Spectro

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This article is about the G1 camera component. For the Animated tank component, see Spectro (Animated){{#switch:{{#sub:Reflector (Animated)|-1}} != .= ?= .

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Smile! You're on carnage camera.
Spectro is a Decepticon from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Spectro is not much of an independent thinker. He's effective when he's taking orders or working alongside Spyglass and Viewfinder, the other two members of the Reflector trio—but on his own, his limited intellect proves to be a liability. When something goes wrong, he's always the first to pass the buck and blame someone else, which has not earned him much regard in the optics of his comrades.

Fiction

Marvel The Transformers comics

A hi-then-die who didn't even get to say hi!

Spectro, Spyglass and Viewfinder worked with the Decepticon medic to repair their fellow Decepticons. Subsequently, an oddly colored Viewfinder was seen decorating the cavern floor of Mount St. Hilary after all the Decepticons were rendered inoperable by Sparkplug Witwicky's poisoned fuel. They didn't even get to introduce themselves in painfully lengthy exposition. Alas, Reflector was taken away from us before his prime. The Last Stand

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The three individual robots are never named; they are all simply "Reflector" and are all entirely identical, save for the lens aperture visible in the chest of the robot who forms the center of their camera mode. Reflector normally spends his time in this divided, triplicate state (three robots being the number required to form his camera mode), but in certain circumstances, he'll remain as one entity.

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Events from The Transformers Trilogy novels are in italics.

Spectro was part of Megatron's crew, active on Earth in the 1980's before the Ark II incident. When Megatron was snatched into space by the Keepers, Spectro refused to fall into line behind Starscream as the new Decepticon commander. Spectro joined Skywarp and his fellow Reflector thirds in confronting Starscream at Hoover Dam, hoping to force Starscream into abdicating his throne. When Skywarp and Starscream drew on each other, Spectro flew into the battle, zapping at Starscream with a pair of null rifles. His assault was interrupted by a counter-attack from Starscream's second-in-command, Soundwave...a very severe counter-attack. Laser-like sound beams battered Spectro's circuitry, destroying his fine motor control and sending him flying over the side of the dam, where he finally exploded into fiery debris. Hardwired Spectro was recovered and eventually reconstructed after Megatron returned to Earth, and joined his fellow Reflector-bots on several photo-blackmail missions to keep the American government out of the Decepticons' way. Fusion

Spectro was not part of Megatron's crew, but worked for Shockwave on Cybertron along with his two partners, monitoring the planet and its inhabitants for him from a central mainframe. Brothers' Burden They were seemingly destroyed by Starscream when he broke ranks with Shockwave's command structure. Countdown to Extinction

The above contradiction was briefly alluded to in the Fusion novel, as the Terran version of Reflector identified himself as the "true" Reflector, with the Cybertronian version being an "inferior copy". This echoes the body-duplication theme seen elsewhere in the multiverse. Still, what happened to the so-called true Reflector after The Transformers Trilogy remains a mystery.

G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers

Spectro, Spyglass and Viewfinder were among the Transformers who crashed on Earth millions of years in the past, and upon being discovered by humans, they were reprogrammed to serve the terrorist organization Cobra. The Autobot Wheeljack eventually restored everyone's original programming. Though Cobra desperately scrambled to salvage control of the Cybertronians, one Cobra operative declared the situation hopeless. The angry Reflector trio broke into Cobra's control center to confirm his assessment. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #4 With the Decepticons in control of Cobra Island, Megatron ordered the Reflector trio to assist Doctor Mindbender and Firefly while they used the SPS Satellite to create energon cubes. When Optimus Prime arrived to halt their scheme, the three Reflectors attacked him, but were easily swatted aside. G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers #5

Though the Decepticons fell into disarray once Megatron was defeated, they were reunited under Megatron's "son:" Serpent O.R.. Under his leadership, Spectro joined a Decepticon assault on an Autobot peace ceremony. He rode atop of Menasor alongside Spyglass and Viewfinder, the latter of which had been tasked with delivering a message to Optimus Prime. The transmission was briefly interrupted due to an attack from Jetfire, but an angered Prime forced them to resume the projection at gunpoint. The Art of War #4

The Beast Within

During an all-out Decepticon offensive against the Autobots, Spectro was one of the first victims to fall to The Beast, the Dinobots’ monstrous combined form. The Beast Within

2005 IDW continuity

Early in the war, the Reflector trio tried to stop an Autobot prison break in the Citadel only to be blown away by Springer. Rise

Spyglass and Spectro were later seen aboard a Decepticon orbital outpost, terrified of walking down the same hallway as Sixshot. Spotlight: Sixshot

The Reflector trio, speaking in chorus, celebrated after a successful Decepticon ambush on Earth. All Hail Megatron #7

Spectro's probably the one with red stripes on his legs.

In New York City, the trio observed as Rumble compulsively destroyed a Volkswagen Beetle, and observed in chorus that it was a pity it wasn't the real thing. All Hail Megatron #3 During the invasion, Spectro and Spyglass entertained themselves by "playing" with humans trapped in the city, which sadly led to the little creatures coming apart. The two Decepticons weren't too discouraged, however—they could always try to put their toys back together again. All Hail Megatron #8 Following the Decepticons' defeat, Spectro was among the Decepticons who fled Earth aboard Astrotrain. All Hail Megatron #12 Uneasy Lies the Head

In the aftermath of the war with Galvatron and the D-Void on Cybertron, Spectro, Spyglass and Viewfinder were instructed by Shockwave to undertake a special mission beginning with the theft of Turmoil's time-sliding space cruiser. Night and the City Using the ship, they were supposed to locate LV-117 and report its circumstances back to Shockwave, but were unprepared for the planet's erratic movement through time. Appearing out of nowhere right in front of them, LV-117 flung the Reflector trio over one hundred years into the past, depleting the ship's fuel supply and causing it to crash. Syndromica (2)

Viewfinder was killed in the crash when a large piece of the bridge's canopy shattered and impaled him through the chest. Spectro and Spyglass survived, and eventually they located Wheelie, who had previously crashed on the same planet and had been building an escape vessel with a friendly alien. They managed to hijack the vessel shortly before it launched by threatening to kill Wheelie's friend, but the tiny Autobot removed the safety catch from his energon converter before disembarking, causing it to violently explode shortly after take-off. Spotlight: Wheelie

Hearts of Steel

Spectro was one of the many Decepticons under Starscream's command during Earth's industrial revolution. Along with Spyglass and Viewfinder, he helped overlook the construction of the railway that would allow The Astrotrain to reach New York. Hearts of Steel #3

Transformers vs. G.I. Joe

Spectro, Spyglass, and Viewfinder, the "three are one" Decepticons, participated on an assault Metroplex at Megatron's behest. Everybody Hates Metroplex

Toys

Generation 1

File:G1 Reflector toy.jpg
We three kings of orient are...Left to right: Spectro, Viewfinder, Spyglass
  • Reflector (Mail-away, 1986/1987; wide release in Japan, 1985)
    • Japanese ID number: 21
    • Accessories: Spectro's "Shutter Gun", Viewfinder's "Lens Laser", Spyglass' "Optic Blaster", flash cube/missile launcher, 3 missiles, telephoto lens.
Reflector was first sold in Japan in 1985 as an ordinary retail item. However, Hasbro delayed selling him in the US until 1986, and only then via mail-order from a direct-mail flyer promoting The Transformers: The Movie. (Oddly, this came just as the character was being fully phased out of the fiction.) The toy would be a common offering in pack-in flyers from then on, at a cost of $10 and two Robot Points.
Reflector is composed of three distinct robots that combine to form a camera: Viewfinder as the central component with the lens, Spectro as the right-side component with the shutter button, and Spyglass as the left-side component with the flash. It includes a telephoto lens and old-style flashcube that doubles as a missile launcher, but of course, the Hasbro version has the spring-loaded mechanism neutered for safety reasons.
Spectro's shutter button is not a static protrusion, as one might expect; it can be depressed to make a clicking noise as the button on a real camera of the era would. His knees are prone to warping over time.

Generations

Combiner Wars

  • Reflector (3-pack, 2016)
Released as a BotCon 2016 souvenir exclusive, Combiner Wars Reflector (Spectro, Spyglass, and Viewfinder) is a redeco and retool of Combiner Wars Shockwave, utilizing the mold's preexisting alternate head. Reflector transforms into a spaceship based on Shockwave's Cybertronian handgun mode. Undocumented in the instructions, Reflector can transform into a gun mode for any Combiner Wars gestalt.
Hasbro has encouraged finding ways to combine the three into a vaguely camera-shaped object, and as such there are multiple unofficial attempts. The links below are listed in order of increasing structural integrity.
This version of the mold was also used to make BotCon 2016 Flash Sentry. This mold also served as the model for the non-toy Beast Wars: Uprising incarnation of Movor.


War for Cybertron: Siege

File:WFCS-Deluxe-Refraktor.jpg
  • Refraktor (Deluxe Class, June 2019)
    • ID Number: WFC-S36
    • Japanese ID Number: SG-28
    • Japanese release date: August 24, 2019
    • Accessories: "EMM Distortion Blaster"/tripod part, "HPR Telefocal Shield"/lens part, "Bioscale Compression Rotor"/chest module
Siege "Refraktor" (thanks, trademark!) is a single-packaged Deluxe figure based on Viewfinder's robot design, although the figure includes a removable 'chest module' which allows one to recreate Spectro or Spyglass instead.<ref name=seibertron>https://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/siege-red-alert-revealed-stock-photos-for-nycc-siege-figures-design-notes-from-warden-nycc/42180/</ref> While each Refraktor bot on its own can transform into an "artillery hovercraft",<ref name=seibertron /> purchasing three and combining them will allow them to form the classic camera mode. To this end, each Refraktor includes a blaster and a shield which form one-third of the camera tripod and lens, respectively, with the Viewfinder "chest module" connecting the tripod for stability.
Inputting the blacklight code "Reflector" into the Teletraan-1 page on Hasbro's website reveals a desktop wallpaper containing a preview of the Refraktor Reconnaissance Team, notably before the official reveal at San Diego Comic-Con.
Due to the need for 3 Refraktors, Hasbro wholesalers allowed independent retailers to order entire cases composed solely of them, outside the normal waves and case assortments offered to retailers.


File:New Siege Refraktor.jpg
  • Refraktor Reconnaissance Team 3-Pack (Multi-pack, September 1 2019)
    • Accessories: 3 "Telefocal Shields"/lens parts, 3 "Shutter Blaster/Lens Laser/Optic Blaster" rifles, "Flash Launcher" flashcube, "Shutter Armor", 3 "Bioscale Compression Rotors"/torso-parts, Kremzeek blast effect
One of many many many online exclusives revealed and opened for pre-order during San Diego Comic-Con 2019, this set features three copies of the Deluxe figure above, only this time decoed to match the original Reflector toy layouts (mostly). Each robot also comes with extra accessories to make the combined camera mode look that much more like the original toy, adding a flashcube for Spyglass, a grip/shutter-button for Spectro, and a viewfinder for Viewfinder.
The set also includes a Kremzeek figurine, which is compatible with the Siege " blast effect" system.

Notes

Foreign names

  • Japanese: Spectro (スペクトロ Supekutoro)
  • Mandarin: Fēn-kuāng-Yí (Taiwan, 分光儀, "Spectro"), Fēnguāngjìng (China, 分光镜, "Spectroscope")

References

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