TRANSFORMERS: Revisiting The Characters Of Generation 1 - BRAINSTORM

 TRANSFORMERS:  Revisiting the Characters of Generation 1

"The strongest tyrant cannot crush the freedom of thought." - Brainstorm, 1987.

AUTOBOT

Name - BRAINSTORM

Function - Biomechanical Engineer

Series Debut - 1987 / Wave 4

Sub-Group - Headmaster

BACKGROUND...

    Brainstorm, the Autobot Bio-Mechanical Engineer, is extremely brilliant!  The problem is, he has a mind that never stops.  He is constantly creating and coming up with new ideas and concepts.  His new ideas hit him so fast that he can't fully explain one without getting a new one!  Brainstorm's constantly working mind often causes him to overheat, which can makes parts of his cerebro-circuitry short out.

    Brainstorm transforms into a Cybertronic starfighter.  In this mode he can reach speeds up to 5200 mph, with an 8000 mile range.  He carries two High-Energy Photon Pulse Cannons that he can use in vehicle or robot mode.

    Brainstorm was among several Autobots that crash-landed on the planet Nebulos.  Pursued by the Decepticons, the two factions battled  on the newly, discovered planet.  The inhabitants, the Nebulans, dealing with a split of their own, eventually took sides with the Autobots and Decepticons.

    Brainstorm teamed up with the mysterious Nebulan doctor named Arcana.  Together the 2 of them created the "Headmaster Process".  Here an Nebulan is binary-bonded with an Autobot warrior.  Working together, their powers and abilities increase.  The Nebulan can pilot the Autobot vehicle or transform into it's head.  Obviously, when it came time to choose a partner, Brainstorm and Arcana opted to stick together!

MY THOUGHTS...

    As I mentioned before, I just wasn't 100% on-board with the whole Headmaster bit.  I didn't buy any of the Autobot Headmasters or Targetmasters back then.  I did think though, that Brainstorm was an interesting character!  Being the "genius" of the team opens up many possibilities, like obviously the whole concept of Headmasters in the first place.  They could use him to come up with all their new ideas - like Pretenders perhaps?  He was basically the "Wheeljack" among these new characters.

    Standing in for the original G1 Brainstorm is the version from the Titans Return line!  Even though he borrows a bit from Blurr of the same series, this is a fantastic looking figure!!!  I really like the look of both vehicle and robot mode.  When my boys were going through their "Transformer Phase", Brainstorm was one of the figures they wanted.  Problem was, he was a Walgreens exclusive and I was having a difficult time finding him.  Finally I found one like a week before Christmas.  The packaging was a little banged up, but they were going to open him anyways!

    (Information on the character's lore was taken from the Sunbow Transformers cartoon series, including the Movie and the figure's original Tech-Spec.)

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