Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Another of the Blentron weirdos from the Japanese Beast Wars line is Latolata, though the Romanization of his name has varied over the years, so you'll find instances of him named Rartorata. He is a redeco (though a bare minimum at that) of Injector, the Fuzor from 1998 . His beast mode is a bizarre chimera of lionfish and hornet. He was available in Japan in 1999.

Drancron here kicks off a run of new 1999 "Blentron" characters from Japan. This was its own faction devoted to the evil Unicron, consisting of redeco's of previously released Fuzor toys. Drancron is a redeco of 1998's Sky Shadow , who I drew back in July, and his beast mode is a bizarre hybrid of lizard and dragonfly. He was available in Japan in '99. 

Today's bot is not a Transmetal, but rather a throw-back to the previous year's gimmick, a Fuzor : It's Windrazor, who is a redeco of Silverbolt . He turns into a wolf/eagle chimera. This Maximal was available as a convention exclusive at Bot-Con '99, and a total of 1,200 figures were made. 

A truly mighty Maximal warrior who, in the animated series, was the result of a fusing of character Tigatron and Airazor. He turns into a griffin-like tiger and hawk chimera and has some of the chromed parts common in the Transmetal 2 line. Tigerhawk was available in 1999. 

Finishing off July with Buzzclaw, a Predacon Fuzor whose beast mode is a bizarre praying mantis / lizard hybrid. His bio lists him as the Predacon saboteur and quick-attack specialist. His toy's paint job and plastic texture gives him the appearance of a bunch of bell peppers. He was available in 1998. 

As much as my own design preference favors the blocky look of Generation One toys, there are some designs from Beast Wars that are just so bonkers that they're a delight to draw. Case in point: Injector. A Predacon Fuzor, he is an ungodly chimera of lionfish and hornet. His robot mode involves wearing a lionfish as a head, with his robot face extruding from the lionfish's mouth. Just wild. Injector had a late name change such that the TV commercial for his toy called him by an earlier name, Aquasting. He was available in 1998.

The next Predacon is a gruesome reptilian warrior named Sky Shadow, a camouflage expert, according to his bio. As a Predacon Fuzor, his beast mode is a nasty hybrid -- a dragonfly with the head of an iguana. He was available in 1998. 

The next Fuzor in the Predacon ranks from 1998 is Terragator, a swamp warrior. As a Fuzor, he turns into a hybrid alligator and snapping turtle, with an armored shell that makes him look a bit like a dinosaur. The shell becomes a shield in robot mode, while his gator tail becomes a rifle. 

Beginning a run of Predacon Fuzors, their main gimmick being that their beast mode is a ghastly chimera of two unrelated animals. Quickstrike turns into a hybrid scorpion and cobra -- basically a scorpion whose tail has been replaced with a hooded cobra head. The toy cobra head has a water bladder for simulated venom-squirting. Quickstrike appeared in the animated Beast Wars series with a triggerhappy cowboy persona. 

Torca is the next Fuzor in the spotlight, another vicious looking 'bot that turns into an ungodly mix of orca and tusked elephant. His bio lists him as infantry general, and describes him as a well-respected and wise commander. He was available at retail in 1998.

Truly a valiant hero if ever there was one, Silverbolt is the most memorable of the Maximal Fuzors as he was afforded a prominent role in the Beast Wars animated series. A shining knight of a warrior, Silverbolt (no relation to the Generation One /Two SST jet ) transforms into a winged wolf. He was available in 1998.   

Hard to believe that so demonic a Fuzor is actually a good guy. Noctorro here turns into a bull-headed bat chimera, which is unsettling enough, but his robot mode's alien face, winged arms and massive horns look downright diabolical. His specialty is listed as airborne warrior. He was available in the 1998 assortment.   

Air Hammer is a Maximal Fuzor whose beast mode is a combination of hammerhead shark and hawk. He was available in 1998.   

Now starting off a subset of Fuzors -- Beast War toys with animal forms that are two animals crossed together that really shouldn't be crossed together. The first Fuzor is Bantor, a cross between a tiger and a mandrill. He's the Maximal jungle warrior and demolitions expert.