Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Today begins a run of Protectobots, which are Generation One characters ported over to newer toylines as Micromasters. This particular assortment first appeared as part of an Operation Combination gift set in Japan in 1992, but their rendition as Protectobots marked their US debut. First Aid here as few cosmetic differences from the original Sireen toy,  but his Protectobot debut marked the first time this design was available in North America. First Aid turns into an ambulance, and can combine with his fellow teammates to begin Defensor.  

Side Burn is a reuse of a mold that date's back to 2000's Car Robots line in Japan, 2001's Robot in Disguise .  He turns into a Dodge Viper with a hot-rodded engine block. The robot mode wields the car's hardtop as a shield, and the bumper turns into a cross-blow like weapon. This WalMart exclusive was available in 2004. 

It's Prowl... again. The ever-popular Robots in Disguise design gets another redeco, the second so far in the Universe line, as he is reissued in 2004 as a Wal-Mart exclusive. Though he still has police lights on the roof of his Lamborghini Diablo car mode, all other police marks are removed in this version, and instead his car doors have a cool dragon design. He came bundled with an interactive CD-ROM. 

A follow-up to yesterday's pairing of Prime and Prowl, this 2004 Wal-Mart exclusive are redecos of low price-point Robots in Disguise  Spychanger Ultra Magnus and Ironhide. Magnus, a car carrier, is darker in hue, while Ironhide, a Ford F150 Flareside pickup truck, has coloring that resembles the original Trailbreaker toy.

From 2005 comes this pair of toys available as a set exclusively at Wal-Mart - Optimus Prime and Prowl. Both are redecos of low price-point Robots in Disguise "Spychanger" toys, with Prime redone in yellow, and Prowl recast as a "Fire Chief" Chevrolet Caprice. There are so many Prowls in the Universe line.   

A redeco of 1998's Buzzclaw from Beast Wars is Repugnus, a new iteration of a c lassic Generation One "Monsterbot ." Now, he has Buzzclaw's ghastly Fuzor alt-mode, which is some sort of praying mantis / lizard hybrid.  He has an Autobot symbol on his back, though the packaging he was sold in identified him as a Decepticon. He was sold in a two-pack exclusively at Target with arch-enemy Overbite in 2006.

A partner to yesterday's Optimus Prime, this release of Ultra Magnus was also available at Sam's Club  in 2003, and was a slight redeco of the Robots in Disguise release. He turns from a car carrier truck into a very leggy robot. I was gonna draw him holding a rifle but realized his weapon is way too big to draw in this pose. I left it out, so I suppose he's playing air guitar here.

The Transformers: Universe line had only a loose narrative winding through it, its touchpoint being fan club exclusive comics, which described Transformers characters from across multiple continuities being plucked into a single narrative to fight Unicron. That's how you end up with a line that has both an Optimus Primal and an Optimus Prime. In this case, the Optimus Prime is a redeco of the Robots in Disguise "Super Fire Convoy" from 2000/2001 , redone in a bright yellow. This was available exclusively at Sam's Club in 2003. 

Optimus Prime is an excellent source of reliable redecoes -- dip him in black, and you have Nemesis Prime. Dip him in white, and you got Ultra Magnus. That's the case with this Universe release, which is a redeco of Prime from Armada, which also includes Prime's Mini-Con partner Over-Run. Magnus was sold in a "Battle in a Box" two-pack Decepticon Treadshot and Nightbeat , available exclusively at stores like Kohl's. 

A redeco and re-release of an Armada toy from 2002, Smokescreen and his Mini-Con pack-in partner Liftor was part of the Universe assortment in 2004. He was sold in a "Battle in a Box" set, packed with Decepticons Ransack and Refute. This incarnation of Smokescreen, no relation to his race car version, turns into a beefy crane truck of futuristic design. Liftor is a load-lifting type car. 

A redeco of Blackarachnia from Beast Machines, Crystal Widow is an Autobot who turns into a techno-organic spider, complete with spring loaded fangs. She was available in a two-pack with a Decepticon enemy, Oil Slick, in 2004, exclusively at Kmart stores.

Released at retail in 2004 is a three-pack of Autobot Whirl and two pack-in Mini-Cons. Whirl is a character that dates back to 1985, and this new incarnation is a redeco of a 1992 toy, Rotorstorm, that turns into a high-tech helicopter. Since Rotorstorm was never designed to interact with Mini-Cons, the Armada-era redecoes don't really power up the larger toy like they typically would. Gunbarrel (top) turns into a multi-engined cargo plane, while Makeshift is a tilt-rotor helicopter. 

This crowded group shot is the result of a four-pack available in the Universe line in 2004. In the back is Stockade, a blocky treaded artillery bot that is a redeco of the 2001 Vehicon Tank Drone from Beast Machines , now repurposed as an individual Autobot. In front of him with the big horn on his head is Magna Stampede, who turns into a mechanical unicorn. He's a redeco of Battle Unicorn , also from 2001 Beast Machines . In the foreground, left side, is Mini-Con Prowl, part of the Emergency Mini-Con Team from 2003's Armada . And on the left is Terradive, originally part of the Air Military Mini-Con Team , also from Armada 2003.

A large Autobot that turns into a cutting edge experimental jet, King Atlas is an evolution of the Japanese-original character Dai Atlas , but for North American markets. His design is a redeco of what turned out to be a very fragile toy released in 1998, Skyquake. King Atlas was released in the Universe line in 2004.

A redeco from the Beast Wars Transmetal series, the 1998 Depth Charge toy was renamed "Depthcharge" (as one word) as an Autobot in the Universe line in 2004. He still turns into a techno-organic manta ray. According to the Hasbro team, Depthcharge has deliberate Boba Fett colors in his new paint job.  

The mighty beast form of Optimus Primal (first revealed in 1995) gets a revamp with a new redeo and status as Autobot leader. He turns into a technorganic gorilla and was available at retail as part of the Universe line in 2003.

The 1998 Beast Machines toy originally sold as Ramulus is redeco'ed and turned into an Autobot named Longhorn in a 2005 Universe release.  He turns into a bio-mechanical ibex. His majestic horns can detach from his back to form a hand-held weapon. 

The 2001 Beast Machines toy got redeco'ed and was back on toy shelves for the Universe line in 2005. The original had black armor which made the "Night" part of the name make sense; less so the bright yellow and orange reissue. Both had spring loaded pop-out blades that make good on the "Slash" part of the name. He turns into a mechanical cheetah. 

Swerve and Roadhandler are a redeco of Blurr and Incinerator from Armada, with both the Autobot and Mini-Con sidekick redone in a race-car red hue. This two-pack was available at US retail in 2004.

A redeco of the 1995 Cyberjets incarnation of Air Raid , this version of Air Raid also turns into an F-117 stealth jet fighter. He was bundled in a two-pack with Decepticon Wind Sheer in 2003.   

The next redeco in the Universe line is Fireflight, which is a white Autobot version of the previously all black 2001 Vehicon Spy Streak from Beast Machines . Adding value to the toy are two pack-in MiniCons, Firebot (who turns into a crash emergency truck) and Thunderwing (who turns into a stealth bomber). This trio was available in 2004.   

Skydive, released in 2004, is a redeco of the same character / toy originally released in 2000 as part of Beast Machines.  Unlike Triceradon and Striker, Skydive didn't get the "Dinobot" addition to his name. This spindly and highly articulated bot turns into a quetzalcoatlus.

I admit, I love this design because I loved triceratops as a kid. Triceredon turns into an organic triceratops, and is a design that dates back to 1999's Guiledart from Beast Wars Neo. In 2000, it was ported into the Beast Machines line as Triceradon, and in 2004 made its way to the Universe series, with a new deco, and a visible Autobot logo atop the dinosaur's crest. 

Next up in the Universe assortment is another redeco of a Robots in Disguise toy. What was once X-Brawn is now Ratchet, done in emergency vehicle red, white and black coloring. What was a battle blade weapon is now, presumably a terrifying tool of medical science. Ratchet turns into a Mercedes-Benz ML320 SUV and was available in 2003. 

This spindly design was previously used for Prowl in the Robots in Disguise series, but is ported over to Universe with new red and white deco making him a "Fire Chief" Lamborghini Diablo. While that sounds like a description of Red Alert, trademark issues with that name meant it couldn't be used. Instead, Inferno got affixed to this character, a move that was reportedly a mistake too late to fix. There's an elaborate backstory somewhere in the margins that this Inferno is the same crazed ant character from Beast Wars, but I can't follow it. This Inferno came out in 2003.  

A re-release of a 2000 Beast Machines toy, Striker (now renamed "Dinobot Striker") is redecoe'd and turns into an organic stegosaur. He now has an Autobot symbol tucked under the skull on his chest. Dinobot Striker was released in 2003. 

Snarl, originally from the Beast Machines line in 2000, got the repaint treatment and was re-released as part of Universe in 2003, now an Autobot rather than a Maximal. He still turns into a techno-organic lion. 

 With Alternators out of the way, the next phase of drawings will be based on Transformers Universe, a toyline that ran from 2003 to 2005ish consisting of redeco'ed re-releases of previously released toys. In some cases, the reissued toys are meant to be the same characters; in a few cases, the redeco'ed designs were assigned new names and identities. First up is Silverbolt, who turns into a winged wolf. He was originally released in 1998 under the same name as a Maximal Fuzor in Beast Wars . Now repainted to have blue fur, yellow scaling and black feathers, he is an Autobot.