Topspin (DOTM)

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

Topspin is an Autobot from the live-action film series continuity family.

YOU DON'T DESERVE TO KNOW MY NAME!

If it doesn't result in at least a few dings and scraped paint, Topspin isn't interested. To him, buckled and burnt armor are signs of a life well-led. As one of the Wreckers, he's proud of being one tough bot, and is more than happy to wear the scars to prove it.

Fiction

Movies

Dark of the Moon film

Spy's sappin mah sentry!

Topspin, Leadfoot, and Roadbuster, collectively known as the Wreckers, by Charlotte Mearing, had arrived with the second wave of Autobots aboard the Autobot ship, the Xantium, and were rarely let off of the NASA base because of their attitude. They would spend most of their time working on repairing their ship along with some human engineers, including Robert Epps.

When Sentinel Prime announced that the current occupation force of Autobots was to be exiled or the Earth would face the wrath of hundreds of Decepticons, the three prepared the ship for launch and accompanied Optimus Prime and the others aboard, sending the ship into the atmosphere - where it was then targeted and blown to smithereens by Starscream, seemingly killing all the Autobots aboard. Undaunted by this, the Autobot's human allies nonetheless tried to launch an incursion into Decepticon-held Chicago.

"Talkin'boutthattheredangol'"Wreck'nRule!"man..."

Fortunately for them, the Autobots were not actually aboard the ship, and had only feigned their deaths in order to keep the Decepticons from following up on their global threat. Topspin and the other Wreckers swung into action immediately, rescuing Epps, Sam Witwicky and a group of soldiers from a Decepticon fighter and executed the pilot before preparing to head into the battle zone.

While the Autobots were scouting a route to the building containing Sentinel's Space bridge pillars, Shockwave and his pet Driller separated Optimus from his weapons trailer. Optimus ordered Topspin and the other Wreckers to create a distraction so that he could retrieve it, and in their armored racecar forms fired at Shockwave with their machineguns until being forced to retreat, leaving behind Wheelie and Brains, who had hitched a ride with them. After Optimus had become snared in a construction site's cables, the Wreckers set out to free him. After doing so they rejoined the battle, battling against Devcon. After the battle, Topspin stood with the other survivors, accepting that Cybertron was gone forever and that Earth was their new home. Dark of the Moon

Topspin’s involvement in the preceding events, or events mostly similar, were also chronicled in the novels “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon: The Junior Novel,” the comic mini-series “Transformers: Dark of the Moon Movie Adaptation,” and the storybooks "Optimus Prime's Friends and Foes" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon Mix & Match."

The Last Knight film

Voice actor: Steven Barr

Spoiler warning: Plot details for Transformers: The Last Knight (film) follow. Spoilers expire in 51 days

Years later, Topspin, who now resembles Leadfoot, was among several Autobots that were given asylum in Cuba, where he constantly pestered Seymour Simmons to play volleyball with him. At one point, he had been pestering Simmons during an important phone call with someone, which annoyed Simmons to say the least. Still, once the call was over, Simmons went to the beach with him. The Last Knight

The Creation Revoltech!

Topspin and the other Wreckers cheered Optimus Prime on when he used the power of the Revoltech Unit to send Megatron packing. The Creation Revoltech!

BeCool shorts

Blue Sports Car (青のスポーツカー Ao no Supōtsu Kā) was part of the audience of Quiz! BeCool. The Story of Quiz! BeCool

Games

MechTech Weapons Challenge

Bumblebee could use Topspin's combat claw to aid him in his missions to retrieve MechTech weapons technology stolen by the Decepticons. MechTech Weapons Challenge

Bot Shots Battle Game!

Eyyyyyyy!

Topspin participated in numerous one-on-one matches against other Autobots and Decepticons, using his fists, his sword, or his gun to defeat his opponents. Sometimes, he even faced off against himself! Bot Shots Battle Game!

Toys

Dark of the Moon

Cyberverse

Transforms from NASCAR racer to bemulleted, Razorblade-sporting NASCAR fan.

• Autobot Topspin (Cyberverse Legion, 2011)
  • Series: 1
  • Number: 004
  • Japanese ID number: CV10

Part of the first wave of Cyberverse toys, Topspin is a Legion-scale figure that transforms into a NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevy Impala stock car, specifically Jimmie Johnson's Lowes and Kobalt sponsored #48 car. Like the other NASCAR-based DOTM toys, both versions of Topspin lack the multiple small "contingency" sponsor decals found on a full-sized NASCAR racer.

He's pretty much a shellformer with a two-step transformation and very limited articulation. As a consequence, his robot mode is very small compared to the Legion Class toys of his two fellow Wreckers. In addition, unlike the his two fellow Wreckers, his vehicle mode is an unchanged version of the real-life stock car he's based on, even though the movie depicted all three Wreckers with their weapons permanently exposed in vehicle mode. Thus, he stands out next to Leadfoot and Roadbuster in both modes.

The stock photos depicted on his packaging (see also the image to the left), which feature a hand-painted prototype, show him with his forearms/hands swapped compared to the final toy: In the stock photos, it's the right hand that's an articulated claw while the left hand is sculpted to hold Cyberverse weapons or clip onto C joint bars, whereas the respective arms can be found on the opposite sides on the final toy. The instructions, which depict an unpainted resin prototype, match up with the final toy, thus implying that the prototype used for the stock photos was misassembled.

• More information on Cyberverse Topspin at TFU.info

Deluxe Class toys

Well no wonder he's won five championships in a row. Look at that thing.

• Autobot Topspin (MechTech Deluxe, 2011)
  • Japanese ID number: DA10
  • Accessories: MechTech blaster/combat claw, two small guns, two large guns

Part of the second wave of Dark of the Moon Deluxes, Topspin transforms into a heavily modified version of the same #48 Sprint Cup car as the Cyberverse Legion toy, with two sets of two differently-sized removable guns mounted onto 5mm post holes on the roof and sides of the vehicle. As part of the MechTech series, he has a blaster that converts into a "combat claw", and this weapon, as well as his four removable guns, can be used by other Dark of the Moon MechTech toys or any other Transformers toy with 5mm post holes. The back halves of his vehicle mode can be folded back together into a more compact kibble backpack.

Though he has prominent claws on his arms, Topspin does have fists sculpted onto his forearms.

The Japanese release comes packed with a character card and an accompanying transparent plastic card of his MechTech weapon for the MechTech Wars online game.

• More information on Deluxe Topspin at TFU.info

After much consideration, Topspin joins X-Force.

• Autobot Armor Topspin (MechTech Deluxe, 2011)
  • Japanese ID Number:
  • Accessories: MechTech blaster/combat claw, two small guns, two large guns

A redeco of the Deluxe Topspin, "Armor Topspin" now is cast in light gray, gunmetal, and black, and has Kobalt Tools as his primary sponsor instead of Lowe's. He does, however, have Lowe's and Spring logos on his body. His MechTech weapon has now been redecoed to be completely black.

• More information on Autobot Armor Topspin at TFU.info

• Autobot Team Racers (Target exclusive MechTech Deluxe 2-Pack, 2011)
  • Accessories: MechTech blaster/combat claw, two small guns, two large guns

This two-pack was originally represented at the BotCon 2011 Hasbro slide show by stock photography of an unaltered deluxe Topspin (as a new character named Twin Twist) and, uh, Human Alliance Leadfoot. It has since been announced to be canceled along with some of the other US releases. A later eBay auction of this unreleased two-pack revealed that Leadfoot (now the Deluxe Class toy) would have come with an completely unaltered Topspin figure (instead of Twin Twist), while Leadfoot himself would have featured his sponsor logos, such as the bullseye logo on his gut.

Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Robo Power

Activators

• Autobot Topspin (2011)

Released as part of the Robo Power subline of Activators, Topspin features a one-step transformation: squeezing down on his orange exhaust pipes will cause him to transform into robot mode, and squeezing down again on them will transform him right back into vehicle mode. Topspin features articulation at his shoulders, and has both pincers and hands molded onto his arms. Although he has his NASCAR logos in place (including the Lowe's and Sprint Cup logos), his windows are unpainted.

Topspin was released in an open package that allowed children to touch him. Transformation was prevented by way of twist ties and a plastic tray.

Bot Shots

• Autobot Topspin (2012)
  • Series: 1
  • Number: B011
    • Fist strength: 660
    • Blaster strength: 470
    • Sword strength: 490

Part of the third wave of Bot Shots.

Topspin's main car body, arms and legs are also used by Bot Shots Barricade, Bumblebee, Lockdown, Mirage, and Prowl.

• More information on Topspin at TFU.info

BeCool

• Blue Sports Car (Topspin) (2012)
  • ID number: B09

BeCool "Blue Sports Car" is practically identical to the Bot Shots Topspin toy, the only difference being that his stickers don't depict power levels but instead drawings of his vehicle mode, a couple of tires and a gas pump.

Merchandise

Speed Stars

Mini-Vehicles

• Autobot Topspin (2011)
  • Series: Stealth Force
  • Number: 3 of 5

Topspin's Speed Stars toy and packaging art are strange. It uses Leadfoot's vehicle mode for the most part, with the minor alteration of Topspin's hood armour, and of course, the Jimmie Johnson Lowes sponsored #48 car deco.

As with other Speed Star vehicles, the figure displayed on the back of Topspin's card has several color variations compared to the final product, such that the figure on the cardback is much brighter in several regards:

• The cardback depicts greyish weapons being mounted on the vehicles, while the final product mounts weapons that are almost black.

• The cardback depicts a bright blue and an equally bright red, while the final product uses duller shades. The result is that while the robot mode on the final figure is almost the same color as the black backing, the robot mode on the cardback is clearly visible.

• The cardback depicts white paint on the lip of the car, which is clearly visible above his head in robot mode; this strip is absent on the final product.

Stealth Force

Of course it's stealthy, he's dazzle-painting!

• Autobot Topspin (Basic, 2011)

Stealth Force Topspin is a non-transforming (to a robot, that is) stock car. Instead, he features an attack mode of sorts, wherein pulling or pushing his spoiler will deploy/retract various weapons from his rear wheels, running boards/door halves, side windows, front wheels, and hood. He uses decals for the "LOWE'S" marking on his trunk, and for the small sponsor markings near his front wheels.

Notes

• Topspin's robot mode features "sunglasses", a big "chin" and a "mullet", making him resemble a stereotypical NASCAR fan.
• According to a profile during FOX's coverage of the 2011 Daytona 500, the real-world Topspin prop car has 510 horsepower and a 11:1 compression ratio. The real NASCAR #48 has 850 horsepower and a 12:1 compression ratio.
• As part of the promotion for Dark of the Moon, the film prop versions of Topspin, Roadbuster, and Leadfoot made appearances at the 2011 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20. They appeared both off the track as display cars, and on the track, participating in the ceremonial first lap.
  • As an aside, FOX commentator Mike Joy referred to Topspin as "Wrecker", which is the name of his team, not the character's actual name.
• Early working names for him included Tempest and Warpath.
• Topspin was the only one of the three Wreckers (and for that matter, the only new Autobot in the third film) not to have any spoken lines. That is eventually fixed six years later in The Last Knight.
• Despite showing kibble based on Jimmie Johnson's Lowe's sponsored Chevrolet Impala SS, his concept art shows him with the headlights of a Toyota Camry.
• In The Last Knight, Topspin is credited as Volleybot and his head appears to resemble that of fellow Wrecker Leadfoot.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Topspin (トップスピン Toppusupin)