Ahem. Don't ask me why I did it. I don't know myself…)) I just happened to find this japanese advertisement and immediately thought of them))
(I've spent more time on this than I should...)
I didn't think much about the..."plot" of this, if I may say so, but it only occurred to me that if some random, not very reliable dude had given the scavengers a job, and they agreed just for the money))
Story - Franco Villa
Art - Gianluca Gamba
Colours - Christian Ludwig
deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk
wada sez: On deviantART, Villa explained the impetus for the strip: “I always felt sorry for Scavenger, reading his bio. What was that Megatron said? Puppetroid?” I have no idea what he’s referring to there. Also per Villa: “it's G1 cartoon Continuity, after "The Rebirth"”. It’s not clear to me why this strip was never republished for The Lost Seasons or Villa’s Generation One imprint. Evidently they had plans for another strip following up on this one, but it never materialised to my knowledge: “There is another piece in progress, telling how they ended up here. And they are proto-Duocons, with just one alt mode for now.” See below for Gamba’s character models.
And we're back! Here's a toy that popped up on a lot of folks' radar last summer. Produced by Chinese toy manufacturer 灵动创想 (LDCX), this is one of many in their 雄师奇兵 range of converting military robots. The rest of the line you wouldn’t bat an eye at, as they match Chinese-made vehicles with headsculpts featuring the appropriate hat or helmet of the type of soldier that would drive it, but the bizarre combination of an unmanned Dongfeng surface-to-surface missile with an aviator-style helmet and googles results in a bot that bears more than a slight resemblance to Fulcrum. First I agonised if I wanted one, then I pushed back photographing it until Legacy Crankcase arrived, and then my big Christmas project happened, and now here we are.
I got mine from AliExpress, but apparently these are made for the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution gift shop, as they come with a certificate of authenticity that explains some of the history behind the Dongfeng and also apparently gives you an NFT? And the booklet is full of how my purchase shows love and support for our country’s army?? Look man I just wanted a gay little robot. The only thing I’m trying to support here is the concept of museums selling converting toy versions of their exhibits. Glad I bought my propaganda robot second hand.
This nameless “handsome robot” is massive and full of die-cast, but unfortunately, with no forward-backward hip joint, his posing can be quite limited. I've also had to sand down part of the piece that serves as his neck, as otherwise, he would have no head rotation. Still, no regrets. He's the bomb.