Buzzsaw (Cybertron)
| The name or term "Buzzsaw" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Buzzsaw (disambiguation). |
- Buzzsaw is a Decepticon from the Cybertron portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Buzzsaw is not exactly right in the head. After all, he's one of the few brave or insane enough to have remained on Cybertron during the Unicron Singularity crisis. Something of an "old school" Decepticon, and a little thick, his one driving goal is to destroy as many Autobots as possible. He's not in it for the fame or glory... he just likes killing Autobots, that's all.
Fiction
Cybertron Timelines stories
Buzzsaw was assigned to the Upstart by Megatron, operating under Brushguard's command while they searched the galaxy for more Cyber Planet Keys. Their search took them to Combatron, a world devastated by conflict between more than a half-dozen factions. The factions had beaten themselves into extinction nearly 350 megacycles ago, but some of their hardware still existed. The Decepticons uncovered a massive bunker heavily guarded by corpses, which spoke to the possible riches inside. After Runamuck tore the doors open, that estimation proved to be correct. Behind the door was a virtual treasure trove of death—weapons and armaments of all possible varieties, just ripe for the taking. Runamuck found a pair of still operational Mini-Con panels and shared his find with Buzzsaw. His new partner, Heavy Barrel, cheerfully provided some more firepower for Buzzsaw's already impressive arsenal.
When they finally encountered the Autobots, the 'Cons were backed by an army of newly minted Decepticlones. Buzzsaw and Heavy Barrel spent time trading Mini-Con-enhanced firepower with Checkpoint. Checkpoint's Mini-Con burnt out first, and Buzzsaw and Hardtop managed to get the drop on him. Capturing most of the Autobots, the Decepticons were on the verge of victory before some local Mini-Cons stole their shuttle...and the missing Autobot Armorhide crashed their shuttle straight down on the Decepticon position. Buzzsaw and the other Decepticons were left behind on Combatron for three weeks waiting for pick-up...with nothing but Hardtop's supply of comic books to keep them entertained. Force of Habit
Eventually, Buzzsaw and the others were rescued, and they ended up in the employ of the space pirate Cannonball. While on the bridge crew of the Kalis' Lament, Buzzsaw heard the report from one of their probes that the Autobot shuttle Star Arrow had crashed on Sandokan with a valuable Force Chip in the crew's possession. Buzzsaw laughed out loud when his captain declared Sandokan a "cursed" planet, but his laughter turned to wheezes as Cannonball's vise-like claw closed around his throat. Instead of braving Sandokan themselves, the pirates sent in the mercenary Astrotrain to soften up the resistance for them. Buzzsaw joined his captain on a short-range shuttle when they followed up on Astrotrain's initial strike, engaging the monstrous entity known as Synthos, who had made Sandokan his home. Their fight against Synthos went well, but they made the mistake of leaving the Autobots unattended for too long...along with their shuttle. Buzzsaw and the others were stranded when the Autobots stole their ship (again), and they had to wait for the Kalis' Lament to come pick them up. Still, they did manage to steal Synthos's power source, the Dark Heart of Sandokan, so the trip wasn't a total loss. The Dark Heart of Sandokan
Toys
Galaxy Force
- Buzzsaw vs Blurr (Multi-pack, 2005)
- Japanese ID number: GS-01
- Accessories: 2 missiles, Cybertron Decepticon Cyber Key
- This figure is a redeco and fairly extensive retool of Armada Cyclonus, transforming into a Cybertronian helicopter. The figure's cockpit is retooled into a "bubble" style window that resembles the head of a wasp. While one might think this removes the original Mini-Con "second cockpit" gimmick, the cockpit can still be lifted up to accommodate Crumplezone (or Heavy Barrel). His primary gimmick is a trigger-activated gear assembly that runs through the length of the vehicle mode; pulling the trigger both spins the rotor blade and a gear system in the cockpit area. Normally, this simply causes his cockpit-mounted twin-cannons to shake back and forth. If Crumplezone/Heavy Barrel is attached in secondary cockpit mode, the gears make their cannon move. Attaching a compatible geared Mini-Con to the square frame on the underside of his cockpit (any member of the Destruction Mini-Con Team, the Adventure Mini-Con Team, or Refute) allows the gear system to activate their gear-wheel gimmicks as well by pulling the trigger.
- The figure's wing-mounted missile launchers have been retooled to operate off of a Cyber Planet Key rather than a Mini-Con, which also means he cannot wield the helicopter blade as an arm-mounted weapon as the original does. The Powerlinx ports on his legs do not activate the pop-out shin-guns anymore; these are released with a simple nudge.
- In robot mode the figure features a retooled head which resembles the "robot" head of the Beast Wars character that is his namesake. Attaching a Mini-Con to the powerlinx plugs on either side of his legs will make new-tooling spring-loaded (non-firing) cannons pop up from his shins.
- In Japan, he was only available in a two-pack with Blurr.
- Buzzsaw (Deluxe class, 2005)
- Accessories: 2 missiles, Cybertron Decepticon Cyber Key
- For his Hasbro release, Buzzsaw was made as an individual as part of the Deluxe assortment. He is seemingly physically identical to the Japanese release, save for his Cyber Key, which has the Key Code "df58" tampographed on its back.
- Later releases of this toy came with a pack-in DVD of the Cybertron cartoon episode "Hidden".
Universe (2008)
- Battle for the Cyber Keys (Figure multi-pack, 2008)
- Accessories: 2 missiles, Cybertron Decepticon Cyber Key
- An unchanged Buzzsaw was re-released alongside similarly unchanged Runamuck, Longrack, Blurr, and a redeco of Armada Deluxe class Optimus Prime in a Sam's Club-exclusive box set. The "Battle for the Cyber Planet Keys" set was marked as part of the "Cybertron Series" on the box's timeline.
Notes
- The gang-molded Mini-Con partner was dropped from both the Takara and Hasbro releases of the toy. In Japan, it was put into the fourth Micron Booster assortment as "Trigger". In the US and Europe, it... wasn't put anywhere. The Mini-Con being Buzzsaw's partner was fanon until it was stated in a new bio for him on the Fun Publications Official Transformers Collectors' Club website, and later depicted in "Force of Habit".
- A model of Buzzsaw's helicopter form appears in the final leg of the Planet Cup race on Velocitron as an announcer. However, it is excessively unlikely that this is Buzzsaw, and just someone who happens to look like him, a not uncommon occurrence in Transformerdom.
- Buzzsaw's Cyber Key Code info confirms the obvious: his name, head sculpt, and color scheme constitute an homage to Beast Wars Buzz Saw.
- The card-art for the four Armada retooled toys are the only ones in the Cybertron line to not have a "painted" look to them.
- Buzzsaw's toy was used as the model for the animation-only character Buzzbomb.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Buzz Saw (バズソー Bazu Sō)
- Korean: Buzz (버즈 Beojeu)
