Turbo (G1)
| The name or term "Turbo" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Turbo (disambiguation). |
- Turbo is a Malignus from the Estrela portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Turbo is a Bat-Robô. He goes vroom, crashes, and then becomes an invincible robot!
Sometimes he sounds like he's from Brooklyn.
Fiction
TransTech
In Axiom Nexus, the offworlder zone for extra-dimensional travellers on TransTech Cybertron, Turbo was a member of the Malignus Revolutionary Army. The Malignus were a band of street toughs and minor criminals, but ultimately amounted to little more than a nuisance to the Security Administration and Freelance Police Legion.
On one occasion, Turbo was playing scraps with Jipe and the boys when two punks came in looking for a bot named Bug Bite. Turbo told them to slag off until the kid named Bad Boy tried to get rough with him. The scrappy little punk blindsided him with a right cross! The two rough-housed for awhile until Turbo was impressed with the kid's chops, and gave the GoBots the info they was looking for. Withered Hope
Toys
Generation 1
- Turbo (Bat-Robô, 198?)
- The Turbo mold was not created by Takara (or even Bandai), but by a Japanese company called Fujisho. It was originally sold as "Turboid" in their "Powertron" (パワートロン) line. Estrela evidently licensed the toy to sell it in Brazil, and included it as part of their unique Transformers range.
- The toy features a friction-driven motor, which, as part of its gimmick, is used to trigger its transformation. After pulling it back, the car drives forward until it hits something with its front bumper, whereupon it springs up into robot mode.
- Turbo was released simultaneously in red/grey and light blue/grey color schemes. It is unknown which, if either, is more difficult to come by.
Notes
- Both of the Fujisho Powertrons were released in North America by the Ertl Company as Pow-R-Trons. It is uncertain if Estrela licensed the molds from Fujisho or Ertl. In any event, the color schemes Estrela used appear to be unique to Brazil.
- Nowhere on his box is Turbo indicated as an Autobot or a Decepticon; factioned robots did not appear in Brazil's toyline until the advent of the "Optimus x Malignus" subline. However, he was used as a Malignus in the Transformers Collectors' Club Withered Hope text story.
- In a bit of surreal cross-marketing, Ertl once redecoed the Turboid Pow-R-Tron to resemble K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider.
- Korean Brave and Transformers licensee Sonokong released several Korean-exclusive Brave toys with the same gimmick as the Fujisho Powertrons, often in police car decos.
