Mudflap (ROTF)

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This article is about . For other uses of "Mudflap", see Mudflap (disambiguation)|The name or term "Mudflap" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Mudflap (disambiguation).}}
Mudflap is an Autobot from the live-action film continuity family.
Despite appearances, his chest is not someone's face.

The goofy-looking Mudflap and his twin Skids are a result of a split spark, and share a close bond accordingly. Mudflap is hyperactive, noisy, argumentative, and eager... not that different from his brother. He's so desperate to impress that he comes off as having the robot equivalent of ADHD. <ref>The Movie Universe</ref> When they're not trying to outdo each other in crazy, daredevil antics, the twins are usually bickering with each other over anything. Like Skids, he possesses hyper-reactive optical imaging scanners, making him able to process tactical information faster than any other Transformer (except Skids).<ref>Skids Profile, Transformers #1 (Titan, Vol.2)</ref> As irritated as Mudflap gets from Skids' vocal one-upmanship, he realizes that they actually work best as a team.<ref>Hasbro Mudflap Battle Bio</ref>

Each twin can transform into smaller, separate vehicles or combine into a single, more durable alternate mode, <ref>Skids Profile, Transformers #1 (Titan, Vol.2)—greatly expanded from his The Movie Universe bio</ref> but whether they can combine similarly into a larger robot mode remains to be seen. Upon first arriving on Earth, Mudflap and his brother took the form of a beat-up old ice cream truck, but he later scanned a Chevy Trax for a disguise, and, sometime after that, a Chevrolet Spark. That being said, it's unlikely the twins will keep an alt-mode for long.

{{#if:Mudflap while doing damage to DevastatorRevenge of the Fallen|
“ Nobody messes with the twins! ”
{{#if:Mudflap while doing damage to Devastator|

—Mudflap while doing damage to Devastator{{#if:Revenge of the Fallen|, Revenge of the Fallen}}

}}

}}

Fiction

IDW Transformers movie comics

Off to go hang out with Derpy Hooves, I'm sure.

After hearing Optimus Prime's call into space for all Autobots, Skids and Mudflap were captured by the Decepticons Thundercracker and Flatline just before reaching Earth. Seeking to perfect some new medical experiments, Flatline tried to forcibly reprogram the brothers' processors, but only succeeded in leaving them addled and confused. Another of Flatline's experiments, the tri-fold biker named Arcee, helped Skids and Mudflap escape. They picked up a ship and made their trek the rest of the way to Earth. Tales of the Fallen #6

Mudflap is the one in back.

Skids and Mudflap followed Optimus Prime's message to Earth and arrived on the planet with Topspin, Leadfoot, Roadbuster, Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia and Elita-One on the Wreckers ship Xantium. The ship and the Wreckers stayed behind in NASA, Dark of the MoonDark of the Moon issue 3 The Twins both chose the combined form of an old, beat-up ice cream truck. The newly arrived Autobots joined the human-Transformer military alliance NEST and began training in earnest at Diego Garcia, but soon had to be deployed to Shanghai, China. Alliance #4

Titan Magazines Revenge of the Fallen comics

Quick! We have to get to auditions before the cool characters!

Sometimes, he has a small forcefield in vehicle mode. Turnabout

Mudflap first met Bumblebee when they were about to be thrown into a smelting pool. It was fun! Dogfight!

Mudflap and Skids happily stayed on Cybertron, going through intensive training (which totally wasn't goofing off) and having extreme-sports contests. Neither wanted to leave their homeworld, and they were the only Transformers on it until Starscream turned up with a Decepticon army. When they heard him mention a Star Harvester, Mudflap said they should tell someone...but was a bit upset to find out the fastest way to do that would be to leave Cybertron and tell the Autobots in person.

The decision was made for them when the Decepticons attacked. Mudflap took some hits, causing Skids to obliterate the Decepticons responsible, but for the most part, their training paid off. However, he realised they were running out of places to run, so he followed his brother in leaving the plane, with only one course of action remaining: follow the message Optimus Prime had beamed into space and head for Earth. Training Day

The twins made it to Earth soon, crash-landing in Toronto, Canada. On the way in, Mudflap hit a big tower, and was a bit guilty since he knew how these primitive luddite humans still needed radio waves (the saps). They swam their way to Ball's Falls, where they picked up Earth alternate modes and, Mudflap taking charge, set out to try and find local Autobots and warn them about the Star Harvester.

Driving along the wrong side of the Interstate, the twins were attacked by the Seeker Ransack, who pursued them across open countryside, trying to kill them on Starscream's orders. Mudflap transformed and blinded the old Decepticon with a fistful of dirt, which bought the twins some time to find cover. However, the airborne enemy kept up with the twins, and Mudflap lost a chance at cover when he ran back to save his brother. Luckily they were saved by Bumblebee, who attacked and forced Ransack to retreat. Dogfight!

Sorry, Jon, at some point you have to draw their ugly mugs.

Now living at NEST's Californian base with Bumblebee as their minder, Skids and Mudflap repeatedly asked to deliver their info to Optimus Prime—and only Optimus, much to Ironhide's annoyance. He was more annoyed when they ambushed him to get to Optimus...who, as it turns out, was away on a need-to-know mission anyway.

After this defeat, and with Ironhide having bluntly told them nobody believed them, they desperately asked to join in a NEST op in Las Vegas...getting turned down, because they were too crap to get involved. Mudflap almost called their superior a very rude word over this, and after the team had left, he decided they should go to Vegas anyway to show Ironhide just what they could do! What they could do, it turned out, was screw up a successful mission by freeing a captured Decepticon by trying to "shoot him down". Mudflap was left mortified. Ironhide, recognising what they were trying to do, told him that maybe they could work on training the twins not to jump in without looking, and that the trick was to learn from mistakes. The twins claimed they'd try. Learning Curve

They soon wished they hadn't, as they were condemned to NEST's Orkney Islands base for days of sim-com (simulated combat) training under Sideswipe. Mudflap agreed with Skids' theory that this was an excuse to keep them away from Optimus, and the whole situation got on his nerves. They both protested to Sideswipe that they could handle Decepticons. Him pointing out their failure with Grindor shut them up. However, the training was interrupted when a huge metal cat monster broke into the base, KOed Sideswipe, and tried to eat the twins!

Nice kitty...nice kitty...

They transformed and fled, with all attempts at holding it off failing. Mudflap hit on a plan of trapping the creature in the sim-com room and letting the drones shoot it down. He pulled this off, using himself as bait; in the process, he received a communication from the monster's master, who demanded to know what the twins knew about some lost and fallen guy. Mudflap briefly wondered who this dude was, then shrugged and just sprang the trap on Ravage.

With that done, the twins tried to fill in the revived Sideswipe... except the creature had gone, leaving their instructor with the view that they'd knocked him out in revenge for their training. Between that and Grindor, he thought they were up to something... New Tricks


Even the characters shift the blame over who came up with their dialogue!

The twins were later taken to Diego Garcia, and ecstatic to learn Optimus was coming there! Okay, he's only dropping a prisoner off, he's not here to see them and knows nothing about their story, but they ignored all that and drove off when Sideswipe wasn't looking so they could greet the leader. Mudflap squeed over how Optimus would be so proud with his work! Skids picked up on that and accused his brother of trying to steal the glory, and soon the two of them were having a big fight and slagging match...

And so their first meeting with Optimus Prime was to be yelled at for conduct unbecoming of an Autobot warrior. (See the pic to the side to find out how that went.)

That was when Scorponok made his attack, blasting at the distracted Prime and moving to free the prisoner Sideways. Mudflap swiftly grabbed a weapon to stop this escape, but Sideways snatched it from his hands and used it himself to cover his retreat. Sideswipe, watching from a distance, believed Mudflap had given over the weapon, and convinced Prime that the twins were traitors: they must have helped Scorponok get here and now assisted him in his mission, on top of freeing Grindor and attacking him! Mudflap and Skids protested they were being set up because they knew too much, but it fell on deaf ears as they were taken into custody... Reversal of Fortune

Heart, head, near enough...

Following this, the decision was made to exile the twins into orbit. Mudflap and his brother moaned that they should've just ignored the Fallen, but help was at hand... from the Decepticons? Mudflap angrily told Decepticon agent Wheelie that they didn't want to be freed by him, but the complaint fell on deaf ears: now the twins looked like even bigger traitors. The two went underground to clear their names, and hit on the foolproof plan of abducting Sam Witwicky from his house and pleading with him to tell their story to Optimus. All this did was cause Bumblebee to launch an attack to rescue Sam. Mudflap pleaded with the angry Bumblebee that they weren't traitors, that they had vital info...

...and then Soundwave gunned down the scout and offered the twins sanctuary in the Decepticons. Nowhere else to go, Mudflap took Soundwave's hand and said he'd never liked Earth anyway... Outlaw Blues

"No offence, Sideways, but you're a boring, stupid, unimportant waste of metal and your mum hates you."

Once in the Decepticons, he had fun dissing all the other members as being losers and getting on everyone's nerve, before Soundwave finally sent them on a mission to bring in a rogue member. Once on Earth again, he was genuinely surprised to find out Skids was only pretending to defect; his annoyed brother explained the plan was that, since Soundwave would send a minder to watch them, they could ambush their minder and have a prisoner to give to the Autobots.

The rogue member turned out to be Ransack, and Mudflap helped Skids lie to him that the Fallen had sent them. Talking instead of fighting? That annoyed both of their minders, and they came under attack by Grindor and Sideways! Mudflap was ordered after Sideways, and engaged him in a game of chicken; the Decepticon blinked first and crashed into a tree. He thought this was enough, but Skids was determined that they'd now take the fight to Soundwave himself! (Mudflap's considered response was "YOWZA!") Turnabout

Upon returning to the Phobos base, Mudflap was consulted about having a plan of attack. He decided why bother having plans now, just attack! The twins stormed the base, and Mudflap was able to defeat Ravage by ducking the beast's attacks and planting an electrical bomb on him. However, this success was quickly undone and Mudflap found himself about to be killed by Starscream... but the battle gave Ransack an opening to shoot the Seeker in the back and escape, causing the other Decepticons to chase after him! The twins had no idea what that was all about... but this was just a short respite, as the twins discovered just what that army massing on Cybertron had been planning: to arrive at the Phobos base en route to Earth...

The twins stood ready to make their last stand, and Mudflap prepared to take down as many drones as possible... when Optimus arrived with the other Autobots! The twins had been tracked to Phobos and to their shock, the other Autobots had realised they weren't traitors and were even apologising! And with all the street cred of uncovering the Phobos base, the twins were welcomed to the Autobots' Earth division. Skids briefly wondered if they should mention "the Fa-" again, but Mudflap told him they were never mentioning that bloody thing again. Whatever happened, would happen... Back-to-Back

Revenge of the Fallen film

Voice actor: Reno Wilson (English), Gerald Schaale (German), Yōhei Tadano (Japanese), Davide Lepore (Italian), Moisés Ivan Mora (Latin American-Spanish)
ICE CREAM!... ICE CREAM!... I'm all out of ICE CREAM!...

The twins were first into action for NEST's mission to Shanghai, slowly trundling through the city streets in their ice-cream truck mode and taunting Decepticons in the area to show themselves. Two Decepticons soon did: Demolishor and Sideways. At NEST's orders, the twins went after the smaller foe and, working with Arcee, managed to herd him into an alleyway. However, their slow, ungainly choice of alternate mode left them unable to keep up with Sideways. While Arcee leapt through a building to pursue the Decepticon, the twins tried to go around the building to catch him. However, the twins inadvertently split apart from one another when they rounded the corner too sharply, thus taking them out of the chase. Mudflap took the blame for the crash, but Skids still berated (and smacked) Mudflap for his failure.

Ben and Jerry?

Upon arrival to Diego Garcia and NEST headquarters, the twins were given new, individual alternate forms to make sure another incident like that never happened. Mudflap wanted the Chevy Beat as a vehicle form, but after a brief wrestling match with his brother, he was relegated to the form of the Chevrolet Trax.

Later, the twins, along with the other NEST-allied Autobots, were dispatched to look for Sam Witwicky when Decepticons were detected heading towards his college. After Optimus Prime was killed by Megatron, the twins helped the Autobot force fight off the Decepticon leader and Starscream, allowing Sam, Leo Spitz, Mikaela Banes and Bumblebee to make good their escape. Skids and Mudflap met up with Bumblebee and the humans, and together they fled to a remote location. After the twins teased Leo for a while for his panic attack, Sam inquired whether one of them could interpret the Cybertronic symbols with which he had become obsessed. The twins claimed that they couldn't read the ancient Language of the Primes and weren't much into reading, anyway.

And this is us when we traveled to...hey, Skids, where did we go again?

With the help of the Decepticon Wheelie and former Sector Seven agent Seymour Simmons, the group made their way to the Smithsonian, where the humans reactivated the venerable ex-Decepticon Jetfire. He teleported them all to Egypt before telling them the tale of the original Primes, the Star Harvester, which had the potential to destroy all life on Earth, and finally, the Matrix of Leadership, the key to activating the harvester and possibly the only thing that could bring Optimus Prime back to life. When the Matrix could not be found at the ruins of Petra, Mudflap questioned why they where helping Sam, wondering what they had done for the Autobots. Skids pointed out that Sam had killed Megatron, but Mudflap said the point was moot since Megatron was now back. After calling each other "scared" and "ugly" the two began to fight with one another. After damaging the structure and nearly crushing the humans, Bumblebee picked the twins up, bashed them together, and threw them out the door. However, their bickering created a hole in the wall where the Tomb of the Primes lay, and with it, the Matrix.

Simon Furman would have had a field day with this scene.

Making their way back to the Pyramids where NEST waited with Optimus Prime's body, the group came under attack by Starscream. Mudflap, Skids, Leo and Simmons acted as a decoy to lure the Decepticons away from Sam and Mikaela. Unfortunately, they attracted the attention of the Constructicons, who combined into Devastator and attacked by vacuuming up loose objects such as sand, cars, and Mudflap. Hanging on for dear life inside the monster's mouth, he tried to use his "kung-fu grip", but was sucked further inside, losing his shoulder guards in the process.

File:ROTF Mudflap vs Devastator.jpg
"Wait Devastator! You have a bug on your face, let me shoot it for you!"

As Skids mourned the loss of his twin, Simmons realized that the safest place to be was directly under the giant. But he had survived being vacuumed up by Devastator, and to escape he had blasted a hole through its head. To buy the humans time to escape, Skids clambered up Devastator's right forepaw to assist Mudflap. Skids threw a cable to Mudflap, who grabbed it and swung off Devastator's head onto his arm. However, once they had landed, Mudflap accidentally shot Skids in the face, knocking them off. At Megatron's command, Devastator continued onto the Great Pyramid of Giza. Revenge of the Fallen

Toy bios

Young and eager, Mudflap idolizes Optimus Prime and the other great Autobot heroes. He and Skids went to Earth solely in the hope of joining up with their idols, and it's a dream come true for them! Deluxe Mudflap In an early mission, however, they found themselves used as guinea pigs for experimental combination technology; trying to stay combined in their gestalt vehicle mode took up more of their focus than fighting Decepticons! Autobot Skids and Mudflap

However, he must have impressed the Autobots as later, he was assigned to help Sideswipe take down an empowered Fearswoop! The Fury of Fearswoop Normally, his role is to create diversions. Robot Replica Skids

IDW Revenge of the Fallen comics

Skids and Mudflap were in Seattle with NEST tracking the Decepticon straggler, Alice. They helped guide her stolen RV right into Sideswipe's sights, and he then impaled the "girl" in her seat. Nefarious #1

Later, when Theodore Galloway and his unit were attacked by Ransack en route to investigate the mysterious activities of the enigmatic Initiative at Hoover Dam, the Autobots dispatched Skids and Mudflap to Galloway's aid. Together, they held Ransack off until a NEST strike team could arrive and finish him off. The Twins then accompanied Galloway and the soldiers to Hoover Dam, and while the Initiative forces had already cleared out, Skids and Mudflap realized what they had been after: residual energy from the AllSpark that had been kept there. Nefarious #4 To uncover the Initiative's secret goals, the Autobots soon allied themselves with Soundwave, and followed his lead to the Initiative's base of operations in Crater Lake, Oregon. Skids and Mudflap were deployed to attack the base from the east; when they were met with resistance in the form of the Initiative's troops, they took them out of the equation by disabling the advanced weaponry they were wielding with precision blasts. Nefarious #5 He and Skids then worked as back-up for Bumblebee's team of cadets in the final battle at Crater Lake. Nefarious #6

When NEST discovered that Starscream was selling Transformer weaponry to humans, a sting operation was staged in which Theodore Galloway would pose as a buyer to lure the Decepticons in. When Skystalker, Divebomb and Fearswoop took the bait, The Twins joined Arcee and her sisters and the human forces of NEST in tackling them, the Decepticons we´re killed and Fearswoop taken as a prisoner. Rising Storm #1 after Sam Witwicky contacted NEST as Philadelphia was beign attacked by Decepticons, the Twins joined Prime and the Others. Rising Storm #2 the Twins along the others arrived to Philadelphia. Rising Storm #3 Skids and Mudflap survived the battle and witness when the Driller took Shockwave away. Rising Storm #4

Dark of the Moon film

Skids: "Bay fired us from DOTM, what a pussy!"
Mudflap: "At least he forgot to remove us from this scene, HA!"

Mudflap and Skids could be spotted in vehicle mode at the end of an Autobot convoy as the team rolled into the hangar of NEST's Washington, D.C. base.

Later, what appears to be Mudflap (or Skids) can be seen parked next to Sideswipe, when Sam comes to NEST for the first time.Dark of the Moon

Mudflap and Skids were originally scripted to feature in Dark of the Moon, but their appearances were cut from the finished film, save for this very brief shot. See "adaptations" below for what they would have done if they'd made it through to the final cut.


Dark of the Moon adaptations

Okay, they're dead, alright? We're not going to be seeing them again.

Mudflap and Skids were present at NEST's Washington base during Optimus Prime's conversation with Charlotte Mearing about the moon landings.

Later, the Twins were among the Autobots charged with escorting Sentinel Prime to NEST headquarters for safety when the ancient Autobot revealed himself to be a traitor by killing Ironhide. Skids was next to die, intercepting a shot meant for Bumblebee, sending Mudflap into a rage. He lunged at the turncoat Autobot, seeking revenge for his brother's death, but even his righteous anger could not make him a match for Sentinel, and he too met his ends moments later. Sentinel eulogized him with some degree of respect, remarking that he at least died a death worthy of an Autobot. Dark of the Moon Dark of the Moon Movie Adaptation

Commercial appearances

  • Mudflap and Skids were present outside a Burger King, and watched patiently alongside a group of human children who were waiting for a familiar Chevy Camaro to transform. Much to their chagrin, however, the car was revealed to be just "some dude's car" and not Bumblebee himself.

Toys

Revenge of the Fallen

Legends Class Toys

File:ROTF Legends Mudflap.jpg
My gal's got 'em.
  • Mudflap (Legends, 2009)
Legends Class Mudflap is a simple, affordable small-scale toy. Amusingly, just like his brother Skids, the kibble on his arm actually works as his big deformed hand, only grossly oversized.
As with all wave 3 Legends figures, his on-packaging stock photo shows a mistransformed robot mode, with his abdomen not being extended. Furthermore, the second set of stock photos (which depict a pre-production sample) shows him lacking several red paint operations covering areas of gray plastic in vehicle mode as compared to the final toy.


E.T.'s healing touch is bigger and better than ever
  • Bumblebee / EZ Collection Mudflap (2009)
Available exclusively at the Lawson's convenience store in Japan (and the only way to obtain this figure via TakaraTomy), the Japanese edition of Legends class Mudflap is identical to the Hasbro release. The Deluxe-class Preview Bumblebee it comes with is also unchanged from the regular release. Preorders opened on the 1st of May and closed on June 30th, and the figure itself shipped on the 16th of October. Although initial publicity photographs indicated that the toy was altered slightly from the US deco (see right), these photographs have proven to be inaccurate, as owners of this toy have reported no discernable differences from the standard US edition.[1]


Hey, I stepped in mud. Buy me again!
  • Straightaway Shootout (Legends multi-pack, 2009)
Legends Mudflap was also available in the Target-exclusive "Straightaway Shootout" 5-pack together with Ironhide, Swerve, Runamuck and Sparkcrusher. Other than the sand-spray paint operations across his feet, below his front bumper and behind his front and rear fenders, and a slightly glossier finish, he is identical to his standard release.
In Canada, the set was released as a Zellers exclusive.


Fearswoop doesn't even have claws, so how'd he get those scratches, eh?
  • The Fury of Fearswoop (Figure multi-pack, 2009)
A "battle damaged" deco version of Legends Mudflap was available in the Walmart-exclusive "The Fury of Fearswoop" 3-pack together with a similarly "battle damaged" version of Legends Sideswipe, and Deluxe class Fearswoop. That the set uses a pair of Legends-class cars and a Deluxe-class jet means the toys are in a roughly-correct scale to each other... which is borked by the story, in which Fearswoop is supposedly much huger than normal thanks to some unnamed mystic artifact.


How many damn copies of the Legends Mudflap mold do we need?
  • Rally Mudflap and Offroad Skids (Legends multi-pack, 2010)
This redeco of Legends Mudflap features a black hood and legs, along with dirt on his sides. He was packaged with a redecoed Skids as a Target exclusive two-pack, and was part of the N.E.S.T. Global Alliance subline imprint.


Deluxe Class toys

File:ROTFMudflap Deluxe 2009.jpg
Despite appearances, he is not a basset hound.
  • Mudflap (Deluxe Class, 2009)
    • Japanese ID number: RA-15
    • Accessories: Projectile
Part of the third wave of Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Class figures, Mudflap transforms into a rust-orange Chevy Trax. He transforms similarly to (but not exactly like) the Deluxe toy of his twin brother, Skids. He also has similar gimmickry; for example, his Mech Alive gimmick is also activated by pushing in the grill on his chest. This causes some panels in his chest to sway and his head to, uh, headbang. Additional Mech Alive action is engineered into his larger left arm. When his fist folds in towards his wrist, panels on the outside of his forearm spread and reveal a raising, spring-loaded missile launcher. In vehicle mode, this missile is stored through a cross-shaped hole on the rear bumper. On a sadder note, the clip which holds his chest to his back has a lot of trouble actually connecting, so you're going to be stuck with just carefully posing him so that he doesn't come undone. In addition, the wheels can be locked behind his extended kneepads, which shortens and squattens his legs to create a more screen-accurate model.
Mudflap initially came with a license plate that referenced his car model, "Trax." A running change variant later enlarged the license plate and changed it to "Mudflap".<ref name="deluxevar">Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Mudflap variant at TFW2005</ref> The Japanese release only featured the later "Mudflap" version, skipping the earlier "Trax" version entirely. Both plates were apparently used for the movie (see notes below).
His feet are misassembled in the package. Swap them! The bigger, separated toe should be on the outside.

File:ROTF Deluxe Skids&Mudflap toy.jpg
He was always the horse's rear end in school plays.
  • Autobot Skids And Mudflap (2009)
    • Japanese ID number: RA-20
This two-pack of the twin Autobot brothers can combine into a single, old-fashioned ice cream truck. The vehicle splits in half right down the middle of its chassis (similar to how it does in the film) to create the two small robot forms. Other than the transformation, the toy features no gimmicks.
Mudflap's heels are too thick for his feet to fold up properly in vehicle mode, though this can be fixed by trimming them. Mudflap also has a springloaded neck socket...but the reason for it is not all that clear.(the instructions do document it, but the head is not even locked in packed on the card) Also, this toy may be the first Transformer to feature the typeface Comic Sans, which is used to write "MADE FRESH FOR YOU" across both front wheel hubs. But that's on Skids's half, so Mudflap is partly absolved here.
Amusingly, the ice cream truck accommodates Human Alliance human figures really well.
Both Skids and Mudflap have sculpted rust detailing all over the Ice cream tuck, but for some reason, they are not painted.


Muddy Mudflap.
  • Desert Version Mudflap (Deluxe, 2009)
This version of Mudflap has a sandblasted deco to closer match his onscreen appearance during the scenes in Egypt. It is only available in Japan with purchase of the Revenge of the Fallen DVD.


Pimp my Derogatory Stereotype.
  • Tuner Mudflap (Deluxe, 2009)
A redeco of original Deluxe class Mudflap, his doors are painted with "tuner" racing stripes and the plastic is a different shade of orange. The windows are now translucent blue. His feet are now properly assembled.


File:TRUShanghaiShowdownSkidsAndMudflap.jpg
It says "Eye Screem" on my truck, not "Ice Cream"! Get It?
  • Shanghai Showdown (Multi-pack, 2010)
In an effort to make them more movie-accurate, the twins in this set have additional decals for you to put on (save for the "suck my popsicle" slogan) and painted rust and "Caution Children" for the ice cream truck mode. They come with a redecoed version of Demolishor.



Human Alliance

At the auditions for "cannon fodder gunmen" on Gurren Lagann.
A larger-scale figure, Human Alliance Mudflap has a very similar transformation to his twin, which is understandable on a canonical level, since they're from the same spark. As usual, Simmons (or any other Human alliance driver figure) can be seated in Mudflap in his vehicle mode, with Mudflap's (still usable) seats ending up on his wrists/arms in robot mode. Simmons can also stand on Mudflap's palms in this mode. Mudflap comes with a transforming figure of Chromia as well, which Simmons can ride in her motorbike mode.
He shares two features with his twin, having a pop-up mini-gun behind his head which a back-mounted Simmons can man, and having a similar action feature for his head: pressing down on an orange piece on his head opens and closes his mouth, simulating a talking motion.
He also has two unique features: the right seat has a twin-barreled gun molded into the base, and the left seat has a pop-up control panel for Simmons to operate, presumably to control the small grappling hook set above Mudflap's left hand, which a small winch can reel out and pull in.
Unlike most transforming Mudflap figures, he is a more screen accurate shade of orange red, rather than just a rusty color. Also unlike the other Mudflap figures is the fact that this figure was stocked in much lower numbers, meaning he didn't end up shelfwarming like the others and ironically ended up being quite rare.


Fast Action Battlers

His special finger: There's no other like it.
  • Grapple Grip Mudflap (Fast Action Battler, 2009)
Fast Action Battlers Mudflap has a simplified transformation for younger buyers. His left hand's middle finger can be extended (yes, ha ha) on a rope to function as a grappling hook.
The toy's name, "Grapple Grip Mudflap", is misspelled as "Grappel Grip Mudflap" in various official instances, such as Hasbro's public website<ref name="fabhasbro">Hasbro website entry for FAB "Grappel Grip" Mudflap</ref> and on the toy's European packaging. Presumably this typo didn't get caught by quality control until very late, so the North American packaging saw the error rectified in time, whereas the entire European production run had already been underway. Then again, 2010 Transformers "Solar Storm Grappel" raises the question which version is officially to be considered the "incorrect" one, and whether the "Grappel" (mis)spelling is in fact intentionally used for trademark reasons...


Nobody will know who I am now!
  • Rally Mudflap (Fast Action Battler)
Rally Mudflap is a redeco of Grapple Grip Mudflap, decorating him with a gray racing stripe on his roof and his name on his windshield.
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  • Rally Mudflap & Offroad Skids (Fast Action Battler two-pack, 2009)
An unchanged version of Rally Mudflap was released in a two-pack, alongside an unchanged version of Offroad Skids. So far, this two-pack has been confirmed to have been released in Canada, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Australia.


Gravity Bots

Believe it or not, his head looked like that before he entered the car compacter.
  • Mudflap (2009)
    • Japanese ID number: GB-05
As a Gravity Bot, Mudflap is a very boxy toy featuring no articulation whatsoever, relying solely on an autotransformation gimmick. When Mudflap is laid on his back in robot mode, gravity makes him transform into a somewhat super deformed car, and the process is reversed when the car is stood back up.


Transformers (2010)

Legends Class toys

Basically everyone would be happier if this was actually Pinkie Pie.
  • Delivery Mudflap (EZ Collection, 2010)
Delivery Mudflap is a redeco of Legends Class Mudflap in pink and white, referencing his and Skids's ice cream truck form. This toy was only available in Japan.


  • Battle Ops Bumblebee (2010)
An unchanged Legends-class Mudflap figure and a "Premium" vacuum-metalized gold redeco of Revenge of the Fallen Legends-Class Bumblebee were included as "Great Value!" toys, coming with a Costco-exclusive gold metallic redeco of Battle Ops Bumblebee.
Canada received both English and French versions of this release - bizarrely, the French release is available in places outside Quebec such as Vancouver and even Alberta.


Deluxe Class toys

Also called 'hit and run Mudflap'
  • Starscream's Assault (Multi-pack, 2010)
This Walmart-exclusive two-pack contains desert-themed redecoes of Deluxe-class Mudflap and Voyager-class Starscream. Mudflap is mostly tan with various red splotches on his vehicle mode, to represent him being caked with sand from the desert.


  • High-Speed Spy Battle (Figure multi-pack, 2010)
They ate themselves out of their own profits!
This Target-exclusive two pack (or three pack, depending on how you count) features a redecoed Sideways and the ice-cream truck mode of Mudflap and Skids, which replaces most of the robot mode white plastic on the originals with a rusty brown, adds even more rusty paint applications than the earlier "Shanghai Showdown" version and omits the comic-sans "Made fresh for you" on the front wheel wells of the truck.


Dark of the Moon

Cyberverse

  • Mudflap (Cyberverse Legion, 2011)
    • Series: 1
    • Number: 010
    • Japanese ID number: CV25
Dark of the Moon Cyberverse Mudflap is a new Legends Class-size mold, transforming into a Chevrolet Spark production vehicle rather than his Trax mode from Revenge of the Fallen.


Deluxe Class toys

No, this image hasn't actually been squashed.
  • Mudflap (MechTech Deluxe, 2011)
    • Japanese ID number: DA19
    • Accessories: Mechtech Blaster/Cybertronian Battle Axe
Part of the third wave of Dark of the Moon MechTech Deluxe-Class toys, Mudflap transforms from a black Chevrolet Spark with wide orange stripes into a stumpy robot with big feet. He is a smaller and less articulated, but more stable and movie-accurate comic-accurate figure, and comes with a Blaster that transforms into a Cybertronian Battle Axe when the scope is pulled. He features six MechTech ports in total, with two ports on the roof in vehicle mode, one for each of his hands, and one underneath each of his arms.
Unfortunately, Mudflap suffers from a design flaw: The connection holding his shoulders and upper arms together is very tight, and trying to swing his upper arms out to the side will occasionally result in the arms popping out of their plastic swivels.
His weapon was redecoed into the weapon of Deluxe-Class Optimus Prime.


Merchandise

Revenge of the Fallen

RPMs - Robot Powered Machines

The "versus" on the package must refer to their infamous Egypt showdown.
  • Mudflap vs Autobot Skids (R.P.M. Mini-Vehicle, 2009)
    • Number: 04 of 08
    • Series: Battle Series
Number four in a series of eight Robot Powered Machines Mini-Vehicle versus packs, Mudflap is packaged with his twin Skids. It's a non-transformable Hot Wheels-like car, with his robot mode sculpted and painted onto his car-mode underside.


Robot Heroes

Looks like the hybrid found himself a new friend... a total mudflap!
  • Mudflap and Rampage (2009)
Robot Heroes Mudflap is a super deformed figure with limited articulation in his neck, shoulders and, unusually for the line, his waist. He came in a two-pack with Rampage.


Hey guys, wait for me!
  • Desert Devastation (Multi-pack, 2010)
Both Mudflap and Skids are sculpted in their vehicle modes for this box-set that also includes Devastator and William Lennox.
That's right. Enjoy your Robot Heroes ice cream truck.
  • Shanghai Shootout (Multi-pack, 2010)
Shanghai Shootout replicates the opening action scene from Revenge of the Fallen, featuring figurines of Mudflap/Skids (ice cream truck), Sideways (vehicle mode), Optimus Prime, Demolishor, and Sideswipe (vehicle mode). Demolishor is a slightly-oversized figure and the centerpiece of the box set.


Bigger Toys

I guess Skids isn't the only Spark around!
  • Chevrolet Spark Transformers Edition (2011)
Produced in a limited run of 1000 units for the South Korean market, the Chevrolet Spark Transformers Edition features a black paint scheme with orange racing stripes based upon Mudflap's prop (that was cut) from Dark of the Moon, an aero kit with side skirts, 15-inch glossy black wheels, and various Autobot and Transformers sigils and branding.
Pricing in South Korea has been announced at 11,823.00 won for a manual transmission or 13,326.00 for an automatic.


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Notes

  • The ice cream truck is apparently based on a heavily customized 1930s Chevrolet truck.[confirmation needed]{{#ifeq: ||}} Ben Procter apparently lifted the color scheme and deco for his early concept design for the ice cream truck<ref name="procterrotf">Ben Procter's ROTF concept art at Concept Art World.</ref> directly off a photo of an Australian ice cream truck that had been added to the Wikipedia article for "ice cream van" in February 2006<ref name="wikipediaice">Photo of an Australian ice cream truck at Wikipedia, added in February 2006.</ref>, down to identical placement and design of the fonts and graphics. The details were later slightly tweaked for the final design that can be seen in the movie... but only very slightly so.
  • One of the decals on the ice cream truck's side that was created specifically for the movie reads " suck my popsicle." Classy. Too bad the toy does not have this decal. (Because, you know, for kids...)
    • A "censored" version of the movie is rumored to exist with the aforementioned text edited out, with the somewhat nonsensical result of "           popsicle". This version was supposedly shown in some theaters even though other theaters in the same market apparently got the uncensored version. The more likely explanation for this would be that different theaters simply used different lightings settings, which effectively rendered the words "suck my" (which were written in dark red on a black backdrop to begin with) invisible, with no actual intention of "censorship" behind it.
Yeah, that's not phallic at all.
  • The Twins' final alternate modes in the film, the Chevrolet Beat (Skids) and Chevrolet Trax (Mudflap), were designed by General Motors as small car concept vehicles. At one point in the film's pre-production, another small car, the Mercedes-Benz Smart, was evidently considered as an option for a film character; concept art of a "third twin" based on it appears in various sections of the Revenge DVD special features, always in close proximity to concept art of Skids and Mudflap. Whether it was meant to be a third character related to Skids and Mudflap or if it was supposed to be used in place of one of them is unknown. What is known is that Hasbro has had great difficultly in the past trying to get likeness licenses from German automakers, which is probably why the vehicle/character was dropped.
  • Oddly enough, even though Mudflap's Chevy Trax alternate mode features big blue "eyes" on his chest and the truck seems to have a similar "face" on its grill that does not appear on his brother (and fellow combiner) Skids's Chevy Beat form, he makes up the back of the ice cream truck. He does, however, still have "eyes" on his chest in his ice cream truck form which are created from the rear taillights of the vehicle. This is evidenced in one scene from the movie where they are lit up the color of red.
  • In their combined ice cream truck mode, the Twins sport the license plate "KDM 814". A minor variant of this, "KDM 0814" with an extra "0", was later used for the life-sized Bumblebee prop on various displays from 2009 upuntil at least 2011. For the individual cars, two different sets of license plates were apparently used, either "Trax" and "Beat" referencing their car models or "Mudflap" and "Skids", with the latter two being featured more prominently in the movie (the "BEAT" plate can be seen briefly during the New York City scene, and it's possible the "TRAX" plate was used for the same scene, although the car's plate is offscreen during that scene). All four plates were auctioned off in October 2009.<ref name="licenseauct">Mudflap and Skids license plates for auction at icollector.com</ref> The auction claims that the plates referring to their car models were used in vehicle mode, while those identifying the two Autobots by name were used in robot mode... which is directly refuted by screencaps from the movie included with the auction, which show the robot name plates on the cars in vehicle mode. Also, the two real Chevrolet Trax and Beat cars the Twins scan already feature individualized license plates sporting their robot names. Huh.
  • The Twins have been accused of being derogatory racial stereotypes. Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman claim to have followed Michael Bay's lead with the characters, while Bay says voice actors Tom Kenny (Skids) and Reno Wilson (Mudflap) came up with their schtick on their own. Reportedly, Wilson (who is African-American himself) was sad to learn his way of speaking was apparently offensive to himself.<ref name="jive">The Huffington Post's coverage of the furore over the Twins</ref> Orci and Kurtzman said the twins' portrayal was not in their script, that they were disappointed in the characters and admitted that they could understand if others were offended by the characters.<ref>Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman respond to claims of racism on Revenge of the Fallen, Film School Rejects, June 24, 2009</ref>
  • The twins are less slangy in the comic adaptation and Titan comics, which could either indicate it was a last-minute voice actor decision or Simon Furman just didn't want to try writing ebonics.
  • Mudflap fights his way out of Devastator's head by punching and shooting his way through his eye and cheek and then continues to punch and shoot him, doing quite a bit of damage to the giant—and still some say the Twins don't do anything to justify their part in the film.
  • In Tales of the Fallen #6, it's revealed that the Twins' processors were messed up by the medic Flatline. So perhaps they were NORMAL at some point? Wow.
  • Amusingly, Hasbro's Battle Bio for Mudflap lists his arch-enemy as... Skids. The Twins' RPMs two-pack is also called "Skids vs Mudflap".
  • Despite promotional pictures and most of the merchandise made for Mudflap, in the film he is actually closer to red than orange. The RPM and Human Alliance figures are close to the actual character's colors in the film.
  • Much like the previous two Mudflaps, toys of this character tend to be shelfwarmers. Maybe the name is cursed.
  • The Twins were originally supposed to return for Dark of the Moon. Even though General Motors provided two Chevrolet Sparks to serve as their alternate modes<ref name="chevyspark">Left Lane News article on two Chevrolet Sparks spotted on the DOTM set, May 2010.</ref> which were still spotted on the set as late as October 2010<ref name="dcparking">"Transformers 3 DC Parking Lot Gallery", Transformers Live Action Movie Blog, October 2010.</ref>, the two were mostly edited out of the final movie (their vehicle modes can barely be glimpsed in a brief shot). Michael Bay even went so far as to offer a $25,000 reward for anyone who would see the Twins "perform" in the movie.<ref name="reward">Collider.com article on Michael Bay's "reward" for spotting Skids and Mudflap "perform" in DOTM, May 2011.</ref> In the novelization and the comic adaptation, Skids and Mudflap still appear.

Foreign names

  • Japanese: Mudflap (マッドフラップ Maddofurappu)
  • Hungarian: Sárfogó
  • Finnish: Kuraläppä

References

<references />
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