Mini-Cassette
Mini-Cassettes (also known as Cassette Warriors, Infiltration Troopers, or simply Cassettes) are Transformers whose alternate mode is an audio cassette. They can fit into the chest compartments of Blaster or Soundwave (while the toys can fit into either, in fiction they stick to the communicator of their own faction).
Many of the characters have communication or espionage roles. Also, many of them are redecos.
Teams
[edit]- Autobot cassettes
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- Decepticon cassettes
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Fiction
[edit]The Transformers cartoon
[edit]
The Mini-Cassettes were largely subordinate to Soundwave and Blaster, and very loyal to them. They spent much of their time stored away in their chest waiting to be called out when the situation required it. The mini-cassettes with beast forms were treated like pets and generally did not speak.
Marvel The Transformers comics
[edit]
Mini-cassettes were more autonomous and filled in regular positions in the ranks of the Autobots and Decepticons. They could all speak, but would sometimes go long periods without talking.
2019 IDW comics
[edit]
Infiltration Troopers were a class of Cybertronian who transform into rectangular cartridges that can be stored and hidden within larger Transformers and released to quickly overwhelm and surround opponents, We Have Deceived You their ranks comprising those who had volunteered to be rebuilt in such a manner. In alternate mode, infiltration troopers entered a passive operational status allowing them to hide from all detection but sight. They served during both the Age of Expansion and during the War of the Threefold Spark but had fallen out of prominence in the era of Nominus Prime. Ascenticon Senator Ratbat represented them in the Senate, his popularity among his fellow infiltration troopers leading Starscream to believe they were the reason for his political success. Wheeljack: Orbital Decay
Ratbat was asked by Senator Megatron to rally them behind his cause as his plans escalated. All Fall Down When Megatron made his move on the Senate, Clench stored and released a squad of infiltration troopers into the chamber to surround the Senators. We Have Deceived You
Beast Wars: Uprising
[edit]Energon on 24th century Cybertron had reached such a premium that most Autobot and Decepticons had lost the ability to move. Mini-Cassettes however were small and fuel efficient enough that they could remain mobile. Broken Windshields
EarthSpark cartoon
[edit]At one point, Soundwave, low on energon, ejected a cassette, causing the unfortunate bot to explode. Friends and Family
After the Great War, the only known Mini-Cassettes were Frenzy, Laserbeak, and Ravage, who were all loyal followers of Soundwave before being conditionally released by Optimus Prime and Megatron. Decoy
Notes
[edit]- The toys of these figures are roughly 1:1 scale with the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}microcassette|{{#if:||microcassette}}]]s they use for altmodes. The main picture in this article features a standard [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}compact cassette|{{#if:||compact cassette}}]], which is larger. Confusingly, the term "[[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}mini-cassette|{{#if:||mini-cassette}}]]" refers to a competing model of tape created by [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Philips|{{#if:||Philips}}]], not the slightly-differently-shaped [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Olympus Corporation|{{#if:Olympus|Olympus|Olympus Corporation}}]] microcassettes the toys are actually based on.
- The term Mini-Cassette is used in toy catalogs from 1985 onwards. It was common for cassette to be used elsewhere, such as toy instructions and fiction.
- In recent years, Hasbro has been pushing for different names for this subgroup, presumably because cassettes aren't part of modern-day technology anymore. The Soundwave reissue figure for the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con picks up the term "Deployer", after the Beast Machines subgroup, to describe his cassette cohorts. The term is also used for the subtitled Shout! Factory The Headmasters DVD release for the cassettes of both Blaster/Twincast and Soundwave/Soundblaster. The Transformers Hall of Fame bio for Soundwave, meanwhile, refers to his cohorts as Mini-Cons. As of War for Cybertron: Siege, they're sold as Micromasters in the toyline, and referred as "infiltration troopers" in the tie-in comics.
- Various patents for unused G1 cassette bot designs by designer Takashi Matsuda have since been uncovered, including: a scorpion, an ostrich, a bison, and a saber-tooth cat (possibly an early concept for what would eventually become Stripes). [citation needed]{{#ifeq: ||}}