Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Next in line of the Universe -era Constructicon Micromasters is Bonecrusher, who is a redeco of 1992's Crush-Bull. Turns into a bulldozer. Available first at KB Toys starting in 2004. Bonecrusher is one of the best Transformers names. I appreciate that Michael Bay named one of his dogs this.

Next up in the Micromaster Constructicons is Scavenger, a redeco of Digger from Japan . He turns into an excavator truck. Scavenger was available initially in 2004 at KB Toys.   

Quickmix is the Universe incarnation of Mixmaster, a name presumably not available for trademark reasons in 2004. This version of the character is a Micromaster released at KB Toys starting in 2004. He is a redeco of a 1992 Japanese-exclusive Autobot Micromaster named Mixer.  He, of course, turns into a cement mixing truck.

Beginning a run of Micromaster-scaled Constructicons, initially sold exclusively at KB Toys in 2004. These Constructicons were redecos of "Operation Combination" Autobots sold in Japan in 1992, but now done in the familiar yellow-green and purple of the old G1 villains. Buckethead most likely was named this way due to the name "Scrapper" not being able to be trademarked at the time. She turns into a front-end payloader. She had no bio, and wasn't revealed to be female until a fan club short story in 2016. 

Another multi-pack available as a Walmart exclusive part of the Universe line, the yellow and butterscotch-colored jet Sunstorm figures prominently. He is a redeco of Armada Thrust , and as such comes packed with Thrust's Mini-Con partner, Inferno, who turns into a missile-firing tank. An unusual pack-in is Perceptor, an Armada -era Mini-Con combiner of Grindor (skateboard), High Wire (bicycle) and Sureshock (a scooter) who is a bad guy this time around. This set was available in 2004.

As promised yesterday, here's the combined form the five 'bots included in the Ruination boxed set as, well, Ruination. As per design, the limb components of Ruination are swappable among the four smaller toys (and can be mixed and matched with other so-called "Scramble City" combiner toys). For this illustration, I put the flyers as the legs, counter to what is usually deployed.  

I've drawn these guys so many times. Either as Combaticons or Combatrons or Commandos, their designs have been marched out over the years. In 2004 they were sold as a gift set containing all five team members, exclusively at Walmart. As illustrated here, the team consists of (clockwise from top left): Movor the space shuttle, Armorhide the tank, Rollbar the jeep, Ro-Tor the helicopter, and in the middle, Mega-Octane the missile transport truck. These guys of course merge to form Ruination, but that's tomorrow's post. 

A Toys R Us exclusive boxed set from 2004 collects Ramjet, a Decepticon jet with all sorts of electronic bells and whistles which is a redeco of Armada Skywarp. He comes backed with a quartet of Mini-Cons, clockwise from top right: Gun Barrel, Terradive, Thunderclash and Thunderwing.  

The combined form of the previous four Constructicons is Devastator -- which is a redeco of Landfill/Build King from Robots in Disguise . Bonecrusher always forms the torso, but Scavenger, Long Haul and Hightower can swap places to be limbs, with their various add-on bits forming weapons or extra manipulators. This was available in 2006 from two sets of Target-exclusive two-packs.

Two more wild and crazy guys for the Universe Constructicons: Scavenger (left) and Bonecrusher (right), redecos of two Autobots Build Team bots from Robots in Disguise. Scavenger turns into a steam shovel, and Bonecrusher into a bulldozer. They were available in a two-pack exclusively at Target stores in 2006.

Beginning a run of Constructicons that are actually redecos of the Autobot Build Team from Robots in Disguise. First up is Hightower (left) and Long Haul (right) who were sold as a pair exclusively at Target stores in 2006. Hightower is the Universe -incarnation of Hook, who turns into a crane truck. Long Haul is an earth-moving dump truck. 

Borrowing a name from a Generation One Seacon, Overbite in the Universe line is a slight redeco of a Japanese Beast Wars toy, Hellscream . He sports a Decepticon symbol now, and still transforms into a bio-mechanical shark. Overbite was sold in a two-pack with Repugnus as a Target exclusive in 2006.

Nemesis Prime, the dark mirror version of Optimus, returns in the Universe line by appearing as an all-black deco of Big Convoy , a Japanese-exclusive toy from the Beast Wars Neo line that turned into a woolly mammoth. This would have been the first time this particular 1999 design was available in the US, as a Target exclusive in 2004.

Ransack is a redeco of an Armada -line toy. What was once Hoist is done in Decepticon purple. He still turns into a large treaded power shovel excavator. He comes with a Mini-Con named Refute, whose name is unchanged from the Armada release. Refute turns into some sort of pincer-equipped vehicle. These two were bundled together with Smokescreen and Liftor and sold as a set in 2004.

A very basic redeco of yesterday's Oil Slick (or vice-versa, I'm not sure who came first), Treadshot has his name emblazoned on his car hood and some racing stripes, making it easier to identify the visually similar toys. As a redeco of an Armada design, Treadshot comes with a Mini-Con partner, his name unchanged, as Nightbeat who turns into a motorbike that can deploy Treadshot's car mode. Since yesterday's drawing favored the larger 'bot, I figured I'd give Nightbeat the spotlight here. This pair was included in a multi-pack boxed set that pit them against Ultra Magnus and Over-Run . 

Packed with Crystal Widow as part of a two-pack available at Kmart in 2004 , Oil Slick is a Decepticon. He is a redeco of Side Swipe, an Autobot from the Armada series . Oil Slick turns into a Nissan Sedan. The Armada version came with a Mini-Con named Nightbeat, who is included in this set too but doesn't get a name - this tiny motorbike is just known as Search and Destroy Robot. 

Another two-pack in the Universe line, but this time with designs drawn from disparate collections. Space Case, the foreground figure, dates back to the Generation 2 1995 Cyberjets line , and he turns into a Suzhou Su-47 Berket jet. He is paired with Soundwave, in this case a redeco of his 1997 Machine Wars edition  which turns into a futuristic missile carrying tank. This pairing was available in 2004.

A pair of Vehicons from the 1999-2000 Beast Machines line got reduced and paired together into a Universe two-pack in 2003. Tankor (left) turns into, well, a tank, while Obsidian (right) is a twin-rotor assault helicopter. 

A very well-used name in Transformers , this incarnation of Razorclaw came out in the Universe line in 2003.  It is a redeco of the Maximal warrior Tigerhawk released in Beast War s in 1999. Now with a black coat, its beast mode is less of its original winged tiger and more of a panther or leopard. The toy has a molded Maximal symbol in its chest, despite it being specifically described as a Decepticon. I took a bit of artistic license in replacing it for this illustration.

The Blastcharge that shows up in the 2005 Universe line is a redeco of the toy that debuted in the 2000 Beast Machines line , but rather than be a Vehicon, he's a Decepticon in this incarnation. He's rendered in darker hues, with a skull-like deco on the hood of his vehicle mode, which is a six wheeled combat vehicle. 

This unsightly jumble of animal parts and robot bits is Frostbite, released as a Decepticon in the Universe line in 2005. But the look of this design is extremely 90s, because it's a redeco of 1999's Beast Wars toy Jawbreaker . He turns into a cyber-organic hyena. 

A toy design that has shown up several times originally crafted for the 1995 Generation 2 line (where it debuted as Cyberjets  Hooligan and Jetfire ), it was repurposed for the Universe series as Wind Sheer (and yes, with that spelling). It was available in 2004 in a two-pack with Air Raid . Wind Sheer turns into a Lockheed-Martin YF-22 Raptor swing-wing jet. 

A 2005 redeco and re-release of a 2001 Beast Machines toy , Nemesis Strika is now a Decepticon in the Universe line (she was a Vehicon back in the older series). She turns into a six-wheeled armored assault vehicle. 

Another Beast Machines design reissued in classic Generation One colors for the Universe series, this incarnation of Skywarp uses the tried and true Jetstorm mold  in black and purple. He turns into a Cybertronic jet. Skywarp was available at retail around late 2003 / early 2004.

A redeco of the Blackarachnia Beast Machines figure from 2000 , this 2003 release turns her from a Maximal to a Decepticon, and casts her in a dark purple and orange finish. This design would also become the basis of the Autobot Crystal Widow, who was posted here in February . As expected, she turns into a techno-organic spider.

Switching gears to the Decepticons of the Universe line, a mix of repaints from earlier toylines. First up is Reptilion, who is a redeco of 1999's Iguanus (Transmetal 2) from Beast Wars . Reptilion turns into a bio-mechanical frilled lizard. He was available in 2003.

A very strange entry in the Universe line, from 2008 -- years after the line ostensibly ended. The only thing that makes this a Universe toy is the use of the logo on the instructions. There's no indicator of what line it is on the box, because there was no box. This toy was made in partnership with Chevrolet, and apparently they own the rights to the design. It was only available in 2008 through the Chevrolet website but only in Switzerland or the United Arab Emirates. Then in 2009, it appeared as a Chevy promotional item in malls in Canada. Weird. Swerve turns into a Chevy Aveo LT.

The last of the KB Toys Spychangers from the Universe line, Mirage turns into a Lola T94 Indy race car, with a translucent finish. This design dates back to 1995, where it was part of the Generation 2 line up as both Double Clutch and Mirage . This version hit retail in 2004.

Another Hoist? Yes, the second in this assortment of KB Toys-exclusive Spychangers, this time turning into a translucent Ford F150 Flareside truck rather than the earlier SUV version . This design had previously been used as Ironhide in Robots in Disguise , Ironhide in Generation 2 , and Motormouth in Generation 2 .

This version of Camshaft has a translucent finish, making him look very 90s for a toy that came out in 2004. His design dates back to the Generation 2 days (1995), used for a couple of characters there as well as W.A.R.S. in Robots in Disguise . He turns into a NASCAR Ford Thunderbird stock car.