Day 169: Shadow Panther

Wrapping up 1997 comes a toy with a bit of a convoluted history. He was released only in Japan by Takara, at first, and named Shadow Panther. He was a redeco of Cheetor, except as a black panther or jaguar. By 2000, he came Stateside as an exclusive through Hasbro's online store. Originally listed as Shadow Panther, he would be renamed Tripredacus Agent. That's because, in the mythology of the animated series, there was a dark feline like bot who fit that role. The series would reveal that the agent was Ravage, the jaguar cassette from the 1984 toyline and original animated series. It would seem that though Hasbro wanted to highlight the connection, they had lost the trademark on the name "Ravage" and couldn't identify the character by name, only by role.

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.

Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

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