Flykick

Flykick is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

You. are all. WEIRDOS.

Flykick (フライキック Furaikikku) is the premiere air combatant of planet Beast. He's as quick of wit as he is of flight, cracking jokes to keep his allies' mood light. He's not the type to dwell on the future, and his heart is as big as the sky, but he can get a little carried away at times, which sometimes puts some distance between himself and others.

Flykick's flight powers are simply incredible. He's capable of moving at Mach 3, can ascend at ten meters per second, and is capable of super-fast midair turns. He uses these skills to devastating effect, specializing in dive-bombing attacks. He can get up-close and personal with lightning speed, striking with his super-hard, rock-shattering beak and claws. Or he can strike from a distance with his Flying Typhoon MVP Weapon, which employs powerful vibrations to emit long-range shockwaves with an effective radius of 500 meters. The only other beast in his league is the greedy Crowmax, who yearns to one day out-fly and ground Flykick for good.

Following the Great War, he returned to his home country of Bistoram to serve as its Emperor under King White Leo.

Fiction

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Headmasters cartoon

Colbert Bird

Voice actor: ? (Japanese)

Flykick was a member of White Leo's rebels, fighting against the Decepticons and their allies, Alligatron and the evil Beastformers. Flykick served as the aerial component of an attack led by Big Serow on the Decepticon Beastformers' stronghold, but the evil Beasts overwhelmed the rebels and they were forced into retreat. Help soon came in the form of the Autobot Transformers, and Flykick was one of many who welcomed them. Shortly, he was in the rebel stronghold stroking his weapon.

Flykick was chosen as part of White Leo's force that set out to rescue the Decepticons' Beastformer slaves. However, they were already rescued and soon joined up with White Leo's forces, just in time to witness the Decepticon Transformers retreating from the planet. Rebellion on Planet Beast

The Headmasters comic

Flykick was part of a force assembled by White Leo to combat the Decepticon Beastformers, a task which they succeeded at. The Decisive Battle of Planet Beast!

Beastformers comic

Flykick and White Leo were approached by an injured Bombsheep, who warned them that the Laser Beasts had invaded his homeland of Sheepnia and were targeting Bistoram next. He went on to fight in the Beastformers' war with the Laser Beasts. Beastformers VS Laser Beasts

Legends comic

Flykick and a group of other Beastformers were fighting their last stand against the Laser Beasts when a team of Autobot reinforcements arrived and helped them win. LG51 Doublecross Prologue

Flykick took part in the final battle between the Beastformers and the Laser Beasts on Beast in 2023. He fought against Blue Eagle in the air. While fighting Skybat, Flykick watched as a portal opened to reveal 2021-based Transformers and their allies fleeing the end of the Legends World. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 1

In 2038, the then-peaceful Beast was invaded by Galvatron II's Decepticons. Flykick was part of the joint Beastformer-Laser Beast alliance that fought against the invaders. He was hurt in battle, but was healed by Tigerburn's Medical Aid Laser. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 3

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Flykick was in the forefront of battle, tackling one of Megatron's invading Air Warriors when the Decepticons came to Planet Beest to retrieve the Predacons. Welcome to the Jungle

Mini Mayhem!

When Galvatron unleashed Predaking, boasting that the gestalt's combined animal strength was unparalleled, Flykick and his allies stood united to prove him wrong. Mini Mayhem!

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

• Flykick (Beastformer, 1987)

• ID number: 4
• Pack: A, C, E
• Accessories: Axe (usually)

Part of the first series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Flykick is an anthropomorphic white bird of prey with aqua-blue robotic armor. The Battle Emblem on his stomach reveals one of three symbols when warmed up: Fire, Water or Wood.

He usually comes with a silver axe-weapon marked with the same ID number as on his back. However, Beastformers is notorious for toys coming with someone else's weapon; it's unclear if this was just originally poor QC, but in the sequel series, this semi-random weaponry was actually turned into a "gimmick".

The Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the figure can vary in the tone of the paint used on its armor, with some samples having a lighter and more matte aqua (pictured right). There's also a weird weapon variant, with rounded-off points and "supports" inside the gaps in the halberd. It's uncertain if the Takara releases have similar variations.

He was re-released in the subsequent second and third series; while the toy proper was not changed, the packaging and packed-in bio card was. The Series 1 release comes in a generic red-grid "Cybertron Beastformer" box, with a red-grid bio card with a painted character image on the front, though there was a random chance of his card being replaced by the rare "Holography Mirror" card. Series 2 came in a green-grid generic "Cybertron Beastformer" box, with the bio card putting the painted image on a jungle backdrop; sold in the "Pack C" box, his bio card could have been replaced with the rare "Secret Photo" card. The series 3 release is mostly identical to series 2, changing only the "Pack" designation, plus this time his bio card could instead be replaced by the rare "VS Holography Mirror" card.

• Red Phoenix (Fortress, 1987)

• Accessories: Axe (usually)

Flykick was also available packed in with the Red Phoenix Fortress. He is unchanged from his individual release, coming with the series-2 style bio card... and yes, this one could also come with someone else's weapon rather than his actual intended weapon.

Beastformers

• Flykick (Beastformer, 1988)

• ID number: 4
• Pack: G
• Accessories: "Flying Typhoon" MVP Weapon (usually)

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Flykick was given a straight re-release with new packaging and a new, more filled-out bio card using comic-style line-art rather than a painted portrait. This new card also gave his weapon, now branded an "MVP Weapon", the name "Flying Typhoon" (フライングタイフン Furaingu Taifun).

He was sold in two similar-but-different styles of boxes. One wholly-generic version, sold in large display boxes like the Transformers releases, advertised the chance for the included bio card to instead be a rare holofoil card of White Leo with a "Burstsun" rubsign in a baggie taped to the back, so you could apply it to the Beastformer of your choice. The more common version has a slightly different box with a peg-hole in the top flap, and has a sticker on the bottom with his name and role on it.

Just as with the prior releases, he would usually come with the Flying Typhoon, but could easily come with any of the other 75 weapons. By this point, matching the Beastformer with their MVP Weapon was actually part of the line's gimmick, tying in to the Beastformers Role-Playing Game.

Late in the run, the "mood ring" styled rubsigns were replaced with new rubsigns that revealed full-color Fire/Wood/Water images on black backdrops. (These rubsign variants also happened at the same time in the Hasbro Battle Beast version of the line.)

• Flykick (Gahsapon Beastformer, 1987)

• Beast ID number: 4
• Accessories: Randomized weapon

Many Beastformers were also sold in gashapon capsule machines for the same price as their boxed versions (200 yen) during the "RPG" line, Flykick included. This version is identical to the regularly-released boxed version, including the randomized rubsign, except the gashapons pretty much always had randomized weapons (or just really crummy quality control).

According to their pack-in paperwork, fifteen rare all-white/cream Beasts were available in these capsules, though only four were shown; Flykick is one of only twelve confirmed "rare types" found. These rare versions can vary in how white they actually are, and it's uncertain if that's how they started or if some have simply yellowed with age. These versions tend to be very expensive on the secondary market, going for $100+ even when missing their arms. (The weapons, however, are the same as the normal versions.)

• Red Phoenix (Fortress, 1988)

• Accessories: "Flying Typhoon" MVP Weapon (usually)

The Red Phoenix Fortress was re-released in the "RPG" line, unchanged from its original release save for packaging. It once again came with an unchanged Flykick, though this time he came with his new "RPG" bio card, and yes, the semi-random weapon.

The Red Phoenix appears to have been released in lower numbers in this line than the other two Fortresses, possibly due to it having been available just the prior year.

Merchandise

Candy toys

• Flykick (Gashapon/candy-toy Beastformer, 1988)
  • ID number: 2
  • Accessories: "Tomahorse" MVP Weapon

A 1-inch-tall, super-deformed, articulation-free version of Flykick that could come in red, blue or green plastic, representing the Fire, Water and Wood elements (even though he still had a rubsign). All of the SD Beastformers come with a different Beastformer's weapon attached to their left shoulder by a snippable sprue. Flykick came with Bluehorse's "Tomahorse" attached to his left shoulder, while Flying Attacker came with Flykick's "Flying Typhoon".

This toy was sold in three different ways. First it was available as a gashapon capsule prize by Takara. Then it was sold as a candy toy from Takara, randomly-packed in a box of three with a packet of ramune-flavored candy tablets. Then again as a candy toy, this time through candy/snack company Meiji, in randomized packs of two^{[citation needed]} with a packet of "chocoballs" (chocolate covered malted milk balls). The Meiji release also has much more elaborate packaging, with newly-painted box art (which sometimes shows characters not made in this assortment), and the entire interior of the box printed with game rules, character bios, chunks of lore, etc.

• Ramune Beastformers Battle Card (1988)
  • ID number: 2

A gold-foil "Battle Card" of Flykick, featuring the painted character art from his original Transformers: Beastformers bio card, was available in randomly-packed sets of cards that came with ramune-flavored candy tablets. The back of the card features a severely truncated bio, with data for the game from the Meiji chocoball SD figures' packaging.

Notes

• Exactly what kind of bird Flykick is is undetermined. His bio card merely calls him a "bird" (鳥 tori), nothing more specific. The beak somewhat suggests "eagle", but early Beastformers sculpts did trend a bit more towards "generic animal".
• A 1987 Beastformers spread from Tele-V Magazine called his weapon a "laser masakari" (レーザーマサカリ rēzā masakari), aka "laser axe".

Foreign names

• English: Colonel Bird