Decoy (G1)

Decoys are drones from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"In fact, I'll do the Autobots one better: I'll destroy all my troops so my army is NOTHING but decoys!"

Decoys are drone replicas of Transformers used to distract the enemy. If Ultra Magnus's decoy is any indication, they're about half the size of the Transformers they represent. They seem to have the ability to fly, or at least fall with their arms outstretched.

Fiction

Toy pack-in mini-comic

In response to the Decepticons stealing the Creation Matrix, Ultra Magnus had RatchetFirst Aid build an army of decoys to keep the Decepticons occupied while the main Autobot team would infiltrate their base. First Aid claimed that there was a decoy in every Autobot's image.

As Magnus set the plan in motion, the decoy army flew into position and successfully distracted the Decepticons. An Autobot squad was able to get inside the base and take out the Sharkticons guarding the Matrix. Moments later, Galvatron fumed at the Autobots' ruse and declared that the Decepticons would develop their own set of decoys, presumably to try the exact same trick later on. Start Your Own Decoy Collection It is unknown if this flawless plan was ever carried out.

Toys

Takara

Decoys were originally developed by Takara as a Transformers line of keshigomu (消しゴム), a form of small, collectable soft-rubber figurines that had emerged in Japan during the 1970s and had attained great success through tie-ins to popular brands like Ultraman and Kinnikuman (the Kinnikuman figures, in particular, would become well known in the west when they were imported by Bandai as M.U.S.C.L.E.). Transformers had dipped its toe in this water in 1985, with Kabaya's Transformers Caramel line of candy toys, but the figures that would become the "Decoys" took things to the next step, appearing larger and more detailed.

The Transformers keshigomu were not just standard collectable figures, however: they were also designed as game pieces. Each 1.5" figure had a number sculpted into their backs that was the sum total of their Tech Spec stats, so children could play simple games with them (randomly select one of your figures, produce them at the same time, highest number wins), and on an even more basic level, their durable rubbery construction allowed them to be shot from launchers that came in several boxsets with the figures, with the aim being to knock down as many other figures as possible. Exploiting this playability, several of the figures came as game pieces with the Defeat Trypticon Strategy Game, a 1986 Scramble City-themed Transformers board game. The game came with six Autobot figures, moulded in red rubber, and two Decepticons, in purple, but various reports give different accounts of which characters were included, suggesting they may have been randomized to some degree; Autobots reported to come with the game have included Optimus Prime, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Bluestreak, Wheeljack, Ratchet, Brawn and Mirage, while the Decepticons have been reported as Megatron, Soundwave, Shrapnel and Blitzwing. Each figure featured a number sculpted into their back which was the sum total of their Tech Spec stats, which played a role in how the game was played.

Regardless, whoever may or may not have been included with the game, Takara were not so unwise as to limit themselves to releasing these figures with the game alone: numerous other figures were produced, covering almost the entire roster of Autobots and Decepticons from the 1984 and 1985 toylines, and sold in three large box sets:

• Cybertron Hero Collection 22
  • ID number: Collection No. 1

Blaster, Bluestreak, Brawn, Grapple, Hoist, Hound, Huffer, Ironhide, Jazz, Mirage, Optimus Prime, Perceptor, Ratchet, Red Alert, Sideswipe, Skids, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, Swoop, Tracks, Wheeljack, Windcharger

• Destron Hero Collection 22
  • ID number: Collection No. 2

Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Bombshell, Bonecrusher, Devastator, Frenzy, Hook, Kickback, Laserbeak, Long Haul, Megatron, Mixmaster, Ravage, Reflector, Scavenger, Scrapper, Shockwave, Shrapnel, Skywarp, Soundwave, Starscream, Thundercracker

• Cybertron Hero Collection 9
  • ID number: Collection No. 3

Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Grimlock, Inferno, Prowl, Slag, Sludge, Snarl, Trailbreaker

Takara followed up these sets with two more, this time rendering both factions in a uniform peach coloration. These two "Cybertron vs Destron" sets consisted of Inferno, Tracks, Grapple, Jazz, Ironhide, Ratchet, Grimlock, Hoist, Sludge, Slag and Swoop in the Autobot set, and Thundercracker, Skywarp, Starscream, Shrapnel, Bombshell, Reflector, Soundwave, Megatron, Blitzwing, Kickback and Ravage in the Decepticon set. More peach decoys were included in different box sets like the "Water Gun Set" or the "Scramble Gun Set", in which they were packaged with the titular role-play weapons and large full-color vinyl figures of other characters like Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and Metroplex. Again, evidence suggests that the figures included with these sets were randomly packaged.

The blindpacked Kabaya series Transformers Ramune then became home to the Decoys, where many of them (precisely how many is unknown) were made available in multiple different colours, including red, blue, yellow and green. Then, once Transformers 2010 was in full swing, Ramune introduced eight new figures: Galvatron, Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Metroplex, Bruticus, Menasor, Defensor and Superion, available in red, yellow or blue.

Later still, larger figures of these eight new characters, plus Predaking, were released in a small line of their own, standing at roughly twice the height of a normal Decoy and packaged in plastic baggies.

Hasbro

In 1987, Hasbro brought over fifty-two of the original figurines and branded them as "Decoys", randomly packaging them with the smaller carded toys of the time: the Throttlebots, Aerialbots, Stunticons, Protectobots, Combaticons, Technobots and Terrorcons. The Throttlebots could come with either Autobot or Decepticon pieces, while the combiners only had decoys of the faction they belonged to. The Hasbro figurines featured one notable modification: the numbers on their backs were changed to a simple "checklist" number corresponding to a list on the leaflet included with them.

While the Autobot pieces were only available in red, the Decepticon pieces came in both red and purple. The red versions are part of an early run and are much harder to find as they were only available early on and only with the Throttlebots, and therefore are considerably more expensive on the secondary market.

Of the original fifty-three figurines offered by Takara in their three multi-packs, Laserbeak was the only one not released by Hasbro. Or more accurately, he was the only one not included in the checklist; collectors extraordinaire Karl and Jon Hartman believe he was made available by Hasbro, and if anyone can offer photo proof of Laserbeak on a Hasbro card, contact them!

• Decoy information at TFU.info

Notes

• The one decoy drawn clearly is a copy of Ultra Magnus, yet that decoy toy was never available in the US. It is therefore unclear whether the fictional decoys correspond at all to the toys.
• The comic that advertised the decoys in US clearly states, both inside and outside of the fiction, that there is a decoy for every Transformer. Yet, this is clearly not so. In fact, nearly every decoy available was for a Transformer that was no longer being distributed. Conversely, Transformers that were then-currently available (such as Ultra Magnus, noted above) did not have a decoy available.
• This wasn't the first time that "decoys" showed up in Transformers; the concept goes all the way back to the Generation 1 cartoon episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 3".
• A slightly tripped-out Italian Transformers commercial offered the suggestion that kids could paint their Decoy figures.