Skipjack (ROTF)
| The name or term "Skipjack" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Skipjack (disambiguation). |
- Skipjack is a Decepticon Constructicon from the Revenge of the Fallen portion of the live-action film series continuity family.
Skipjack is a Constructicon who looks a lot like Rampage. Because of this, he can form the left foot of Devastator whenever Rampage is preoccupied in battle. Sometimes, he requires some extra help if he is low on mass and height for his combiner component mode.
Fiction
Revenge of the Fallen film
"Ohhh, y'know who does that? My brother, Dock... He's crazy."
During the climactic battle in Egypt between the Autobots, their human allies and The Fallen's Decepticons, Skipjack appeared in a quarry with the other Constructicons before merging into Devastator to attack former Sector Seven agent Seymour Simmons, Leo Spitz, Skids and Mudflap. As Devastator smashed away at the Great Pyramid of Giza after shrugging off Skids and Mudflap, Simmons called upon the United States Navy to fire upon the giant Decepticon. The USS Kidd fired her experimental rail gun, destroying Devastator. Revenge of the Fallen
Toy bios
Skipjack was present in Egypt during Operation: Firestorm. He combined with his fellow Constructicons to form the mighty Devastator, forming the left leg. Studio Series Constructicon Skipjack
Toys
Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers (2010)
- Skipjack (EZ Collection, 2010)
- Skipjack is a Japanese exclusive yellow redeco of Hunt for the Decepticons Legends Class Rampage. Because he is not encumbered with the need to combine, both his robot and vehicle modes are much more accurate and detailed.
- His "jackhammer" mode can be achieved by connecting his legs together and flipping his cab-feet down as the tip (as per the stock photos), although he will not be able to stand up well. Meanwhile, his instructions depict a more stable biped configuration, with his legs spread out and his cab-feet folded back in their vehicle mode position as his "heels".
Generations
- Constructicon Skipjack (Voyager Class, 2020)
- Hasbro ID number: 67
- TakaraTomy ID number: SS-EX
- TakaraTomy release date: November 28, 2020
- Accessories: 2 hand blasters, base, "Pyramid Desert Battle" backdrop (2nd version)
- Studio Series "Constructicon Skipjack" is a yellow redeco of Rampage, replacing the red with yellow and darkening the grays, along with changing his eye color from orange to red.
- He comes with two blasters, made from the pistons of his vehicle mode, that can be placed inside his hand, and a cardboard backdrop display depicting Operation: Firestorm. Owing to Skipjack's unique monopod design, the figure also comes with a small black plastic base to help him stand, which can be stored between his treads in vehicle mode. In combined mode, the stand plugs into Devastator's rump.
- Skipjack can be combined with the other Studio Series Constructicons to form Devastator. Though Rampage was the first to use the mold, Hasbro originally intended for him to be displayed alongside Bumblebee, rather than being Devastator's leg. Skipjack's involvement in the combination had been the original intent for Devastator, but since both Skipjack and Rampage share the same design it gave fans the option to use Rampage instead if they wanted.
- The first run of this release also had the same incorrectly-assembled waist from his predecessor, but the second run fixed this problem, with the figure now featuring a correctly-assembled waist. The figure shown in official stock images used on most online retail websites still had the incorrect assembly present.
- Skipjack's existence was revealed via official full-color images of Devastator, before renders of his own figure were even drawn up. Rather than regular retail release, Skipjack was only available to Japanese fans as a TakaraTomy Mall exclusive, and is the first Studio Series figure to be released this way.
- Like the majority of the Studio Series Constructicons, he lacks a Decepticon symbol. Oddly enough, his hand blasters in his official render are colored incorrectly. The one on the left hand is colored black... and the one on the right is colored yellow. While this is incorrect in and of itself (as both guns are displayed as black on the bulldozer render), the real toy has them in gunmetal-gray.
- Devastator (Gift Set, 2020)
- ID number: 69
- This boxset contains 8 of the Studio Series Constructicons seen in the Revenge of the Fallen film. In order to keep Devastator accurate to his on-screen appearance, Skipjack is included in the set, completely omitting Rampage, as he was busy elsewhere.
- This release of Skipjack features additional dirt paint applications to the sides of his vehicle mode.
- The gift set first saw release in Thailand without any announcement from Hasbro, with it later being officially revealed on the October 16th Fan First Friday.
Who is Skipjack?
Name origin
"Skipjack" was originally a preliminary name for Rampage during production of Revenge of the Fallen. Similar to Demolishor's working name "Wheelbot", the "Skipjack" name was used in the credits for the actor who voiced him. However, this can be considered definitely inaccurate in Rampage's case, as Starscream addresses Rampage by the toys' name in a subtitle during the film itself. Therefore, the "Skipjack" name in the credits becomes the odd one out.
Old Devastator information
All Devastator toys released in the Revenge of the Fallen toyline named the yellow bulldozer "Rampage". Even earlier publishings released around the same time, such as The Movie Universe backed this up. This seemed plausible as most of the Constructicons forming Devastator in the film had a doppelgänger or identical drone. This results in there being some individual Constructicons present during Operation: Firestorm while also having lookalikes concurrently part of Devastator. However, the individual Rampage that was present fighting Bumblebee was colored reddish-orange, while the one forming Devastator's leg was yellow like his earlier deluxe class toy.
Original concept art for Rampage, which also served as the basis for his original deluxe class toy, depicted the character as being colored yellow. As most of the earlier movie toys were based off of concept art so that the toys were released around the same time as the film was screening in cinemas, it is safe to assume that Hasbro made the connection between Rampage (who was yellow to their knowledge at the time) and the yellow bulldozer used in Devastator's combination as being the same character.
However, after the film had been released, Hasbro and Takara both made efforts to re-release earlier Deluxe Rampage toys in a more accurate color scheme.
Later in the Transformers (2010) toyline, a Legends class Rampage was released in orange.
New Devastator information
In 2020, the Studio Series toyline introduced a yellow bulldozer replacement named "Skipjack" to give fans a more movie-accurate yellow leg for the toyline's version of Devastator. While this wasn't the first toy released under the name "Skipjack", it was however the first to imply a possible retcon. The packaging bio for Skipjack mentions that he combines with his comrades to form Devastator, completely replacing the yellow Rampage unit previously used in that place. Rampage's bio on the other hand, only mentions him luring Sam Witwicky into a trap to force him to give up the Matrix of Leadership. The Devastator gift set, which was released later that same year, only had Skipjack packaged in with the other components, leaving Rampage as an individual outside of the combination. As most of the Studio Series figures and bios are based heavily on what appears on-screen, this further implies that Skipjack may actually be the bulldozer that forms Devastator's left leg in the film.
Mike B., a Hasbro employee who worked on the Studio Series Devastator, went on to mention in an interview posted on Hasbro Pulse's website that "in the movie, Skipjack and Rampage both have the same build or form but are colored differently, [with] Skipjack being yellow and Rampage being orange." This further reinforces the idea of the retcon being present.[1] The same interview makes note that despite Rampage being the first release of the mold, Skipjack was the original intention for the combined mode in the toyline and that Studio Series Rampage was specifically made to display beside Bumblebee, though because they share the exact same engineering, one could use either in their personal Devastator.
As a result of the latest information from 2020, Skipjack and Rampage appear to be a similar case to fellow Constructicons, Demolishor and Scavenger, who share the same body-type, but are two entirely different characters.
Notes
- The stock photography (seen above) for both EZ Collection Skipjack and Payload depicts them in shades that hew closer to orange than the yellow they came out in. Whether this was an artifact of the photographic process or an intentional plastic color-change is uncertain. Additionally, TakaraTomy's website calls the toy Rampage rather than Skipjack.
- Due to his small size, Skipjack combines with a yellow dump truck to form Devastator's leg in the film. Another yellow bulldozer forms the left hand, with Hightower as the arm.
- In the scene where all the Constructicons wait aboard the barge for Ravage and the AllSpark shard to arrive, a red bulldozer is visible in the flyover shot. But in the next scene where Ravage crash-lands into the bulldozer upon arrival, said bulldozer is suddenly recolored yellow. When the Constructicons transform into robot mode and dive into the water, the bulldozer is colored red again.
- Therefore, Rampage (and not Skipjack) is the one present in Megatron's resurrection. Trying to distinguish how many Constructicons appeared in Revenge of the Fallen only continues to get harder with each watch.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Skipjack (スキップジャック Sukippujakku)
