Fastlane

Fastlane is an Autobot Clone from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"Roger dodger, Optimus Prime!"

When you break down the personality of Fastlane (aka Fastclash), he doesn't come off sounding very good. He's a totally immature, reckless, thrill-seeking, show off. Surprising then to find that he's quite well liked by both humans and Autobots. The fact is there's just no malice in Fastlane's antics, he's mischievous at worst and his stunts are usually quite entertaining to watch. His most daring stunts can be a bit dangerous to others who happen to be nearby (he once caused a HUGE accident on Cybertron by doing a 360 in confining heavy traffic at 500 miles per hour) but no one's ever been really hurt by them except for Fastlane himself when he pushes his design just a little too far.

Fastlane is the younger clone brother of Cloudraker.

Fiction

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Rob Paulsen (English), Akimitsu Takase (Japanese), Bernd Simon (German), Georges Atlas (European French)

They were later disappointed to discover that robots weren't allowed in the Beano Fan Club.

Upon arriving on Cybertron, Optimus Prime told Fastlane and Cloudraker to search for Kup and the rest of the Autobots who had travelled to the Plasma Energy Chamber. The Rebirth, Part 1 Since Kup's crew were on a plasma-charged rocket ship halfway to Nebulos by that point, the Clones had little luck finding them. The Rebirth, Part 2

Japanese cartoon continuity

The Headmasters cartoon

Voice actor: Kazuo Oka (Japanese)

Fastlane and Cloudraker were once friends with another pair of Cybertronian Clones named Pounce and Wingspan. The two duos lost contact with each other for some time, during which Pounce and Wingspan joined the Decepticons. Fastlane and Cloudraker were confronted by their old friends, who were looking to take a golden skull from their Autobot counterparts and use it to collect a unique energy source from the Pirate Planet. While trying to keep the skull from the Decepticon Clones, Fastlane and his brother made contact with the Autobot Headmasters aboard the Battleship Maximus. Mystery of the Space Pirate Ship

The Clones accompanied the Headmasters back to Earth, and remained there allied with Metroplex and Spike Witwicky when Fortress took his men to defend the planet Master. As the Decepticons began a series of attacks around the globe, Spike dispatched Fastlane, Cloudraker, and the Throttlebots to Santiago, Chile to investigate the emergence of one of Scorponok's Death Towers. They were thoroughly trounced by Predaking, who was guarding the tower. The Final Showdown on Earth (Part 1)

Legends comic

In 2021, the ever-reckless Fastlane ended up stealing a data disc from the Universal Peace Alliance containing evidence that their chairman, Spike Witwicky, had been supplanted by an impostor. Labeled criminals by the Alliance as a result, the Clones fled to the Legends World where they were confronted by the fake Spike and Hound, and while Fastlane was initially able to escape when they mistook Cloudraker for him, he changed his mind and came back to help his brother. When the actions of "Spike" caused Hound to realize he was fake, Fastlane took the opportunity to uncover his disguise, revealing him to be the evil Old Snake. Bonus Edition Vol. 58 When Pounce and Wingspan arrived in the Legends World, stole three Targetmasters and defeated Metroplex, Fastlane and Cloudraker battled them and successfully released the smaller robots from their grasp. As they remained at Metroplex to guard him, they expressed hope that they'd be able to get along with their Decepticon brethren someday. Bonus Edition Vol. 61

Legacy VS500 Collection Special Comic

Fastlane was one of many spectators for the Speedia 500 race on Velocitron. Velocitron Speedia 500 Part 2

Transformers in 3-D

Following the destruction of Cybertron's energon supply by Galvatron, Cloudraker and Fastlane were on Optimus Prime's team for a mission to destroy the Nullification Cannon. The two clones dealt with Blast Off by luring him through a door and then clocking him on the head with a metal bar. Once the coast was clear, Optimus insisted on going on alone. The War Against the Destructons, Chapter 1 of 3

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Spotlight: Arcee

Fastlane and Cloudraker served as security officers for Fortress Maximus inside the Garrus-9 penitentiary. When the Combaticons raided the facility, the clones fought alongside Jetfire and the Technobots, but ultimately failed to prevent the Decepticons from making off with the Monstructor Six. Spotlight: Doubledealer Fastlane took a serious blast through the chest during the fight and probably needed significant repair work. Spotlight: Arcee He was back in action some time later, when he inspected Bludgeon's corpse along with his brother. Spotlight: Sideswipe

Following the end of war, Fastlane and Cloudraker returned to Cybertron and were seen hanging out at the Blurr-run Maccadam's Old Oil House. Night and the City When the Autobots were banished from Iacon, the two brothers chose to go neutral and remain in the city, where Fastlane later arrested Scoop for seemingly sabotaging the city's power lines. Three Monologues

When Unicron attacked Cybertron, Fastlane and Cloudraker were part of the Autobot fleet operating under Scattershot's command that scrambled to meet the Chaos Bringer, only to find their path barred by the mutated Decepticon Vengeance Division. Though they fought well, they were ultimately destroyed by the flagship Worldsweeper, their deaths prompting Victorion to try and kill Bludgeon. Our Finest

Later, Soundwave glimpsed Fastlane's spirit as the Decepticon used the Enigma of Combination to assist Optimus Prime in his battle against Unicron. Ceremony

Marvel Comics continuity

Regeneration One

When the Autobots staged an assault on Jhiaxus and the Hub Network, Fastlane landed on the surface with Ultra Magnus and his strike team. After the Cybertronians lulled the Autobots into a false sense of security, they attacked with renewed vigor, sending the surface-bound Autobots racing for cover. Fastlane and Chromedome attempted to draw fire away from the others, but ultimately the Autobots fell. The War to End All Wars, Part 3

Transformers '84

"I'm seein' double! FOUR men of iron!"

Fastlane and Cloudraker piloted the ship Mantlo in search of the missing Ark. Their quest took them to many worlds before arriving on Earth, where it was the year 1017 by the reckoning of the land they ended up crashing in due to atmospheric hazards. The two immediately disembarked and sped off to continue their search, unaware that a Decepticon party had been following them through the last six star systems and nineteen planets. This party included Counterpunch, who was under secret orders from Optimus Prime, given before the Arkʼs launch, to make sure Megatron remained isolated from Cybertron by any and all means. And those Decepticons weren't the only ones on the Mantloʼs tail: Its fiery atmospheric entry that night had been noticed by humans in the nearby Stansham Castle, a small group of whom investigated the crash site the next day. And those humans, in turn, were followed by soldiers from a Viking army that had been besieging the castle.

The human scouts discovered the Mantlo and had barely enough time to ponder what "devilry" was afoot before they were ambushed by their rivals. Fastlane and Cloudraker, on their way back to their ship, found their passage blocked by the battle. At first they stayed concealed in the trees, following Autobot non-engagement regulations. But as they observed the fight, they deemed it an uneven one in favor of the ambushers and decided to intervene on behalf of the "underdog" group. Emerging from the woods and smacking at least one of the soldiers terrified the Vikings, one of whom declared their cause lost if their enemy was in league with "Niflheim-spawned abominations". They ran away and the other humans immediately gave chase, but before the clones to could continue on their way to the ship, they were attacked by the Duocons and Counterpunch. Though outnumbered, the clones' gravity-rod and sonic boom rifles made short work of the Decepticons – but Cloudraker was critically wounded by one of Flywheels' missiles. Cradling his brother, Fastlane ran back to the Mantlo to give him CR treatment. He also took the ship airborne again, but as it lifted off, Counterpunch took a shot at it to prevent them from finding the Ark, per his mission. He scored a direct hit, and the craft plummeted. While Cloudraker lay unconscious on a medical table, Fastlane desperately tried to radio for aid. Then the ship crashed again, this time directly into Stansham Castle. '84 #0

Marvel The Transformers comics

Main article: Man of Iron (G1)

Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread

An old chronicle records that in the year 1017, as Godwin's forces had just battered down the main gate of Stansham Castle, the ground shook and a giant "man of iron" appeared amongst them. The soldiers were terrified, and their weapons did nothing against the apparition. The metal figure strode in the direction of a nearby abbey, firing warning shots at those who tried to follow him, until a priest put himself in his path and urged him to go back from whence he came. The man of iron turned and went off into Stanewood. As time passed, he was seen three times in total before the modern day, each occurrence preceded by an earth tremor.

Is he live or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?

The humans had no idea this was Fastlane, his outer armor removed, continuing to scout from his base of the buried Mantlo while Cloudraker remained comatose within. When the Ark inhabitants awoke of their own accord in the modern day, Fastlane was apparently unaware at first. But his distress signal had continued to beam out, attracting both Autobot and Decepticon attention. Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp flew over Stansham Castle, dropping a bomb-like probe. The Autobots, meanwhile, made clandestine contact with the son of the castle's curator. And the regional human military, spooked by mysterious jets having strafed the castle, led an investigation that ended up unearthing part of the buried ship.

Then one afternoon another telltale earth tremor struck as Fastlane spontaneously emerged from an elevator mechanism in a hillside. He fired at a military truck that happened to be driving right toward him, blowing it up as its occupants ran to safety. Then a Seeker suddenly appeared and barraged him with rockets, destroying him. This was followed by an all-out battle between numerous Autobots and Decepticons, ending with the Autobots victorious and Optimus ordering the buried ship's destruction, in keeping with the mission he had given to Punch millions of years prior. Jazz dutifully vaporized the Mantlo in a massive implosion, not realizing he was killing Cloudraker within. Man of Iron

Beast Wars: Uprising

During the campaign on Nebulos, the Autobot Clones were captured by the Decepticon/Hive alliance and subjected to horrific experiments by Fausto Borx and Zarak. A Brush With Infamy–Prologue

Transformers: All Spark

Fastlane and Cloudraker were part of an Autobot team led by God Ginrai who helped Bumblebee and Spike defeat Overlord. Looming Threat

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

After Cybertron fell, the Autobots left their homeworld aboard the Ark, traveling through space in pursuit of the AllSpark. Earthrise webpage^[1] When the ship detected energon on Biosfera, the Autobots dispatched Fastlane and Cloudraker to investigate. Unfortunately, after arriving they made contact with Pounce and Wingspan. Even worse, the Decepticons' beast modes gave them a distinct advantage in jungle warfare. Encounter 3: Biosfera Clones

Commercial appearances

Fastlane and Cloudraker encountered Pounce and Wingspan out in the wilderness and transformed into their vehicle modes to evade the Decepticon clones' weapons-fire. Punch/Counterpunch and Clones commercial

Games

Transformers Legends

Fastlane was stationed at a Sun-Farming facility along with Cloudraker. During an attack by Thunderwing's forces, Fastlane attempted to head off Bludgeon, who was headed for the main building. Unfortunately Fastlane failed in his task and the facility fell to the Decepticons, forcing Sideswipe's team to abandon it. Revelation

Toys

The Transformers

I'm the one who can't fly.

• Fastlane / Cloudraker (Autobot Clone, 1987)

• Takara ID number: C-112
• Accessories: 2 "sonic boom rifles", spoiler

Released in the fourth year of Hasbro's US The Transformers toyline (third year in Europe and in Takara's Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers line), Autobot Clone Fastlane transforms into a futuristic dragster. His robot mode is (mostly) identical to his Clone brother Cloudraker (from the front at least), with the resemblance enhanced by removing the spoiler from the back of his robot mode. Fastlane also has two heat-sensitive rubsigns on his torso: the one on his groin reveals the traditional Autobot symbol, while the one on his chest reveals a dragster image, indicating which Clone he is. This is especially useful for those times when you can't just turn him over and see the giant wheels on his backside.

The Chinese release of Fastlane, released in 1993, lacks the "car" rubsign, which has been replaced with a foil Autobot insignia sticker.

There are two ways to store his "sonic boom rifles" in vehicle mode: the first is the intended way, which is by plugging them into the ports located on either side of the front of the vehicle mode; the other is how he was depicted in the Headmasters anime, which requires you to leave the hands flipped out, and plugging the rifles into them, so that they are located higher up.

He was only available in a two-pack with his brother/fellow Clone, Cloudraker.

• More information on Fastlane at TFU.info

Titans Return

Soon I'll have a retool that can fly.

• Chaos on Velocitron (Gift set, 2017)

Titans Return Fastclash (renamed due to trademark issues) transforms from robot to futuristic dragster, and is heavily based on his original Generation 1 toy. Any Titan Masters can ride in the vehicle mode by simply putting them onto the flip-up "seat" between his arms. Fastclash transforms in very few steps and has very little in the way of securing anything in his dragster mode outside of his ankles and hands. He also has shifting hip joints, but these are designed for the eventual Cloudraker retool, and thus serve no purpose on this toy. As with all four of the clones in this line, Fastclash has a (non-heat-sensitive) painted symbol evoking his original "dragster" rubsign.

Whilst advertised as a Legends Class figure, Hasbro representatives at Toy Fair 2017 explained that his size/complexity is a little greater than what is possible in the retail Legends assortment. In truth, his size is easily comparable to a standard Legends Class figure, while his engineering is actually more simple.

He was only available in the "Chaos on Velocitron" boxset that includes Dynamus & Quickswitch, Refractor & Laser Prime, Parsec & Autobot Nautica, and a Rodimus Prime Titan Master head. The set was officially announced by Hasbro to be a Toys"R"Us exclusive, and was sold at stores in the United States, Canada, and Hasbro's Asian markets (such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong). Despite this, it later became available via Amazon in the United States (but not in Canada) as well, actually sold by Amazon directly (as compared to a third-party seller).

Legends

Aren't you glad you didn't go to Toys"R"Us?

• Clonebot Set (Autobot Clones) (Multi-pack, 2018)

• Release date: January 27, 2018
• ID number: LG-58

Legends Fastlane is a redeco of his Generations toy, with a color layout based more closely on his appearance in the Headmasters anime, with a lighter-red torso and head than his arms.

He was only available in a two-pack with, of course, Cloudraker. The pack also includes the Legends comic Volume 58.

War for Cybertron: Earthrise

Now you can get the hard-to-obtain exclusive figure as a hard-to-obtain exclusive!

• Biosfera Autobot Clones (2-pack, 2020)

• Known designers: AJ Piejko-Brown (packaging)

Fastlane and Cloudraker were released as an Earthrise Amazon.com exclusive Galactic Odyssey Collection set, theoretically representing Biosfera, despite the two having exactly zero connections to the planet in any meaningful way or even vague thematic similarity. Oh well. The two are minor redecoes of their Titans Return toy color schemes.

The Titan Master seat goes undocumented in the instructions.

This set was labeled as "Encounter 3" of the Galactic Odyssey Collection, but was the second set to be officially revealed, and the first to actually ship out.

Notes

• "Fastlane" was one of the early working names for the character who would eventually become Sideswipe in 2015's Robots in Disguise series.^[2]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Fastlane (ファーストレーン Fāsutorēn)
• French: Casse-Cou (Canada)
• Italian: Booster
• Mandarin: Làngzǐ (China, 浪子, "Drifter")
• Russian: Bystryy (Быстрый, "Quick")

References