Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Another of the Hellflame Microns, Quasar is a redeco of a design seen several times already: Prowl , Universe Prowl , Kingbolt , Checkpoint , and Groove , for instance. He turns into a Cybertronian car and was available as a promotional giveaway at select Japanese stores in spring of 2005. 

Beginning a brief run of Hellflame Microns, a trio of redecos of the Armada Emergency Mini-Con Team ,  also the basis of many other Mini-Con reissues. Bulge -- whose name is a head-scratcher -- turns into a double-rotor Osprey-like helicopter, and has been drawn here in earlier incarnations from other lines . Bulge was available in both a white and gray version at participating stores in Japan in 2005 as a free-with-purchase promotional giveaway. 

The last of the Megalo Micron trio released in Japan in 2005, Zigzag was available as a promotional giveaway at certain affiliated stores in October of 2005. A redeco of Armada Buzzsaw, Zigzag turns into a bucket-wheel excavator.

Megalo Zapmap is a redeco of Dualor, from the Armada Destruction Mini-Con team. He was available exclusively Joshin Denki stores in Japan in September 2005 as a promotional giveaway, and part of the Galaxy Force line. He would later be rechristened as Repeater by the 2005 Fan Club. Megalo Zapmap turns into a twin-barreled anti-aircraft tank with cannons that retract when the gear-wheel on his chest / tank undercarriage is rolled.

More retail exclusive promotional giveaways available only in Japan: the Megalo Micron Team was a redeco of the Armada Destruction Mini-Con team, but split into individual releases rather than sold as a trio. Megalo Gritbit is a redeco of Drill Bit, and turns into a tunneling machine. He was available starting September 2005 in Hello Mac stores. He would be christened Rock Krusher in by the Fan Club in 2007. 

The last of the Caliber Micron trio is Mugen, who turns into a sleek stealth jet not dissimilar to a SR71 blackbird. She is a redeco of the frequently used Armada Terradive Mini-Con design . She was available exclusively in Japan as a promotional giveaway at participating stores in July of 2005.

Hyakurai is a redeco of the frequently used Armada  Gunbarrel design , released as part of Galaxy Force.  Hyakurai turns into a cargo plane with big drum-like engines slung from wide wings. Hyakurai was available exclusively at select stores as a promotional giveaway in Japan in 2005. 

Caliber Ichibi is a redeco and slight retool of the Armada Thunderwing design. Rather than have the Mini-con Powerlinx socket at the center of his abdomen, he instead has a peg that allows him to be used as a handheld weapon. Caliber Ichibi turns into a stealth fighter. He was available as a promotional giveaway at certain stores in Japan in 2005 as part of the Galaxy Force series.

Another limited edition Japanese redeco, Fang Wolf is the Japanese incarnation o f Snarl from Cybertron . The Black Version, as stated, is an all-dark deco released in 2005 as part of Galaxy Force. He turns into a mechanical wolf. 

In Japan, the character of Arcee from the Energon series was named Ariel in Super Link. A limited edition version of the Omnicon motorcycle figure was redeco'ed in 2004 as Ariel Paradron Type, with a green and white finish that is a deep cut reference to a single 1986 episode of the original animated series. 

The combined form of the Toys R Us giveaways Accel , Screw and Throttle is Windcharger, whose design has been seen here before several times ( Perceptor  and  Frenzy , for instance). Was never sold as a set -- you had to assemble it from the other giveaways. 

Throttle -- sometimes called X-Throttle -- joins Accel and Screw as a promotional Toys R Us giveaway in Japan. In 2004, if you bought more than 2,000 yen worth of Super Link toys, you might get a Throttle giveaway. Throttle turns into an ATV quad vehicle, and had translucent plastic parts for a high-tech look. 

Screw is a redeco of Grindor from Energon , a Japan release as part of Super Link , rendered with translucent plastic bits. Screw was available as a promotional giveaway with purchases of Omega Supreme  in 2004 at Toys R Us. 

Accel -- sometimes rendered as Axel -- is another redeco of the  Energon High Wire design , this time for the Japanese Super Link series. A very limited promotional toy, Accel was available as a giveaway at Japanese Toys R Us stores in 2004, free with purchase of over 2000 yen of Super Link products. Accel turns into a dirt-bike, and has some translucent plastic finishes for a high-tech look.

Inferno Volt was released in Japan as part of the  Super Link series, that country's incarnation of the Energon series. In the US, this design was presented as a distinct character named Roadblock , whereas in Japan, this was an upgraded / modified version of Inferno. Indeed, it is a retooling of the Inferno toy. He turns into a crane truck and was released in 2004.

Another soldier from the Super Link line, Chromhorn Gentei Forest Type is a redeco of Energon Insecticon . Part of the Terrorcon ranks, the Chromhorn drones turn into a mechanical rhinoceros beetle. This toy was available in Japan in 2004.  

In the Japanese Super Link line, Dinobot is an incarnation of Energon 's Cruellock , but presented as a generic drone in the Terrorcon ranks. The "Magma Type" denotes its fiery black and red deco. Turns into a kaiju-style mechanical lizard. Dinobot Gentei Magma Type was available in Japan in 2004.

In the Japanese Super Link line, Energon Divebomb was released as Shadowhawk in 2004. That same year, Japan also released Shadowhawk Gentei Cosmo Type, a drone soldier in dark blue finish that turns into a mechanical hawk. 

Kicker is a human sidekick in the Transformers Energon line, released in Japan in 2004 as a stand-alone figure packed with a non-transforming version of the Energon Sword. This Super Link of the toy is based on a 2003 Microman design. In the US, this character was a unique design based on the then-current G.I.JOE styling and packed with High Wire.  The Japanese toy version of Kicker is notorious for being extremely fragile.

Moving beyond the Legends of the Microns exclusives, I'm switching over to Super Link, which was the Japanese incarnation of Transformers: Energon. This was Takara's version of the Hasbro release , which has the same design, but the Japanese version is smaller and has show-accurate colors. He turns into a Cybertronic jet and was released in Japan in 2004.

When drawing the Micron Boosters, I realized that somehow, during my illustration of the Armada series in 2023, I never drew the original Corona Sparkplug. He was a vac-metallized golden redeco and retooling of Sparkplug, turning into a Cybertronian sports car. He was included as a pack-in with the Powerlinx Optimus Prime release of 2003. So, this illustration corrects that oversight.

Since Legends of the Microns had a number of combiner Mini-Con teams redeco'ed and reissued as Japanese originals, their combined forms are also unique. So here are the combined forms of the Air Assault Micron Team ( Mad , Shade and Jack ) as the Vorpal Saber, and the Cosmic Exploration Team ( Mir , Apollo and Move ) as the Astro Blaster. 

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.

Also part of the Air Assault Micron Team, Shade turns into an VentureStar concept shuttle. A design that saw quite a bit of reuse over the years, Shade is the Japanese Legends of the Micron version of Sonar , but with translucent plastic elements to give him a bit more of a sci-fi feel. The Air Assault Micron Team was available in Japan in 2003. His name would be anglicized/ret-conned to Maverick years later.

Jack -- no relation to the Micron Booster also named Jack -- is the Japanese redeco of Runway. This design has been used many times , with this particular incarnation being exclusive to Takara's Legends of the Microns line in 2003. Jack (later known as Jackknife in Fan Club fiction) turns into a Boeing Sonic Cruiser concept jet and is finished with some translucent plastic parts.

The last and most grounded of the trio of the Cosmic Exploration Team -- the Japanese Legends of the Microns  renaming of the Armada   Space Mini-Con Team -- is Move. Move (known to US collectors as Payload) turns into a heavy transport truck. Available in Japan in 2003, Move was not established to be a distinct character from Payload in the narrative until 2015. 

Next in the astronautical themed Microns is Mir, the Japanese moniker of Astroscope from Armada's   Space Mini-Con Team . This release, part of  Legends of the Microns,  came out in Japan in 2003, but wasn't established to be a separate character until 2015. Mir turns into a space telescope / satellite. 

Apollo was the name given to the Japanese release of Sky Blast, a Mini-Con originally released as part of Armada' s Space Mini-Con Team . This release, part of Legends of the Microns, came out in Japan in 2003, but wasn't established to be a separate character until 2015. Apollo turns into a multi-thruster space rocket similar to the Soviet Vostok. 

Next up in the 2003 Japanese-exclusive Mini-Cons (or Microns) is Wheel, which was the Japanese name for Buzzsaw, part of the Destruction Mini-Con team in the domestic Armada line. He turns into a bucket-wheel excavator, and was established as a separate character in an online post in 2015.

Starting off September with Duster, the Japanese incarnation of Dualor from the  Destruction Mini-Con  team.  He was established to be a separate character in an official online post in 2015, though the toy was first released in Japan in 2003. Duster turns into a Gepard anti-aircraft tank.