication expert. This mad chemist turns into a cement mixer and was released in 1985. 

Continuing my chronicling of the 1985 US line  with Scrapper, leader of the Constructicons. He turns into a front-end payloader.   

This is Long Haul, the Constructicons materials transport specialist released in 1985. Though commonly described as a dump truck and assumed to be in scale with the rest of the Constructicons, a closer look at Long Haul's design reveals him to be one of those enormous earth mover trucks. To that end, I embellished this drawing with those catwalks that line those massive trucks. 

Jetfire, Autobot air guardian, an impressive toy when released in 1985. Jetfire gave the Autobots some much needed air support. Rather than import a Takara design, Hasbro brought in a beautiful Takatoku toy design of the Valkyrie jet from the Macross anime series. It made for a beautiful toy, but came with some complications to the storyline. Jetfire was absent from the Japanese toyline, since the toy represented another property. To better allow for the animated series to air in Japan (or so the story goes), Jetfire's design was radically altered in animation and, for some reason, he was renamed Skyfire. All of these business and IP shenanigans were lost to kids in 1985. They just wanted a cool toy.

Red Alert, Autobot security director, turns into a fire chief car of what must be a very well funded fire department, since his car form is a Lamborghini Countash LP500S. 

Grapple, Autobot architect, turns into a Mitsubishi Fuso crane truck, and shares a similar body design to Inferno. He was released in 1985 as part of the second series of Autobot cars.

From the first batch of drawings is this pencil sketch of Smokescreen, Autobot diversionary tactician. Like Prowl and Bluestreak, he is a Datsun 280ZX, but with a rally car finish. Smokescreen came out in 1985.  

Skids, Autobot theoretician. He turns into a Honda City Turbo mini-van. He came out between the first and second waves of toys, in late 1984 and through 1985 before being discontinued in '86. 

From 2017 is this pencil sketch of Tracks, Autobot warrior. In the cartoon, he was voiced by Michael McConnohie with a tightly clenched Thurston Howell III-type snobby accent. He turns into a blue Corvette Stingray.

Inferno turns into a Mitsubishi Fuso fire engine truck, and was part of the second series of Autobot cars released in 1985. I've drawn his   Generation Two incarnation here , as well as   Artfire, a Japanese-exclusive figure based on his design here . 

Hoist, Autobot maintenance specialist. He's from the 1985 assortment of cars, and turns into a Toyota Hi-Lux pickup truck with a customized bed that makes him a tow truck. He shares a body design with 1984's Trailbreaker, but has a deep green finish.   

This drawing is Cosmos, tumbling through space. He is the Autobot communications and recon specialist. He transforms into a classic UFO.   

From my 2017 drawings is Beachcomber, Autobot geologist. Part of the 1985 wave of Autobot mini-vehicles, he turns into a sandrail-style dune buggy. I had posted  his Generation Two drawing here .   

Powerglide, Autobot air warrior. He turns into an A-10 Thunderbolt attack plane, and is scaled with the mini-car/mini-vehicles. He was initially released in 1985. 

Seaspray, Autobot naval defense. He was part of the 1985 wave of toys, when the Autobot mini-cars diversified to include other vehicles. Despite the small size of his toy, the detailing on his body suggest he is a truly massive hovercraft when transformed.   I drew and posted his Generation Two incarnation in 2019.  

Here's Warpath, Autobot warrior. Illustrated in 2017, this represents the 1985 mini-vehicle-scale toy. Warpath turns into a General Motors M551A1 Sheridan ARAAV tank. In the <BLAAM!> cartoon, Warpath <KaPOW!> had a very peculiar way of <ZOWEE> talking.   

Released in 1985, Omega Supreme was a big battery-powered playset that turned from a motorized tank that circled a track around a rocket launchpad that turned into a big chunky robot whose motorized treads made him waddle-walk into action. 

Twin Twist, the other Jumpstarter available in the line in 1985. Like Topspin, Twin Twist has a pull back motor that scoots him forward in vehicle mode (a drill tank) that then pops open into robot mode. Twin Twist's design made its way to international territories in different colors as Salt Man-Z,   who I drew over here .

Here's Topspin. He's one of a pair of Jumpstarter figured released in 1985, whose central gimmick is that they had a pull-back motor in their vehicle form that drove them forward until they hit a certain distance, and then they'd spring up, automatically turning into their robot mode, and land on their weighted feet. Topspin turns into some sort of aquatic / futuristic vehicle. His specialty is listed as air and sea assault. The Jumpstarter body molds were some of the most commonly reused ones in the bootleg market. They also found their way as unique international editions, like  Salt-Man X  and Robot Man X in South America.  

This drawing is of Blaster, Autobot communicator. He turns into a ghetto blaster-style tapedeck, and had an opening cassette compartment that could fit microcassettes, much like Soundwave did. Blaster came out in 1985, and would not get any Autobot microcassette companions until the following year. 

Today also concludes the run of original Dinobots. This drawing is from 2017. This is the 1985 release of Slag, Dinobot flamethrower, who turns into a triceratops.

And from the first batch of drawings in 2017 is this Generation One rendition of Snarl, Dinobot desert warrior. I think I was going for stoic barbarian with this pose. He turns into a stegosaurus. He was available in 1985.   I drew his 1993 reissue here on January 16 , 2019 . 

Grimlock, Dinobot commander. He turns into a T-rex, and was released in 1985. 

Here is Swoop, Dinobot bombardier. Part of the 1985 Dinobot assortment, Swoop transforms into a pteranadon, and gave the Autobots some much needed air support. 

From my early 2017 drawings is Sludge, the Dinobot jungle warrior. Originally released in 1985, Sludge transforms from a brontosaurus to a robot. His dinosaur mode has the classic -- and now outdated -- attributes of early sauropad drawings, like a droopy tail that drags behind it.