Thundercracker (G1)/toys
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Thundercracker has always looked and will always look a lot like Starscream. There are many toys of Starscream and where there is a Starscream toy, a Thundercracker toy soon follows.
Toys
Generation 1
- Thundercracker (Decepticon Jet, 1984/1985/1986)
- Japanese ID number: 24
- Accessories: Left & right fists, 2 missile launchers, 2 incendiary guns, 2 rockets, left & right wings, left & right tail fins, left & right tail wings, landing gear
- Originally a Diaclone "Jet Robo Acrobat-Type", Thundercracker transforms into a metallic blue F-15 Eagle fighter jet. His transformation essentially involves removing and reattaching most of his plane parts, though it is possible to do so without removing most of them, the way the instructions tell you to. As a result of his rather piecemeal design and the fact that neither mode uses all his parts, it can be quite difficult to find an intact original Thundercracker on the secondary market.
- Thundercracker is armed with a pair of missile launchers that mount on his arms in robot mode, and under his wings in jet mode, with a pair of specialized projectiles for each. In jet mode, two short rockets are fitted into the launchers to make them resemble the drop tanks a real F-15 carries, while in robot mode, they are replaced with the long barrels of Thundercracker's incendiary guns. The original Diaclone version of the mold featured spring-loaded firing mechanisms in these launchers; while this feature was removed for the Hasbro release of the toy, it was left intact for the Takara version, and all subsequent reissues.
- While the earliest releases of Thundercracker were basically identical to its Diaclone predecessor, some small modifications were soon made to the figure which became the standard for all subsequent reissues of the mold. These included the hollowing out of the inner edges of his wings and the tips of his tail-wings, the lengthening of the pegs on his wings, and the addition of extra clips on the inner sides of his fist-gauntlets, allowing them to grip his arms better but creating a visible slit on them. Like all his 1984 brethren, Thundercracker gained a factory-applied rubsign in 1985, which was added to the left side of his fuselage.
- Thundercracker ceased to be shipped to toy stores in 1986, but continued to be available as a mail-away item in the "Digital Doom on the Highway to Destruction" flier packed with most boxed Transformers toys. He cost $10 and two robot points. He has been reissued several further times down through the years; this article strives to list each separate release under its own header.
- Thundercracker shares his mold with his simultaneously-released teammates Starscream and Skywarp, and was later redecoed into Sunstorm. This mold was also retooled into Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust.
- Thundercracker (Action Master Exo-suit, 1991)
- Accessories: Solo Mission Jet Plane, sonic boom blaster, 2 missiles
- Released only in European and Australasian markets, Action Master Thundercracker is, once again, a redeco of Starscream, a non-transforming action figure that combined elements of both the character's cartoon model and toy-form. Like all Action Masters, Thundercracker came with a transformable accessory — in his case, a Solo Mission Jet Plane vehicle that converted into exo-suit battle armor. For whatever reason, Action Master Thundercracker forewent any attempt at rendering the character in his traditional blue and silver color scheme, but instead opted for a fantastically nauseating blend of magenta, purple, blue, gold, and two shades of green that would become the stuff of legend as the ultimate example of the flair this era's European Transformers had for the gaudy.
Machine Wars
- Thundercracker (Basic, 1996)
- Accessories: Two-part rifle
- Sharing a mold once again with Skywarp, Thundercracker transforms into a green Dassault Rafale fighter jet with spring-loaded one-step transformation from jet to robot. The two halves of his rifle store in his lower legs. Like all Machine Wars toys, Thundercracker was an exclusive to Kay-Bee stores and related stores like Toy Liquidators.
- This mold was originally developed for Generation 2, but was canceled when that line went under. It is unknown if it was intended to be a new character or a recurring one, though odds are it would have been later redecoed into a recurring character if the former was true.
- This mold was also used to make Beast Wars II Dirge, Robots in Disguise Skyfire, Robot Masters Wingstun, and the "Dawn of Future's Past" version of Waspinator.
Collector's Edition
- Thundercracker (reissue, 2001)
- ID number: 24
- Accessories: Left & right fists, 2 missile launchers, 2 incendiary guns, 2 rockets, left & right wings, left & right tail fins, left & right tail wings, landing gear
- The original Thundercracker toy was reissued for the first time in 2001 as part of Takara's small "Collector's Edition" series, which made several Generation 1 toys available as convention exclusives. Sold in new open-faced packaging with no notable changes from the original figure, Thundercracker was an exclusive at the Japanese science fiction convention "Super Festival 21", available only in a set with Skywarp and limited to 1000 pieces.
Commemorative Series
- Thundercracker (reissue, 2003)
- Accessories: Left & right fists, 2 missile launchers, 2 incendiary guns, 2 rockets, left & right wings, left & right tail fins, left & right tail wings, landing gear
- The original Thundercracker toy was made available again as part of Hasbro's line of Commemorative Series reissues in. Released in the third wave of the series, it featured functional missile launchers for the first time on a Hasbro version of the toy, but because the launchers now worked, both sets of missiles had to be lengthened for safety reasons. His incendiary guns didn't turn out too bad, but as you can see, the once-small rockets just wound up looking stupid.
Smallest Transforming Transformers
- Thundercracker (2004)
- Accessories: Left & right fists, 2 missile launchers, left & right wings, left & right tailfins, landing gear
- Part of the third wave of Smallest Transforming Transformers product (dubbed wave "2.5" and available only at CVS stores in Japan), Thundercracker is, of course, a redeco of this line's Starscream. Like all toys in the series, he is a tiny, simplified version of the original Generation 1 toy, transforming into an F-15 fighter jet. As with all previous waves of Smallest Transforming Transformers, these figures were sold blindpacked, with Thundercracker as one of the wave's two rare chase figures (the other being a cartoon-colored version of Optimus Prime's trailer).
- The same mold is used by Smallest Transforming Transformers Skywarp and Thrust.
Robot Masters
- Skywarp & Thundercracker (Multi-pack, 2005)
- Accessories: 2 rifles, 2 missile pods
- Robot Masters Thundercracker is a redeco of Starscream from the same series, a smaller yet more advanced version of the original toy, adding more articulation and reducing the amount of part-forming required. He was available only in a two-pack with Skywarp, which also came with a Decepticon sigil pin and chromed missile pods. This set was the very last product released in the Robot Masters line, and wasn't even strictly sold in a box from that series; instead, it used an e-Hobby Generation 1 reissue box, with a small "Robot Masters" sticker in the corner tab noting its origin from the front.
Titanium Series
- Thundercracker (6" Cybertron Heroes, 2006)
- Titanium Series Thundercracker is based upon his appearance in Dreamwave's The War Within. He transforms into a Cybertronian 'tetrajet', as reimagined by Don Figueroa. As with all 6-inch Titanium Cybertron Heroes, he is constructed mostly of fully painted die-cast metal.
- This mold was redecoed into War Within Starscream, Sunstorm, Skywarp and Thrust.
- Yes. Thundercracker was here first.
Timelines
- Games of Deception! (Multi-pack, 2007)
- Accessories: Left & right launchers, 2 missiles
- Thundercracker is part of the Classics-themed BotCon 2007 box set, along with Bugbite, Dirge, Dreadwind, and Thrust. Thundercracker is a redeco of the Classics Starscream toy using the modified version first seen with Skywarp.
- Classics Thundercracker is a faithful reproduction of his original toy, but with modern standards of toy engineering, transformation, sculpting detail and articulation. He transforms into an F-15 Eagle, but has the nose of an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. His color scheme is inspired by the original figure released in 1984, but with a shade of blue closer to that of the original Diaclone version.
- In robot mode, Thundercracker is essentially a very detailed version of his cartoon robot mode. He is armed with two null-ray missile launchers which are so large that they restrict his arm movement due to them bumping into his wings.
- There were only 1500 Classics Thundercracker figures produced.
- This mold was used for Henkei! Henkei! Thundercracker.
- Galvatron / Thundercracker (BotCon 2011 souvenir set)
- Accessories: Left & right launchers, 2 missiles
This toy was repurposed as Generation 1 Thundercracker.
- Thundercracker and Galvatron were an add-on souvenir set available exclusively at BotCon 2011. Like previous versions of the Classics Thundercracker toy, Shattered Glass Thundercracker is a faithful reproduction of his original 1984 toy, but with modern standards of toy engineering, transformation, sculpting detail and articulation. He transforms into an F-15 Eagle, but has the nose of an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. Unlike previous versions of the Classics Thundercracker toy, Shattered Glass Thundercracker is a buffet of colors, a visual homage to the Action Master Thundercracker action figure.
- A redeco of the Classics Seeker mold as Action Master Thundercracker was originally proposed as the attendee freebie figure for BotCon 2010, but the mold was being used for Generations Thrust by Hasbro at the time and thus unavailable. Fun Publications opted to produce Slice as the attendance freebie instead.
- A G2 Action Master bio was written to be included with this release, along side the included bio, effectively dual purposing this figure as both Shattered Glass and G2 Action Master Thundercracker. The bio was later published in the Official Collectors' Club magazine.
- There were only 1800 Shattered Glass Thundercracker figures produced. This mold was also used for a buttload of other Seekers.
Henkei! Henkei!
- Thundercracker (Deluxe, 2008)
- Accessories: 2 missile launchers (left and right), 2 missiles
- Henkei! Henkei! Thundercracker is a Genbo store exclusive redeco of Henkei! Henkei! Starscream. He features a metallic flake blue version of his cartoon color scheme, rather than his darker blue Generation 1 toy colour scheme. Henkei Thundercracker and his fellow Seeker Skywarp were opened for pre-order on May 22nd through June 20, and mailed out in September 2008.
- Soon after release, there were numerous complaints from both Japanese and Western collectors about the poor quality control for both Thundercracker and Skywarp. Thundercracker in particular suffered from a widespread issue where his missile launchers did not fit into the holes in his shoulders, due to the holes being too big. Some reported both toys suffering misassembly issues such as having two left or two right thighs.
- Several minor changes were made to this mold for this release. The holes for his missile launchers in his arms were widened, but not the launcher's insertion pegs. The wing's missile launcher insertion points were lengthened and are now curved at the end. The last rectangle on his air intakes, was further modified from the Classics version this time the bottom most rectangle goes completely across the air intake's surface rather than just the center. Henkei! Henkei! Skywarp and Universe Starscream also saw most of these changes.
Masterpiece
- Thundercracker (2008)
- Japanese ID number: MP-7
- Accessories: 2 "Machine Guns", 2 AIM missile racks, Doctor Arkeville pilot, Megatron Gun clasp, display stand
- A redeco of Masterpiece Starscream, Masterpiece Thundercracker was released in Japan in November 2008. He comes with all the accessories of the previous Seekers including the display stand, Doctor Arkeville (cast with blue skin), stickers and the clip to hold gun-mode Megatron that came with Masterpiece Convoy while in jet-mode. Also like Starscream and Skywarp, Thundercracker features two swappable faces; the normal emotionless face which is retooled from Starscream's original one, and a new growling one which appears to be an attempt to make him seem very angry... very angry indeed. Unfortunately the effect leaves him looking like he's on a trip to the dentist. He is covered with a glossy finish just like Skywarp.
- SOME Masterpiece Thundercrackers feature an assembly error: His left and right pectorals are flipped. This misassembly does not affect transformation at all, and is most noticeable when compared to prior Masterpiece Seekers. The 2008 pressing of Masterpiece Skywarp also features this part swap.
- It is a common misconception that the stoic face on Takara's Masterpiece Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker are the same, when all of them are in fact different sculpts.
Encore
- Skywarp & Thundercracker (reissue multi-pack, 2008)
- ID number 11
- Accessories: Left & right fists, 2 missile launchers, 2 incendiary guns, 2 rockets, left & right wings, left & right tail fins, left & right tail wings, landing gear
- Thundercracker's original toy was reissued again as part of TakaraTomy's Encore series, this time in a two-pack with his erstwhile partner, Skywarp. This release of the figure is cast in a less metallic blue plastic than previous release, and features tamographed wing stripes and Decepticon insignias instead of stickers.
Alternity
- Thundercracker Sonic Blue (2010)
- Japanese ID number: A-04
- Thundercracker is a redeco of Alternity Skywarp, transforming into a licensed 1:32 scale Mitsuoka Orochi. Thundercracker replaces Skywarp's purple, flat black, light purple, and metallic gray for metallic blue, glossy black, light blue, and silver. Like the other toys in the line, he features die-cast metal parts and rubber tires, as well as an opening hood, trunk and doors. In car mode, small wings can be flipped out from under Thundercracker's rear wheels, giving him the appearance of a flying car.
- The original version of this mold was used by Alternity Starscream.
Generations
- Thundercracker (Deluxe, 2011)
- Accessories: Left & right launchers, 2 missiles
- Generations Thundercracker is a third redeco of the Classics Starscream mold, and the first one to be released to mass retail.
- This version of Thundercracker features a darker blue than the greenish-blue of the BotCon release and the blue of the Henkei! Henkei! release. He also features a new deco layout and different striping from any of the previous versions. In the stock photo provided, he is slightly mis-transformed at the ankles.
Chronicle
- Thundercracker (EZ Collection, 2011)
- Chronicle Thundercracker is a redeco of the 2010 Transformers line Legends Class Starscream toy. He transforms into an F-15 with many fuselage details borrowed from the Masterpiece version. This is the first Seeker mold in many years to attempt an entirely new transformation, with the arms now forming the rear of the jet and the legs folding under the wings. Thundercracker is available only in Japan, and like many Japanese "EZ Collection" toys, is blindpacked.
Merchandise
Decoy
- Thundercracker (1986)
- Decoy ID number: 34
- Decoy Thundercracker is a tiny rubber figure randomly packed with Throttlebots, Stunticons, Combaticons, Terrorcons in 1986. As the figure is one solid color (purple or red, with the red versions only being available for a short while and only with Throttlebots), Thundercracker is only differentiated from Starscream and Skywarp by holding his right arm up in the air.
Super Collection Figure
- Thundercracker (2001)
- Super Collection Figure Thundercracker is a non-transforming three-inch tall figure, and a redeco of SCF Starscream. He was released in the fourth wave of the series, and came with the left leg of that wave's "Build-A-Figure", Metroplex.
- This mold was also used to make Skywarp, Sunstorm and the Air Warriors in the Heroes of Cybertron line (see below).
Heroes of Cybertron
- Thundercracker (2003)
- Heroes of Cybertron was the Western release of Super Collection Figures, and differ in that they were given a light-piping gimmick due to being molded entirely from translucent red or blue plastic and leaving the eyes and back of the head unpainted. Thundercracker was part of the second wave of HOCs. The pectorals are painted gray (instead of white on the SCF) and his hands black (instead of gray).
- Decepticon (2003)
- Thundercracker was also available in a six-pack with Starscream, Skywarp and three Air Warriors. This set was offered by 3H at OTFCC 2003 and elsewhere.
MyClone
- Thundercracker (2003)
- A redeco of MyClone Starscream, Thundercracker a small super deformed figure who, due to a generic base body, can be easily disassembled and have his parts swapped with other MyClones. Thundercracker was a chase figure in the second wave of Transformers MyClones, along with Lava Galvatron.
Titanium Series
- Thundercracker (3" Robot Masters, 2006)
- Accessories: Display stand
- A redeco of "Robot Masters" Starscream, Thundercracker is a small, non-transforming die-cast metal figurine based on his cartoon character model. He is sculpted holding a gun in his left hand and stretching out his right arm, while using his feet-jets to fly up.
Robot Heroes
- Jazz Vs Thundercracker (2007)
- A redeco of Robot Heroes Starscream, Thundercracker is a two inch high figure sculpted in a super deformed style and articulated at the shoulders. He was available in a two-pack with Jazz. This mold was later redecoed as Skywarp in the "Decepticon Sneak Attack" set.
Palisades
- Thundercracker (Palisades, 2005)
- A Palisades Direct-exclusive redeco of the Starscream statue, Thundercracker is a six inch tall polystone statue with articulated head and arms. He can stand normally or use a stand to take on a "hovering" pose. Thundercracker was limited to 300 pieces, and sculpted by 3L Creation Group from a design by George Tremarco.
Transformers - Mini Bust
- Thundercracker (Diamond Select, 2008)
- Released by Diamond Select Toys in 2008, Thundercracker was first exclusive to the New York Comic Con and later on offered by online retailer Big Bad Toy Store. He was sculpted by Mark Wong of Art Asylum and limited to 400 pieces.
External links
Categories:
- Pages with image sizes containing extra px
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- Action Masters
- Alternity Decepticons
- Classics Decepticons
- Convention exclusives
- Decoys
- KB Toys exclusives
- Generation 1 Decepticons
- Generations
- Henkei! Henkei! Decepticons
- Machine Wars Decepticons
- Mail order items
- Masterpiece
- MyClone
- Robot Masters Decepticons
- Robot Heroes
- Timelines characters
- Titanium Series
