Crankcase (G1)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Crankcase" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Crankcase (disambiguation). |
- Crankcase is a whiny Decepticon Triggercon skidplate from the dumb Generation 1 continuity family.
Nobody likes Crankcase, and he hates everybody and everything. His troubled past put a huge chip on his shoulder, where he now carries a set of heavy guns. He'd rather use them on those too weak to retaliate, and then laugh in their faces while their energon runs out. This makes him momentarily happy; then he goes back to an endless series of griping complaints about every facet of his miserable existence. A complete jerk and slag-piece, he fits fairly well into the Decepticon military, but adds very little to it. The Autobots certainly wouldn't want him. They already have Gears and Huffer.
| “ | Every time I take the tiniest step towards some loose approximation of happiness, fate comes along to shoot me in the face. | ” |
| —Crankcase, "Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!" | ||
Contents |
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
Once a geeky collection of circuits and servos, Crankcase began life as a menial janitor in the Fuel-Spill Section of the Ministry of Energy and Nutrition on Cybertron, where he was relentlessly bullied by his stronger coworkers. A resentful Crankcase joined the Decepticons once the war began, and was eventually rebuilt into a larger bodyframe, which he promptly used to level his former workplace. Transformers Universe profile
Crankcase was under the command of that vapor-brained Megatron millions of years ago on Cybertron, but they couldn't even beat up a bunch of pipecleaner pacifists right. His crew completely lost the source of all knowledge and information, the Underbase, thanks to interference from that chrome-brain, Optimus Prime. The Flames of Boltax! Things only got worse after that. Oh sure, we don't know anything that actually happened to Crankcase for over four million years, but they definitely must've gotten worse. In the present day, he had a useless job serving the equally useless Decepticon Triumverate. What a bunch of bloated losers. Sure, a clone of Megatron came along and managed to inspire Crankcase to turn on those louts, but he wound up having to do most of the work in actually blowing them away while their backs were turned. All Megatron had to do was deliver a speech and everyone suddenly loved him again. Though Crankcase said he would be glad to die as a warrior rather than endure the mockery of a life he had under the Triumviate, none of the Decepticon leaders could ever accomplish anything lasting, so who Crankcase was serving didn't matter. The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire.
"Megatron" promised battles, but instead sent Crankcase off to find other warriors for the cause... Great, now he was a glorified recruiting agent. Soon, Megatron blew himself up and was replaced by another Megatron, but then the new one blew himself up too, and Crankcase was ordered by the Decepticon High Council to go to that miserable mudball Earth and retrieve one of the contestants for the 'Con leadership. Of course, as he suspected it'd happen, the guy didn't take it kindly to be retrieved, and instead beat Crankcase and his compatriots up, commandeered their ship, and had the bright idea to attack the Ark. Rage! You didn't have to be a pessimist to know how that one would work out: grossly outnumbered, the Decepticons were quickly overpowered. Still, battered and damaged, they retrieved Thunderwing and convinced him to retreat and fight another day. Wouldn't you know, the Decepticon Council of Elders thought this was stellar performance, and nominated him as the new Con leader. Just goes to show, you have to be a loony to be in charge. Assault on the Ark! Then his Triggercon "friends" abandoned him to go running off with some Mayhem Attack Squad. Slag-suckers—like joining a group with an even stupider name than the Wreckers is going to be some sort of edge in combat. Odds were their commander would end up going mad with power and beat the circuits out of them, anyway. Matrix Quest
Later, some pathetic "God" possessed an even more pathetic Autobot and gathered Crankcase with a bunch of other Transformers to battle Unicron. The Void! Right—a swarm of mecha-ants attacking a guy the size of a planet. That was really going to work. Anyway, Optimus Prime made a really long and self-important speech, picked up some nick-knack he found lying around and managed to blow the evil planet-bot to smithereens. Someone was probably expecting Crankcase to clean up the mess afterwards. Not a chance. On the Edge of Extinction!
Some schmuck named Bludgeon took over the Decepticons after that, and began plotting to betray the Autobots, who had since entered a predictably doomed alliance with the Decepticons. Crankcase went along with his little band of conspirators, and the bunch of them managed to swindle the Autobots out of a bunch of their spaceship. With the Autobots stranded on their decaying world, the Decepticons were free to pick a new world to plunder. Exodus! The weak little inhabitants of Klo put up no fight whatsoever, which was really pathetic. The Last Autobot? Then the Autobots showed up and got massacred, which was even more pathetic. THEN the Autobots all started coming back to life thanks to the Last Autobot showing up and using his mystical mumbo-jumbo on their corpses. The revived Autobots were soon back to doing annoying things like caving in Crankcase's entire skull. He knew it would come to this, he just knew it. End of the Road!
Trigger-Happy!
At some point, a Decepticon Civil War broke out between Megatron, Scorponok and Shockwave on Earth. Crankcase and Ruckus found themselves on Megatron's side and had stolen Scorponok's battle plans, but the Autobots also wanted to get their hands on the plans and prepared to ambush them. Fortunately, Crankcase and Ruckus were warned of the ambush thanks to Backstreet panicking and giving away his position by firing, giving the Decepticons plenty of time to escape. Trigger-Happy!
Marvel UK future timelines
On Cybertron in 2009, Crankcase and the Triggercons joined Galvatron in slaughtering an Autobot resistance cell. The group then confronted Rodimus Prime, with Galvatron successfully goading his nemesis into a frenzied fight, hoping to corrupt the Matrix in the process. Crankcase tried to intervene, only for Galvatron to order him and Ruckus back; their interference being counter to his plans. Rodimus was talked out his mania however, and he and his remaining allies managed to escape. Aspects of Evil!
Another Time & Place
So once Bludgeon realized he was a lousy leader, his brilliant solution was to revive a leader that was even worse: Megatron. Crankcase (having his head un-smooshed by some idiot) got dragged along to Hydrus Four, where Bludgeon had the lame idea of using nucleon to revitalize their old commander. "Great, another leader who talks with his fists," thought Crankcase. Crankcase was so sure everything would go wrong, he wasn't even impressed when the Decepticons captured the Dinobots with the Holocaust Trigger and didn't even have to raise a weapon. Big whoop. Oh sure, Crankcase took his turn torturing their captives like all the other Decepticons, but he just knew the Dinobots would get free and ruin everything, he just knew it. So it was no surprise to Crankcase when he came across the Micromaster named Roadhandler about to free Grimlock. The Dinobot commander charged Crankcase and hit him with enough force to embed the Triggercon in the far wall and then took his concussion blaster. Another Time & Place
Transformers Comic-Magazin
Crankcase and the Triggercons were engaged by the Triggerbots and Sparkabots while attacking one of Earth's many cities. Transformers in Action: He Who Laughs Last ...
Marvel Generation 2 comic
Some idiot un-smooshed Crankcase's head, so he remained an active member of Bludgeon's army. That was stupid. It was only a matter of time before he would get injured again, like from the Cybertronian Empire's acid rain, so what was the point of repairing him? No one ever listens to Crankcase, though, so he went ahead and died when the Cybertronians caved in his chassis. New Dawn
Classics
Crankcase's complaining must've pissed off someone important, because he was assigned waste disposal duty on Bludgeon's team. Great—like he didn't have enough to grumble about already. What's worse, he was commanded to dispose of Abominus, who Bludgeon had branded a traitor. The only thing worse than hauling garbage is hauling garbage that might suddenly wake up and eat you. At Fight's End
Regeneration One
Crankcase signed up to Soundwave's "Neo-Decepticon" insurgency at Fort Scyk. Like that would ever end well. Counterpoint
Crankcase was still hanging out at Fort Scyk when the resurrected Scorponok returned to Cybertron with a Gene Key capable of turning Autobots into Decepticons. After the former Headmaster killed Misfire for questioning him, Crankcase and the others had little choice but to follow him. Natural Selection, Part Three Scorponok assigned Crankcase to guard the Civil Defense Hub alongside Roadblock, Runamuck, and the Gene Key-tainted Guzzle, but they were surprised by Grimlock's resistance group and Crankcase was shot down by Crosshairs, though the Autobot was only shooting to disable and not to kill. Natural Selection, Part Five
2005 IDW continuity
- First appearance: Stormbringer #2
Crankcase was constructed cold. Arm the Lonely During the Great War, he joined the Decepticons; on the planet Frayus, he was posted at Camp Conclave and received his Decepticon insignia during a ceremony presided over by Megatron. Journey's End
During the later stages of the Great War, he was a part of Darkwing's infiltration unit stationed on the planet Nebulos. Stormbringer #2 When the reanimated superweapon Thunderwing invaded and began laying waste to the planet ahead of schedule, the Decepticons made a token effort to try and stop him; in the ensuing battle, Crankcase was swiftly crushed underfoot by the monster. Stormbringer #3
Despite being left for dead, Crankcase managed to survive his run-in with Thunderwing, and successfully escaped Nebulos and rejoined the primary Decepticon command structure. Kill All 'Cons At some point (possibly in the fight against Thunderwing), he sustained a severe head wound, which caused periodic bouts of "facial paralysis". Rules of Disengagement Either way, Crankcase was left traumatized by the experience, and grappled with feelings of isolation and purposeless for some time afterward. Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!
Circa 2008, Crankcase was assigned to pilot the prisoner escort vessel Weak Anthropic Principle, and was put in charge of transporting Flyhigh to a Decepticon penitentiary. While in transit, his ship was hijacked by Krok and Spinister, who sprang Flyhigh—now calling himself "Misfire"—as part of a last request from a friend of theirs. Crankcase was locked in the ship's brig for an indeterminate time, Kill All 'Cons but was eventually released; with nowhere else to go, he became a member of their ragtag crew, who took to calling themselves the "Scavengers", and became the de facto pilot of the Weak Anthropic Principle.
After the end of the war in 2012, Cybertron was restored to life, and issued a call for all Cybertronians to come home... but the Scavengers, assuming that the Autobots had won the war, set course for the planet Clemency to salvage what energon and spare parts they could find off an old battlefield. Shortly after discovering the defective suicide bomber Fulcrum and welcoming him aboard, the Scavengers discovered a crashed P-6 Worldsweeper filled with mysterious experiments. While there, they were contacted by the Decepticon Justice Division, looking to torture and kill one of them for crimes against the Decepticons. Confused since there were only six of them and the Division mentioned seven, they discovered a stasis-locked Grimlock inside a stasis tube. Rules of Disengagement
The Scavengers decided to stay behind and battle the DJD by putting Grimlock out in the open and releasing him from his pod when the D.J.D. got close. At the last moment, the DJD revealed they were actually after Fulcrum but before the Decepticon could explain, the D.J.D. arrived. Krok released Grimlock anyways and the fight began. Crankcase was quickly smothered by Helex despite Spinister's assistance and was tossed aside. Crankcase complained how hopeless their situation was until he saw an artillery of Cybernoughts within the Worldsweeper. Commandeering one which he christened the Mighty Mega Puncher, he quickly took out Tesarus, Tarn, and Helex, but Kaon managed to electrocute the Cybernought and electrify Crankcase inside. Tarn quickly transformed and blasted the Cybernought, destroying it.
Crankcase recovered when the fighting was over and the DJD had left for another target, whereupon they dragged out of Fulcrum that the reason the DJD had been after him was for committing an act of cowardice during the war. Crankcase recovered an unconscious Krok, whose face had been destroyed by Vos; the group agreed to fix Krok, set off for Cybertron, and use Grimlock, who was revealed to be almost brain-dead, as a bargaining chip when they got there. Before they left, they scavenged parts from their ex-comrade Flywheels, who had been killed during the fight. Who's Afraid of the DJD?
Later, during an attempt to rescue Misfire from the Galactic Council on the planet Constancy, Crankcase succumbed to the effects of Tyrest's universal killswitch along with Krok and Spinister. Arm the Lonely
Eventually learning that Starscream had seized control of Cybertron and Megatron had defected to the Autobots, the Scavengers gave up on returning home and aimlessly bummed around the galaxy for a few years. In between all sorts of madcap adventures—saving the entire universe on one occasion, and turning into toys on another—they spent their time vandalizing Autopedia and playing "Shoot Shoot Bang Bang", a game Crankcase had invented and attempted to copyright even though he didn't understand how trademarks worked. Some Of My Best Friends Are Autobots Over the next few years, Crankcase joined The Big Conversation, a Decepticon social networking site, and struck up a relationship with the user "CONS4EVA"—unbeknownst to Crankcase, "CONS4EVA" was really a Dire Wraith, a pacifistic sort who didn't fit in with his ruthless comrades. Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!
While en route to the planet Tebris VII, Crankcase got embroiled in a game of Shoot Shoot Bang Bang when he was supposed to be piloting the ship, and as a result the Weak Anthropic Principle made a crash-landing. Unaware of why Krok had brought them there, Crankcase and Fulcrum spent the next few hours watching Skullcruncher the "Self-Hating Decepticon;" his successful stand-up routine infuriated Krok, who pointed out that while other Decepticons had moved on, they'd spent the last few years doing nothing.
The subsequent round of squabbling was cut short when Krok's contact, a fellow monoformer named Demus, contacted the group and invited them to meet at his scrapyard to discuss a deal. Some Of My Best Friends Are Autobots Secretly acting on behalf of the Grand Architect, Animals Demus revealed that he wanted to buy Grimlock, offering them half a billion Shanix each in exchange for Grimlock. The Decepticons put it to a vote, and Crankcase—wanting to buy his own spaceship—voted in favor of selling the Dinobot. The Scavengers never got the chance to solidify the deal, as Demus was caught and executed by Fortress Maximus for violating the Tyrest Accord. Some Of My Best Friends Are Autobots
Briefly managing to stun the Duly Appointed Enforcer with his cannons, Crankcase and the other Scavengers escaped from Fortress Maximus... but discovered that the innocent-looking "Roboid" dolls that Demus sold were, in fact, "domesticated" Transformers who had been trapped in their beast modes and lobotomized.
Knowing that Maximus would be listening in on their conversation, Crankcase distracted him by name-dropping Grimlock; realizing that Maximus would attempt to re-arrest the brain-damaged Autobot, the Scavengers, unable to transform thanks to Demus's mode lock chips, unboxed six Equinoids and rode to the rescue. The Scavengers caught up with Fortress Maximus as he tussled with his quarry, and after a brief standoff Crankcase was able to use his facial paralysis to his advantage, bluffing Maximus into believing that he had rigged a bomb to kill the Roboids.
The Scavengers escaped Tebris VII in the Weak Anthropic Principle with a new purpose: to find and help all the other Decepticons out there who had been damaged by the war... after just one more game of "Shoot Shoot Bang Bang". Animals
Some time later aboard the Weak Anthropic Principle, the Scavengers watched a video that was being broadcast to the galaxy at large of Lost Light crewmembers apparently counting down the time to their deaths and making funerary requests, which Crankcase said was a "bit dark". How Bright Their Frail Deeds
A few months later, Crankcase, under the pseudonym "Grumpybox," made arrangements to meet with "CONS4EVA" in person, and arranged for a rendezvous on Earth. Unaware that Earth was undergoing a crisis of its own, the Scavengers landed their ship in New Mexico while Fulcrum and Krok helped him get ready for his date. While Spinister and Misfire tried to contain another one of Grimlock's periodic rampages, Crankcase left the ship to meet with his date... only to discover that "CONS4EVA" accidentally took the shape of Thunderwing. After a brief misunderstanding, "CONS4EVA" revealed his true form as a Dire Wraith and told Crankcase that he was on a spiritual quest of his own, seeking his help to perform a religious ceremony known as the "Crossover" in the hopes of starting a new life. With the help of G.I. Joe washout MP3, the misfits completed the ceremony of "Brand Loyalty" but only succeeded in opening a tiny portal that none of them could fit through.
Despite the setback, Crankcase offered his friend a chance to join the Scavengers on their adventures; though "CONS4EVA" declined, MP3 was intrigued by the idea, but the Scavengers—citing Fulcrum's disgust for humans—left before MP3 could board their ship. Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again!
After dropping his friend off at a nearby starhub, the Decepticons continued to travel the galaxy, which eventually led them to the ruins of Camp Conclave in pursuit of a rumored cache of ultra-rare ununtrium. They emerged from the ruins of the bunker empty-handed, but discovered that the planet had become a battleground between the Galactic Council, the Black Block Consortia, and Deathsaurus's Decepticon contingent. Journey's End Unable to teleport back to their ship, they were rescued by Krok's old friend Agonizer, who opened a portal that led them to his antique shop Troja Major.
There, he requested their help (along with the ex-DJD medic Nickel) in retrieving the ancient artifact known as the Magnificence, and teleported them to its last known location on the planet Confluence. The group discovered another Worldsweeper-class vessel containing more strange experiments, including a compliment of fully-developed "Treecons," and while Grimlock was able to dispatch the wooden robots without much trouble the group was ambushed and taken prisoner by Scorponok, current holder of the Magnificence. Scorponok imprisoned the group and then worked Grimlock into a rage, leaving his prisoners to be dismembered by their ally. The Ties That Bind
Thanks to some quick thinking by Spinister and Nickel, the group were able to pacify Grimlock long enough for them to repair the brain damage he had suffered; restored to his full faculties once more, the Scavengers hatched a plan to make it seem as though Grimlock had torn them apart; after Grimlock requested an audience with Scorponok, the other Scavengers pulled themselves together, overpowered their guards, and ambushed Scorponok on the bridge of the ship. Scorponok revealed that he had tapped the power of the Magnificence to create an organic creature that he called the "Firstborn," powered by the extracted Sparks of Decepticons.
Offered a choice between serving as Scorponok's commanders in his crusade against the Autobots or having their Sparks extracted, the Scavengers turned down his offer, leading them to suffer as he began the process. Using the Magnificence, Nickel managed to paralyze Scorponok long enough for the group to escape with the Magnificence and the Firstborn. Hoping to find a way to return the Firstborn's spark to a robotic body, the group opted to teleport to Garrus-9, but after learning that the transmat system would be fatal to the infant, Grimlock simply took the Firstborn into his chest and pushed the others into the portal.
The group successfully arrived at the facility... but discovered that they had accidentally teleported right into Grimlock's old cell, still locked from the outside, and that the Magnificence had gone dormant, leaving them with no apparent means of escape. Kill All 'Cons They might have ended up killing each other in the cramped quarters if not for the sudden arrival of the Autobot Nautica. The God War
Curiously, Nautica believed they were all dead and inhabiting the Afterspark. After realizing they were each seeing different environments, the illusion collapsed and they discovered their real location was Mederi, the medical hub and euthanasia clinic. After some startling revelations that were relevant to other people, Crankcase and the Scavengers joined forces with Nautica's friends, Rodimus and the former crew of the Lost Light. You Are Here
The rest of the Lost Light crew had been transformed into Sparkeaters by the Scavengers' old friend Scorponok, and were set upon them on behalf of a mysterious figure called the Grand Architect. Grimlock caught up with them, having picked up a ship and some more allies on the way, and arrived in time to start tearing through the Sparkeaters. Ultra Magnus rather awkwardly grabbed Crankcase and forced his Triggercon weapons to fire in order to get Grimlock's attention. The crew were diseased, not evil, and so a plan was enacted to cure them and deal with the real threats. Crankcase acted as pilot for a strike team to infiltrate the Lost Light and shut down the Architect's allies. A Dance Before Dying They managed to reclaim the Lost Light and drive off Scorponok while their other friends planetside cured the Sparkeaters. Lūstrāre
Everyone reassembled aboard the Lost Light as a rift in space opened over the planet. Crankcase got to pilot the larger ship too, and marveled at how well it handled. Still, even at full blast, they were unable to escape the pull of the rift and were sucked into it. On the other side was the Benzene Cluster, complete with five facsimile Cybertrons forged by the Grand Architect. Their arrival led to an audience with the Architect, but before he arrived for the meeting a portal opened into the Functionist Universe. Farsickness This led to the return of Megatron from that parallel universe, along with the insane Functionist Council and their transforming Cybertron christened after Primus himself. Despite the dire circumstances, Crankcase and the Scavengers were impressed to be in Megatron's presence, and he in turn was delighted to see real Decepticons again after his years in the alternate timeline. The Return of the King
After the Lost Light had set down, Crankcase was present as everyone tried to work out a plan to defeat the Functionist Primus. When the planet-sized avatar drew closer to them, Crankcase began the start-up procedure for the Lost Light to take off again, with the ship escaping the destruction "Primus" caused at the last minute. Megatron ordered them to about-face, and Crankcase complied with a soldierly "As you command, Megatron", turning the ship around to confront their gargantuan foe. The Unremembering After "Primus" was forced back into planet mode, a plan was hatched to overload Functionist Cybertron's hot spots by opening a Matrix at each one. Crankcase was assigned to protect First Aid at the Pious Pools' hot spot as the Functionists unleashed their soldiers to stop them. Ultimately, the Matrices were opened, the Functionists were defeated, and the day was saved. A Spark Among Embers
Crankcase went along on the Lost Light's final "lap of honor" before the ship was to be decommissioned. He got some advice from Tailgate about recognizing the loved ones in your life before it was too late. The crew voted on a risky stunt for their trip back to Cybertron, choosing to attempt a quantum duplication that would allow one version of the ship and crew to explore a whole other universe. After returning to Cybertron, Crankcase attended a farewell party in Swerve's and was distracted by Fortress Maximus' leg-guns while the Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord attempted to apologize for trying to kill the Scavengers on Tebris VII. The Scavengers left the party together, heading to Troja Major and Crankcase, taking Tailgate's advice, called CONS4EVA and asked him to meet them there.
In another universe, a quantum duplication of the Lost Light arrived, with Crankcase reporting the engines having overloaded in the process. This version of the Lost Light and its crew now had a whole new set of adventures to look forward to, although it meant that this Crankcase was separated from his dear CONS4EVA... possibly forever. Typical. How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2
TransTech
In the TransTech city of Axiom Nexus, Ruckus, Needlenose, and Crankcase assaulted what they thought was an energon refinery, but it turned out to be a waste fuel storage depot. Eyuw. Around Cybertron #1
Legacy VS500 Collection Special Comic
Crankcase was one of many spectators for the Speedia 500 race on Velocitron. Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 2 He remained to watch the second week of the race, and was terrified by the nearby Tarn. Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 3
Games
Transformers: Earth Wars
Toys
The Transformers
- Crankcase (Triggercon, 1988)
- Known designers: Takashi Kunihiro (TakaraTomy)
- Released in the fifth wave of original Transformers toyline, Crankcase transforms into a four-wheel-drive off-road vehicle resembling a Land Rover 90. Similar to the other Triggercons, he has flip-out weaponry, which in his case are two double-barreled laser blasters which deploy from his robot mode backpack/shoulders using a gear mechanism. In vehicle mode, they flip out from his camper and through his windshield. The windshield HE JUST HAD WASHED, thank you very much. Some people...
- None of the Triggercons (or Triggerbots) were released in Takara's Transformers lines. Figures that he gets forgotten as usual...
Legacy
- Crankcase (Deluxe Class, 2022)
- TakaraTomy ID number: TL-17
- TakaraTomy release date: February 25, 2023
- Accessories: Energon blaster, front grill blaster
- Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Shuhei Umezu (TakaraTomy)[1]
- Part of the third wave of Legacy Deluxe Class figures, Crankcase is a heavy retool of Skids. He transforms into an off-road vehicle in 14 steps, and comes with an Energon blaster that he can use in both modes. His front grill is also removable and can be used as a blaster as well. The plastic tolerance issues that affected some copies of Skids have been resolved, allowing Crankcase to hold together as designed in vehicle mode.
- Though absent from official promotional images, Crankcase's distinctive shoulder guns are present. However, they have been heavily downsized to little more than barely visible nubs. Stock art for the vehicle mode shows his grill attached upside down and his hood insignia wrong way up, though these are pictured correctly on the back of the box. Crankcase features the same leg panels as Legacy Skids, while the diagonal details on his shoulders homage those on the legs of his G1 figure.
| Legacy mold: Skids | ||
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Version 1:
Version 2:
Version 3:
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Merchandise
Transformers Trading Card Game
- Crankcase, Data Collector (2020)
- Wave 5: Titan Masters Attack
- Rarity: CT
- Card Number: T16/T46
- Stars: 7
- Crankcase, Data Collector is one of forty-six double-sided character cards released as part of Wave 5 of the Transformers Trading Card Game, Titan Masters Attack.
- The card features original artwork for both modes, with line-art by Dan Khanna.
- This card's set was originally set for an April 2020 release, however due to the global COVID-19 pandemic the release was pushed back to May 29, 2020.
Notes
- A live-action movie series homage character, Crankcase, was released as a Walmart exclusive as a late part of the live-action movie toyline. The redeco of Cybertron Red Alert was originally intended to be this Crankcase by TFWiki classification, and part of the 2008 Universe toyline. Notably, his head can smoosh as part of his transformation.
- Crankcase's Generation 1 prototype in the 1987 and 1988 toy catalogs has his head flipping down into the chest instead of just sliding into it like on the final.
- The head of Beast Wars II Autolauncher (or rather, the unreleased G2 figure from which Autolauncher was made) bears an uncanny resemblance to Crankcase's original character model, albeit with two eyes instead of shades, not to mention the Autolauncher mold also having cannons that fold down over the shoulders.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Crankcase (クランクケース Kurankukēsu)
- French: 4 x 4 (France), Grincheux (Canada, "Grouch")
References
- ↑ Design notes on Legacy Crankcase from Hasbro designer Mark Maher on Instagram
