Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Armada has the distinction of finally bringing a toy incarnation of Unicron, the massive enemy entity from the 1986 Transformers: The Movie animated production. Almost 20 years after the fact, toy engineering had evolved to the point of doing the enormous villain justice. Unicron the toy is loaded with articulation, lights and sounds, and a transformation scheme that turns him into a ringed planet. He is covered with connection points for Mini-Cons -- over 25 of them -- meaning you can festoon him with all sorts of sidekicks and captives. He came bundled with Dead End, a "moon" that can fit onto his rings or other fixtures, and also serve as a turret for his planetary mode. With this illustration, that marks the end of my run of Armada drawings, bringing us to 2004 in the brand's history.   

Laserbeak is an unusual toy in the Armada assortment in that it's a 1:1 roleplay scale, like the old cassettes from the original line. While the classic Laserbeak is famously a Decepticon, the Armada Laserbeak is an Autobot. He turns from a bird into a camcorder, and has an in-between weapons mode where a pistol grip extends from the camcorder. 

Perceptor is the combined form of the Street Action Mini-Con Team . Grindor, the skateboard, forms the upper body. Sureshock, the scooter, the lower body. High Wire, the bicycle, forms the head and backpack. 

The last of the three quest-object style weapons showcased in Armada mythology, the Requiem Blaster is the combined form of the Space Mini-Con team . It is the most powerful gun in the universe, but can be deflected by the Skyboom shield . 

 The combined form of the Race Mini-Con Team , the Skyboom is a mythic shield in Transformers Armada lore which pairs quite nicely with the Star Saber for a classic knight look on any 'bot who should wield both. Fabled to be nigh indestructible, it can withstand a blow from the Star Saber. 

The combined form of the Air Defense Mini-Con team , the Star Saber is a weapon wieldable by larger Transformers toys in the Armada line, and also a powerful McGuffin in the Armada mythology. A redeco'ed version of the team -- tainted by the evil of Unicron -- was also released in 2003, and their combined form is known as the Dark Saber. In addition to these Mini-Con teams, Hasbro released  kid-scaled roleplay versions of the Star Saber and Dark Saber. 

Though the Mini-Cons are presented as their own unallied faction, the search-and-rescue nature of the Emergency Team definitely paints them more as Autobot than Decepticon allies. The trio consists of Prowl (left), who turns into a police car of futuristic/Cybertronic designs, complete with high tech-looking translucent plastic parts. In the middle is Makeshift, a tilting twin-rotor rescue helicopter similar to an Osprey. And on the left is Firebot, a crash response truck of futuristic design. Each of these Mini-Cons also has a weapons mode that can be carried by larger Transformers in the line. 

With three competing wingspans, I knew I wouldn't be able to easily fit all three members of the Air Military Mini-Con team into frame, so I cut some corners. In front, closest to us, is Terradive, who turns into an SR-71 Blackbird stealth plane. Tucked behind him is Thunderwing, who turns into a flying wing bomber. Gunbarrel is the furthest back, a multi-engine cargo plane. These three also have "weapons" modes that allow them to be wielded in the hands of larger Transformers.   

Avast, here be the Sea Mini-Con Team, emerging from the brine. This trio of aquatic Mini-Cons was available as a three-pack in 2003. Starting on the left is Waterlog, who turns into a hovercraft. Standing behind him is Stormcloud, who turns into a speedboat. On the right is Oceanglide, who turns into a boat with a large solar power grid 'sail' / missile launcher. 

I've been avoiding, somewhat, just drawing straight-up redecos, but I'm making an exception with the Night Attack Mini-Con team because they're meant to be unique characters, even though they're just the Land Military Team with a stealthier paint job. On the left is Scattor, a missile-firing truck (who is identical in design to Bonecrusher). Sneaking on the ground is Broadside, who shares a design with Knock Out, turning into an armored personnel carrier with a big honking missile launcher. And at the right is Fetch (design match for Wreckage), a tank with two big missile launchers. 

This trio of Mini-Cons consists of designs also released (and already drawn) as pack-in partners with larger Autobot and Decepticons in Armada. From left to right, we have Spiral, who turns into a Mercedes E-class luxury car. This design was also used for Skids-Z, who was packed in with Predacon . Next to her is Backtrack, who turns into a Cadillac XLR luxury car. This design was used for Side Burn, also included with Predacon. The third Mini-Con here is Oval, who turns into a Saleen S7 luxury car. This design is also used for Nightscream, who was bundled with Airazor .

The Space Mini-Con team are designed to interact with one another while also being power-ups to larger bots in the Armada line. From top to bottom in this drawing we have Astroscope, who turns into a sensor-packed satellite. Next is Sky Blast, who turns into a fanciful space rocket. And moving Sky Blast to the launchpad is Payload, who turns into a large transport truck. The three together combine to form the Requiem Blaster, a super-weapon that can be carried by the large scale 'bots in the line.

The Adventure Mini-Con Team happens to consist of designs I've already drawn as pack-in Mini-Cons bundled with larger Transformers in the Armada line. On the left is Ransack, a pickup truck design also released as Cliffjumper . In the middle/back is Iceberg, a snow-tracker design also released as Armorhide . And on the right is Dune Runner, an armed dune buggy, also sharing a design with Ironhide .

This trio of blazing fast race cars consists of (from left) Mirage, a F-1 racer; Dirt Boss, a Volkswagen Lupo rally car; and Downshift, a Le Mans racer. These three can combine into the Skyboom Shield which could be carried into combat by larger Transformers. 

With a name like "Destruction Team," you know these guys are bad news. This trio of Mini-Cons turn into heavy industry vehicles with nasty mechanical implements perfect to tearing roads, woods, or other robots apart. Below, from left to right, is Dualor, who turns into a Gepard anti-aircraft tank. In the middle is Buzzsaw, a bucket-wheel excavator with a massive saw blade. And finally, there's Drill Bit, a tunneler machine with a massive, well, drillbit. 

Make way for these cube-gleaming, curb-hopping, sidewalk-running Mini-Cons. Each turns into a small one-person conveyance of a class far removed from the sports car and armored military vehicles typical of Transformers.  High Wire turns into a dirt bike; Sureshock into a motor-scooter and Grindor is a rocket-boosted skateboard. This trio was sold as a three-pack in 2002-2003. 

The Land Military Team (which seems a needlessly wordy way to 'army') consists of a trio of transforming armored vehicles, each with rocket-launching action. On the left is Knockout, who turns into a six-wheeled APC with spring-loaded missile; in the back is Wreckage, a tank with twin missile launchers that turn into his arms; and on the right is Bonecrusher, a rocket-launching truck. 

Starting a run of Mini-Con teams -- these affordable blister-packed trios of Transformers toys were the key differentiator of the Armada line, meant to drive a "collect 'em all!" mentality as the larger toys unlock extra play features with Mini-Cons plugged in. The Mini-Cons were their own faction, meaning Autobots and Decepticons alike can use them to power up. This first trio, the Air Defense Team, consisted of (from top to bottom), Jetstorm, who turns into a Concorde SST; Sonar, a VentureStar space shuttle and Runway, the Boeing Sonic Cruiser concept jet. All three can combine to form the Star Saber, a powerful blade that can be wielded by larger bots like Optimus Prime.

In much the same way that Optimus Prime and Jetfire can be combined into a superwarrior, Megatron and Tidal Wave can be combined. The end result is a sizeable, if cumbersome, gestalt warrior with combined mechanical and electronic gimmicks unlocked by Mini-Cons.

An impressively large Decepticon, Tidal Wave turns into three battleships -- an aircraft carrier, a double-hulled warship, and a landing craft. His Mini-Con partner is Ramjet, who turns into a jet fighter that fits snug onto aircraft carrier component. Tidal Wave was available in 2003.

Armada Megatron is a hard one to plan for. Just as soon as you've got a layout sketched out, you discover you've not left enough headroom -- those horns and especially those treaded shoulders take up a lot of room! Megatron, Decepticon leader, turns into a Cybertronian tank, with a new look that is quite distinct from his earlier incarnations. He is packed with a Mini-Con partner named Leader-1 -- which feels a bit like Hasbro flexing their ownership of that name's trademark ever since they acquired Tonka and their Go-Bots catalog. Leader-1 was the leader of the good guy Go-Bots, but here he's a Mini-Con buggy with twin top mounted cannons.  I may skip the Galavatron incarnation of Armada Megatron since it's a simple redeco without any new molding. In Japan, this upgraded Megatron had a similarly redecoed Leader-1; in the US, Galvatron's Mini-Con was renamed Clench. 

For years now, Beast Wars and Robots in Disguise used Predacon as the name of a faction, but Armada did away with that. Still, to bolster the popular toyline, Hasbro dipped into Beast Wars molds and brought the 1998 Megatron Transmetal toy back into action, recasting it in new colors and adding Powerlinx mounting points to fit Mini-Cons. It was reimagined as a new character too, with the name Predacon. As bizarre as it may seem fitting cars onto mounting pegs atop a mechanical dinosaur, Predacon came with two Mini-Cons -- Side Burn and Skid-Z, two names recycled from Robots in Disguise. Predacon was available in 2003.

The last of the classic seeker trio redone for Armada, Skywarp bears his familiar black and purple livery in this new, updated form. He sports the same body design as Starscream and Thundercracker, but with some newly retooled components like his head, ailerons and canard wings. His Mini-Con partner is Thunderclash, a little splindly robot who turns into a "Cybertronian gunship." These were available in 2003.

Just like the first set of seeker jets released in 1984, Starscream set the stage for two identical brothers in Armada, using the same molds but with different color schemes. So once again, the blue jet is Thundercracker. He comes with a Mini-Con partner named Zapmaster, who is a redeco of Swindle, the little Indy car racer. 

The ever popular duplicitous snake-in-the-grass Decepticon from Generation One gets an Armada incarnation as Starscream arrives in the 2002 assortment. He turns into a Cybertronic jet fighter, allowing him to adopt outlandish shapes and forms while not breaking the laws of physics. His pack-in Mini-Con partner is Swindle, who turns into a tiny Indy-style race car. 

What Scourge was to Robots in Disguise , Nemesis Prime is to Armada -- an evil clone of Optimus Prime, and an all-black redeco of a previously released design. Like the Optimus Prime released earlier in the run, Nemesis Prime comes with a pack-in Mini-Con spaceship. Whereas Optimus had Over-run, Nemesis has Run-Over. Not exactly subtle. 

A name previously used by a heroic Autobot in the first assortment of 1984 Transformers toys, Wheeljack now applies to a Decepticon in Armada. But, it's not so simple, as the cracked Autobot symbol on his chest indicates -- this Wheeljack has turned his back on his Autobot days. He turns into a sports car with missile-launching gull wing doors that become a winged backpack in his robot mode. His Mini-Con partner is Wind Sheer, who turns into a tiny F-117 stealth fighter. 

Just as the Autobots of the initial Armada assortments had their numbers bolstered by Beast Wars  Maximal redecos, so too did the Decepticons receive reinforcements from the Predacons. In this case, Transmetal Terrorsaur was redecoed in melon-hued colors to become a Decepticon, and had some Powerlinx mounting points molded onto him to support the Mini-Con interaction integral to the new line. His pack-in Mini-Con was Ironhide -- in what seems to be a name use primarily meant to help retain the trademark on an aging brand reinvigorating its classics. This Ironhide bears no relationship to the classic Ironhide , and the name doesn't seem very sensical given that she turns into a dune buggy.  Terrorsaur''s name is much more fitting, seeing as he turns into a mechanical pterosaur.  

The Decepticons have long been known for their jet fighters, and for Armada, that distinction is embodied in Thrust. He turns into a modified Yakovlev Yak-141 Russian fighter plane, and his Mini-Con partner Inferno becomes a firing missile truck. 

Continuing a run of Decepticons from Armada, here's Demolishor, who turns into a futuristic "Cybertronian" tank with massive energy cannons that become his towering shoulder spikes in robot mode. He is partnered with a Mini-Con named Blackout, who turns into a small armored vehicle that slots into a gap in Demolishor's tank mode to make him look a bit more 'complete.' Like all Mini-Cons, Blackout also slots onto the various "Powerlinx" connector pegs on Demolishor's body, in some cases unlocking additional play features.  

Starting of May with a run of the villains of Transformers: Armada, beginning with the reckless Decepticon brute, Cyclonus. He turns into a large helicopter of invented, Cybertronian design with built-in gimmicks that spin his rotor blades. His Mini-Con partner is Crumplezone, who turns into tank as well as a gun pod / cockpit module that blends well into Cyclonus' helicopter design. These two were available packed together in late 2002 for the launch of this new line.