Astroscope
From Transformers Wiki
- Astroscope is a Mini-Con from the Armada portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.
Astroscope is a certified Mini-Con genius. He possesses great intelligence and scientific knowledge of unparalleled scope. He's more at home in the mental realm of pure theory and equation than Powerlinxed to anyone. If he had his way, and there were no war, scientific study would be his life. Astroscope has made his peace with his fate, however, and the adventurous side of his personality loves the opportunities the war gives him to take his theories beyond the theoretical and help his friends.
| “ | It's only a hypothesis... until I prove it, that is. | ” |
| —Astroscope's bio quote. | ||
Contents |
Fiction
Armada cartoon
Astroscope's Mini-Con panel was lost in a ravine somewhere on the moon. He was activated when his Space Mini-Con Team partner Sky Blast sent out a signal to combine with him and Payload. They came together on Earth and joined as the Requiem Blaster for Optimus Prime of the Autobots, as he was falling from a great height. Using the power of the blaster, Optimus created a safe landing zone for himself and touched down harmlessly. Desperate
Astroscope and his teammates briefly ran away from the Autobots, because they didn't want to be used for combat. After Optimus Prime rescued them from Thrust, he promised the Mini-Cons they would only join the battles against the Decepticons if they desired it — no Autobots would force them to fight. Runaway
True to his word, Optimus Prime left Astroscope and the others back at headquarters when the Autobots were called into battle against the Decepticons, with Smokescreen watching over them. The battle was only a lure for the Requiem Blaster, however, and Megatron and Thrust soon doubled back to attack the undermanned Autobot headquarters. Smokescreen fought bravely to defend the Space Mini-Con Team, but Megatron managed to subvert their programming and powerlinx with the trio, forcing them to form the Requiem Blaster and obliterate their Autobot protector. Sacrifice
Astroscope and the Space Team had little time to act as individuals after that, remaining powerlinxed as the Requiem Blaster as Megatron's personal weapon, and later when the Decepticons used the gun as one-third of the Hydra Cannon, before it was stolen by Thrust and used to provide power to the heart of Unicron. Sky Blast, Payload and Astroscope reawakened as individuals with the help of High Wire and the Street Action Team, who had journeyed to Unicron's core with Optimus Prime, Galvatron and the Earth children to grant the super-weapon Mini-Cons their freedom. Origin Astroscope fled Unicron aboard the Autobot Jetfire just before the Chaos-Bringer was finally destroyed. Mortal Combat
Dreamwave Armada comic
Like his fellow members on the Space Team, Astroscope lived in Mini-Con village D10 until it was ransacked by the Decepticons and its inhabitants kidnapped. Armada #1 Following their escape from the Decepticons' cages, the Mini-Cons ended up crashing their starship into Earth's moon, where they would live peacefully for a long time in a moonbase. Eventually, Astroscope and the Space Team learned that the Mini-Cons who had crashed on the planet's surface had reawakened, and so they summoned their comrades to the moonbase. Armada #9 However, this also attracted the Decepticons, and the Mini-Cons found themselves under attack. Dualor ordered the hesitant Astroscope to launch the orbital mines, including the one with the "special payload". Armada #10
Despite their best efforts, the Mini-Cons were overrun, and they prepared to flee in escape pods. But as the Space Team were packing up in their Astro Lab, they were confronted by Sparkplug and Mirage, who wanted their help in saving Rad from the orbital mine. Astroscope initially refused, as there was no time for that, but he was eventually convinced. There were some bumps in the road, but the Space Team were eventually successful in towing the mine to an Autobot ship, with plenty of time left to get to an escape pod. Armada #11 On Earth, Astroscope learned that one pod that gone missing in Alaska, and he asked the Optimus Prime for help. However, the Autobots had a crisis of their own to deal with, so a dejected Astroscope left to listen to one of Rook's speeches about Mini-Con independence. Fortunately, Prime soon changed his mind and agreed to help the lost Mini-Cons. Fire & Ice During the mission, Astroscope reported that the escape pod was under two hundred feet of ice, and that the Mini-Cons on board were in protective sleep mode. Armada #13
When Optimus Prime suddenly disappeared during the retrieval of the pod, another Optimus Prime showed up at the Autobase. Astroscope examined the dying Prime and theorized that he was most likely from an alternate dimension. During the investigation that followed, the Autobots discovered residual space bridge energies in Big Sur National Park, California, and traveled to investigate. On site, Astroscope was amazed to find a null-reality pod, a trans-dimensional vessel only experimented with on Cybertron one million years prior. He concluded that it had been used by another interdimensional visitor, and by tracking a "spatial pulse", they found who it was: a Mini-Con named Over-Run. Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4 After bringing Over-Run back to base, Astroscope came up with another likely theory: that their own Optimus Prime had been lost in another dimension. Along with the rest of the Space Team, he planned to send a temporal probe through a space bridge to scan different realities for Prime.
Over-Run offered to use his null-reality pods to retrieve him, but unfortunately, they had been stolen and taken to the Decepticon base at Silver Ridge. To get them back, Astroscope took a hovercraft there along with Over-Run, Sparkplug, Mirage, Comettor and High Wire. Worlds Collide, Part 2 of 4 Luckily, the Decepticon troops were away at the time. Less luckily, several Heralds of Unicron were there instead. Astroscope and the others managed to stay hidden until they left. Worlds Collide, Part 3 of 4 They located the null-reality pods, and Over-Run, Sparkplug, and Comettor successfully used them to bring back Optimus Prime. Worlds Collide, Part 4 of 4
Shortly afterwards, Astroscope joined the rest of the Earthbound Mini-Cons in traveling to Cybertron, which was soon to come under attack by Unicron. Upon arrival, they gathered at the Loop to combine their energies with the Mini-Con Matrix, allowing for a mighty blast of energy which crippled the Chaos Bringer. The End
Toys
Armada
- Space Mini-Con Team (Mini-Con 3-pack, 2003)
- Takara ID number: MM-13
- Takara release date: July 17, 2003
- Accessories: Missile
- Known designers: Hironori Kobayashi (Takara)
- Armada Astroscope transforms into a space station with a spring-loaded missile launcher. As a Mini-Con, he has a "Powerlinx" socket on the underside of his vehicle mode that allows him to attach to larger toys with compatible Powerlinx plugs, activating special gimmicks on the larger toys when attached to a "live" plug.
- He also has a rather fair amount of interactivity with his pack-in teammates Payload and Sky Blast. The most obvious is that he can combine with the two of them to form the Requiem Blaster cannon. In an undocumented feature, his station mode can also dock with Sky Blast in rocket mode thanks to the latter's Powerlinx-style plug near the control cabin, which seemingly exists for no other purpose. Nifty!
- In the Hasbro line, the Space Team were released in the third assortment of Mini-Con teams; the complete Team was also included "bonus buy" packs in several different store chains, clamshelled together with the Adventure Team, Night Attack Team, and Road Assault Team. In Japan, it was part of the fifth wave of Legend of the Microns product, released in July 2003. Aside from packaging, there are no noteworthy differences between the two companies' releases.
- This mold was used to make Scrap Iron. It was slated for a few other redecoes that were ultimately not released (see below).
- Space Micron Exdimensions (Mini-Con 3-pack, 2003)
- ID number: MM-14
- Release date: August 14, 2003
- Accessories: Missile
- A limited-edition (but still regular-retail) redeco of the Space Team was made available in Japan as part of the Exdimensions series, in the sixth wave of Legends of the Microns product. The entire Team was redecoed in shades of green and brown... an oddly terrestrial color scheme for a space-based group.
- This toy also doubles as the separate character Mir.
- Mir (Candy toy, 2003)
- Change Micron ID number: 4
- Release date: August ?? 2003
- Accessories: Missile
- Astroscope was sold as an individual in the second series of Kabaya "Change Micron" candy toys in Japan. This mold is based on the original, but is in fact an entirely new mold with numerous minor sculpting differences. It's likely this toy is also not gang-molded with his teammates like the original. The most notable differences between the Hasbro/Takara Astroscope and the Kabaya version is the latter has darker-blue plastic for the head, plus lacks the "solar panel" paint applications on the interior of his legs.
- Jetfire w/ Comettor (Giga-Con Class, 2003)
- Accessories: Missile
- The Space Team was placed in a bubble attached to the top of normal Armada Jetfire packages as a bonus-buy in Target stores for a limited time in the US.
- Space Mini-Con Team (Mini-Con 3-pack,
2004)
- Accessories: Missile
- Test-shots of a slightly-altered Space Team have popped up from various sources. It's possible this was intended to be a mid-series deco-change for the team, though it looks unfinished at best. The team has exactly the same paint application layouts in exactly the same colors as the original.
- Astroscope's main body changed to off-white, while his lighter-blue legs and head turned black.
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Universe (2003)
- Spacewarp (Ultra Class,
2004?)
- Universe Spacewarp was an unproduced redeco of Armada Ultra-sized Jetfire, slated to come with a redeco of Comettor and the Space Mini-Con Team. Judging from Universe Ramjet and Sunstorm each being packaged with four redecoed Mini-Cons whose names were unchanged, Astroscope would presumably have retained his name.
- This set was initially intended as a Toys"R"Us exclusive but was shelved because no retail chain ultimately ended up wanting to carry it. Spacewarp was among several proposed exclusives that were ultimately put into retail limbo during the waning of the Universe line.
- In 2007, the Spacewarp concept was modified and revived as Timelines Astrotrain, one of the first exclusives available for purchase from the Transformers Collectors' Club. By this point, however, the Space Team molds were too worn out and were thusly replaced by a redeco of the Giant Planet Team as the Sabotage Team.
Proceed on your way to oblivion. |
Energon
- Ultra Magnus (Command Class, 2004)
- Accessories: Missile
- The Space Team was redecoed and packaged in with Energon Ultra-sized Ultra Magnus. Magnus was originally going to be packed with a new-characters redeco of the Street Speed Mini-Con Team (Brakedown, Clocker and Override, no team name given), but this was changed at the last minute. Exactly why the change to the Space Team was made has yet to be determined.
- The toy was a last-minute redeco, along with Rapid Run and Treadbolt. As such, their packaging photography had to be completed before properly painted samples could be obtained, so the box-back photos use the original decos; Magnus's box also shows the original Street Speed Team rather than the Space Team.
- Magnus, Rapid Run, and Treadbolt were produced in smaller numbers than the rest of the normal retail Energon line (reportedly only about 10,000 units each) and were only available in the initial shipments of the line. However, Magnus's shipment saw a very limited release, quickly replaced with the second assortment in the US, making him hard to come by. Magnus later showed up in much larger numbers in Australia, Canada, and some European markets, and was made available in Japan through e-HOBBY with the box altered via a black and white sticker, reflecting the Space Team's addition. The European release showed the correct Mini-Cons, in addition to the standard multi-language changes.
- Race Mini-Con Team / Space Mini-Con Team (Multi-pack, 2004)
- Accessories: Missile
- An unaltered version of the Armada Space Team was released as part of an Energon-series "Mini-Con 6-pack" with the Road Assault Mini-Con Team (yet named the "Race Team" again).
War for Cybertron: Earthrise
- Sky Lynx (Commander Class, 2020)
- A new Astroscope figure, still with a space station alternate mode, was initially advertised as being included with the Earthrise Sky Lynx figure[1], but it was dropped due to cost reasons.
Proceed on your way to oblivion. |
Notes
- Astroscope's persona seems to be based on Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four, to go with Sky Blast being the Human Torch and Payload being the Thing. Strangely, they are not known to have fought a robotic Joseph Stalin.
- Astroscope's Japanese name comes from the Soviet (later Russian) space station Mir (Мир).
Foreign names
- Japanese: Mir (ミール Mīru), Astroscope (アストロスコープ Asutorosukōpu)
- Korean: Mir (밀 Mil)
References
- ↑ The Hasbro webpage product description reads: "ADD ACCESSORIES AND EFFECTS: Attach 2 included Fire Blasts accessories to the 2 included cannon accessories or to figure’s mouth to simulate fire-breathing. Comes with Astroscope figure with a satellite mode"
