Astrotrain (Cybertron)
| The name or term "Astrotrain" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Astrotrain (disambiguation). |
- Astrotrain is a Decepticon from a Timelines addition to the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
The Decepticons constructed Astrotrain as a troop transport for the Decepticon Armada, a mundane, thankless job that he was all too eager to abandon when Megatron vanished after the Unicron Battles. Now, Astrotrain is a cunning bounty hunter who lives in extravagant wealth, much of which he has used to upgrade his body into a formidable powerhouse. Despite his haughty cruelty (possibly due to residual bitterness which built up during his trooper transport years), he is extremely loyal to anyone under his command. Although he is ultimately in business only for himself, he does work from time to time with the space pirate Cannonball.
He also commands a small crew of Mini-Cons: his partner Starcatcher and the team of Astro-Hook, Astro-Line and Astro-Sinker. Although Astrotrain was released under the Timelines banner, judging by his bio he could fit anywhere under the Unicron Trilogy continuity family, as it clearly states that he was a transport in Armada, became a bounty hunter in Energon, and works with Cannonball from time to time in Cybertron.
Fiction
Cybertron cartoon continuity
The Dark Heart of Sandokan
Astrotrain was a bounty hunter who broke official ties with the Decepticon army centuries ago. Working alone, he did mercenary jobs for whomever could pay for the services of him and his Mini-Con comrades. Astrotrain was once saved from certain death by the space pirate Cannonball, and his ship the Kalis' Lament. Cannonball kept Astrotrain from burning up in the atmosphere over Taros Four, and one day decided to call in his debt. In order to balance the scales, Astrotrain agreed to travel to Sandokan and retrieve a Force Chip from the Autobot shuttle that had crashed on the planet. Astrotrain's Mini-Con troops rightly distrusted Cannonball's motives, but Astrotrain informed them they would not be sharing the booty with their sponsor.
Astrotrain and his men attempted to enter Sandokan on a stealth trajectory, but their reentry burn gave away their position to the planet's vile guardian, Synthos. The Astro-troops bailed out to take some opening shots at the creature, softening him up for their leader. Synthos may have been softened, but he wasn't soft—the monstrosity unleashed a massive blast at Astrotrain as he landed, sending him flying head over heels. Out-powered, Astrotrain decided to switch tactics and outthink his opponent. Bluffing that he was only the advance guard of a superior fighting force, the Decepticon talked the creature into a truce: he agreed to share the power of the Force Chip with Synthos if the creature would give him free rein to hunt down the Autobots.
The Autobots were taken unawares by Astrotrain thanks to his cloaking ability, and several were rendered unable to fight before the battle began in force, leaving only Override and Swerve to stand against him. Astrotrain took the smaller Autobot hostage to force Override into surrendering, but she surprised him by actually shooting Swerve with a low-powered blast, startling the Decepticon long enough for Swerve to squirm free. Still, Astrotrain kept those Autobots busy long enough for his Mini-Con partners to recover the Force Chip from their hiding comrades, and the Astro-troops departed to make contact with Synthos again.
The Decepticon mercenary had no intentions of sharing the Force Chip's power with Synthos. Instead, sensor readings had isolated for him the source of Synthos' power: the Dark Heart of Sandokan deep within his mass. Astrotrain attempted to force the creature to give up the Heart, but was forced to fight a legion of robotic drones Synthos placed in his path. As the drones began to overwhelm him, Astrotrain powerlinxed with his four Astro-troops AND activated the Force Chip, granting him power the likes of which he had never known. Before he could overcome Synthos, however, the Autobots arrived and split Astrotrain's attention. He was knocked unconscious and separated from his power sources.
Astrotrain and his crew remained unconscious when Cannonball and a shuttle from the Kalis' Lament arrived to claim their prize. The Decepticon pirates were ultimately stranded by the Autobots, though, who stole their shuttle and left them waiting for the pirate ship to come pick them up. Although he was furious at Astrotrain for losing the booty, Cannonball allowed him to enact repairs before kicking him and his crew off the ship. His reputation tarnished by this travesty of a mission, Astrotrain left to search for other mercenary pursuits. The Dark Heart of Sandokan
Toys
Timelines
- Astrotrain (Ultra, 2007)
- Accessories: Electronic thruster-cannon, shield, 2 bombs
- Astrotrain is a retooled Armada Jetfire, transforming into a Cybertronic space shuttle, in a gray and purple color scheme that is a (very) loose homage to Generation 1 Astrotrain. Since he is the Jetfire mold, he can also form the lower legs for Armada Optimus Prime's super mode. In shuttle mode, his Mini-Con partner Starcatcher can form his front landing gear. Placing Mini-Cons on the Powerlinx points on his wings drops the bombs stored underneath. He retains the electronic lights and sounds in his main thruster/blaster-weapon from the Powerlinx Jetfire version, uncommon among such low-run collector exclusive toys.
- Aside from Starcatcher, Astrotrain also comes with a redeco of the Giant Planet Mini-Con Team, named Astro-Hook (crane), Astro-Line (plane), and Astro-Sinker (submarine). In addition to the Mini-Cons, an exclusive illustrated text story featuring Astrotrain, set in the Cybertron series, was made available to club members online.
- The toy was released in March 2007 as one of the first exclusives available for purchase to Transformers Collectors' Club members. Well, sorta technically the first. He ended up being available at the same time as the Club's exclusive Dawn of Future's Past Airazor toy, but Astrotrain was the first Club exclusive advertised. And that's also not counting the "free" club figures available with subscriptions but which were also available to those who subscribed late.
- This toy was later repurposed to also be the heroic Shattered Glass Astrotrain.
Notes
- Astrotrain was originally an unproduced Universe store exclusive named Spacewarp. At that stage, the toy would have kept the original head mold from Armada Jetfire. He was to come with a redeco of the Space Mini-Con Team as well. Even though he was initially intended as a Toys "R" Us exclusive, no retail chain ultimately ended up wanting to carry him, so Spacewarp was shelved. He was among several proposed exclusives that were ultimately put into retail limbo during the waning of the Universe line.
- According to Fun Publications staffers, Astrotrain was chosen as their first exclusive specifically due to the clamor for the original Spacewarp. He would have kept the "Spacewarp" name, too, but Hasbro was unable to secure the trademark. FP chose to give the toy its new head.
- Reportedly, Takara has insisted that all of the Armada-era Mini-Con molds were worn out and unusable following the Cybertron two-packs, hence the Space Mini-Con Team's replacement with the Giant Planet Mini-Con Team.
- Astrotrain's Mini-Con trio are named in homage to Hook, Line, and Sinker, the servants of Unicron from the U.S. Marvel comic.
