Ichibi
From MediaWiki
- Ichibi is an Autobot-allied Mini-Con from the Galaxy Force portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Ichibi (イチビ) is a member of the Caliber Mini-Con Team, a special strike force under the command of Wing Saber. He is a stealthy 'bot, a master of misdirection.[1]
Toys
[edit]Galaxy Force
[edit]
- Caliber Ichibi (Promotional Micron, 2005)
- Release date: July 28, 2005
- Ichibi is a redeco and retool of the Armada Air Military Mini-Con Team Mini-Con Thunderwing, transforming into a "flying wing" style stealth fighter. The swiveling Powerlinx socket was removed and replaced with a swiveling 5 mm post, letting Ichibi be used as a hand-held weapon by most larger Unicron Trilogy toys (the Cybertron version of Wing Saber has to hold Ichibi on his forearm, not in his hand). This makes him the only Mini-Con without a Powerlinx socket.
- He and the other Caliber Microns were only available in July of 2005 from select stores in Japan as special promotional giveaways. Ichibi could be obtained from either Ito Yokaido or Hello Mac department stores, with the purchase of any Galaxy Force item.
| Transformers: Armada mold: Thunderwing | ||
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Notes
[edit]- Hirofumi Ichikawa explains that ichibi (イチビ) is the Japanese name of a variety of velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti). The term has no common kanji representation, though it's theorized to have derived from tomoshibi (灯), meaning "lamplight". While this seems to set this name rather apart from the other two Caliber Micron names in feel, if you consider the names as all deriving from "ninja tools and skills", a common thread emerges. It turns out this particular plant was used long ago as an ingredient of the gunpowder used for matchlock rifles and similar weapons.
- In February 2026, Greg Sepelak revealed that Matchlock was proposed as a localized name for a Transformers Collectors' Club website bio which never came to fruition. This bio identified Matchlock as the female ninja of the "Air Supremacy Team".[2] The intended profile art did appear in short articles about Mini-Cons in issues #28 and #47 of the Collectors' Club magazine.
