Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

  The Air Strike Patrol was a Decepticon team of Micromasters available at retail in a four-pack. This drawing presents two of them: on the left, Stormcloud, who turns into a black and purple Dassault Rafale jet fighter. On the right, Nightflight, who turns into a blue and gray F-14 Tomcat fighter. They were released in 1989. This drawing is from 2017.

The second half of yesterday's Battle Patrol are Big Shot (left) and Flak (right). Big Shot, the patrol leader, turns into a Denel G-6 self-propelled gun. Flak, an anti-aircraft specialist, turns into a TOS-1 Buratino soviet tank. The Battle Patrol came out in 1989. In Japan the following year, Big Shot's design was released as   Gunlift , while Flak came out as   Powerbomb . 

The last two years of the original toyline was filled with Micromasters, since their affordability and tiny size encouraged collecting. The bulk of the Micromasters were available in "Patrols," four packs of robots united by a theme. For the 1989 Micromaster Patrols, I've split them into pairs. So here's the first half of the Battle Patrol, a military themed squad of Autobots. In this drawing is Sidetrack (on the left), who turns into a Roland anti-aircraft missile launcher atop a Marder IFV tank body. To the right is Sunrunner, who turns into an E-2C Hawkeye radar plane. These were available in 1989 and this drawing is from 2017. These toys were released in 1990 in Japan with the same names, but are intended to be different characters. I drew them in 2019:   Sidetrack   and   Sunrunner .

The next Micromaster playset/robot combo to be featured here is Skystalker, a Decepticon who turns into a Porsche 959 sports car. He came bundled with an interstellar shuttle (the Micromaster Jet Command Center) that turned into a battle station. The shuttle included a separate flight pod that he can fly around inside in robot mode. He was available in 1989. 

 Another 18-wheeler truck cab in the proud tradition of Optimus Prime, but in a much much smaller scale -- Overload is an Autobot Micromaster Transport. He turns into blue semi cab that hauls a car carrier. The trailer turns into a "Mach 2" jet fighter that Overload can sit in. He was available in 1989. 

Next in the Micromaster Transports line is Roughstuff, a Decepticon who turns into a military truck cab that hauls a big military trailer. That trailer turns into a jet that Roughstuff can pilot. He was available in 1989.   

Flattop is unique among the Micromaster Transport in that he's not a truck hauling a giant trailer. Instead, this Decepticon is an F4 Phantom jet that came packed with an aircraft carrier. That carrier could turn into an interstellar jet that Flattop can fit into and fly. He was available in 1989. 

The Micromaster Transports were a subseries of Micromaster vehicles with trailers that turn into battle stations. Erector (no giggling) is an Autobot crane truck whose trailer turns into a gun battery. He was available in 1989. 

Ironworks is an Autobot construction engineer as well as an eccentric artist. He turns into a long-nosed semi truck. He came packed in the construction station playset, which turns from construction site with crane into a sensor station with missile launcher. He was available in 1989. 

Airwave is a Decepticon Micromaster that turns into an F-14 Tomcat. He comes packed in a playset that turns from an airport into a missile-packing bunker. He was available in 1989. 

The next Micromaster Station out in the inaugural year of this sub-brand is Greasepit. A monster truck Decepticon, his playset is a gas station that turns into a gunnery tower. He was available in 1989. 

In 1989, the Transformers toy assortment could be split right down the middle: Pretenders and Micromasters. Micromasters were Hasbro's answer to Micro-Machines, the hit toy from Galoob that offered a lot of play value for your buck, and you can get a bunch of vehicles for the price of a single Transformer. So, Transformer-scaled Micromasters dominated the final two years of Generation One. This starts off a series of Micromaster Stations -- small bases that transform into battle stations with a pack-in vehicle/robot toy. Hot House here is an Autobot that turns into an A-10 Thunderbolt plane. His station is a fire house (because fire houses have A-10 Thunderbolts?) that turns into a treaded combat station. 

  Starscream was the lone Decepticon to get the Classic Pretenders treatment, an interesting choice given that he was "dead" in the timeline started by the original animated series. But death is often a temporary inconvenience in fiction. The inner robot turns into an F-15 jet fighter, and his outer shell is a mighty human space warrior. He was available in 1989. This drawing is from 2017. 

The last of the three Autobot Classic Pretenders is Jazz, the Autobot special ops cool cat originally  released in 1984 . The simplified new mold turns into an approximation of a Porsche 935 Turbo, as its more basic shape and transformation scheme skimps on the defining details. His outer human shell is peculiar in that it is a white human male -- Jazz was famously voiced by Scatman Crothers, and it's hard to picture that voice coming out of that mouth. This Jazz was available in 1989. 

The next Classic Pretender is Bumblebee, a major player in the original animated series. This is his first reissue   as Bumblebee   ( Goldbug   was a renaming and, depending on what continuity you subscribe to, possibly a different character), and he still turns into a Volkswagen Beetle. His Pretender shell is an armored human warrior. 

Kicking off a run of Classic Pretenders: these are classic Transformers characters given new toy life as Pretender figures. As these all draw from the early runs, their new "upgraded" Pretender forms are actually smaller and less sophisticated than the toys that inspired them. First up is the classic Dinobot leader Grimlock ( originally issued in 1985 ). As a Pretender, he still turns into a T-Rex (albeit a smaller one), and also has this space gladiator organic human shell. He was available in 1989. 

The last of the three Mega Pretenders is a Decepticon who became a major villain in the pages of the original  Transformers  comics. His inner robot is a pretty basic little 'bot that turns into a spacecraft. It's the outer shell, however, that's the real attention getter. It is some sort of armored alien warrior with a fearsome face that resembles a Japanese oni mask. As a Mega Pretender, this outer shell also transforms, in this case to a larger space ship. So distinctive was his outer shell design that the inner robot rarely made an appearance in the comic. Thunderwing was available in 1989. That same year, in Japan, the body became the basis of the character   Black Shadow .   

Vroom, Autobot saboteur, is one of the Mega Pretenders released in 1989. His inner robot turns into a dragster race car, and his outer human shell turns into a motorcycle. This odd scale - a huge motorcycle and a tiny dragster - works when the two are combined, as the dragster becomes the motorcycle's sidecar. 

Crossblades kicks off a format of figures called "Mega Pretenders," which are more plussed out than the Basic Pretenders, but nowhere near as complicated as an Ultra. The soldier human body extra conceals an inner robot that turns into a dragster. The outer shell turns into a combat helicopter. He was available in1989.

Octopunch is the Decepticon salvage specialist, with an outer Pretender shell that fits the job -- a deep sea diver monster. His inner robot turns into mechanical crab. He was available in 1989.

The comics of the late 80s and early 90s, the only place  Transformers  storytelling was really expanding what with the show off the air, turned Bludgeon into a star. He was one of the basic Pretenders introduced in 1989, with a zombie samurai outer shell that concealed an inner robot that turned into a tank. In the comics, Bludgeon became a key Decepticon leader. 

Stranglehold is a Decepticon Enforcer and part of the second wave of basic Pretenders released in 1989. His outer shell is a human (unusual for the Decepticons), a pro-wrestler inspired gladiator who ends up looking like an oiled up, shirtless Gabe Kaplan. This shell conceals an inner robot that turns into a mechanical rhino. 

Longtooth is an Autobot Pretender with an outer shell that is some sort of walrus alien. He is the Autobot undersea defense specialist. His inner robot turns into an amphibious truck. He was available in 1989.

The next Autobot Pretender has a very strange organic shell: as fitting his name, Doubleheader's Pretender disguise is a two-headed humanoid. He is the Autobot surveillance specialist. His inner robot transforms into a twin-nosed jet fighter. Doubleheader was available in 1989. 

The basic Pretender line from 1989 was slightly smaller (and at a cheaper price point) than the first Pretenders released the previous year. Whereas the first year differentiated the outer shells such that Autobot Pretenders were armored humans and Decepticons were monsters, the 1989 assortment was much less structured. Here is Pincher, Autobot chemical engineer. The armored human shell conceals an inner robot. Combining the shell's backpack with the robot lets it turn into a mechanical scorpion. 

The Decepticon Ultra Pretender released in 1989 is Roadblock, the imposing ground forces commander. His inner robot turns into a small half-track tank. The inner robot can fit into a larger organic Pretender shell, which itself transforms into flying wind cruiser. All of that can fit into a non-transforming vehicular shell, a siege tank with battering ram.   

The Pretenders gimmick introduced in 1988 gets even more complicated the following year with the Ultra Pretenders. Skyhammer here has a small inner robot, which turns into a less-than-convincing car. The inner robot can fit into the outer human shell. New to the Ultra Pretenders is that this outer shell   transforms  as well, in this case into a supersonic hoverjet. And on top of all that, there's a non-transforming outer vehicle shell that holds all of the above. Whew. Skyhammer was released in 1988, and his gold plastic parts have not aged well, making the toy exceedingly fragile.  

The  Pretender Monsters  combine to form Monstructor, the only combiner from the original Generation One run that wasn't available in a collected giftbox. As noted over the past few days, the inner robots of the Pretender Monsters team were released in different colors and with dinosaur shells in Japan to  become DinoForce .  So, by virtue of being made up of the same pieces, Monstructor and  DinoKing  are redecos of each other.

Icepick is the demolitions expert of the Decepticon Pretender monsters team. His crystalline monster shell conceals the inner robot that turns into a mechanical bipedal beast. He was available in 1989. That same year, his robot body was redecoed and received a T Rex dinosaur outer shell in Japan, where he was reimagined   as Goryu . This drawing is from 2017. 

From the Predacon Monsters, this is Scowl. His Pretender shell is a rocky, big-mouthed monster that conceals the inner robot that turns into another type of bipedal mechanical monster. Scowl's body was redeco'ed   in Japan as Doryu , part of Dino-Force. Scowl and Doryu were both available in 1989. 

The next Decepticon Pretender Monster is Wildfly, the team aerial assault specialist. His avian monster shell conceals an inner robot who turns into a mechanical alien bird critter. He was available in 1989. In Japan, this robot body was redeco'ed and paired with a different shell to become   Yokuryu   that same year.