Autolauncher

Autolauncher is a Predacon Autoroller from the Beast Wars II portion of the Beast Era continuity family.

I got your "ultimate frisbee" right here, bitch.

Even though Autolauncher is supposed to be a bodyguard for Galvatron, he often abandons his post to rush into enemy camp and be the first to blast away at the Maximals. He wants the glory and the fame so bad it sends him charging off at the least provocation. This doesn't please Autostinger at all, but on the positive side it can be a decent distraction tactic in battle, and Galvatron doesn't really need a bodyguard anyway.

He is especially anxious to defeat the Insectron Mantis, who he sees as his only rival in the art of the Diskmaster.

Fiction

Beast Wars II cartoon

Voice actor: Hiroki Takahashi (Japanese)

Toys

Beast Wars

• Autolauncher (Auto-Roller, 1998)
  • Japanese ID number: D-20
  • Accessories: Launcher rifle, 2 missiles, 4 discs

Autolauncher transforms into an armored personnel carrier. He has a disc-launcher in his front end/robot chest that is activated by the front wheels, with a switch to allow him to roll without firing. He also has a small hand-held spring-loaded missile launcher that stores in his trunk. Like Autojetter, he has a three-setting switch that changes how the toy reacts to being rolled on a smooth surface. In the center setting, it rolls free in whichever mode it’s in. The other two activate the toy’s auto-transforming gimmick; with the switch to the left, the toy transforms from robot to APC when rolled forward (and back when rolled in reverse), while the right position transforms him from APC to robot when rolled forward (and back when in reverse).

• Mantis vs Autolauncher (Multi-pack, 1998)
  • Japanese ID number: VS-20

Autolauncher was also made available in a two-pack with his rival Mantis.

Notes

• Autolauncher's mold was originally created for Generation 2, but was one of several items that ended up canceled. This release would have been blue and white; although its intended name is unknown, it is noteworthy that the mold's head is almost identical to the comic model for Crankcase, who is blue. Why would anyone make a new-mold Crankcase toy in 1995? Who knows.

• All of the Beast Wars II Autorollers have 2-D card art, rather than the CGI model art made for the entire rest of the line.

External links

• Autolauncher at TFU.info