Bot a Day: Daily Drawings

Starting the Transformers: Energon series today, the follow-up to the smash hit Transformers Armada:  line that brought the toyline back to the shelves in a big way. Aligning with the 20th anniversary of the brand, Energon drew a lot of attention, with an animated series supporting the line. Whereas Armada introduced a big new play element in Mini-Cons, Energon focused more on combination and clear plastic energon-based weapons and accessories. That's not to say there weren't Mini-Cons however. The first drawing is of the flying trio of Skyboom, Scattor and Wreckage, which are redecos and retoolings of the Air Defense Team , though they are intended to be new characters. The retooling adds details that turns formerly terrestrial aircraft shapes into high tech Cybertronian sci fi designs. Skyboom is a retool of Sonar, who now turns into a Cybertronian shuttle. Scattor is a retool of Jetstorm, who turns into a Cybertronian plane. And Wreckage has no relationship to the other Mini...

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.

A Micron Booster based on the Air Defense Mini-Con team member, Runway, but renamed Jetter. He turns into a Boeing Sonic Cruiser concept jet plane. Was available in a blind box in Japan in 2003.  

Starting a run of Mini-Con teams -- these affordable blister-packed trios of Transformers toys were the key differentiator of the Armada line, meant to drive a "collect 'em all!" mentality as the larger toys unlock extra play features with Mini-Cons plugged in. The Mini-Cons were their own faction, meaning Autobots and Decepticons alike can use them to power up. This first trio, the Air Defense Team, consisted of (from top to bottom), Jetstorm, who turns into a Concorde SST; Sonar, a VentureStar space shuttle and Runway, the Boeing Sonic Cruiser concept jet. All three can combine to form the Star Saber, a powerful blade that can be wielded by larger bots like Optimus Prime.

Next in the Decepticon Mini-Con roster is Sunstorm, part of the Chaos Saber trio. He turns into a Cybertronic star cruiser. His mold was previously used to depict Energon 's Wreckage and Armada's Runway . Sunstorm was available in 2005 in a two-pack with his enemy Checkpoint .

The sixth of 24 blind-box Micron Boosters released in Japan in 2004, Beacon transforms into a Cybertronic jet, with a high-tech finish including translucent blue parts. Beacon is a redeco of Wreckage , who is in turn a retool of Runway . Beacon's name was Americanized to "Snowblind" years later in the collectors' club magazine.