Monday, October 12, 2015

#599 TRANSFORMERS TRIGGERBOTS/TRIGGERCONS - DOGFIGHT and CRANKCASE (1988)


The triggerbots and the triggercons are another short series by Hasbro/Takara, consisting of only a few robots (three of each faction in the G1). These are rather small, around 9-10 centimeters high, and came with no weapons, so both figures shown today are complete. Their action feature is that they transform (partly-)automatically by pushing one button/trigger.


This button activates a small wind-up motor that moves some parts of the vehicle/alternate form of the robot to their final position. Then, you need to stretch the robot legs, take the head out, or any other simple step. The feature is not something revolutionary, since a great part of the fun while playing with these figures is to transform them...


 
This makes the triggerbots/triggercons have two robot modes and two alternate modes: "normal" and "attack" mode. This subgroup of robots includes however nice robots with rather good alternate modes, the 4WD vehicle looks great, and Dogfight with its reverse wings looks also great. More complex robots would have been better, but Hasbro probably wanted a low budget series.



 
DOGFIGHT
  • Faction: Autobot
  • Subgroup: Triggerbots
  • Function: Aerial Combat
  • Motto: “Don't fire 'til you see the lights of their eyes”
  • Bio: A wild, wicked street fighter of the skyways. Never met a Decepticon he didn't want to destroy immediately. Likes to go nosecone-to-nosecone with his opponents in a "dance of doom" as he puts it. Equipped with rear-mounted fusion-powered blowtorch blasters in jet and robot Modes. Also armed with serrated wingtips that cut through solid steel.
  • Tech Specs for Dogfight:
    • Strength: 7
    • Intelligence: 5
    • Speed: 7
    • Endurance: 7
    • Rank: 5
    • Courage: 10
    • Firepower: 7
    • Skill: 9
CRANKCASE
  • Faction: Decepticon
  • Subgroup: Triggercons
  • Function: Data Collector
  • Motto: “Things are never as good as they seem”
  • Bio: A wheezing, whining ingrate. As welcome as a rash of rust-rot. The worse things get, the happier he is. Enjoys complaining about everything. Equipped with vast memory storage capacity and shell-resistant armor. Also equipped with infrared probes that penetrate and analyze enemy circuitry. Armed with two high-impact laser blasters and a distortion modulator that scrambles enemy cerebral impulses.
  • Tech Specs for Crankcase:
    • Strength: 8
    • Intelligence: 6
    • Speed: 3
    • Endurance: 9
    • Rank: 7
    • Courage: 7
    • Firepower: 8
    • Skill: 8
FACTS and FIGURES:
  • Name: DOGFIGHT and CRANKCASE
  • Toy Line: Transformers (Triggerbots/Triggercons)
  • Year: 1988
  • Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.) / Takara (Japan)
  • Size in Robot mode: Around 10 cm

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