Jumpstarter
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the Autobot subgroup from Generation 1. For the Mini-Con from Armada, see Jumpstart. |
- The Jumpstarters are an Autobot subgroup from the Generation 1 continuity family.
The Jumpstarters are the brothers Topspin and Twin Twist, impulsive warriors with the ability to transform from vehicle to robot in less than half a second.[1]
They're sometimes psychic twins, sometimes partnered with the Titan Masters Freezeout and Flameout, sometimes Powered Masters, always Wreckers, and all around very special boys. They can combine with each other to form Attack Powered or with their Powered Master bosses to create Ultra Powered. Like a lot of career Wreckers they have a tendency to overestimate their odds of survival.
They created a universe one time. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Their toys were made in sufficient numbers to fill the toy boxes of our entire known universe.
Contents |
Fiction
Marvel Comics continuity
Marvel The Transformers comics
The Jumpstarters were members of the Wreckers. Target: 2006
They died. Time Wars
Transformers Annual 1985
Along with Bumblebee, the Jumpstarters convinced Prowl to investigate Decepticon activity in South America. Hunted!
Marvel UK future timelines
Transformers '84
Dreamwave Generation One continuity
They were members of the Wreckers. Escalation
2005 IDW continuity
- First Appearance: Transformers: Stormbringer #2
They were members of the Wreckers. Stormbringer #3 The Jumpstarters have a branched spark: a rare condition that means the two of them can share each other's pain and feelings, and sometimes perceive each other's circumstances. Twin Twist went into the Wreckers first. His cartographer brother Topspin had to join the Wreckers to keep an eye of his 'other half'. Last Stand of the Wreckers #3
On a mission to liberate Aequitas from Garrus-9, the two brothers met their end. Twin Twist was captured by Stalker and was brutally tortured by him. Sensing the pain as if it was his own, and Aequitas needing a willing spark donor, Topspin decided to put both of them out of their misery, and sacrificed his spark to Aequitas, killing them both, with their shared last words being "Wreck and Rule!" Last Stand of the Wreckers #4 After the liberation of G-9, the Jumpstarters' remains, as well as that of the other fallen Wreckers, were transported to Earth along with the survivors. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 They were later interred in the Zone of Remembrance at Debris, the Wreckers' headquarters. Zero Point
Legends comic
The Jumpstarters were space pioneers and members of the Powered Master subgroup. Bonus Edition Vol. 65 In the late 1980s, they entered the scene to protect the Transform Super Cog from falling into Decepticon hands, and they managed to defeat the Battlechargers who were attempting to steal it from within the Ark. When the Jumpstarters joined the battle outside, they attacked who they thought was Megatron, but it turned out to be the decoy, Megaplex, and they were left open to attacks from Sunstorm and Enemy, but Nightstalker was able to protect them from Enemy's finishing blow. That didn't stop them from losing the Super Cog to Slugslinger, but the other Autobots were able to end his threat. Slugslinger's Ambition
Because Twin Twist loved to drill holes in stuff and Topspin loved to cover for him, they were unpopular among the other Autobots. G1 Warrior Twin Twist G1 Warrior Topspin Following a failed attempt at making Twin Twist useful by having him dig pitfall traps, Operation: Destroy the Decepticons Optimus Prime appointed both of them leader of the Jumpstarters, which left them too busy arguing with each other who was the real leader to cause trouble. The Commander's Good Idea In 2004, the Jumpstarters were recruited by Springer into his new Wreckers unit Bonus Edition Vol. 7 LG-07 Jetfire Sequel and charged with cleaning up around Mount St. Hilary. G1 Wreckers Birth Story During this time, they learned that their fellow Wreckers Whirl and Roadbuster had come from a peaceful dimension known as the Legends World and hoped to help found such a place themselves someday. Bonus Edition Vol. 66
Decades later in the 2030s, the Jumpstarters were approached by Katsu Don and asked for their help in creating a dimension called Legends, causing them to realize their friends were from the future. Concluding that they had to accept or else their friends would never be born, they stole the Zodiac from fellow Powered Master Dai Atlas and used it to create the Legends World, leaving it in the care of the Zamojin. Bonus Edition Vol. 66 They were later among the Wreckers concerned about Springer's expanding girth LG19 Sprung Prologue and welcomed him back from a trip to the Legends World. LG19 Springer Sequel Upon learning that the Zamojin were attempting to destroy their creation through Windblade, they explained the circumstances to the other Wreckers before traveling there to stop Katsu Don. LG65 Twin Twist Prologue During the battle, the Jumpstarters retrieved the Zodiac and used it to become Triplemasters by adopting Headmaster and Targetmaster technology before combining into their Attack Powered form and defeating Windblade and Katsu Don. Bonus Edition Vol. 65 Bonus Edition Vol. 66
Games
Transformers Legends
Transformers: Earth Wars
Given Topspin and Twin Twist's absence from Earth, Springer recruited Nosecone to be the Wreckers' new resident driller. Nosecone arrival
Toys
The Transformers
- Jumpstarters (1985)
- Known designers: Takashi Matsuda (TakaraTomy)
- The Jumpstarters were sold boxed at the $6 price point; Topspin transforms into a futuristic Cybertronian hovercraft-type thing, while Twin Twist's alternate mode is a double-drilling tank. Both Jumpstarters are notable for their autotransforming feature. Their alternate modes are spring-loaded, and held into place by a catch. Equipped with pull-back motors, they race forward when released, tripping the catch, which allows internal springs to snap the robots' bulky legs into place, which are balanced so as to leave the robot standing upright on its rather broad feet.
- On the back of both figures' heads is a device resembling a switch. The switch is asymmetric and each position presents a different gap between the back of the head and the surface the toy is running on. When the spring-loaded transformation is triggered, the inertia of the legs unfolding in one direction torques the body backward in the opposite direction, causing the whole unit to rear up on the rubber driving wheels. When the switch on the back of the head comes in contact with the running surface, it becomes the new fulcrum point for levering the toy up off the surface, both increasing the lever length between the spring hips and the running surface, and lifting the driving wheels off the surface, removing any forward acceleration from the jumble of intersecting forces. That anonymous bit of plastic on the back of the head thus controls the timing for the wheels to be removed from contact with the running surface, the moment when the lever length and thus the force required to rotate the body backward increase significantly, and the angle at which the whole assembly is positioned when the giant feet impact the prongs/screws of the upper body, creating the sudden 'snap' that tosses the whole assembly up onto its feet. Changing the little tabs' position can be the deciding factor between landing dramatically upright, smacking forward onto your face, or flopping limply onto your back.
- The Jumpstarters are notably peculiar as some of the only molds sourced from Takara's pre-Transformer Diaclone toyline not rereleased under the Transformers brand in Takara's own Generation 1 toyline, along with the Powerdashers.
Kre-O
- Kre-O Topspin is a small brick-built Kreon figure, using the 2015-style construction with raised hands and the sturdier "peg-in-peg" torso/waist connection. He was only available as part of the San Diego Comic-Con-exclusive "Kreon Class of '85" 30-Kreon set. This set was also sold online through Hasbro Toy Shop after the show.
Titans Return
- Titans Return (2017)
- Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro), Mark Maher (deco artist)
- Topspin and Twin Twist were released as a new Deluxe-sized mold for the Generations Titans Return line. Unlike their original toys, they have to manually transform from robot to vehicle in a number of steps instead of relying on one single autotransforming step. As part of the Titans Return line however, they are now headmaster-style figures, with miniature Titan Masters forming their heads in robot mode.
Legends
- Targetmaster Twin Twist (Deluxe Class, 2018-03-24)
- Targetmaster Topspin (Deluxe Class, 2018-03-24)
- Redecos of their Titans Return counterparts, their colors are made to more closely match their original 1985 releases. Twin Twist and Topspin have been changed to Headmasters who are also Targetmasters, and come packaged with Spoil and Peaceman respectively. The new pairing is presumably due to the lack of a contemporary Sureshot or Pointblank/Blanker mold being available for use.
Legacy
- Diaclone Universe Twin Twist (Deluxe Class, 2022)
- Known designers: Mark Maher and Evan Brooks (Hasbro), John Warden (original tooling)
- Released in the Legacy Wreck N' Rule Collection, this version of "Diaclone Universe Twin Twist" is another redeco of the Titans Return toy in a Diaclone-inspired color scheme (duh). According to designer Mark Maher, Twin Twist's Diaclone colors are specifically inspired by his appearance in the 1985 back of the box art (see Notes below).[2]
Merchandise
Tiny Titans
- Autobot Topspin (Tiny Titans, 2015)
- Series: 2
- Number: 2/12
- Part of the second assortment of Tiny Titans blindpacks, this version of Topspin is a very small, soft-plastic figure of him in robot mode... though his actual resemblance to his original form is... dubious.
- He includes a collectible card that renders him in the 2015 Robots in Disguise styling. The card includes a scan-badge for the Robots in Disguise mobile game, which unlocks a random amount of Energon "currency" and a randomized bonus power-up item.
- This wave saw fairly minimal release at "big box" retailers, but unlike other waves, was not picked up by drug stores and the like later, making them particularly hard to find.
Transformers Trading Card Game
- Topspin, Air & Space Assault (2020)
- Twin Twist, Demolitions (2020)
- Wave 5: Titan Masters Attack
- Rarity: UT
- Card Number: T39/T46 (Topspin), T41/T46 (Twin Twist)
- Stars: 9
- Topspin, Air & Space Assault and Twin Twist, Demolitions are two of forty-six double sided character cards released as part of Wave 5 of the Transformers Trading Card Game, Titans Masters Attack. As characters with a body mode, each Jumpstarter begins the game with a Titan Master attached in head mode. Once they are KO'd, said Titan Master is deployed.
- The cards' artwork is based on their Titans Returns toys, with the body mode artwork being reused from the toy's packaging art (minus the Titan Masters). The cards features original Alt Mode artwork, with lines by Dan Khanna.
- This card's set was originally scheduled for an April 2020 release, however due to the global COVID-19 pandemic the release was pushed back to May 29, 2020.
Other "Jumpstarters"
Since "Jumpstarter", like Battlecharger, appears to be a classification, Topspin and Twin Twist are the only known members.
Nevertheless, Transformers fans frequently refer to other toys/characters which share Topspin and Twin Twist's body type as Jumpstarters. These include:
- Salt-Man X
- Salt-Man Z
- Robot-Man X
- Robot-Man Z
- A mysterious fiction-only yellow and black "Jumpstarter" from a 2003 Dreamwave comic issue.
Notably "Salt-Man" essentially means "Jump Man." It's possible that all of these Transformers are Jumpstarters.
Notes
- The Jumpstarters were originally Diaclone "Baku-ten Attack Robo" (爆転アタックロボ, roughly "Explosive Flip Attack Robo"") toys. The "Jet Type" (ジェットタイプ) that would become Topspin was available in two different color schemes: both had dark blue torsos, but one had red limbs while the other had light blue limbs. The "Drill Tank Type" (ドリルタンクタイプ) that would become Twin Twist was available in two different color schemes: both had dark blue limbs, but the one depicted in the packaging art had a red torso while the other had a gray torso. Each was available in two color schemes:
- The Jet Type was released with a blue torso and either red or light blue limbs. The latter may have appeared in the 1985 Generation 1 packaging mural. Results are inconclusive at presently available resolutions.
- The Drill Type was released with dark blue limbs and either a red or white torso. The former definitely was in the 1985 mural and subsequently became the inspiration for Twin Twist's appearance in the Legacy toyline.[2]
- The portraits of Topspin and Twin Twist on their packaging bios next to their Tech Specs were originally reversed, causing some children a bit of confusion. This was eventually fixed. In addition, both of their weapons were named as a twin ion impulse blaster, most likely a placeholder name that otherwise only appears in Bombshell's instructions.
- Character models were created for both Topspin and Twin Twist back in the '80s, but they were never used in animation, not even in a commercial.[3]
- In 1985, the Jumpstarters' toys were the subject of a legal conflict between Hasbro and a company named Sparkle Toys that had made knockoffs of the Jumpstarters. The court ruling on the matter serves as a basis for the argument that yes, most knockoffs are indeed illegal. Despite this, there are still various toys by other companies using the basic flip-changing
transformationconversion made popular by the Jumpstarters. - Hasbro themselves made use of the concept again with the "Flip & Attack" toys released as part of the toy line accompanying the 2012 Avengers and "The Amazing Spider-Man" movies. Despite the opportunity, they're not cross-branded as part of the Transformers: Crossovers franchise, however the packaging does say "With TRANSFORMERS technology" on the side insert, complete with Transformers logo.
Foreign names
- Japanese: Jumpstarters (ジャンプスターターズ Janpusutātāzu)
- French: Démarreurs-Bondisseurs (Canada)
References
- ↑ Twin Twist's toy bio and both of their Universe bios.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "This is obviously inspired by the diaclone release but it was featured on one of the early package artwork battle scenes. I always wanted Twintwist to rock the heroic blue and red pallet."—Mark Maher, Instagram, 2022/05/15
- ↑ Transformers: The Ark by Bill Forster and Jim Sorenson, p.75
