Transformer Collection showcase.

[WriterApprentice]

Dear Primus! Someone had to teach him some trigger control. XD
Don't want him accidentally shooting Skip, I will not be pleased. :I
Other than that, I kinda wanna hug him. >w< Hopefully he won't annoy me. XP

[raven1972]

yah he was a bit trigger happy in his youth XD. took him a while to mature and grow out of it.

[raven1972]

Time for a Treacherous Show case and don't mind the Typo XD.



Name Starscream
Faction Decepticons
Function Air Commander
Motto Conquest is made of the ashes of one's enemies.
Bio
Seeks to replace Megatron as leader. Ruthless, cold-blooded, cruel... considers himself the most sophisticated and handsome of Decepticons. Believes Decepticons should rely more on guile and speed rather than brute force to defeat Autobots. Fastest flyer of group, can reach Mach 2.8 and an altitude of 52 miles. Shoots cluster bombs and null-rays which disrupts the flow of electricity. Very good at what he does, but sometimes overrates himself.
Tech Specs chart for Starscream.*
Strength 8 Intelligence 4
Speed 10 Endurance 7
Rank 9 Courage 5
Firepower 8 Skill 8
*For G1 he has 1 less strength, 3 less intelligence,1 less speed,4 less rank,3 more courage, and 1 less firepower and skill.

G1 Starscream’s tech specs are believed to have been swapped with G1 Skywarp.

Starscream is the treacherous Decepticon Air Commander and the deadliest of the Seekers. The self-proclaimed pride of the Cybertron War Academy, he's famous not only for his incredible skill, but also for his limitless (and troublesome) ambition. Starscream believes that he is more suited for command than Decepticon leader Megatron. Thankfully for Megatron, Starscream's mutinous, power-grabbing plots are almost always transparent, and he can never muster up enough patience to complete a grandiose power play. Even on the few times he has taken control of the Decepticons, he quickly loses control of a situation, but is too arrogant to realize when he's in over his head. He never learns from his mistakes, but then again, Megatron doesn't either, seeing as how he's never turned Starscream into slag. Despite his constant failures, Starscream believes it is only a matter of time before he prevails—his destiny is inevitable.


“ Why? That's what they all asked me. Why him... why Starscream? Why, of all the Decepticons, did I decide to revitalize the one whose record of deceit and betrayal is legend? Because I'm an idiot, that's why! ”

—Megatron on Starscream, "Total War!"

Starscream was one of the original Decepticons that crewed the Nemesis and Crashed to earth aboard the Ark.

In G1 Starscream is Megatron’s second in command, not that Megatron trusts him any further than he could throw Unicron.
Starscream possesses a unique spark, its Immortal and unlike all others it can exists without a body and possess other Cybertronians. How this came to be is unknown and only Primus knows why he allowed it to be.

Starscream was “killed” by Galvatron in the 1986 movie for his ultimate act of treachery. That act being the throwing of Megatron out of Astrotrain to die in the emptiness of space which he would have if Unicron had not interceded.

Over the course of the 3rd season of G1 and Beast wars he possessed: Cyclonus, one of Scourge’s Sweeps and that poor unlucky Predacon Waspinator.


Starscream has two nicknames : the Silver Snake and Pretty Poison. O.o Maybe Professor princess had a point with Animated Starscream.

In all toyslines in which Starscream has appeared in his figure was the basis for repaints in to the rest of the seekers.

Of all the portrayals of Starscream in non G1 connected series Animated did the best job capturing his G1 Character.

There have been Numerous Toys made based on G1 Starscream and here are a but a few :
G1



Pretenders:


Actionmaster:


Masterpiece ( Us Version):

Classics:


Starscream was voiced by the late Chris Latta (August 30, 1949 - June 12, 1994) who was an American screen actor and voice actor.. Some of his non-Transformers roles include Cobra Commander and Gung-Ho from G.I. Joe, Darkstorm and Cravex from Visionaries, Sergeant Knox and General Dire from Star Blazers, D'Compose from The Inhumanoids, the Beetle and the Sandman from Spider-Man & his Amazing Friends and was the first voice of Moe Szyslak and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Latta led something of a checkered lifestyle, the details of which are not fully known, but which anecdotes and stories by members of the Transformers cast and crew have hinted at. Flint Dille has claimed that he and other members of the production staff had to frequently bail Latta out of jail; on at least one occasion Latta claimed that he had simply been jaywalking. Latta died in Ventura, California, his cause of death officially recorded as a cerebral hemorrhage following a long illness. Although his contemporaries speak fondly of him when asked at various BotCons, there have been several cryptic comments made that suggest there is more to the story of his death –
Peter Cullen remarked that he was a victim of Hollywood's tendency to "devour its young"
Susan Blu said that Latta was "a sweet guy who had his demons"
Flint Dille noted that Latta "died, and we never really found out how."

He is greatly missed by Transformers fans the world over.

He also voiced these G1 Characters:
Generation 1
Defensor : combined form the protectobots
Furg : a bouncer at the Decepticon run nightclub Dancitron
Krunk : headmaster to the Decepticon Snapdragon
Reflector : decepticon 3 member team who Transforms in to a Camera
Old Snake : Cobra Commander in retirement
Sparkplug Witwicky : father of Spike and Grandfather of Daniel.
Slammer : drone tank partner of Metroplex
Sweep : one of Scrouge’s Huntsmen( mechs?)
Wheeljack: Autobot (mad) Scientist and inventor.

[WriterApprentice]

Ah... how mysterious. >3
Maybe Starscream's spirit managed to come to our world and control Latta? XD

[raven1972]

O.o could be . Starscream is an interesting character to be sure.

[raven1972]

Okay no Showcase for today so , something a bit different, I am going to share with you my personal opinions on the various Transformers animated series ranking the top three in several categories. The Current series ( Transformers: Prime) is excluded from this as i have watched very little of it and it would be unfair to judge it by that limited exposure. The Japan only series are also excluded for the same reason.

Writing:

1. Beast Wars ( by the slightest of margins over Transformers Animated). Deep storyline, unprecedented character development and growth. and tons of great humor.

2. Animated. Second by a razor thin margin. excellent characters, Humans done very well, a rarity for Transformers. Great character Growth and development. Probably the only thing that keep Animated out of first place is the fact Beast Wars did it first. It also had tons of reference to other Transformers series.

3. RID. great Humor , awesome characters and an engaging story line. also a shark who loves Haiku!

Honorable mention: G1 it has brilliant writing at times and at others its just horrible. Also the huge number of characters inhibits character growth and development.

Design/Animation:

1. Animated: awesome designs that brought a new feel to the Transformers while maintaining its rich legacy. Bonus points for 3 faces a for Blitzwing and Wreck-gar as a garbage truck.

2. Beast Wars : excellent animals forms, well put together robot modes. Won a day time Emmy for the excellence of its CGI animation. Despite the advances in CGI since then it still holds up well.

3. Tie: Beast Machines/RID : BM almost as good as Beast Wars. the quality slips a bit in places. Anime style animation and great character design made stand out .

Honorable mentions tie G1/Unicron Trilogy G1: It set the design foundation for that came after and while its designs were great , it was rife with animations errors , for example in one episode , for one frame Soundwave had an Autobot Emblem. Unicron Trilogy: The designs were a mixed bag from great to just plain lazy, The animation was at time great but more often than not had as many issues as G1.

Characters/Voice acting:

1.G1 It established the big 4 ( Optimus prime, Bumblebee, Megatron and Starscream) in the personalities that have been emulated time and again and a ton of other characters as well. It forms the basis on which the characters of the same names are based upon for later series. as for Voice acting its the only thing that was consistently good across the board for the cartoon.

2. Animated: excellent and varied characters from the child like Bumble bee, to the gentle Giant Bulkhead to the jerk face Sentinel prime. on the bay guy side It ranged from the powerful and commanding Megatron to the ever loyal Lugnut to the triple personalities of Blitzwing to the clones of Starscream. Optimus prime was perhaps the most unique as for the first time He wasn't the over all commander of all the Autobots, just a mid level officer and Prime was just a rank not a mark of divine greatness. The humans were handled here better than on any other series that had them, Prof. Sumdac was great and Sari's story still intrigues people today and will for years to come. The Voice acting is top notch and fit all the characters to a T. Particularly good are the 3 voices for Blitzwing.

3. Beast Wars/Machines Putting them together for this one as they are linked. New characters taking hints from the old. From the noble Optimus Primal to the Genocidal Megatron to the Honorable Dinobot to the treacherous Tarantulas to the femme fatale Black Arachnia. Cheetor changed the most over the course of the series from a green rookie at the beginning of Beast Wars to the leader of the maximals at the end of Beast Machines. The Voice acting is great across the board from the speeches of Primal to Megatron's megalomania-cal rantings to Rat trap's pessimism to Waspinator's bemoaning his lot in life as the universe's whipping Mech, they are all done well and memorably.

Honorable Mention: RID It had excellent memorable characters from a Haiku spouting shark to a car carrier with major sibling rivalry issues to a Dodge viper who was a pervert for red sports cars. The short run of the show prevent much character growth. The voice work was great and quite memorable.


Importance:

1.G1 : The beginning of it all with out it there would be no Transformers Beast Wars and beyond.

2. Beast Wars: It Saved Transformers from the debacle of G2 era. Its importance cannot be underestimated.

3. Tie: Animated/RID Animated brought back a more child safe feel that had really been lacking through the years of the Unicron trilogy. RID made it safe to have vehicle modes again.


These are my opinions if your vary that is only to be expected. I will of course respect those that vary from my own.

[raven1972]

Okay Hide the cheese! its a rodent filled showcase!



Name Rattrap
Faction Maximals
Function Spy


Bio
Following the quantum surge, Rattrap gained the advantage of a meched-out armor shell and a swift dragster vehicle mode. A top-notch soldier, his fellow Maximals rely on his reconnaissance reports to locate enemy outposts. The new hot rod mode has increased his speed and agility on the battlefield, and a powerful, battle-whip blade that we wields while in robot mode has made him a powerful adversary to all Predacons.

Tech Specs chart for Rattrap.

Strength 6 Intelligence 7
Speed 9 Endurance 5
Rank 5 Courage 8
Firepower 6 Skill 7

It's not so much that Rattrap is a coward... he just doesn't want to die. He's seen enough battles to know the score, so he's not afraid to tell his commanding officer to shove it if he's not fond of the odds. He prefers to sneak around unseen, in gutters or trenches or trash barges or what have you—whatever keeps him out of harm's way. He shouldn't be so worried. When he does encounter conflict, he deals with it masterfully with the arsenal of guns and bombs he keeps on himself at all times. He feels naked without them.

It's hard to like Rattrap, especially if you're his commanding officer. He's sarcastic, irreverent, and rude. Plus he smells (why he smells is a mystery). He's also not the most trusting or forgiving sort, so he's not the best choice to take on a diplomatic run. He'd sooner shoot a Predacon or Decepticon than talk to them. Despite his tough-as-nails attitude, he has a strong affection for his fellow Maximal Botanica*.

*In Beast Machines

“We're all gonna die.”
—Rattrap, Every episode, ever.

Rattrap is an expert in stealth and demolitions and in pessimism .XD

Rattrap argued with fellow Maximal Dinobot through the entire series right up until Dinobot’s death which Rattrap took hard.

Rattrap went Transmetal; along with Cheetor when they were hit by the quantum surge. He never went Transmetal 2.

In an extremely strange precursor of things to come in Beast Machines, Mainframe's original concept for Rattrap during Beast Wars was to capitalize on the exposed "brain" of the toy and make Rattrap a deeply flawed character. Originally, Rattrap's scanning and transformation technology was to fail, leaving him basically half-formed, with an exposed brain, wiring, "veins", an asymmetrical body, arms of uneven lengths, and malformed organic sections in robot mode. On top of all that, he was hooked up to a "colostomy bag-like heating cable" to stress his need for life support. Rattrap's overall story arc would have been, of course, about him accepting and overcoming his near-fatal flaws. This approach was entirely nixed by the limits of CGI in rendering convincing organic innards at the time... and the fact that his model would have been massively far off from the actual toy probably also factored into it. However, the idea of a defective Transformer was later revisited in season 2 with the introduction of Transmutate. The idea of Rattrap dealing with the limitations of an "inferior" body seems to surface in Beast Machines as well.

At one point in the series, Rattrap says, "What in the name of my great-aunt Arcee is going on!?" This is an in-joke referring to Susan Blu, who was not only voice director on Beast Wars, but the voice of Arcee in the Generation 1 cartoon series and Transmutate in the Beast Wars episode of the same name. He was originally going to say the line again when he saw Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia (and she was to reply, "Not your great-aunt Arcee!") in the early script of "Crossing the Rubicon", but the lines were cancelled. Even so this has led to some speculation if Rattrap is indeed related to G1 Arcee.
In the jovial Japanese dub of Beast Wars, one of Rattrap's most notable "shticks" was that he would constantly break the fourth wall by "smelling" what the audience was eating. For instance, he would randomly announce "Smells like the Suzuki's are having curry". The Japanese found this very amusing. The rest of the world; not so much. O.o Japan strikes again.

To piggyback on the popularity of the Pokémon phenomenon of the late '90s, or perhaps just to parody it, Rattrap's beast mode in the Beast Wars Metals manga was redesigned to resemble Pikachu heavily. While many characters received "humorous" redesigns for the manga, Rattrap's remains the most reviled. O.o Dinobot would have laughed his skidplate off!

Here is a pic of the season one Rattrap figure, which is hard to find and as its mold was destroyed it has never been reissued. Meaning its expensive to purchase these days costing upwards of $70 at times. If you can find one.


Here is the two variants of the Transmetal rattrap sold in the US:
Normal :

Wal-mart exclusive blue:

Fox Kids:

And here is the pre beast wars bot con figure of Rattrap:


My Figure is the Takara version for the Japanese market and as such the chrome is more of a maroon color and what is tanish on the US version is more Grey and where rattrap is tampographed on the Hasbro version Cybertrons is on my figure.

Rattrap was voiced by Scott McNeil for more information please see the Dinobot showcase.

[WriterApprentice]

I noticed Bayformers is in none of them. XD Neither is Prime! XD

Also, Rattrap. I ACTUALLY REMEMBER HIM FROM LONG AGO!
I found his... "brain" fascinating and was tempted to poke it. XP
And then I also remember that old cartoon Reboot. IT was probably Reboot that took my eyes off of Beast Wars. XD

[raven1972]

funny you should mention Reboot the same people who did the animation for that show did Beast Wars. They even snuck in a Beast wars easter eggs.

and yes I hate he movies for making Transformers too violent and prime isn't finished yet so it would be unfair to judge it.

[raven1972]

okay show case time, so lets get reptilian and Japanese.



Name Sling
Faction Destrons
Function Storming Trooper

Bio
Sling is not the one with deep thoughts, but with straight forward action. He is vicious while sometimes unknowingly funny. His right arm becomes Tail Bunker to pierce through the enemy's body, and his left becomes Sling Shield to protect himself. Of all Destron soldiers, he is always the first to shoot and charge ahead.
Tech Specs chart for Sling.
Strength 6 Intelligence 3
Speed 7 Endurance 7
Rank 6 Courage 9
Firepower 4 Skill 7

Sling is incredibly dense. He’s only good for following orders, but tends to screw that up as well. The other Predacons sigh in his presence and try their best to tolerate him (except for Saberback, who insults him at every available moment). He’s a gung-ho warrior but is only really evil because the other Predacons tell him he is. Sling speaks in a high-pitched cackle, which often times irritates his fellow soldiers. He’s not the most popular Predacon.

Sling isn’t a dinosaur his alt mode is a pre dinosaur reptile like animal that was more closely related to mammals then true reptiles.

Sling was availably separate or in a 2 pack with Stampy which is how I acquired him.


Up next a maximal will come hippty hopping this way.

[WriterApprentice]

Aw... the poor guy. *hugs*

[raven1972]

Indeed he could use a hug , and now to a maximal who could use a boost of courage.



Name Stampy
Faction Cybertrons
Function Scout


Bio
He is very timid and often hinders his comrades from doing their mission. At the same time he can be quite cheeky.... But his Mighty Ears don't miss the smallest sound in the farthest away, and his ability of gathering information and speed is exceptional. His favourite food is Cosmo-carrot.

Tech Specs chart for Stampy.

Strength 4 Intelligence 7
Speed 8 Endurance 4
Rank 7 Courage 4
Firepower 5 Skill 8

Stampy is young, cute and... well, not the bravest Transformer around. In fact, he's a huge coward, which greatly frustrates his teammates. When he's not scared slagless at the thought of his next mission, this rabbit Transformer is quite cheerful and well liked, which makes others eager to help him overcome his fears.

Despite his youth and cowardice, he's an excellent scout. His innate speed and extremely sensitive ears make him perfect for gathering intelligence and getting the info (and himself) back to base in one piece (the way he most definitely prefers it). And if worse comes to worse, he can always transform into his "Scissor Mode" to slice opponents with his diamond-sharp blades... though that really only works if he's being carried by someone else, limiting the mode's usefulness.

The figure is capable of becoming the scissor mode but it looks horrible so I have chosen not to picture it.


Stampy is a part of a whole sub-race of rabbit Transformers. He loves his mother very much and carries her picture around with him in a locket. His favorite food is space carrots. Their planet was first colonized by Tasmania Kid. All other members of Stampy's race wear clothes, but he doesn't.


Stampy reminds me much of Skip, one of Writer’s muses. Perhaps a beast mode for him?


Up next is a Haiku loving Shark.

[WriterApprentice]

Aw... he sounds adorable. Yes, maybe he's almost like Skip in a way? But careful not to shoot off Skip's Decepticon pride. XD
Also I couldn't resist, but I think you should keep him away from a female rabbit or else we might have an explosion of little bunny-bots. XD

[raven1972]

indeed -xD- furry mechs and femmes every where. show case time!


Name Sky-Byte
Faction Predacons
Function Shark
Motto I’ll tear my enemies to shreds.
Bio
He is one of the most feared and respected Predacon warriors. His intelligence and love of poetry fools friends and enemies into letting down their guard - only to witness his terrifying change into a merciless warrior. The Anchor Arm on his left side can crush even the thickest, strongest wall like a microchip in the jaws if a shark.

Tech Specs chart for Sky-Byte.

Strength 8 Intelligence 10
Speed 8 Endurance 8
Rank 9 Courage 7
Firepower 8 Skill 9

Deep within Sky-Byte beats the spark of a poet, a scholar, a brilliant and cultured military general who can command armies capable of conquering worlds. But without aptitude and patience, that means jack squat, and Sky-Byte lacks both. Still, he soldiers on, for he is driven...by a desperate need for approval. He needs the blessings of his commander, Megatron, quite possibly more than he needs energon. And Megatron, being Megatron, doesn't dole out praise much, so Sky-Byte tries harder and harder, getting more and more desperate.

This drive is the root of all his problems. He's actually quite intelligent and physically powerful, but he pushes himself to extremes to impress his leader. When he's in control of a situation, he's a deadly, effective foe. But as soon as the situation begins to slip even the smallest bit, he starts to panic and usually ends up doing something to mess things up and lose the upper hand, which makes him panic more, so he overreacts, and gets in more trouble, etc., etc., etc. It doesn't help that while he's ruthless towards Autobots, humans seem quite safe from his ire. Maybe he sees a little something of himself in these underdogs. After all, they developed his new favorite form of expression, the haiku. And they do seem rather impressed by him...

Sky-Byte is in charge of the Predacon lackeys Dark Scream, Gas Skunk and Slapper, not that they give him any modicum of respect. In fact, they're more likely to try and shuffle the blame for their failures onto the shark, a gambit that's actually moderately successful, since Sky-Byte is so very good at making things worse for himself. He has a hate-hate relationship with the new Decepticons, especially Scourge, whom he sees (rightly) as being a huge threat to his position as Megatron's second-in-command.

“Who's the baddest shark around? Who's the smartest shark in town?
Sky-Byte, that's me!
Who'll drive Scourge into the ground? And never let old Megatron down
Sky-Byte, that's me!”
—Sky-Byte, that's him!

Sky-Byte loves haiku here is a sample of his :
“The cobalt ocean roils
zephyrs blow cold,
and another hapless foe is crushed beneath my heel.”

Sky-Byte tries really hard to please Megatron/Galvatron but something always goes wrong for the poor guy.

Sky-Byte is the closest there has ever been to a Predacon/Decepticon Kid appeal character.

And here he is just being silly!


At the end of the RID anime/cartoon he is the only one of the Decepticons or Predacons to not be either Dead or imprisoned and is seen swimming off into the sunset.
In Japan Sky-Byte is called Gelshark. Mine is the Japanese figure.
Sky-Byte is a repaint of a non-show Beast wars Transmetal 2 figure called Cybershark ( a maximal). This is the one time the repaint is better known that the original. Cybershark shown below.

Sky-byte was voiced by Peter Spellos an American voice actor. In addition to his extensive voiceover work, he has appeared in a large number of erotic thrillers, remaining clothed throughout. Movie-wise, he was the subway conductor in Men In Black II.


Up Next is the first and oldest of the three RID Autobot brothers.

[WriterApprentice]

*le gasp*
Oh by the gods!!! I remember having him! O.O
Yes! Him! A toy! Once in my possession! Dear gods...

And good to know he had a good ending. :3