Universe Bios for Most of Wave 1 and Deluxe Wave 2

Just noticed that HasbroToyShop has the bios for the Universe Classics characters on their pre-order pages. I think we've seen a few of them before, but most were new to me. I especially like Blaster's, Acid Storm's, and Galvatron's.

Mods: I'm going through and adding them to the resource pages.

Here we go:

ONSLAUGHTPOWERGLIDEBLASTERHEAVY LOADPROWLSUNSTREAKERTANKORACID STORMGALVATRON

It's odd that they mention Perceptor in Blaster's bio. I wonder if we're going to get a Perceptor toy at some point.

I'm glad the debate over Prowl or jazz that is Prime's second-in-command is finally coming to rest.

All the other bios read great.

well, I'd say Prowl does the admin, organisation, tactical stuff whereas Jazz puts a lot of the plans into action and brings some more creativity.

I wouldn't place one over the other TBH.

I still don't see why the didn't just call Tankor Mega-Octane.

They haven't used Mega Octane since 2003, so its long expired, methinks.

These bios are pretty cool... "classic" indeed, with many small references to G1 (Acid Storm's bio screams "background guy!").

It's a reference to the Marvel G1 comics, where Perceptor and Blaster ran an underground resistance cell of Autobots against Con rule on Cybertron. Nice homage. With that in mind, they -really- should have retooled Blaster's minicon and renamed him "Scrounge"

Agreed. For some reason, that persistent error always bugged me. I was a Tech Specs kid in the 80's and I knew Prowl was unquestionably second in command, but everyone wanted to attribute that to the "cooler" (and also high-ranking) Jazz.

Makes sense though... Prowl has always been more the background strategist type, and Jazz the guy more comfortable working "in the field". But I do think Prowl could pull rank on Jazz if he had to (I believe in the IDW comics, he has in fact... though Jazz has been given no character development at all in that series).

zmog

If they do Perceptor, If they can't do a new tooling, I'd like to see the Ultra class Cybertron Defense Red Alert tooling be used for Percy.

I supposed Blugeon got slagged in this universe too.

Poor guy never gets a break.

i'd love to see a CDRA Perceptor. although i'd equally love to see that mold done up as Big Shot.

Awesome bios, and Acid Storm's makes me smile some more.

Interesting to notice how it seems like they're indirectly setting up a Galvy vs. Megs fight! As for Perceptor, I would also love to see him as a repainted Cyb. Red Alert.

i like those...i kinda want blaster now...and i want perceptor too...though hopefully he can get his own mold...and i may start reorganizing my classic cons into different squads... they definitely make it seem like there are many different bots that want to lead the cons...

and i definitely think they should remolded blasters head and his little partner...they could made ramhorn or steeljaw, or possible eject or rewind pretty easily i think...

Also noticed that the Acid Storm listing has what seems to be our first look at his official pictures:

I have a feeling FRY's Electronics may get these things early.

...Has everyone forgotten that Perceptor already HAS a Classics/Universe toy, namely a repaint of Legends class CD Red Alert?

Nice. Really like the one for Galvatron.

Forgot to touch on this before:

'Xactly. That's who I assumed they were talking about.

Though, when they get around to doing the new-mold Voyagers, I wouldn't be surprised to see some Ultra redecos from previous lines at the same time. I'd bet Ultra-CDRA-as-Perceptor would be pretty high on such a list.

Anxiouse to get them all except for Blaster and Heavy Load. I feel only True remolds or repaints of new molds for the Classics can be considerd Classics.

Going strictly by the specs, Prowl does outrank Jazz, but he's equal to Grimlock and Jetfire outranks them all.

maybe they're saving that name for a repaint of onslaught?!!!

It's great to see a real writer handling the tech specs again after the years of Arm/Energon/Cyb silliness. These are really well done, and there's tons of neat little nods in there. Galvatron's is definately my favorite though, as it seems to be both a nod to the original toy's tech spec of him being a unique, non-Megatron character attempting to take the lead of the 'Cons, and a nod to the movie at the same time "Rumors of his origins.."

Well done. Also great to see that Acid Storm has canonized the Rainmakers.

Also:

Win. Though, now that I think about it.. Given Scrounge's kinda... rolly sphere alt mode and the canister thing that Cyb Laserbeak turns into, I wonder if that was their original thought too and they couldn't use the name? Either way, that's what I'm gonna call the little guy.

I'm hoping that alludes to that rumored two pack of Galvy and Megs. Would save me a lot of effort to get both tanks in one pack.

And onslaught and starscream have two. Legends are Legends and seperate from the full sized guys.

These bios are just icing on a cake that's already awesome.

I find it interesting how the biographies seem to imply a story...Prowl working to reunite the Autobots, Galvatron filling a leadership void, etc.

I am very excited about the upcoming Universe toys. I LOVE the look of the Galvatron toy a lot! The bios for these are great and I will be buying several copies of ALL of them except Blaster which is kind of lame.

Reading between the lines, it definitely seems like they're using the G1 Marvel comics as inspiration (except for Acid Storm), which will make it easier for the club to continue with the fiction.

I'm guessing that Galvatron will be the Galvatron from the alternate timeline last seen getting defeated by Fort Max in #79. That would be a most excellent nod... and explain having Galvatron and Megatron together.



Chris

Galvatron preordered just on site of the figure! I've never cared for the character but that figure is very nice.

Wow, is Acid Storm ever an ugly paint deco, yikes!

Neat! Can I just say how awesome it is that they're going to the lengths of creating an official identity for a nameless background character from G1 (i.e. Acid Storm).
Things like this leave me hopefull that other toy-less characters might one day get the "Classics" treatment

yeah, i need to go check the botcon pics, but he looks different...brighter almost...but i still like him...

EDIT: yup...looks brighter, but it could just be the botcon pics were dark, and the hasbro pics always seem brigther too, so hopefully he's somewhere in between...i think he's gonna be part of my shockwave crew...

Yeah, Acid Storm looks brighter in Hasbro's pics, but Hasbro always 'doctors' their photos in an attempt to make the figure look shinier than he actually looks upon purchase.

Must say I'm loving the bios... except for Heavy Load... for some reason nothing can get me into that character and he just sounds like a retard for some reason. Everything else is just awesome... especially Galvatron's bio (making him different from Megatron) and Acid Storm (like someone else said... how awesome is it that they're giving a nameless background character an actual personality? Hasbro should do more!).

... you got me excited. I thought they put him up for preorder. I just need him and Acid Storm available to preorder so I can finalize my order with HTS...



Chris

I really like these bios, not least because they are setting up an interesting story-united Decepticon army, fragmented Autobots. I also like that they're giving them all unique personalities, and not just talking at length about their weapons.

I like these bios for having just the right touch of G1 Nodding.

Very good bio's. I really like how their adding plenty of detail to each characters personality. Having no actual story line to go along with it has freed them up a bit, imo. Here's hoping that some more Rainmakers get made. Especially a repaint of the Ramjet mold, as I'll need to get another copy of that to finish my Thrust kitbash.

Correct. I was keeping it to first-year Autobots, but Grimlock IS a legitimate contender... though I sort of consider him to be the leader of a semi-autonomous splinter group, so his "rank" is sort of relative.

Jetfire's rank is curious... even if he were characterized as an Autobot air commander, 10 puts him square with Optimus! And considering his canon variably plays him as a Decepticon defector or the "new kid on the block" (recently born product of advanced technology) it would be a bit weird for such a character to hold such a rank.

Also funny that his stats are so high in every category except Strength, considering his large size in almost every version.

zmog

I see no mention of Galvatron previously being Megs. Other than that I have no problems.

I miss Sunstreaker's sociopathic tendencies. Now he seems to be merely a narcissist.

The bios are very well done. I appreciate Hasbro putting in the effort.

Cool bio's I like all of them, even Galvatrons, which seems odd that they didn't include any mention of Megatron at all...

Well originally Jetfire was Autobot leader (well in the Netherlands anyway) so his rank is fairly appropriate.

"Rumors abound, but no one knows where he came from;"

I think that quote basically says "people think he is lots of things - Megatron reborn, a parallel universe leader sent here for some reason, etc" without going so far to say it.

I do like how Prowl and Galvatron's bios basically lay out a rough story framework. Prowl's implies the Autobots and Decepticons are scattered throughout the galaxy somehow, and the Decepticons are more organised, so Prowl rallies the Autobots. Then Galvatron shows up and rallies the Decepticons, but there are hints of a fragmentation if another strong leader should ever arrive (and based on Botcon last year, wasn't Jhiaxus on a shortlist?)

It's a really cool optional story, and I also like the way - indirectly - Galvatron and Prowl are set up as rivals. That'll be one short fight when it comes down to it, but it'd still be awesome.

Hasbro continue to give props to Monzo from the TF Wiki and the Allspark.

Acid Storm's hyperion3 cannon is based on one of Monzo's email addresses, and Acid Storm's bio is based in part on Monzo himself.

I believe Forest Lee at Hasbro wrote these bios as well as the Cybertron, Beast Wars, Classics and Movie bios.

He also writes the various on-going club/convention comics.

Consider Galvatron bought. Acid Storm is a definite maybe. The others-MEH.

Maybe he was just the leader of the Netherlands branch of the Autobots.

I think you're right on Sol Fury. Galvatron's bio is deliberately obscure... so we can draw our own conclusions. I remember originally reading Galvatron's TechSpecs and assuming it meant he was the Con leader back on Cybertron, while Megatron was stuck on Earth... an opposite number to Ultra Magnus. But I'll confess, the 86 Movie "upgrade" version of Galvatron has grown on me. In that sense, I believe the UK comics handled it best... like the the above bio, it was not widely known at first that Galvatron was a chronally displaced future Megatron.

As for the frame story... is it just me, or does it sort of imply that Prime and Megatron are both out of the picture?

Aha! So he's the guy who lifted Smog's old MUSH bio to use for Heavy Load!

Now all I need is an address...

zmog

Hah, i didn't realize they were done by the same guy as BW.. that's kinda cool. Credit where it's due though, it's great to actually get some personality/story for the figs again. Might have to pick up those comics too..

I like the specs and all but why does Prowl's firepower say like 4 when everything else has a 7 to 9 rating? Thats kinda stupid. And I know back in the day they had Galvatron ranked as a City Commander or something, so why not update it with the new release?

Whoever wrote those is one of us a true fan. Great job Hasbro!

Blaster's side kick is Blockrock, dope name

lol at TF red shirt away team guy

I agree. Everyone else wants him to be some G1 reference, but Blockrock is great.

Kinda bummed that Prowl, Jazz & Iornhide don't have the same rank seeing as how in the show they seemed to step up as needed. Although I guess Prowl sorta does pull rank hard in the IDW verse. But everything looks fantastic! Can't wait for these guys. And who knows mabye Optimus has more than one right hand bot.

Just change the O to A in Blockrock and you get Blackrock.