Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

For the 1987 collection, we flip over to the Decepticon side of things with Sixshot, the first Transformer six-changer. The extremely powerful one-bot army could turn into 1) robot 2) tank 3) spaceship 4) laser-gun 5) armored car and 6) wolf. The fiction often plays up his deadliness, with the Japanese cartoon going so far as calling him a ninja (which would be mistranslated in a notorious dub as a "ninja consultant"). Sixshot was available in 1987. 

The final Throttlebot is Rollbar, the team tracker.  He turns into a Jeep CJ-7, and like the rest of his teammates features a pull-back motor that zooms him forward in both robot and vehicle mode. He was available in 1987. 

The Throttlebots added Goldbug in 1987, this was an upgrade of the classic Bumblebee character, maturing him and powering him up so he wasn't so much the Autobots' "kid brother" character. In the comics, this change was facilitated by having the G.I.Joe team blow up Bumblebee! Story continuity is an odd thing in that when Bumblebee came back to toy stores in newer incarnations, it raises questions as to what happens to Goldbug? In the IDW comics, this was sidestepped by having Goldbug and Bumblebee be separate characters. 

From the 1987 assortment is Freeway, Autobot saboteur. His bio notes that he's the team's self-appointed comedian. You know he'd have a podcast. He turns into a corvette. 

The next Throttlebot is Wideload, who turns into a large earthmover dump truck -- not exactly a vehicle that lends itself to speedy pull-back motor play. Wideload was available in 1987. 

Next up in the Throttlebot team is Searchlight, the surveillance specialist. He turns into a white Ford RS200 rally car. Searchlight was available in 1987.   

For the 1987 series, kicking off a run of Throttlebots. The Throttlebots were very simplistic car designs with pull-back motors that allowed the cars to zip about on their own power. To keep this functionality in robot mode, the transform patterns are very simple, with the robot's feet large inarticulate blocks to house the motor. These drawings will take artistic license and separate those feet. First up is Chase, Autobot scout. He turns into a red Ferrari Testarossa. 

And the last of the three Monsterbots is Doublecross (who would later be named the much better Twinferno).  He turns into a double-headed dragon with a buzzing buzzsaw jutting from his breastbone. In robot mode, the dragon heads become his hands. Though the toy had sparking effects, the sparks did not shoot out of the dragon's mouths. Because that would be way too cool. He was available in 1987. 

From 1987, next Monsterbot. This is Grotusque, who turns into a gargoyle / winged tiger creature. 

From the gimmick-laden 1987 assortment comes Repugnus, the first of three Monsterbots. The Monsterbots were a team of Autobots that turned into fanciful monsters, each having some sort of "fire-breathing" sparking action. Repugnus turns into some sort of insectoid monster. 

And rounding out the initial Autobot Targetmaster roster is Blurr, the Autobot courier. He was released the previous year, but this 1987 version is retooled to hold his Targetmaster partner, Haywire.

In 1987, the Autobot old-timer Kup was reissued from the previous year, with slight retooling to make him part of the Targetmaster team. He was paired with Recoil (inset) who turns into his double-barreled laser musket. 

In addition to the three original car designs introduced to the Autobot roster as Targetmasters in 1987, three cars from the 1986 assortment were re-released and retooled to be Targetmasters. This included Hot Rod, the Autobot cavalier. The narrative implication, though, is that Hot Rod -- who earned the leadership of the Autobots as Rodimus Prime in the '86 movie -- would only be a temporary leader and relinquish the mantle the following year. Sure enough, this would happen in the animated series, paving the way for Optimus Prime's return. Targetmaster Hot Rod came with a transforming pistol partner named Firebolt (inset). 

Here is Sureshot (and now the Beastie Boys song is in your head, I hope) and his weapons partner (inset) Spoilsport. Sureshot turns into a high tech (futuristic? Cybertronic?) dune buggy. His name was reused in Europe for a   Generation Two Optimus Prime release that wasn't Optimus Prime . Because he can't, he won't and he don't stop. 

  Next up in the inaugural series of Targetmasters is Crosshairs, Autobot weapons supervisor. He turns into a buggy-type offroad vehicle, and has a weapons parter named Pinpointer (inset). He was available in 1987. 

Beginning a run of Targetmasters, one of the major gimmick groups introduced in 1987. Targetmasters are (in the case of the Autobots) cars that turn into robots, but have a mounted weapon that becomes a handgun that also becomes a smaller companion. In the Headmasters mythology in the US, these partners were organic humanoids engineered to be transforming weapons. In Japan, they were smaller robots.  First up is Pointblank, who turns into a sporty Cybertronian car. His weapon partner (inset) is Peacemaker.  

  Even though all Transformers are robots in disguise, Punch takes it a step further. The Autobot spy turns into a blue Pontiac Fiero, but also turns into a second robot mode: Counterpunch, the Decepticon. That incarnation will get its own drawing posted soon. Punch/Counterpunch was released in 1987. 

The twin, or clone, of yesterday's Fastlane is Cloudraker, his "identical" partner who turns into a jet fighter. He was part of the 1987 assortment of Autobots.

The 1987 assortment was filled with gimmicks, including sets of Autobot and Decepticon clones. The premise was that the robot modes would be "identical", but each twin would turn into a very difficult vehicle or creature. In the case of Autobot clone Fastlane, he turns into a drag racer. In reality, the limits of toy design made it very easy to spot in an instant which clone was which.  

Here is the combined form of all five Technobots, the mighty Computron. He is methodical and calculating, able to analyze probable outcomes to situations at amazing speeds. He was available in 1987. 

  The leader of the Technobots is Scattershot. Like other "Scramble City" combiner teams, the leader is the largest of five 'bots, being sold in a box as opposed to mounted on card. He turns into a high tech Cybertronian space cruiser, and also has a secondary artillery mode. He was available in 1987. 

  The next Technobot is Strafe, the team aerial gunner. He turns into a high-tech, Cybertronic aircraft with two heavy laser cannons for a nose. He was available in 1987.

Though his name could suggest he turns into a star-hopping spaceship, Lightspeed turns into a high tech sportscar. His name might also refer to his computational speed. His listed function is  "data processor." He was available in 1987. 

And the next Technobot is Nosecone. Though his name might suggest a jet or rocket, he turns into a drill tank, with the drill being the 'nosecone' in question. He was available in 1987.   

Beginning a run of Technobots, a high-tech Autobot team from 1987, with Afterburner. Though his name suggests he's a jet, he turns into a high tech covered motorcycle. He is the team gunner. 

Zooming in at supersonic speeds for a well-timed "Um, actually" is Brainstorm, the next in the 1987 Autobot Headmasters. He is the Autobot biomechanical engineer who helped unlock the secret of the 'master' process that would dominate the toyline in '87 and '88. He turns into a Cybertronian jet fighter of some sort. His Headmaster unit (inset) is Arcana. 

The next Autobot Headmaster from 1987 is Highbrow, the team electronic warfare specialist. He turns into a Cybertronian twin rotor helicopter, and his Headmaster partner is named Gort (in inset). This drawing is from 2017. 

The next in the initial line of Autobot Headmasters is Hardhead, Autobot ground assault specialist. He turns into a Cybertronic self propelled artillery tank. Inset in this illustration is his Headmaster component, Duros. He was available in 1987. 

  The core set of Autobot Headmasters were vehicles that turned into robots with human-sized pilots that turned into the robots' head. Chromedome turned into a Cybertronic sports car, and his driver, Stylor (see inset) turned into his head. Once the head is plugged in, you can fold down Chromedome's chest plate to get a readout of some of his "Tech Spec" stats. Chromedome was available in 1987. 

Rounding out the Fortress Maximus set is Cog, who is built out of two vehicles packed in with the city playset, Gasket and Grommet. The   Japanese incarnation   from the Super-God Masterforce line is also named Cog, but his individual components are Onomisu and Koka. The US version of Cog was released in 1987.