There are only two six-changers in the G1 continuity. The Decepticon Sixshot and the Autobot Quickswitch. But while Sixshot gets all the promotion across different media, almost no one ever talks about Quickswitch. I'm wondering why the character is so bizarrely obscure. He never showed up in any American or Japanese show, Dreamwave and IDW never touched him, and his comic appearance was limited to one cameo appearance in the UK Marvel series. Even Micromasters get more exposure than Quickswitch. This makes no sense. Why does one six-changer get so much attention and another get so little? You would think that as an Autobot, HasTak would promote their hero over a villain, but Sixshot remains the popular choice. It's a shame, because a six-changer is a rare treat to own. With so few appearances, HasTak might retool TR Sixshot into the more prominent Greatshot over Quickswitch.
Well at least Quickswitch can take solace in the fact that at least a third party gave him an updated toy.
Quickswitch's repaint Six Knight did show up in one of the japanese anime. also Sixshot back then was clearly the superior design.
Six shot got more attention in the cartoon. Even killing his non-six changer rival, Ultra Magnus. Also a six changer with equally lame "cybertronian" modes, maybe with the exception of a ninja-bot, is quite lazy. I believe the reason the first's popularity is that there could only be one toy that can capture kid's mind with such a lazy idea. Proof of it is exactly Quickswitch's obscurity. Or maybe it's just that the toy is smaller in stature.
He did get a profile in Dreamwave and unlike Sixshot, he was available in the UK. And he had a major role in one of the Ladybird books. Technically IDW have retroactively made RID Megatron/Gigatron a G1 character now so along with Greatshot and Six knight, that's 5 G1 6 changers.
My guess would be timing. Sixshot came out first, in 87, and as such made his brief cameo in Rebirth. Quickswitch was part of the 88 assortment. And the cartoon was about as Dead as the God-Emperor of Mankind at this point. And as we all know Sunbow cartoon > all other forms of media exposure when it comes to Transformers.
Quickswitch G1 toy never looked very appealing at least to me. But not even Fansprojects MADLAW wich i bought, is a great toy and did an amazing job at giving a great update to a lackluster toy was very popular. I think its just a combination of factors.
I hope you're not referring to Greatshot and Sixknight. I'm talking classic G1, not Japanese spin-offs.
1998 was the twilght years of G1 and all of the super-gimmicky Transformers from the 1987/88 line ups were really Hasbro flailing around trying to figure out something that would rejuvenate a dying brand. Sure, Sixshot as the original six/seven (if you count Wingedwolf) changer has more exposure...barely, in terms of being around the same period. He appears ONCE in the cartoon mainly as a convenient plot device for the Decepticons to take out the Aerialbots one-by-one in short order that really is just a showcase of his six official forms, then never appears again because the show ended. Most of what made Sixshot popular is how kinda rediculous he became in the Headmasters cartoon, where he's billed as a "Ninja Consultant" and then despite being evil becomes an 'uncle' figure to the human kid. According to the wiki, officially Quickswitch is in fact Sixshot's son. No idea how that works and I'm pretty sure HasTak doesn't either. I'm pretty sure the Quickswitch retool was already confirmed simply because it's the only real way to REUSE an expensive mold. The problem with sixchangers is cost. In fact, Animated originally was slated to HAVE a Sixshot as one of the starting Decepticons, but Hasbro vetoed that on the grounds a six form voyager was too costly on the budget. So the vacancy was filled with Blitzwing instead. Meanwhile, the TR Sixshot leader mold notably lacks a base mode, which is standard for TR leaders otherwise to the point they managed to shoehorn a base form into the CW Ultra Magnus mold when retooling him into PMOP. And as impressive as sixchangers are, more often than not they're a bit overhyped due to being actually just a ton of moving parts meant to make a core torso block look like different things - the cost is in how many things need to have a joint or something, not in the actual design itself. With Sixshot, ultimately all he does is reposition his arms and legs and tuck his head in, then the wings fold/unfold as necessary. It's a cute novelty but the lack of real difference between his alt. modes on the original toy is also a contributing factor to the Sixchanger gimmick being overlooked for years. That and Sixshot is a far cooler name than Quickswitch, let's be honest.
Maybe because he came later in the original toyline? I also think the reason why Sixshot is their go-to sixchanger is simply because 1. He's more well known and 2. he came first. I'm just spitballing. Hopefully we get a TR Quickswitch which could easily be a retool of the Sixshot they made, he deserves more attention, as do Greatshot and Six Knight.
The Japanese shows and characters are classic G1 still. Its wrong to call them spin-offs. Anyway, Quickswitch should have been repainted from regular or triple changing toys if they weren't going to give him his own mold.
His toy sucked. Sixshot had a decent toy. Also Sixshot's modes sort of looked like what they were supposed to be (for the most part). Most of Quickswitches modes took imagination to see what it was supposed to be. Decepticons were fewer so Sixshot stood out more. Way more Autobots so writers had better characters to focus on.
Correction that's Japanese continuation of G1 And they are also classic G1, if you wanted to specify the G1 cartoon continuity only or hasnro release only you should have made that clear So yes I am referring to those two guys as they are part of G1
They aren't G1 characters. They're IDW Universe characters. Someone needs to seriously blow up that Wiki entry that IDW Transformers is any shape or form actually "G1" beyond borrowing characters from the old comics and cartoons and the Great War backstory. Anyway, back on topic. Quickswitch was released AFTER Sunbow's series of Transformers concluded, so there was no way for him to appear in the U.S. series. Sixshot at least got a cameo in "Rebirth"...so say what you will but those cartoons made great commercials. In Japan, the cartoons continued. But, unshackled from Western writing, Takara was more free to market their product to their demographic. In that regard, they decided to change the color scheme and make him the "son" of Sixshot called SixKnight. He was given a fairly significant role in the Masterforce cartoon as is probably what he's best known for. In the comics...not sure why he was largely ignored other than the fact the authors at the time really had no use for him. Hasbro was essentially allowing the license to kind of steer its own course at this point, giving the writers much more flexibility to include which characters they preferred...and obviously, Quickswitch wasn't really preferred. And lastly, the toy itself is uninspiring. It's quite evident he was probably an abandoned Headmaster design that still saw the light of day without the gimmick. Unfortunately, his derpy styling was probably the final nail in Quickswitch's coffin. Incidentally, there is technically another 6-changer: Greatshot. He's a retooling of Sixshot and appears in Victory.
For me, and having had both toys when I was younger, I can say Sixshot was just the better character. He felt like a Decepticon engine of destruction. Five out of six of his forms were just plain better (I still maintain QS's puma was pretty cool). And he towered over the others so he actually looked menacing. Lore-wise it may just be that Quickswitch is too much of a satellite character. In the real world, his reason for existing was because someone felt the Autobots needed a six-changer. Its quite possible nobody really knows what to do with him as a result.
I owned only a handful of TFs growing up and Quickswitch was one of them. He was AWFUL. That's why he's obscure.
