Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Another in the line of 2004 KB Toys-exclusive Spychangers is this rendition of Wheeljack, who turns into a Porsche 962 Le Mans-style Kremer Racing 962CK6 race car. This design had previously been released in the 2001 Robots in Disguise line as Daytonus.

Next in the KB Toys exclusive lines of Spychangers is Silverstreak, an homage to the G1 character Bluestreak . His deco is a deep-cut tribute to the original blue-and-silver color scheme that appeared on 1984 Bluestreak packaging and pack-in catalogs, but never made it to the toy itself. Silverstreak turns into a modified Camaro. He is a reuse of a design that debuted in 2001 in the Robots in Disguise line as Side Swipe .

Yet another version of Prowl released in the Universe line, this time a Spychanger-scaled Chevrolet Caprice police car. This Prowl is deco'ed in his classic style, but is a based on Prowl 2, a figure released in the Robots in Disguise line in 2001. This new Prowl is part of the line of KB Toys exclusives released in 2004.

Also part of the 2004 Spychanger assortment initially exclusive to KBToys is this incarnation of Optimus Prime. He's released in his classic colors, but the design is based on a Generation Two toy , and the simplified Spychanger figure itself is a redeco of the Scourge one released in 2002. He turns into a simplified Western Star 4964EX Constellation cab semi truck.

A redeco of an existing Dodge Viper design ( previously released as Side Burn ) done in classic Jazz's livery, Autobot Jazz is a 2003 Spychangers edition first sold exclusively at KB Toys before working its way to other discount chains.

Beginning a run of Spychangers, 1:64 scale cars with free-rolling wheels making them play well with Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars. Like all the Universe line, these are redecos of previously existing toys. In this case, Hoist, is finished in dark green like his original 1985 toy, but his body is a reuse of a 2001 X-Brawn toy.  He turns into a Mercedes-Benz ML320 SUV. This version of Hoist was available at KB Toys starting in 2003. 

The end result of decoupling yesterday's Ape-linq truck from an oversized trailer, turning said trailer into a hulking humanoid form, and plugging the truck into that humanoid's chest cavity is this hefty warrior, Sentinel Maximus. A retooling and redeco of Armada's Overload toy, this toy was intended to be a convention exclusive for OTFCC 2004, it instead became available via mail as part of the fallout of this particular convention partner becoming defunct.

Another convention exclusive -- or rather, a toy intended to be a convention exclusive but it missed the deadline and ended up being mailed to interested parties -- is Sentinel Maximus, which will post tomorrow. Today is a component thereof, this tough little bruiser meant to be an incarnation of Ape-Linq, an earlier released convention exclusive from the Beast Machines era. Ape-Linq (now hyphenated for some reason) is a retooled Mini-Con, previously known as Rollout, but with a new head sculpt that resembles his past ape version. He turns into an armored personnel carrier and truck that hauls the massive trailer essential to the Sentinel Maximus robot. 

Another exclusive to the OTFCC 2003 convention were redecos of the much used and reused design of Robots in Disguise Prowl. Sold separately at the con were Sunstreaker (in yellow) and Sideswipe (in red), preserving their history as brothers and Lamborghini sports cars. 

Shadow Striker and Roulette were a two-pack available as a convention exclusive in 2003 from the Official Transformers Collectors Club. Convention exclusives are typically redecos of existing designs -- in this case, it was Side Burn from Robots in Disguise -- but these toys have a brand new sculpted head, making them distinct female characters who happen to be sisters. Shadow Striker is the one on the left. Roulette is on the right. They both turn into Dodge Vipers with exposed engine blocks. 

Downshift - a clear homage to classic Wheeljack - was re-released as part of the 2005  Universe line, with a paint job slightly different from his original Energon release in 2003 . He was sold in a two-pack with Decepticon Snow Cat exclusively at the dwindling KB Toys chain and their outlet stores. To differentiate the drawing of him I did in 2023, this version has more of a weapons-mode vibe, with his fists retracted into forearms that become cannon mounts, and his shoulders sprouting guns. He turns into a rally car of indistinct make. 

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.

The last of the six Aerialbot Micromasters is Ro-Tor, a very Go-Bot-y name that dates back to Robots in Disguise , though this Ro-Tor appears to be of no relation. His design is a reuse of 1992's Chain Gun , and turns into an Apache combat helicopter. He was initially available exclusively at KB Toys stores in 2007.

Air Raid here is realized as a Micromaster Aerialbot, turning into a B-1B Lancer bomber plane. His design had previously been released as Missile Run in Japan in 1992. This incarnation made it to retail in the US at KB Toys stores initially in 2007 as part of the Universe line, before surfacing in other outlets.

Storm Jet is an unusual name for a space shuttle, and space shuttles aren't ordinarily part of the Aerialbot roster, but this Micromaster team has six slots to fill compared to the original five Aerialbots from Generation One. Storm Jet is a redeco of Raker , an Autobot space shuttle first released in Japan in 1992. Storm Jet first saw release as a KB Toys exclusive in 2007, as part of the Universe line.

The second Skydive to show up in the Universe series, unrelated to the earlier dinosaur version , this one is part of the Micromaster Aerialbot assortment. Oddly the name Skydive denoted the F-16 Falcon in the Generation One Aerialbots, while S ilverbolt was the name of the SST. Now, it's the other way around, with Skydive as a rather generic looking  Concorde SST. Skydive's design dates back to an original Japanese Autobot named Supersonic released in Japan in 1992. This version came out in 2007 at first exclusively at the rapidly dwindling KB Toys chain. 

The next Aerialbot is Silverbolt, who in the original team roster was the leader of the group. Without bios or stories, it's hard to say if that's his role in this grouping. He turns into an F-16 Falcon jet. His original 1992 Japanese release was named Falcon . This version was a KB Toys exclusive starting in 2007.

Beginning a run of six new Micromasters, this time an Aerialbot team that, like the Railbots that preceded them, are re-releases of Japanese toys in the US exclusively through KB Toys. First up is Fireflight, who turns into a Suzhou Su-27 Flanker jet. His original 1992 Japanese release was named Flanker . This version started to make its way to KB Toys in 2007, but by then the chain was rapidly vanishing, so stock ended up in other retail outlets like regional drug and grocery stores. 

The combined form of the previous six Railbot Micromasters is Rail Racer, a towering bot if the trains' real world scale is taken into account. Rail Racer had previously been released as Sixliner and Sixtrain in Japan, but the Rail Racer release is his American debut, exclusively at KB Toys stores in 2005.

The last of the six Railbots is Rapid Run, a Series 100 bullet train locomotive. This design had previously been made available in Japan under the name of Leaf and Raise . This incarnation came out in 2005 as a KB Toys exclusive.

Without any on-packaging bio or animated or comic book stories to give any context, it's hard to say why this Railbot is named Swindle. He does not seem to be a version of the classic Combaticon con-artist from G1, so we're left to assume he's some sort of fast-talking Autobot. He turns into an EF66 locomotive, and part of the Railbot team. This figure was available earlier in Japan under the name Night or Convertor. His Universe version came out in 2005 exclusively at KB Toys.

Midnight Express is basically a reissue of Windy, the train Micromaster from the Japanese toyline. Although it's the same design, Midnight Express is male whereas Windy is female. He turns into a 400 Series Shinkansen train and was available at KB Toys stores in 2005. 

The next Railbot is Tankor, a re-use of a name from Beast Machines, and a re-use of a body originally sold in Japan as Alan and Atlan. Tankor turns into an SNCF TGV Sud-Est high speed train and was available exclusively at KB Toys stores in 2005.

Overload is the second of six Railbots released as KB Toys exclusives in 2004 as part of the Transformers Universe line. Using the same body design as the previously released Japanese toys of San D-Go and D-Go , Overload turns into a very old fashioned D51 steam locomotive engine.

Beginning a run of Railbots from Universe, a series of six Micromasters that turn into Japanese trains, released as a KB Toys exclusive in 2005. This design has been released before, and drawn here, in earlier Japanese incarnations, though Railspike marks his North American debut. Earlier iterations include Desire (1992) and Spark (1991). He turns into a Shinkansen 300. 

The collected form of the previous six 'bots -- the Protectobots merged into their combiner gestalt form of Defensor. To make this agglomeration work, you need a few extra parts that were included in the toy releases of the individual components. This design had been previously released as SixTurbo in Japan in 1992. This incarnation is the 2004 KB Toys exclusive edition.

The last of the Micromaster Protectobots as part of the KB Toys store exclusive series: it's Streetwise, who turns into a Formula One racer. He is a repackaging of an earlier design named Circuit in Japan . This Streetwise came out in the US in 2004.

Next in the series of the Micromaster Protectobots is Red Alert the fire engine, a peculiar use of that name given the more appropriate opportunity to use Hot Spot in this regard - or even Inferno - but it is a marked improvement from the Japanese name of Discharge . Red Alert was available in 2004 exclusively at KB Toys.

 It's another Universe Prowl, this time in Micromaster Protectobot form. This rendition of the classic Autobot cop still turns into a police car, this time an Acura NSX police cruiser. His robot mode has some very literal features of a police officer, including a hat and what looks to be a tie. This is a reuse of the Road Police mold first released in Japan in 1992. Prowl was released in 2004 as a KB Toys exclusive.

This is where trying to map the five classic Protectobot characters onto the six 1992 Japanese Sixturbo characters starts to fall apart. Hot Spot was the traditional leader of the team and turned into a fire engine. In his 2004 Universe incarnation, he's not the leader and turns into a Lamborghini Diablo -- not exactly a rescue vehicle. He is pretty much identical to Neo-Wheel , his original release.

Another in the series of Protectobot Micromasters released as KB Toys exclusives in 2004, Groove is basically a repackaging of the Japanese Glide toy. He turns into a compact city motorcycle of generic design.