Mini-spy

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This article is about the good and evil spies from Generation 1. For the evil informant from "Shattered Glass", see Mini Spy (SG){{#switch:{{#sub:Mini Spy (SG)|-1}} != .= ?= .

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Mini-spies are multi-factional Transformers from the Generation 1 continuity family.
"RUB MY BONNET!"

Mini-spies (also known as "Motorized Transformers") are very small Transformers, used by either faction as, well, spies. They are especially suited to this because their faction symbols are not visible without vigorous rubbing.

Fiction

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Use heat to reveal faction symbol.

When planetary society on Cybertron descended into all-consuming warfare, there were a good number of smaller Transformers who were, by their size and nature, simply not cut out to be warriors. Instead, these little robots were swept up into medical, administrative and especially espionage functions. Their proliferation in that role in particular led this smaller, simpler class of Transformer to be referred to mockingly as "Mini-spies" by their larger counterparts. Mini-spies are naturally unassuming and clever at disguising their factions, making them perfect spies for either side.

Their more sinister uses aside, it's the Mini-spies who keep Cybertron and what's left of its society running while the bigger Transformers run around blowing scrap up. More than Meets the Eye #4

Skywarp and Thundercracker received care from three Mini-spies when they relaxed in their baths. Brothers' Burden The Mini-spies were with them too when they tried to close the entrance to Shockwave's Tower to keep Optimus Prime out. It failed; Optimus Prime may or may not have killed them. Countdown to Extinction

When the Battlechargers infiltrated Shockwave's secret laboratory, Runamuck killed a Mini-spy with his friction rifle. Night of the Combaticons

Commercial appearances

This is the incident that made Cliffjumper paranoid about potential traitors in their ranks.
"That Scout is a Spy!"

A Decepticon Mini-spy FX-1 blithely drove past Huffer and Cliffjumper into Autobot Headquarters, where he immediately began messing around with Teletraan I. The two guards then drove in, apparently realizing they didn't bother to check who this car-bot was, and the Mini-spy transformed to vehicle mode to hide his allegiance. When Huffer rubbed the little robot's rubsign and revealed that he was a Decepticon, the spy fled, leaving the Autobots in the dust. Mini-spies commercial

Toys

The Transformers

"4WD/Jeep Type", round-casing has blank tires
"Buggy Type"
"FX-1 type", round-casing variant has "GOODYEAR" tires
"Porsche Type"
  • Brawn (Mini Vehicle, 1985)
  • Bumblebee (Mini Vehicle, 1985)
  • Cliffjumper (Mini Vehicle, 1985)
  • Gears (Mini Vehicle, 1985)
  • Huffer (Mini Vehicle, 1985)
  • Windcharger (Mini Vehicle, 1985)
"Motorized Transformers" toys (see "Notes" below) came packaged with re-releases of the 1984 Mini-Cars in early 1985. Motorized Transformers were the first toys to debut with heat-sensitive rubsigns, and the only way to determine whether a given Motorized Transformer toy was an Autobot or Decepticon was by rubbing said rubsign. They also use a pull-back motor to zip along smooth surfaces. They're just packed with gimmicky goodness, especially considering that they were freebie pack-ins.
There are four different Motorized Transformer molds, known unofficially by the names of their original Takara releases, 4WD Type (or Jeep Type), Buggy Type, FX-1 Type (based on the Toyota FX-1 concept car), and Porsche Type (based on the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Porsche 928|{{#if:||Porsche 928}}]]). Each was available in blue, white or yellow plastic, and as either an Autobot or Decepticon, making for a total of twenty-four different combinations.
Sealed specimens that have survived to the modern day suggest that the color apparently depended on the figure they were packed with (it's possible that the faction also depended on the Mini-Car figure, but that's almost impossible to tell at this point):
On top of that, each model has three multi-part variations centered around the pull-back assembly:
  • The seemingly most common version of each toy has an angled motor casing with 8-spoke rear hubcaps and "DUNLOP"-branded tires.
  • Rarer variants have rounded casing with a shallower, more complicated hubcap pattern and "GOODYEAR"-branded tires. This matches the pre-Transformers versions of the toys previously released by Takara (see "Notes" below).
  • Rounded-casing versions may also have blank tires with no branding whatsoever. It is uncertain at this point which is the rarer round-casing version.
That's a whopping seventy-two potential Motorized Transformer variations! Good luck, completists! (We say "potential" because we have not yet specifically confirmed that both rounded-casing tire variants can be found in each model/color/allegiance, but odds are pretty dang good that this is in fact the case.)
These toys seem especially susceptible to yellowing... yes, even the yellow ones often end up turning a nastier, darker-tinged yellow. Why is unclear, but it's very possible they used a less durable/chemically-stable plastic than the normal Transformers toys were made out of, what with being fairly complex freebies added to already-not-expensive offerings, likely produced at different factories than normal Transformers toys by the "Koma" company (see "Notes" below, again).


Notes

Totally Not Spies!
  • The pre-Transformers versions of the Motorized Transformers were part of a Takara toyline called Mech Soldier (メカ戦士, meka senshi), and came in blue and red variations, and included sticker detailing on the robot chests.<ref>Super Mega Minibot Rampage!</ref>
  • The figures are not actually identified as "Mini-spies" on the toys' packaging; rather, the included figure is simply referred to as a "Motorized Transformer". The name "Mini-spies" was originally only used in the TV commercial advertising the figures, so naturally it was the name that most kids remembered. Eighteen years later, issue #4 of Dreamwave's Transformers: More than Meets the Eye profile series finally established the commercial name in written form, thereby providing an official spelling that includes a hyphen and a lowercase "s".
  • Even weirder, Hasbro's shipping cases identify the assortment as "Minicar asst. w/ Koma car", with "Koma" supposedly being a Japanese company that released both pre-assembled and model kit versions (of dubious legality) of Takara's pre-Transformers "Mecha Senshi" figures.<ref name="newstome">"News to me 2018 edition" by Maziar Shahsafdari aka Maz at the TFSource blog.</ref> (Why Hasbro would refer to them under that name on their shipping cases is another question.)
  • The FX-1 type is commonly called Mazda Type by fans, in spite of being based on an old Toyota concept car, right down to the FX-1 marking on the front grille. This is due in equal parts to the fact that the FX-1 is an incredibly obscure car, and that the "FX-1" marking is so small and italicized to boot, making it very easy to misinterpret as "RX-7" instead.
  • The Mini-spies are the first car-mode Decepticons.

References

<references/>

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