Blaster (Transformers)

Blaster (Broadcast in Japan, Tempo in France, Radiorobot in Italy) is the communications center of the Autobots in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara and Hasbro.

Transformers: Generation 1

Blaster's transformation is an AM/FM Stereo Cassette Player, commonly referred to as a boombox or ghettoblaster, hence the name. Blaster was a popular character from the original series while not featuring as prominently in the modern Transformers Universe.

As a member of the Autobot communications sub-group Blaster frequently worked with its other members - Eject, Grandslam, Raindance, Ramhorn, Rewind and Steeljaw.

Profile

Blaster, like the Autobot Jazz, has a great love of Earth culture, rock music and other forms of music as long as it is "good, hard and loud". He's normally at the forefront of any given situation. As an AM/FM stereo cassette player, he can perform as a deck, plus receive radio signals on a variety of frequencies. Acting as the Autobot communications center, he can transmit signals within a 4,000 mile radius. Blaster is sometimes depicted as carrying various tape warriors within his deck, including (Steeljaw, Ramhorn, Rewind and Eject).

Animated series

Blaster's first appearance was in episode 30, "Dinobot Island Part 1". He had several important appearances in season 2, most notably in "Blaster Blues", where his love of rock music and transmitting it to the other Autobots meant they were unable to respond to a Decepticon attack and prevent them from stealing a powerful decoder. He redeemed himself when he was able to transmit the location of the Decepticon base despite being captured.

In the episode "Prime Target" the big game hunter Lord Cholmondeley captured a secret Soviet jet, leading to panic of possibly war. Cholmondeley then set his sights on the ultimate trophy, the head of Optimus Prime. In order to lure Optimus in, Cholmondeley captured the Autobots Tracks, Bumblebee, Jazz, Beachcomber, Grapple, Blaster and Inferno. Windcharger and Huffer were able to avoid being trapped. When CoSMoS learned of the location Cholmondeley was keeping the captured Autobots, Optimus Prime accepted Cholmondeley's challenge to meet him alone. Although interrupted by the Decepticons Astrotrain and Blitzwing's attempt to ally the Decepticons with Cholmondeley, Optimus defeated the big game hunter and freed the Autobots. Cholmondeley and the stolen jet were handed over to the Soviets by the Autobots as punishment for his actions.

He also had a prominent role in "Auto-Bop", where he faced off with his Decepticon counterpart Soundwave in a sonic duel.

In The Transformers: The Movie, set in the year 2005, Blaster was assigned to Autobot City on Earth. During the invasion by Megatron's forces, Blaster was responsible for sending a distress signal to Optimus Prime on Moonbase One. Blaster's transmission was jammed by Soundwave's cassette minions to prevent him from establishing contact with the Autobot Moonbase. However, the signal was received and Optimus Prime was able to arrive with reinforcements to defeat the Decepticons. After the attack, Blaster picked up transmissions from Moonbases One and Two. He was not seen for the rest of the movie.

In episode 78, Madman's Paradise, Spike and Carly hosted a banquet for a visiting ambassador. Daniel got bored and wandered off. Grimlock followed him, and they fell into a lost chamber where Quintessons banished their criminals to other dimensions. They slipped through to the sorcerous other-dimensional realm of Menonia, and were tricked into fighting on the Red Wizard's side, only to find out that he was the Quintesson criminal, who overthrew the Golden One. Blaster, Ultra Magnus, Eject, Rewind, Ramhorn, and Steeljaw followed, and using Blaster's amplification, they help the Golden One defeat the Red Wizard. With the help of Perceptor, the Autobots and Daniel are returned to Cybertron.

He continued to appear throughout the third season. His last appearance in the U.S. cartoon was in episode 95, The Return of Optimus Prime.

Transformers: Headmasters

Blaster was destroyed in the Japanese The Transformers: Headmasters series during a fight with Soundwave (who also perished in the fight) and rebuilt two episodes later as Twincast, with a blue/yellow color scheme as opposed to the red/yellow previously. After a pivotal role in Operation Cassette he featured as a regular character throughout the whole series. The Twincast toy was recently re-issued by eHobby. Aside from the blue/yellow color scheme, the Twincast toy also differs from the Blaster/Broadcast toy in that the tape compartment can hold two cassette Transformers simultaneously.

Marvel Comics

In the Marvel Transformers comics Blaster originally appeared in issue #17, attempting to rescue his friend Scrounge, who was to be executed by Straxus.Captured himself and forced to watch his friend die, Blaster was rescued by Perceptor and his Autobot group. Later, spying on Straxus' use of the Space Bridge, the Autobots decided to attack and blow it up. They discover the Space Bridge was their comrade Spanner. Blaster then battled Straxus one-on-one, seemingly destroying him. With the Space Bridge blowing itself up, Blaster had no choice but to lead his comrades (Beachcomber, Cosmos, Perceptor, Powerglide, Seaspray and Warpath) across the Bridge to Earth.

Their luck didn't improve as they were attacked by Megatron and his troops on arrival, only being saved when Megatron decided to attack the Autobot bases instead. Circuit Breaker, a SUPER-powered human whose crippling in an attack by Shockwave had left her with a pathological hatred of all Transformers, then attacked and defeated them. She mounted their heads in her Rapid Anti-Robot Attack Team headquarters. After capturing the Aerialbots as well a new problem arose. The Decepticon Battlechargers Runabout and Runamuck had been causing mayhem all across America. Using the parts from all the captured Autobots she created a giant Autobot with herself in control, striking a deal with them that if they would co-operate she would let them go. Circuit Breaker then used them to oppose the two Decepticons, who were attacking the Statue of Liberty. After defeating the Decepticons with Circuit Breaker the Autobots were released and rebuilt into their original forms.

After a brief side adventure in the U.K. comics, in which Blaster's group were attacked (and almost killed) by the insane future Decepticon Galvatron, Blaster and his men joined up with the main Autobots on Earth. Soon after they joined, Optimus Prime dies. Blaster would deliver the eulogy at his funeral.

In issue #27, "King of the Hill!", Perceptor summoned his fellow Autobots Blaster, Hot Spot, Jetfire, Omega Supreme, Ratchet and Silverbolt in order to decide who should take leadership of the Autobots. After an attack by the giant Decepticon Trypticon, Grimlock was chosen to lead them.

Blaster would soon regret this. After a mission where their cover had been blown by the Mechanic, a human, he and Goldbug, appalled by Grimlock's willingness to sacrifice humans to achieve their goals, deserted. They also ran because they feared Grimlock's anger.

They had more adventures; facing the Decepticon Triple Changers and a plague of Scraplets, as well as facing off with a Decepticon strike force sent to destroy Galvatron and Ultra Magnus. Blaster (himself getting more callous) would be robbed of his ally when Goldbug and the Throttlebots were betrayed by humans and captured by RAAT. He was subsequently attacked by both the Combaticons and the Protectobots, who had been sent by Grimlock to arrest him. The two combiner teams battled, with Bruticus beating Defensor. With aid from some human children Blaster took out the giant Decepticon. As a reward, he locked Blast Off into his Decepticon shuttle mode and took them into space. There, they were attacked by Grimlock and the Ark. Surrendering to save their lives, Blaster discovered he was not alone in his discontent, especially after Grimlock had tried to have the kids executed.

Events came to a head when Fortress Maximus's group of Autobots linked up with Grimlock's group, informing him that Prime had been resurrected via the Powermaster process. Grimlock was not pleased, and it was quickly realized he had to be defeated. A freed Goldbug convinced Blaster to fight in Maximus' place. In the midst of their duel Ratbat's Decepticons attacked, and the two put aside their differences to lead the Autobots to a partial victory. Prime soon returned and retook command, sending Blaster to investigate the Decepticon island resort Club Con, seemingly run by Buster Witwicky. Accompanying Buster's girlfriend Jessie, he soon had his cover blown by the Seacons and was forced to flee.

Blaster encounters time-traveling Autobots who intended to deal with Galvatron, a plot detailed in the U.K. comics. This encounter results in Blaster being displaced to an alternate limbo realm. He was soon freed, only to be deactivated by the Underbase powered Starscream.

Blaster's body was seen among the deactivated Autobots Ratchet was doing his best to revive in Transformers #56, "Back from the Dead".

This was not the end for Blaster; he was one of the Autobots revived by Nucleon by Grimlock and the other Dinobots. Returning to Cybertron, he battled against the coming of Unicron. After the betrayal of the Decepticons, the Autobots followed them to the planet Klo, where they were ambushed. Blaster was one of the few survivors. Then he was blown apart by Quake's tank mode while Prowl berated Grimlock for inept strategy. He was resurrected when Optimus Prime returned with the Last Autobot and routed the Decepticon forces.

The future Blaster from the Movie continuity would also appear in the UK comics, as one of the crew of Autobot city. Arcee's unintentional dereliction of duty allowed a Quintesson sneak attack to catch the city unawares, and Blaster appears to get killed trying to radio for help. His body was later strung up by the Quintessons as a taunting gesture to the other Autobots. However, he would still help his comrades from "Beyond The Grave", allowing his cassettes Steeljaw, Eject and Ramhorn to assist in taking back the city.

It later transpires that depictions of Blaster's "death" had been greatly exaggerated; he shows up, alive and well, in the prologue to the Time Wars saga, set months after the Quintesson attack on Autobot City.

Dreamwave Productions

Blaster was among the Autobot resistance during the Age of Interment, shown in the third War Within series.

In the second Generation One mini-series from Dreamwave Productions Blaster was part of a resistance group led by Hot Rod. He accompanied Optimus Prime during his attack on Iacon.

IDW Publishing

Blaster was recently confirmed as the subject of a Spotlight issue in 2008 1.

Toys

  • Generation 1 Blaster (1985)
The toy that was to become the Autobot Blaster was originally released as part of the Micro Change subset of the Japanese Microman series. He was later released in 1985 by Hasbro in the U.S.
  • Generation 1 Twincast
A remold of Blaster available only in Japan. Blue in color and could hold 2 cassettes at once.
Action Master Blaster toy
  • Action Master Blaster (1990)
Came with a back pack and weapon.
  • Transformers: Binaltech Asterisk Broadblast (2005)
In 2005, Takara launched a sub-line from the Binaltech series, called Binaltech Asterisk, which paired Binaltech characters with female co-pilots. The third figure in the line is called Broadblast. Although it is a radical change from Blaster's previous form, it is implied by the color highlights and the character's name (a combination of the U.S. Blaster and Japanese Broadcast names), that this is Blaster's new form. He is paired with news reporter Lumina Hoshi. Broadblast is a silver repaint of Binaltech Skids, and does not have an equivalent in the Alternators line. Like Binaltech Skids, Broadblast is unusual among the Alternators/Binaltech toys, as he comes with a set of stickers which can be applied by the purchaser. The sticker set is similar to that supplied with Skids, but does not include Skids' characteristic red stripe stickers.
  • Reissue Twincast
An ehobby exclusive. Shipped with The New cassette partner Flipsides.