S.T.A.R.S.

S.T.A.R.S. is an Autobot-allied human organization from the S.T.A.R.S. continuity portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

S.T.A.R.S. members receive the most advanced Cybertronian cardboard technology available.

The Secret Transformer Autobot Rescue Squad is an underground organization of Autobot-allied humans on Earth. S.T.A.R.S. members keep watch for potential Decepticon activity in their sector and alert the Autobots if any is detected.

“	Earth allies like you are desperately needed. We must thwart the forces of evil now!	”
—Optimus Prime

Fiction

S.T.A.R.S. continuity

"We appreciate your vigilance, but that car parked across the street isn't a Stunticon either. Do your parents let you out much, Johnny?"

Early in the war between Autobots and Decepticons on Earth, the tide turned against the Autobots, which necessitated the shipment of the Omnibots, the Powerdashers, and the Time Warriors from Cybertron. In conjunction with this, Optimus Prime declared the need to recruit "Earth allies" into the S.T.A.R.S. organization who could work in conjunction with the Time Warriors in covert missions in Decepticon territory. To wit, humans were sent flyers about their battles and S.T.A.R.S. membership.

The membership package included:

• A Command Center (also called a "Control Center") for monitoring one's sector.
• A Tech-Spec Manual containing information about Cybertron, the Autobot base, and specific Transformers.
• An iron-on patch.
• A S.T.A.R.S. membership card that switched between displaying an Autobot symbol and a Decepticon one, depending on the angle of view. Personal data could be entered on the reverse side. The battle is far from over!

The membership card was coded with identification data that allowed the holder entry into a portion of the Autobot Refueling and Weapons Armory. Once inside, a handprint/voiceprint analysis still had to be passed, and failure to do so would leave the entrant trapped inside a chamber under the threat of stun-radiation. Success, on the other hand, would grant access to the Command Center (whose design looked uncannily similar to the desktop device of the same name), where S.T.A.R.S. members needed to go to participate in search-and-rescue missions. Several tasks might be asked of a S.T.A.R.S. member, such as communication dictation, radio-frequency changing, equipment monitoring, and self-destruct activation. S.T.A.R.S. members were expected to be familiar with the self-destruct sequence. Tech-Spec Manual

The Decepticons were driven back by the Autobots' renewed offensive, and the Decepticons had changed their strategy to constructing hidden bases all around the world from which to strike. Optimus was holding back until human allies were ready to help take down the bases with the aid of the Omnibots and Time Warriors. To gain more support for their efforts, Overdrive sent a message detailing those events, and allowing his audience to learn of "top-secret plans" where the Omnibots would use the Time Warriors to time their attacks. G.I. Joe was mentioned as fighting battles at the same time elsewhere and S.T.A.R.S. members were invited to use their vehicles. Earthlings: THE S.T.A.R.S. need your help now!

A later message told the story of Johnny, a boy whose town came under the energy-draining assault of Thundercracker. His first instinct was to activate his S.T.A.R.S. Command Center and summon the help of several Autobot cars and the Omnibots, to whom he prepared to issue orders. Have the Decepticons defeated us once and for all? However, his console lost power and then went to "CODE RED"; the message prompted the audience to solve this situation. Can one boy, alone, hold back the evil Decepticons?

At one point, Ultra Magnus sent a message recruiting for the position of S.T.A.R.S. Commander. You Have Been Chosen. One message, while recruiting for S.T.A.R.S., also presented the recipient with a mission: Get three friends to go see The Transformers: The Movie, the Autobots' new film, and then mail in their ticket stubs plus one dollar each to get posters. The Autobots Have a Special Mission for:

Later messages involved their recipients less directly, simply sharing tales of robot-on-robot battles and inviting the audience to help the Autobots by joining S.T.A.R.S. The Autobots Are Under Attack! One message referred to Rodimus Prime talking about a past battle, which the recipients were encouraged to get involved in. Rodimus Prime remembers the Transformers greatest battle on Earth. Transformers Combat Data

Animated cartoon

Forged S.T.A.R.S. idento-cards were among the many wares that Rattletrap dealt in. The AllSpark Almanac II

Ask Vector Prime

With the success of S.T.A.R.S., the Decepticons of Primax 185.0 Beta responded with their own Decepto-Pack, enslaving humans and giving them the Decepto-Packs to augment their capabilities and help him conquer the planet. S.T.A.R.S. recruits fought valiantly against the Decpto-packed hordes, but their sacrifices were not enough. Ask Vector Prime, 04/06/2015

Merchandise

Generation 1

• S.T.A.R.S. membership kit (1985)

The perfect addition to YOUR trackless wasteland!

S.T.A.R.S. was the Transformers fan club. It started in 1985, and the price of membership was $6.50 (or £4.99 and 4 Robot Points in the UK). S.T.A.R.S. members received the following:

• S.T.A.R.S. membership card.
• Command Center (a cardboard communications panel which doubled as a toy display case)
• Iron-on patch
• Transformers poster
• Tech-Specs Manual

The Japanese Transformers fan club also included a cardboard command base which many label the "Japanese S.T.A.R.S." This is inaccurate. The Japanese command base was a cardboard environment for the toys to play in, not a roleplay center, and there was no equivalent of the S.T.A.R.S. story in Japan (at least as far as the fan club went).

Notes

When the Autobot army rolls into town, wear your patch so you don't get shot.

• All information about S.T.A.R.S. comes from toy pack-in mail-order flyers which, unlike most Transformers fiction, were written in the second person. The reader was being actively "recruited" into the fictional organization. What this meant in real-world terms was membership in a fanclub with a few special trinkets and toys. But for the purposes of this article, we include elements like the membership card and the recruitment flyers themselves as part of the fiction.
• The operational model used by S.T.A.R.S. seems to be lifted almost point-for-point from American Cold War paranoia about Communist fifth columnists who keep Stalinist posters, radio transmitters and little red books of ideology hidden in their attic. The ones who'll put on their identifying armbands and rush out to guide troops towards vital infrastructure when the Russkies invade. The description of the Autobots' human allies in "Menace at the Dam" even evokes leftist intelligentsia!
• For some reason, Nemesis has a real grudge against S.T.A.R.S..

Foreign names

• Japanese: STARS (スターズ) (Sutāzu)