Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Another BotCon 2007 exclusive, this edition of Overkill was available to participants of a customization class. The class instructed on how to turn this unassembled and unpainted Classics  Grimlock into a version of the Generation 1 cassette, Overkill . Once completed, this Overkill turns into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. This design would be made "real" as part of a 2008 Universe toyline. 

This drawing wraps up the Universe line with one of the last redecos to be made available. It debuted at the Official Transformers Collectors Club convention in 2004. Megazarak -- a Japanese originated character from the Headmasters days -- gets a new figure through a redeco of Armada Megatron . He turns into a Cybertronic tank, though without the original electronic features. Stemming from the Armada series, Megazarak comes with a Mini-Con packing, called a Micromaster in this incarnation. It's Caliburn who turns into a moon buggy. He is a redeco of Leader-1.   

A redeco of a memorable Energon toy from 2004 , this Universe incarnation of Snow Cat hit KB Toys stores exclusively in 2005. As his name suggests, he turns into the classic G.I.Joe half-track vehicle of the same name, though he's a Decepticon. 

Prepare for extermination! Putting the previous six Constructicons together results in Devastator (it requires a few extra pieces too, which can combine to become a vehicle when the Constructicons are separated). This combiner is a redeco of the 1992  Japanese exclusive Sixbuilder . The Constructicons required were sold separately in 2004 as part of the Universe series, starting at KB Toys.

The last of the individual Micromaster Constructicons is Hightower -- a stand-in for the classic Hook character whose name presumably was not available for trademark reasons. Hightower turns into a crane truck. He is a redeco of a 1992 Japan exclusive toy, Iron Lift . Hightower was initially available in 2004 as a KB Toys exclusive.

The classic Constructicon Long Haul -- still a massive earth-moving dump truck -- is reimagined as a Micromaster for the 2004 Universe line by redeco'ing a 1992 Japanese character named Treader. Long Haul was initially available as a KB Toys exclusive.

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.

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 .