Spychanger
- The Spy Changers are a group of stealthy Autobots from the 2001 Robots in Disguise and the Generation 1 continuity families.
The Spy Changers (or "Spychangers") are a special team of Autobot stealth ninjas. They have a number of special abilities: they can drive along almost any surface, turn invisible, and phase through solid objects.
The team consists of:
Fiction
Robots in Disguise cartoon continuity
2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon
The six Spy Changers aided Optimus Prime on Earth in his battle against Megatron. Although they were highly intelligent, unfortunately, they weren't very strong in a head-on fight. (The comic relief trio of Gas Skunk, Slapper, and Dark Scream gave them trouble.)
When the Predacons stole a plutonium energy generator, T-AI called in the Spy Changers. Hot Shot, Crosswise, and R.E.V. responded first, pursuing the Predacons onto the beach, where they were joined by the other three Spy Changers, Mirage, Ironhide, and W.A.R.S.. The Predacons eventually escaped with a fake generator which the Spy Changers had swapped for the real one. Spychangers to the Rescue
After Optimus was captured and tortured by Megatron, the Spy Changers joined the Autobot Brothers in rescuing their leader and seeing off the Predacons. Sideburn's Obsession
Later, the team tried to protect a ruby from Predacon theft, and Mirage's failure to take a shot resulted in the Predacons escaping. When Mirage pretended to defect and led the Spy Changers to Megatron's Mega-Laser Cannon, the team destroyed the weapon using the Global Space Bridge. Mirage's Betrayal
The Spy Changers also took part in the International Grand Prix in an attempt to find Skid-Z and were blinded by Megatron a short time into the race. Skid Z's Choice On another occasion, the Spy Changers were called back to base to watch footage of various battles, but had to wrap up a fight with the Predacons first. Hope for the Future
The Spy Changers accompanied Optimus Prime to Montrose Island, where Predacon activity was causing the volcano there to become violent. They attempted to keep Scourge and Sky-Byte busy while Optimus went to use his blizzard storm on the volcano. When the volcano was ruptured and lava threatened the nearby resort, the Spy Changers used their Inferno Blast formation to divert its path. Volcano
Sent to stop the Decepticons from finding Fortress Maximus, the Spy Changers jumped out in front of the foe and were soundly trounced by Armorhide and Rollbar. Fortress Maximus
The Spy Changers took part in the ambush of the Decepticons after the Autobot base was discovered. Surprise Attack! After Galvatron's defeat, they celebrated by racing with Skid-Z. The Final Battle
Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
e-HOBBY toy bios
The trans-dimensional GoBots used their unique transporter and bio-mechanical technologies to help produce the newest generation of Transformers. The Spy Changers were among them.
Super Spy Changers catalog
With Ultra Magnus having departed Earth aboard Brave Maximus, the Autobots were unable to call upon his power when a new menace suddenly arose to challenge them in 2002. A plan was put into motion to upgrade the Spy Changers with Spark Engines, granting them Super Modes.[1][2]
Ask Vector Prime
The Spy Changers were the only Autobots left on Earth when Chainsaw led the Mutants there. Utterly outclassed, the Spark Engines were created thanks to Professor Haruma Gō's new substance, go-brillium. They notched up many solo victories but had to relearn the importance of teamwork to finally win: under Super Artfire's newly improved leadership, they mastered the partial invisibility upgrade Super X-Car had been tinkering with and used it to defeat the Mutants.
With the go-brillium used up, they were regular Spy Changers again. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/01
Legends
When Scourge's forces attacked Neo Brave Maximus, the Super Spy Changers counterattacked, but the damage they inflicted upon the Commando's ship caused it to crash into Maximus. LGEX Scourge Prologue
Spy Changer continuity
In Viron 1103.12 Gamma, Optimus Prime and her troops had to downsize with Spy Changer technology after Sky-Byte poisoned Earth's energon supply. Scourge was the only Predacon/Decepticon who also downsized, but she alone was no match for the 13 Spy Changers active on Earth. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/18
Ask Vector Prime
In Primax 085.0 Eta, Optimus Prime and five of his Autobots Jazz, Wheeljack, Silverstreak, Prowl, and Hoist became Spy Changers, hoping to achieve their mission with stealth and diplomacy when they needed to travel to Gargent 087.0 Kappa due to a planet in that universe threatening to overwrite the existence of their Cybertron. They were able to achieve their mission with the help of the Guardians. In a later encounter with the Guardians, Trailbreaker became a Spy Changer as well. Ask Vector Prime, 30/9/2015
In Quadwal 1215.15 Epsilon, these escapades were told in a Fun Publications convention comic called "Brain Problem Solution". Ask Vector Prime, 21/12/2015
Toys
Robots in Disguise (2001)
- Spy Changers (2001)
- Spy Changers are small, 1:64-scale cars with axles designed in the style of "Matchbox" and "Hot Wheels" cars. The concept was first introduced in the Generation 2 toyline with the Go-Bots, but was greatly expanded with Robots in Disguise. The typical Spy Changers feature simple transformations with articulation limited to rotator joints at the shoulders. Most come with hand weapons. Originally, they were sold as two-packs under the Basic price point (except for the two larger figures, which were sold as single packs); it was only with the later, single-packed KB Toys exclusive clear redecos that the toys were actually referred to as "Spy Changers" on their packaging.
- The first batch of Spy Changers were previously used molds from Generation 2. This group would undergo seemingly endless redecos and re-releases for several years.
- Previously unreleased sculpts
- A second group of Spy Changer toys was created from four molds that were created for Generation 2 but never released. This group is notable for being able to store their hand weapons while in vehicle mode.
- New sculpts
- A third group of Spy Changers were created from scratch, based on characters from the series who had larger toys. Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus, while still racetrack-compatible, are considerably larger than the typical Spy Changer toy.
Universe (2003)
- Ultra Magnus with Ironhide Spychanger
- Optimus Prime with Prowl Spychanger
Wave 1 (2004, February 2005)
Wave 2 (August 2006)
Transformers (2007)
- Optimus Prime (2007)
- A redeco of Robots in Disguise Spy Changer Scourge as Movie Optimus Prime was released in Japan as a preorder exclusive for the Transformers DVD or HD-DVD.
Notes
- The official spelling for the name of this subgroup varied a lot:
- Though the name originates with the Japanese Car Robots version or the series, an official English spelling was not provided, as the name was only rendered as "スパイチェンジャー" ("Spychanger") in katakana on the toys' packaging and in the title of the cartoon episode "Ninja Robo! Enter the Spychangers".
- When Hasbro ported the Series to the United States as Robots in Disguise, they kept the name for the subgroup, but as noted above, the toys (available at retail ca. July 2001) were originally sold as two-packs under the "Basic" price point, with no reference to their being part of a specific subgroup whatsoever on their packaging.
- The first official English spelling of the name comes from the title of the dubbed version of the aforementioned cartoon episode, "Spychangers to the Rescue" (original airdate September 2001), which spells "Spychangers" as a single word.
- Subsequently, Hasbro released redecos of four of the previously unreleased Generation 2 Go-Bots as two more two-packs (available at retail ca. September 2001), and then four new figures specifically designed for the Robots in Disguise line, two smaller figures that were also sold as a two-pack, and two larger figures that were sold individually, all of them under the "Basic" price point with no subgroup name on their packaging (available at retail ca. January 2002).
- It wasn't until Hasbro released redecos of the original six figures (originally available as KB Toys exclusives ca. August 2002, later also at Target stores ca. March 2003) that the subgroup's name was actually printed on Hasbro toy packaging. Unlike the cartoon episode title, the figures were called "Spy Changers", as two words.
- The "Tiny Tins" re-releases of eight of the Robots in Disguise figures (available via Diamond ca. July 2003) again didn't have a subgroup name on their packaging.
- The KB Toys exclusive "G1" redecos of six of the Robots in Disguise figures (available ca. January 2004) were named "Spy Changers" again, spelled as two words.
- Around the same time, the Universe toy line included two Walmart exclusive two-packs of redecoed figures (available ca. February 2004). This time, the subgroup name was spelled as one word again. Additionally, the wording ("Optimus Prime with Prowl Spychanger", "Ultra Magnus with Ironhide Spychanger") seemed to imply that only the smaller figures were actually considered "Spychangers".
- The rebranded re-releases of the KB Toys exclusive "G1" Spy Changers that were branded as part of the Universe line (available at Dollar General and later also Family Dollar stores from ca. February 2005 onwards) had the name spelled as two words again.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Spychanger (スパイチェンジャー Supaichenjā)
- Korean: Spychanger (스파이체인져 Seupaicheinjyeo)
