Hardtop (Cybertron)

The name or term "Hardtop" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Hardtop (disambiguation).

Hardtop is a Decepticon from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

Best. Sniper. Ever.

Meticulous and precise, Hardtop is a top sniper among the Decepticon ranks. His acute sight and hearing, combined with incredible patience, makes him not only an excellent hit man, but also perfect for keeping tabs on the treacherous Starscream for his commander Megatron. In almost every way, he's the exact opposite of his brother Swindle.

Hardtop's orderly personality also manifests itself in his hobby: comic books. He's got a vast, pristine collection of pulp entertainment from numerous worlds and civilizations, a collection easily within the realm of "excessive" and "obsessive". When he's not got an Autobot in his sights, he's out hunting for the latest Galactic Guardians issue or carefully thumbing through his stash.

Fiction

Force of Habit

Hardtop and his brother Swindle were assigned to the Upstart by Megatron, operating under Brushguard's command while they searched the galaxy for more Cyber Planet Keys. He groused loudly about the assignment, lamenting about how Starscream and Thundercracker got to jaunt around the universe using space warps while they were stuck in a decommissioned dropship, essentially going "door-to-door" asking each planet if their haystack had a needle in it. Swindle and Brushguard were about ready to torch his graphic novel collection when the Upstart got an alert—the Autobots had found a colony world.

Once they made planetfall, Brushguard sent Hardtop off to locate the Autobot ship. During his search, Hardtop spotted an old Cyber Key sticking out from a crevice atop a cliff. Surging at the idea of having TWO Cyber Keys to call his own (and at rubbing Swindle's face in it), Hardtop attempted to pull the key loose from its resting place. In a sudden jolt, he succeeded...only to fall backwards over the cliff and land in a heap at the bottom. To add insult to injury, the impact was enough to disintegrate the fragile old Cyber Key totally, leaving him with no prize at all. Despite being well versed in comic book lore, Hardtop couldn't stop himself from mumbling aloud that fateful phrase, "At least things can't get any worse." Moments later, the ground gave way underneath him, and Hardtop was in for another long, painful fall.

Perhaps the universe didn't totally hate Hardtop, though, for his latest fall had deposited him in front of a doomsday arsenal ripe for the Decepticons to harvest. When they finally encountered the Autobots, the 'Cons were backed by an army of newly minted Decepticlones, along with many more exciting new weapons. Taking to the high ground as a sniper, Hardtop helped defeat both Checkpoint and the local Combatronian Whirl, blowing up the latter's missile fire as it was leaving his gun. Best. Sniper. Ever. Capturing most of the Autobots, the Decepticons were on the verge of victory before some local Mini-Cons stole their shuttle...and the missing Autobot Armorhide crashed their shuttle straight down on the Decepticon position. Hardtop and the other Decepticons were left behind on Combatron for three weeks waiting for pick-up. Hardtop generously allowed his fellow Decepticons to peruse his graphic novel collection, although he was keen on getting Heavy Barrel to turn the pages for Skidmark—no chance of passing off a copy as Near Mint if it has tire treads on the pages. Force of Habit

Universe toy bio

Hardtop was tasked with stopping the courier Clocker. The Data War toy bio

Toys

Cybertron

• Hardtop (Scout class, 2005)

CAMPER!

Hardtop transforms into a dune buggy of indeterminate, probably made-up model (ironically, not a hardtop). He features a rear-mounted gun, which becomes a hand-held weapon for his robot mode. In either mode, plugging a Cyber Planet Key into the butt of the rifle flips out an extended barrel for a "sniper" mode. He came with a silver-bordered Earth-style Cyber Planet Key with the Cyber Key Code "s4mm" stamped on the back.

Hardtop is one of several Cybertron toys that were not also released under Japan's Galaxy Force line.

This mold was redecoed to make his brother Swindle, and 2007 movie Hardtop, which was later repurposed as Shattered Glass Beachcomber.

• More information on Hardtop at TFU.info

• Megatron (Leader class, 2006)

Walmart stores carried exclusive versions of the original Leader-class Cybertron toys late in the line's run. The toys themselves were unchanged, but came with a free Scout-class toy attached to a bubble on the top of the box. An unaltered version of Hardtop came with the "Bonus Buy" version of Megatron.

Universe (2008)

File:Hardtop-Movietoy.jpg

• The Data War (Multi-pack, 2009)
  • Series: Cybertron Series

For Black Friday 2009, Wal-Mart stores received exclusive two-packs containing Scout class figures identical to the previously Target-exclusive movie releases. Hardtop was packaged with Clocker.

• More information on movie/Universe Hardtop at TFU.info

Notes

• Hardtop's transformation is almost identical to that of the Energon Sledge and Bonecrusher mold. Hey, it works.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Hardtop (ハードトップ Hādotoppu)