Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

The next in the Seacon ranks is Nautilator, underwater excavations specialist. He turns into a mechanical lobster. He was available in 1988. 

From the Seacon forces comes Overbite, who transforms into a legged shark. Overbite is the team undersea terminator, according to his bio. He was available in 1988. His body was redeco'ed in 1998 as part of the Seacon pirate team from Japan, where  he was named Sea Phantom . 

Kicking off a run of the original Seacons with Seawing. The Seacons were a nautical themed group of Decepticons that were originally released in 1988, and then a decade later were redeco'ed as a gang of pirates in the Japanese incarnation of Beast Wars. Here is Seawing, undersea recon specialist, who turns into a robotic manta ray (albeit one with legs). He was reissued in Japan as Terrormander,  who I posted here .

  The next Decepticon Powermaster is Dreadwind, partner to yesterday's Darkwing. The sullen Decepticon air defense specialist turns into a F-16 Falcon jet fighter, with a Powermaster component (Hi-Test, inset) that unlocks the transformation back to robot. Darkwing and Dreadwind have the ability to combine their jet modes into a super-jet named Dreadwing. Both were available in 1988. In Japan, this character was realized as   Buster . 

Starting a brief run of Decepticon Powermasters is Darkwing. Powermasters, you'll recall, have small sidekicks that transform into an engine block that plugs into a vehicle, unlocking its transformation ability. In this case, the Powermaster (inset) is Throttle. Darkwing turns into a Panavia Tornado GR1 fighter jet. He was released in 1988. His toy was released in Japan as a different character,   Hydra , that same year. 

The last of this wave of Decepticon Targetmasters is Spinister, aerial assault specialist. He transforms into an AH-64 Apache helicopter. His Targetmaster partners are Hairsplitter (inset, top) and Singe (inset, bottom). He was available in 1988. 

The next in the line of Decepticon Targetmasters is Quake, ground assault specialist. Quake turns into a Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank, and his Targetmaster partners are Heater (left) and Tiptop (right). 

We start off a run of new 1988 Decepticon Targetmasters with Needlenose. Like the Autobot Targetmasters of this year, the Decepticon ones brandish paired weaponry that turn into Targetmaster partner -- in this case, Zigzag (inset, top) and Sunbeam (inset, bottom). Needlenose turns into an F-16XL fighter plane. 

The last of the initial three Powermaster cars, Slapdash turns into a Formula-1 style race car. His Powermaster component, Lube (inset) plugs into the car's engine block, unlocking its transformational ability. Slapdash was available in 1988. 

The next Powermaster on the Autobot side is Joyride, who turns a Baja buggy. His Powermaster component is Hotwire (inset). Joyride's mold was redecoed to become  Ranger in Japan . Joyride was available in 1988.  

 Kicking off a run of Powermasters, a new gimmick introduced in 1988 that has each robot partnered with a smaller mechanical sidekick who turns into the engine block of the 'bot's vehicular form. The robot cannot transform without the engine "unlocking" that play feature. In the fiction, the Powermaster process juices up the robots to incredible power, making them formidable warriors. In Japan, they're called Godmasters. Getaway is an Autobot escape artist, who in the IDW comics was revealed to be quite a jerk. His Powermaster component is named Joyride (inset). Getaway turns into a Mazda RX-7 FC3S. 

  A follow-up to Sixshot, Quickshot is the Autobot "Six Changer" released in 1988. Not mentioned on the toy or in the animated series, Quickswitch is Sixshot's son, as stated in the TV commercial for the toy. Quickshot turns into a robot, a jet, a drill tank, a laser pistol, a hovercraft and a flying puma. His body design was redecoed to become   Sixknight   in Japan. 

Combining Grand Slam and Raindance creates Slamdance, a robot warrior that adds a new play gimmick to the cassette Transformers. This Autobot was available in 1988. 

Paired with Raindance, Grand Slam is an Autobot microcassette that transforms into a very well armed tank. He was sold in a set with Raindance in 1988. 

From the 1988 line comes some of the last of cassette toys, as already cassettes were fading from the limelight. Raindance doesn't have a robot mode; instead he turns from a blue microcassette scaled to fit inside Blaster   into a blue hoverjet. He was partnered with Grand Slam, who will post tomorrow. 

1988 was very much the year of the Pretenders, as in addition to the standard set of figures as well as the Pretender Beasts, there were also Pretender Vehicles, which got a little more complicated. The outer shell in this case was a non-transforming vehicle, a car that Gunrunner drives, or conceals himself in. Then, either the hatch opens or the whole vehicle opens up to launch the inner robot, which transforms into a jet, a mode fully achieved by connecting with the turret atop the car. 

The last of the three Sparkabots released in 1988 is Sizzle, who turns into a nitro-burning funny car, a suitable mode to showcase the toy's spark-spitting gimmick. His toy was reissued in translucent plastic in 1994 in Europe as part of the Generation Two line, which   I drew here . 

From 1988, the next spark-shooting Sparkabot is Fizzle. He turns into a blue Baja buggy. This body design was used to make Blaze, a Europe-only release in Generation Two done in  a translucent plastic and posted here . 

Starting a line of Sparkabots, a series of small vehicles with pull-back motors that cause "cold" sparks to shoot from the vehicle. Guzzle here turns into a Challenger 1 main battle tank. He was released in 1988. That same year, a repaint of this toy was released in Japan   named Hardspark . 

Partner to yesterday's Chainclaw, today's Pretender beast is Catilla, Autobot surveillance. The inner robot turns into a mechanical saber-toothed tiger, and his outer organic shell is an armored saber-tooth tiger. Catilla was available in 1988. 

The Pretender series had a subset of beasts, on both Autobot and Decepticon sides. Chainclaw is an Autobot ground trooper. The outer shell is an armored brown bear. The inner robot turns into a mechanical bear. He was available in 1988. 

The last of the Triggerbots is Backstreet, Autobot lookout. He turns into a Porsche 962-based Le Mans racing car, with spring-loaded chrome guns that pop into position in both his car and robot mode. He was available starting in 1988. 

The next Triggerbot is Override, who turns into a Suzuki touring motorcycle. His chromed guns flip out of his arms or sides in vehicle mode. He is the team scout of the Triggerbots. He was available in 1998.

Dogfight is the first in a series of Autobot "Triggerbots," small toys that had spring-loaded weapons that pop into combat position in either robot or vehicle mode. Dogfight turns into a Grumman X-29 fighter jet. He was available in 1988.

The last of the 1988 Autobot Targetmasters is Landfill, who turns into Nissan Diesel UD dump truck. His targetmaster partners are Flintlock (seen here on his shoulder) and Silencer (seated on his chest). 

Scoop is an Autobot Targetmaster, field infantry specialist, who turns into a front end loader. Like the other Targetmasters released in 1988, Scoop has two weapons partners, Holepunch (top, inset) and Tracer (bottom, inset) who turn into his weapons and can combined to form a heavy gun.

Switching over to the 1988 assortment, the Targetmasters gimmick continues, but is plussed out with 'double Targetmasters,' where each robot gets two gun partners, and the guns can combine to form a heavier weapon. First up is Autobot chemist Quickmix, who turn into a cement mixer truck. His two pistol partners are Ricochet (top, inset) and Boomer (lower, inset). 

Finishing off the 1988 Autobot Headmasters with Hosehead, a rather Canadian name I gotta say. Hosehead is the Autobot emergency rescue specialist who turns into a fire truck. His Headmaster component (inset) is Lug. 

From the 1998 Headmaster assortment comes Nightbeat, an Autobot detective that has featured in many a noir-inspired comic book mystery.  Nightbeat turns into a Porsche 959. His Headmaster unit (inset) is Muzzle. 

The primary gimmick of 1987 -- the Headmasters -- continued into the 1988 toyline, though the Autobot cars were scaled down slightly. Siren is the Autobot incendiary damage control specialist, and fittingly turns into a fire chief's Mazda RX-7 car. His bio states that Siren is a loudmouth. His Headmaster partner is Quig (inset). 

From the ranks of the Autobot Pretenders swims Waverider, Autobot naval warfare specialist. His outer human shell is well protected to explore the depths of the ocean, while his inner robot turns into a submarine craft. He was released in 1998.