Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Next in the line of Robotmasters from Takara is Beast Megatron. This is a new sculpt in homage to the first dinosaur incarnation of the Predacon leader from Beast Wars, except this version is scaled to about four inches tall and bears a Decepticon insignia. Released in Japan in 2004, Beast Megatron turns into a purple Tyrannosaurus rex. An all-black version was available the following year exclusively through mail order from Hyper Hobby magazine. 

The last of the 2007 Micron Boosters, Chromebite was a chase figure, packed -- at most -- once per case. A Predacon, he is a redeco of Gnashteeth and turns into a mechanical Tyrannosaurus rex, but finished in a shiny dark purple chrome finish. 

Ironlunge is the seventh of the Micron Boosters available in Japan in 2007, sold in blind-box packaging. If his name is a play on "Iron Lung," then bravo. A Predacon, he turns into a mechanical triceratops. He is a redeco of  Classics  Mini-Con Knockdown. 

Reptix is the sixth of the Micron Boosters available in Japan in 2007, sold in blind-box packaging. A Predacon, he turns into a mechanical pteranodon. He is a redeco of Classics Mini-Con Swoop. 

Gnashteeth is the fifth of the 2007 Micron Boosters available exclusively in Japan in blind-box packaging. A Predacon, he turns into a mechanical Tyrannosaurus rex. His coloring appears to be an homage to the original T Rex Megatron from the inaugural Beast Wars line. He is a redeco of Classics Mini-Con, Terrorsaur. 

Although branded as a G1 line with the use of the classic logo on its blind-box packaging, this 2007 series of Micron Boosters also included Predacons and Maximals. Gredator turns into a mechanical wolf and is a Predacon. 

Today's drawing is the mighty Cryotek, a Predacon gangster who is a redeco of Transmetal 2 Megatron , He transforms into a massive biomechanical dragon, and has a secondary -- if unconvincing -- drag racer mode that's basically a dragon body on wheels. Cryotek was released in 2002 as a Target exclusive. 

A redeco of the Robots in Disguise Megatron released in the same year, Galvatron is an upgrade of the original form. Aside from a change in color, Galvatron's toy instructions have some a few more imaginative configurations that give him 10 modes without major physical alterations to his original Megatron toy. So, Galvatron turns into a 1) robot, 2) gargoyle 3) two-headed dragon 4) car 5) jet 6) giant clawed hand 7) winged griffin 8) pteranodon 9) mammoth and 10) hydrofoil. Whew! 

The big bad leader of the Predacons gets an imposing design worthy of his legacy. In his Stateside release, he was fittingly named Megatron, inheriting the name from the original Transformers villain. In Japan, he was known as Gigatron. Whatever his name, he has a half-dozen modes: robot, gargoyle, jet, racecar, double-headed dragon, and an enormous hand that fits onto Omega Prime . 

Poet, scholar, a deeply soulful shark of a villain, Sky-Byte is one of the more memorable Predacons introduced in Robots in Disguise. In Japan, he went by the name Gelshark. His design is a redeco of Beast Wars Transmetal Cybershark .

The third of three Predacons (along with Gas Skunk and Dark Scream) available in a three-pack as part of the initial Robots in Disguise run, Slapper is a redeco of the previously released Beast Wars Transmetal Spittor.  As such, he turns into a techno-organic poison tree frog. When first released in Japan in 2000 as part of the Car Robots line, he was known as Goosher. 

No one's slick as Gaskunk, no one's quick as Gaskunk, no one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaskunk. Gaskunk (Japanese name, released in the US as Gas Skunk) is one of a trio of Predacons released in a three-pack (the other two being Dark Scream and Slapper). Gas Skunk's design is a reuse of Stinkbomb , a Maximal from the Transmetals assortment of Beast Wars.  He turns into a half-mechanical, half-organic skunk. And thus begins February. 

Finishing off the month of January with the scariest techno-organic flying squirrel this side of Cybertron, Dark Scream. In Japan, he was released as Guildo, but renamed Dark Scream for his American release as part of Robots in Disguise Predacons . His design is a reuse of Nightglider , a 1999 Beast Wars Transmetal 2 toy. 

Beginning a run of Predacon enemies -- Robots in Disguise had the distinction of two bad guy factions, the Decepticons and the Predacons, with the latter having animalistic alt-modes. Bruticus is a gnarly looking monstrosity of a robot with three faces, that turns into a three-headed hound, like the mythological Cerberus. In fact, Bruticus was intended to be part of the Beast Machines line and named Cerberus, but that line ended before he could be produced.

Like yesterday's Optimus Primal , today's bonus drawing is a toy design originally planned for Beast Machines but was folded into the line's successor, Robots in Disguise, after the original line was cancelled. Appearing in 2002, this version of Megatron was a Kaybee Toys exclusive. He turns into an armored "spider tank," which is also a giant robot head if you remove the spider limbs, making Megatron Megabolt a Headmaster of sorts. In the Beast Machines series, Megatron was a Vehicon, hence the Vehicon logo. But the Robots in Disguise mythology didn't really have Vehicons, so this incarnation is both Predacon and Decepticon. 

A much more involved version of Beast Machines Megatron than his simplistic Happy Meal toy , the main toy in the line is worthy of the mighty red dragon it transforms into. The robot mode is capable of wrapping its wings around its body to conceal its monstrous nature in a techno-organic cowl fitting of a villainous mastermind. This toy was available in 2000. 

The Predacon Chro has a sort of quasi-existence in the Beast Machines toyline. He is technically a redeco of Rav, a Maximal Deployer . The Deployers all came in two different color schemes as the toyline progressed, and Rav was available in both red and blue. The blue Rav would later be identified in tie-in fiction as Chro. So there is no Chro toy, but rather a blue Rav figure that's understood to be Chro in storytelling. Blue Rav was available in 2000. He turns into a siege crossbow weapon. 

Tripredacus Agent has a bit of a convoluted identity. He is intended to be the same character, Ravage, from Generation One who appeared in an altered, future form in the Beast Wars cartoon . This character was homaged as Shadow Panther , because the name "Ravage" couldn't be used on product due the trademark having lapsed since the 80s. This Shadow Panther was also known as Tripredacus Agent, who was upgraded into a Transmetal form, with that particular alias in 2001. All of these toys are, in one way or another, redecos and/or retoolings of a Cheetor toy too. This Tripredacus Agent turns into a mechanical hunting cat. 

The fearsome Shokaract is a redeco of Rampage, a Transmetal Predacon crab. The earlier drawing c ropped out a lot of the extra limbs to fit on the page, but for Shokaract, I decided to splay out the arms and legs to show off just how creepy this Predacon is. Shokaract was only available to attendees of 2000's BotCon, and was limited to only 1,200 pieces.

Waspinator finishes off the Fox Kids-branded rereleases, redecoed in a yellow and black finish that suits his mechanical wasp mode well. As was standard for the Transmetal figures, he had a third mode, a rather convincing jet fighter. This is a reissue of his 1998 Transmetal version , released in 2000.