After such a large Bumblebee post last time, I thought to bring you a little lighter reading this time and focus on one of the lesser known Transformers. Reflector the forgotten Decepticon was like many Transformers a Microchange toy, MC-05 Camera Robo Microx, He transformed a little different and was one of two original combiners. The difference from other combiners is that this time three robots (Spectro, Spyglass and Viewfinder) combines together to make a one single-lens-reflex camera.

The reason you may not have heard of him or barely know him is that Hasbro delayed the release of him until 1986 and only then by mail-order from a direct-mail flyer promoting The Transformers: The Movie. He came in a foam tray in a plastic bag and his robots were three different colors.

The cartoon series chose to include a little more simplistic animation models for the three robots where they all looked identical except for one had a lens in the center of his chest and all were the same colors (he was in the movie, but barely). This was to help fill out the Decepticon ranks that were not equal to the Autobots.

Other then these two toys Reflector was proceeding on his way to oblivion until 2008 when Botcon created an alternate reality to reinvent Transformers using recolored certain toys but this time Decepticons were the good guys and Autobots were the bad guys. (a play on the mirror universe of Star Trek) Reflector saw a release as a single Decepticon good guy, a repaint of the 2007 spyshot 6 (an Autobot who turns into a digital camera as part of Hasbro and Takara’s Real Gear Robots.)

In 2008 IDW comics produced an alternate cover for their All Hail Megatron with the Decepticon leader posing with Reflector in camera mode as homage to the DC Killing Joke where the Joker is seen posing with a camera (with Reflector across the top over the lens) on the cover. (I used this image for the feature picture for this article.)

Then in 2009 Transformers animated had a Decepticon Reflector, again he was three Robots (their animation model were strongly based on their G1 animation models) that transformed into a combined tank. To play on the original’s role as rank filler, the three have the ability to generate hard-light holograms of themselves to fill out the Decepticon ranks. But he was not seen in the cartoon, he was revealed in a Tech Spec and bio published in the Transformers Collectors’ Club Magazine. All other characters getting such treatment had gone on to appear in the Animated cartoon, and the same was planned for Reflector, who would have shown up in a flashback sequence in “TransWarped” depicting the Battle for Iacon at the conclusion of the Great War. Derrick J. Wyatt explained that his appearance (and indeed, the whole scene) had to be edited out for timing reasons leaving Reflector to not get the recognition he deserves again.

2010, it was announced at the Hasbro design panel for Botcon^] that Reflector was being considered as the redeco for the Transformers: Reveal the Shield Perceptor toy, Thus far, Hasbro didn’t follow through with this plan,

2011 Third party company Perfect Effect created their ode to Reflector in the form of Scouting Party X, the three robots were named “Edge”, “Shield” and “Bullet” who are heavily based on the G1 animation models that combine to form a really nice looking camera that is roughly in scale for use with Masterpiece Megatron as a little larger then life camera. This addition came with a wide range of weapons and accessories including a long barrel lens that transforms into a large jet pack for one of the robots to wear (a word on third parties: these companies create a wide range of Transformers without using the actual TF name, from add-ons such as a trailer turned armor for Classics Ultra Magnus, to actual transformers that Hasbro has not got around to releasing yet like Devastator. This is perfectly legal as long as they use different names and do not get into what we call Knock offs, a cheaper often crappier version of an existing toy.)

In 2014 Hasbro included a purple, grey and some green minicon partner for the Insecticon Skrapnel, this version is really small, is a single robot who turns into either a camera with a huge lens or a weapon and is named Reflector.

Also in 2014 saw a non-transforming Reflector that came with MP-05G Megatron, the Hasbro Asia gold-chrome redeco of the Masterpiece MP-5 mold Megatron.

I feel a little bad for Reflector, in today’s technically different world a camera is not a big thing. Everyday people now have a cell phone for a camera, although the huge cameras with a big lens are still used regularly in the photo industry. The future of reflector is not a good one. He has been kind of forgotten and overlooked and I heavily doubt he will see a realistic camera toy that will give his original G1 animation models justice anytime soon. He is still very important in the Transformers mythos and so this is where we stop, thank you for joining me once again, see you next time.

UPDATE ****Hasbro has let a hint out that leaks a possible Combiner Wars Reflector see photo below but it turns out that it is a April fools joke, I will leave it here anyways due to it being a Reflector reference****