Powerdasher

The Powerdashers are Autobots from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Why's the middle one snapping his fingers? 'Cause he's a Jet.

The Powerdashers are here to help! Friendly, cheerful, and obedient, their purpose is to aid the Earthbound Autobots and their cause. Little is known about the extent of their abilities, as they are a new form of Autobot whose power is still growing.^[1] Perhaps because of this uncertainty, strange statements have been made about them, such as that they are "able to take on a variety of shapes and forms" and "operate at various levels of kinetic energy."^[2] What these intriguing abilities actually mean is unclear, as is their status in the spectrum between drone and sapient Transformer. But they have been said to be "constantly evolving,"^[3] so no apparent limitation will necessarily confine them forever.

The team consists of:

• Cromar ("Jet Type")
• Zetar ("Drill Type")
• Aragon ("F1 Type")

Fiction

S.T.A.R.S. pack-in flyers

He has no elbows, and he must Macarena.

The Powerdashers featured in two early recruiting messages sent to humans by the Autobots. The messages were almost identical in content, claiming that the Autobots marooned on Earth were becoming desperate in their battle against the Decepticons, sending an S.O.S. to Cybertron even though they didn't know if anyone would be there to receive it. Luckily, their plea was answered in the form of the Powerdashers, Omnibots, and Time Warriors. The only Powerdasher seen was the jet-form model, but the message noted that the Powerdashers' state of constant evolution meant that they might not look the same later. Reinforcements from Cybertron!The battle is far from over!

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

"What am I even DOING here? I'm a FLUTIST, for crying out loud!"

The three Powerdashers were created with a primitive design based on the forms of very early Cybertronians. Meant to aid the Autobots on Earth, the Powerdashers' powers and personalities were still growing when they were put into duty. More than Meets the Eye

They were packed in stasis aboard the supply ship Orion, which ended up crashing on Earth after getting shot down by Sunstorm. The crew activated the Powerdashers, who awoke without a word and immediately began working on the ship. When they finished, they packed up their tools and quietly went back on board. Black Sunshine

2005 IDW continuity

Cromar and the Powerdashers worked with Ultra Magnus, the Duobots and the Jumpstarters on Clemency. While preparing to confront the Nightmare Engine, they were attacked by a barrage of K-Class Decepticon bombers. The Gloaming

Ask Vector Prime

The Powerdashers varied considerably in abilities from universe to universe. They had been known to be drones, in which case they have an Evolution/Revolution chip to help them adapt to their environment. They were sometimes a new generation of Autobot, and conversely they were sometimes primitive Cybertronian forms of life. Sometimes there was but a single being named Powerdasher, with three dual body-states to choose from. And sometimes they were individual beings. Ask Vector Prime, 21 September 2015

Toys

The Transformers

Clown nose!

• Powerdasher (Mail-order, 1984)

There are three types of Powerdasher: a Cybertronic car, a Cybertronic drill, and a Cybertronic jet. All three have a pull-back motor in vehicle mode, allowing them to quickly roll forward across flat surfaces. They were only available via mail-order from Hasbro for $3 and 2 Robot Points. The jet was the only model pictured, but the customer was told that a different "style" might be sent instead. The jet-form Powerdasher appears to be the most common one sent out.

The Powerdashers 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 Jumpstarters.

• More information on Car-form Powerdasher at TFU.info
• More information on Drill-form Powerdasher at TFU.info
• More information on Jet-form Powerdasher at TFU.info

Generations

• Powerdasher Aragon (War for Cybertron: Siege multi-pack, 2019)
• Powerdasher Zetar (War for Cybertron Trilogy Selects, 2019)
• Powerdasher Cromar (War for Cybertron Trilogy Selects, 2019)

In 2019, the three Powerdashers all recevied new toys under the Generations banner. All three were redecos and new head retools of the "Weaponizer" figures from the War for Cybertron: Siege line, and were given the individual names originally assigned to their pre-Transformers versions in markets outside Japan (see below for more details). Announced first was "Powerdasher Aragon", a redeco/retool of Siege Cog, available only as part of a "Fan Vote 3-Pack" under the Siege line along with Holo Mirage and Decepticon Impactor. Meanwhile, "Powerdasher Zetar", a redeco/retool of Siege Brunt, and "Powerdasher Cromar", a redeco/retool of Siege Autobot Sixgun, were both released individually as part of the Generations Selects range.

Notes

• The wording in the Powerdasher instruction-sheet bio is choppy and unclear, and it can be interpreted to mean that "Powerdasher" is actually a single being who changes from bodyform to bodyform. However, the mail-order flyers use the term "Powerdashers" in the plural, and their portrayal in the Dreamwave and 2005 IDW continuities follows this interpretation.
• The Diaclone names for the toys that became Powerdasher were "F-1 Dasher", "Drill Dasher", and "Sky Dasher". These names are sometimes used by fans to refer to the individual Powerdasher toys.
• Takara first released these molds in the US as the Power Dashers (two words) in the Diakron toyline. This name was modified into Powerdashers for their release as part of Hasbro's Transformers.
• In Diakron, GiG's Italian Trasformer line, and Joustra's French release of Diaclone, the Powerdasher toys received individual names: "Aragon" (car), "Cromar" (jet), and "Zetar" (drill).
• IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye #14 made Cromar's name official for the US version of the character, finally giving one of these toys a personal name a scant 29 years after their release.^[4] In 2015, the Facebook edition of Ask Vector Prime followed suit with the other two Diakron names.
• The Powerdashers were the first Cybertronian (well, non-Earthly) vehicular toys released—and were released in 1984, to boot.

Foreign names

• Cantonese: Dung⁶lik⁶ Sin¹fung¹ (動力先鋒, "Power Vanguard")
• Japanese: Powerdasher (パワーダッシャー Pawādasshā)
• Mandarin: Dònglì Xiānfēng (動力先鋒, "Power Vanguard")

References