Day 173: Kicker and Highwire

Kicker is a rare example of a featured human character who gets his own toy in the Transformers line. In Energon, Kicker is a 16 year old cyclist who is paired with Highwire, the Autobot dirtbike who is now retooled from his previous Mini-Con incarnation to be in scale with his rider figure. In a convoluted bit of toy history, Kicker is inspired by a modern Microman figure, and the Microman toyline was an antecedent of the original MicroChange toys in Japan that would form a major part of the early Transformers line. There was a version of Kicker released in Japan that is different from the Hasbro US edition, illustrated here, based on modern G.I.Joe designs.

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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