Baro (Prime)

Balo is a Decepticon Mini-Con from the Prime portion of the Aligned continuity family.

All ninja carry buffalo, Right?

Balo (バロ Baro) is Skywarp's Arms Micron partner.

Fiction

Legends comic

Balo G was among the Mini-Cons stolen by Megatron in the Legends World. Bonus Edition Vol. EX

Games

Angry Birds Transformers

Balo (simply named "Shield" in-game but come on) is an "Accessory" character, giving Deceptihogs he's attached to a defense boost. This bonus can be increased with upgrades won from random-prize Crates or in the "Shockwave's Tower" mini-game.

He can be unlocked by purchasing him with Gems in the Barracks, with Tokens during specific Challenge Events, or won from Crates and Shockwave's Tower. Angry Birds Transformers

Deceptihog	Body Part	Rarity	Gem Cost	Base Effect	Notes
Thundercracker	Back	Uncommon	100	+10% Defense	Actually ends up on Thundercracker's shoulder

Toys

Prime

Buffalo Drills won't you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight.

• Skywarp (Deluxe, 2012-03-31)
  • Set ID number: AM06
  • Micron ID number: M-06
  • Energon Crystal: AP Mud

Available only with his larger partner Skywarp as part of the first wave of Japanese Prime toys, Balo comes as an unassembled, unpainted "kit", his deco supplied by customer-applied foil stickers on a sheet shared with Skywarp. He transforms from a buffalo-like robot into a shuriken/shield. He also has a screamingly obvious drill mode which is not shown in his instructions, yet shown in official photography. Balo has multiple 5 mm posts and peg-holes in his construction, allowing him to combine with other Arms Microns to form much bigger, more ridiculous "Combo Weapons" and "Super Combo Weapons".

• More information on Balo at TFU.info

• Skywarp and Balo at Alfes's toy blog

Oh give me a home where the skies roam and the buffalo are cloudy all day.

• Shadow Balo (Promotional Micron, 2012-04-28)
  • Energon Crystal: AP Fake Dark

A transparent-black version of Balo with a red Energon Crystal was made available on April 28 at participating Yamada Electronics, Yodobashi Camera, and Ideon stores with the purchase of 3000 yen's worth of Prime toys. Just like the pack-in version, Shadow Balo comes as an unassembled kit. Unlike the normal version, this one does not come with stickers save the single insignia sticker that goes under his Energon Crystal.

• Shadow Balo gallery at Alfes's toy blog

• Balo G (AMW Micron, 2012-07-28)
  • Micron ID number: AMW-05
  • Energon Crystal: AP Mud

A gold-plastic redeco of Balo was available as part of the first wave of "AMW" Arms Microns, individually-bagged kits still on their runners. He comes with his own sticker sheet.

• Thundercracker (Deluxe, 2012-10-20)
  • Energon Crystal: AP Mud

Packaged only with Thundercracker, Silver Metal Balo is a silver-vac-metal version of the buffalo-Micron. He comes with a new set of stickers, placed in different spots than the other versions. Thundercracker was available exclusively at Yodabashi Camera, EIDON group stores, and Yamada Electronics.

He's entirely covered in vac-metal. Including the tight clip-joints. Expect chipping.

Notes

• Balo's name is a shortening of "buffalo", accomplished by dropping the middle syllable from the Japanese spelling of the word, turning baffarō (バッファロー) into baro (バロ). It's a bit fiddly when it comes to being effectively translated, though: if we were attempting to recreate the intent of the name's origin in English, he'd be "Bulo", but that's not how his name is actually pronounced, so... nngh.
• Some stock photography of Balo, such as Soundwave's box-back image, shows him with rather pointier spikes on the insides of his drill-parts/legs, rather than the flattened stubs the actual toy has.

Balo Combinations

Named combination weapons including Balo:

• High-Defense Shield
• Killer Bite
• Morning Star
• Spike Hammer Rod

Arms Up Modes featuring Balo

• Arcee Crushgize Nebula Scythe (combined with Zori)
• Megatron Crusher Mode (combined with Gora)
• Megatron Darkness Mode
• Skywarp Attack Mode