Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Continuing the line of inaugural Autobot Pretenders, here is Groundbreaker, ground troop support. His outer shell is an armored human wearing a lion-faced battle suit. His inner robot turns into a Cybertronian race car with a big V-shaped spoiler. He was available in 1988. 

From the 1988 Pretenders comes Sky High, Autobot scout. His outer human wears armor with a bird-like face on its chest. His inner robot turns into a helicopter.

The next in the Pretender line up is Cloudburst, Autobot space defense specialist. His outer human shell is a space explorer, and his inner robot turns into an "interplanetary space cruiser." He was available in 1988. 

The next in the Pretenders line is Splashdown, Autobot naval commander. His outer human shell resembles a deep sea diver, while his inner robot turns into an aquatic hovercraft. He was available in 1988. 

The 1988 line saw the launch of a major new gimmick: Pretenders. The premise was that spacesuited humans (for the Autobots) concealed robots within that would transform into vehicles. This, of course, creates all sorts of scaling dilemmas (a human with a jet fighter inside?) that the fiction sometimes addressed or sometimes ignored. The Pretenders would be a major play feature for the next couple of years of the Generation One line. First up, Autobot asteroid miner Landmine. His inner robot turns into a Cybertronian all terrain vehicle. 

The 1988 series of toys kicks off with Powermaster Optimus Prime, who introduces a new play feature to Transformers. The Powermasters follow on the heels of the previous years' Headmasters and Targetmasters. In this incarnation, the smaller partner turns into an engine block that "unlocks" the transformation from vehicle to robot. In Japan, this play feature was called Godmasters, and was rooted in a different mythology than the US storyline, which at this point was only continuing in comics as the animated series had stopped producing new stories.  Powermaster Optimus Prime is the first new Prime toy since his death in 1986's animated movie, a demise that was undone with his resurrection in the animated series. Powermaster Prime still turns into a cab over engine semi truck and trailer, with his ultimate mode being a combination of truck and trailer into a massive robot. His Powermaster parter (inset) in this release is Hi-Q. In Japan, this toy would be released as  ...

And one final Decepticon from 1987, Counterpunch, who turns into a blue Pontiac Fierro just like the Autobot spy Punch does. That's because Counterpunch is Punch's Decepticon disguise;  a third mode for that particular Autobot . This drawing is from 2017.

The second of two Headmaster Horrorcons is Snapdragon. He has three modes: robot, a sleek jet, and a "dragon." His Headmaster unit, Krunk, (inset) forms both the head of the robot and dragon. He was available in 1987. 

A small subset of Headmasters from 1987 were the Headmaster Horrorcons, triple changers that went from beast, to robot, to vehicle mode. The Headmaster unit forms the robot head as well as the beast head. In this case, Ape Face turns from robot to gorilla, to a Cybertronian jet fighter to a robot. His Headmaster unit (inset) is Spasma.   

From the initial Headmaster collection is Mindwipe, Decepticon hypnotist (hey, it's a living). He turns into a mechanical vampire bat, and his Headmaster unit (inset) is Vorath. He was available in 1987. 

From the initial wave of Decepticon Headmasters, here's Weirdwolf, Decepticon tracker. He turns into a mechanical wolf. His Headmaster unit is Monzo. He was available in 1987. 

Beginning a run of 1987 Decepticon Headmasters. Whereas the Autobot Headmasters were thematically tied as vehicles, with the Headmaster unit being said vehicle's driver, the Decepticon Headmasters were all creatures, with the Headmaster being said creature's trainer. Skullcruncher, the team swamp warrior, turns into an alligator. His Headmaster unit is Grax (inset). 

Here's Slugfest, Decepticon messenger and all-around dimwit. He turns into a micro-cassette scaled to fit into Soundwave, the team communicator. He was available in a two-pack with Overkill in 1987. 

 In 1987, the Decepticons got some reinforcements for their cassette minions that fit into Soundwave, the team communicator. Overkill was half of a two-pack of dinosaur-themed microcassettes, turning into ceratosaur. 

The second of two Duocons is Flywheels. He's the combined form of Phantom II jet and a tank of some sort. Land the jet on the tank, and the two vehicles hook together and spring into robot mode. Flywheels was available in 1987. 

A small subset of Decepticons released in 1987 were the Duocons. These consisted of two vehicles -- one air and one land -- that can be combined to automatically transform via a spring-loaded pop up mechanism into a robot. Essentially, the air vehicle would land on the ground vehicle, usually with wildly exaggerated scale needed to make the combination fit. In the case of Battletrap, an AH-64 combat helicopter lands on a Ford F-150 truck and, sproing, here's Battletrap. 

  The five Terrorcons combine into the massive, monstrous warrior Abominus. As a "Scramble City" style combiner, all four of Abominus' limbs are interchangeable with any other Scramble City type. Abominus was available in a gift set in 1987, or could be assembled by collecting the Terrorcons individually. This drawing is from 2017,

The leader of the Terrorcons is Hun-Gurrr, one of the original characters with the hardest name to get right. He was larger than his teammates, available in a box and not a cardboard backer card. He turns into a double-headed dragon. He was available in 1987. 

Next in the Terrorcon roster is Cutthroat, the team shock trooper who turns into a winged bird beast thing. He was available in 1987. 

The next Terrorcon is Blot, a simple foot soldier whose bio describes him as basically the "Pig Pen" of the Decepticons. He's a filthy mess, which I went to town with in this illustration from 2017. He turns into some sort of original monster design. 

Next in the roster of Terrorcons is Sinnertwin, the team sentry who turns into a double-headed dragon. He was available in 1987. 

And kicking off a line of Terrorcons, a team of "Scramble City" style Decepticons that turn into monstrous beasts, here's Rippersnapper. He turns into an odd, bipedal limbed shark creature. His function is terrorist. He's bad news through and through. He was available in 1987.

Counterpart to  yesterday's Pounce  is his "identical" clone, Wingspan. Unlike his feline partner, Wingspan transforms into a mechanical eagle. Pounce and Wingspan were packaged together and available in 1987. This drawing is from 2017. 

Like the Autobots did in 1987, the Decepticons also got a pair of clones - "identical" robots packaged together that had very different alternate forms. In this case, Pounce turns into a mechanical puma. 

One of the pack-in toys included in the Skorponok city playset is Fasttrack. This Decepticon turns into a six-wheeled armed and armored buggy that is scaled to role down the ramp in Skorponok's city mode. He was available in 1987. 

The leader of the Decepticon Headmasters is the evil Skorponok. He has a Headmaster component that turns into Lord Zarak (inset). The massive robot turns into an equally massive mechanical scorpion, and also has a city-mode. Skorponok was available in 1987. 

Finishing off the 1987 Decepticon Targetmasters is Scourge, a reissue of the Decepticon tracker first released the previous year, but now with tooling that allows him to carry Fracas, his gun partner (inset). Scourge still turns into a space-faring ship. 

Filling out the ranks of Decepticon Targetmasters of reissues of the two "jets" released in the previous year, but with slight retooling to allow them to mount the Targetmaster weaponry. This means  Cyclonus  was back on shelves in 1987, but now packed in with Nightstick his Targetmaster weapon (inset). This drawing is from 2017.

From the Decepticon Targetmasters comes Slugslinger, and his pistol pal Caliburst (inset). Slugslinger turns into a twin-cockpit space jet fighter. He was originally released in 1987. 

And from the1987 Decepticon Targetmasters, here's Misfire. His gun partner (inset) is Aimless. As you can surmise, accuracy is not his strong suit. He turns into a zoomy Cybertronian jet. 

Beginning a run of Decepticon Targetmaster jets with Triggerhappy. He turns into a blue sci-fi inspired Cybertronic jet and comes with his gun partner, Blowpipe (inset). He was released in 1987.