Skip to main content

Day 280: Pincher

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. 






Popular posts from this blog

Day 79: Superion (Universe)

The combined form of the Universe Micromaster Aerialbots is Superion, an amalgamation of six robots plus their pack-in accessories that serve as connectors, head, and extremities of the gestalt warrior. While in Japan, the original source of the design ( Sixwing , 1992) was available in a collected set, this combiner needed to be purchased one bot at a time in the 2007  Universe release.

Day 251: Mad

The last of the Air Assault Micron Team trio is Mad, who turns into a Concorde SST. A design that's been used several times already -- see Jetstorm , Scattor , Thrust , Mach , and Quantum -- this version has some of its plastic parts in a translucent finish, giving it a high tech feel. Mad was available in Japan in 2003. He was later rechristened "Skull Buster" in Fan Club-generated lore.

Day 26: Nemesis Prime (Alternators)

Nemesis Prime, an evil twin to Optimus Prime first introduced in the Armada line, gets the Alternators treatment, allowing a reuse of the Dodge Ram SRT-10 design. In the North American market, this toy was only available at the Hasbro Toy Shop and at San Diego Comic-Con International in 2006.