Everyone is joking about the obscurity of the characters and I'm here laughing at Shattered Glass Stepper. He's The Ventriloquist from Batman: The Animated Series!! That's just awesome!
@@OtakuUnitedStudio I didn't read the comics until after TAS so I know him better from the episode where it isn't exactly clear who or what Scarface is even in the end. Still...I want that episode redone with Stepper and maybe Prowl as Batman. It'd make me smile.
@@MasterArchfiend I won't argue with that! One of Scarface's biggest points of intrigue is that he may not simply be a split personality; sometimes he knows things Wesker couldn't possibly know.
For a character that is the definition of obscure and having almost zero media spotlight, Stepper/Ricochet is somehow turning out to have one of the more interesting histories just cuz of one single story. Good ol' Shattered Glass.
Yup. He's definitely done a video covering Nemesis/Scourge/Black Convoy. I'm sure Shattered Glass Optimus and Guiltaur would be mentioned in an Optimus Prime video. Toxitron is a weird one though. Probably needs his own video.
Ricochet was my very first g1 toy. I was a beast wars/armada kid and when I discovered g1 around the time of armada, I would covet the g1 reissues but would not get any until 2005, when I got ricochet. I have huge nostalgia for him and would give anything for hasbro to finally use him and artfire in some compacity. I am close to owning every single release of ricochet, and eagerly await a masterpiece one
I always loved Ricochet, I had the Alternators toy when I was a kid and I always loved his design. I wish and hope they do something big with him in the near future!
Artfire got a new toy in 2021 in the Generation Selects toyline, recolored from the War for Cybertron: Kingdom Inferno toy, which was the first time Hasbro ever released a toy of him to date. Plus, there's a fan theory that the names Stepper and Artfire were also switched like their Targetmaster partners were. Stepper as a fire truck had a ladder to step on and Artfire as a car had a flame paintjob. Art Fire was the name in Japan for the 2001 RID Spy Changer Hotshot.
You forgot to mention the "Micron Legends Stepper," the Japanese version of Armada Sideswipe. He is a Stepper after all, and was the most prominent role a "Stepper" have gotten.
I always known Ricochet as a clone .Thank you Chris for the awsome work on this one . i cant wait to look up more content on these characters . thanks to you i know were to look . cant wait for the next one.its one of the high lights of the weekend!
The only version of Ricochet that wasn't a Jazz recolor was the Alternators/Binaltech version in where Jazz was a Mazda RX-7 and Ricochet was a recolor of Smokescreen who was a Subaru Impreza WRX.
I always wondered where Ricochet came from. Also have an idea for an episode: all characters that share Bumblebee's bodytype. Of course that might be a super long episode XD
One Christmas in 2007 i had gotten some classic transformers toys and Stepper was one of them though at the time i didn't know or even watch G1, hearing this makes me wish i had held onto them still as I had him Skywarp, Bitzwing, Bluestreak, Prowl, and Rodimus Prime how my family got them is a mystery to me even now
Definitely obscure! I've never heard of any of the Transformers mentioned in this video, except for the non-obscure Transformers that their stories are connected to.
Awesome video and you are on target with your assessment on the 2 targetmasters. Both being from Japan and also so obscure adds to their popularity 10 fold. Keep up the great work and I eagerly await the next episode.
Oddly enough, Stepper did have a major cartoon appearance in Mircon Legend, but instead of being named Ricochet in the English speaking territories, he was given the name Sideswipe in Armada. Guess Hasbro found Stepper/Ricochet to be so obscure that they decided to give him a name of another character in the series already had.
Ricochet and Artfire is as unbalanced a popularity contest as you can get. Make the coolest possible repaint of the coolest possible Autobot and pair it with Inferno with a little bit of white on him.
4 weeks late but as for his few appearances in recent media, he actually appeared in iDW’s Lost Light issue 1 when tailgate was holding up roller. He could be seen in the background watching Tailgate do so :)
It's actually not him! While working on this episode, I confirmed with artist Jack Lawrence that that's just a generic who the colourist slapped Ricochet's colours on.
Chris McFeely oh cool! A tad unfortunate that this means he’s not running around in space with the lost light crew , but that’s fine. At least he was well known enough to have his colors used on someone else. Nice video though! I learned a couple things about him that I didn’t before, and considering I actually got interested in his SG Counterpart and have been following him there and his actual Autobot self since, I’d say I’m rather impressed in the amount of research you did and found for someone so under the radar :D
I have the Generations version of Nightstick which I call 'Nightstick'. Later I got the re-issue of the toy discussed in this video but was not prepared to call its Nebulon companion something as generic as 'Nebulon' and nor could I call it 'Nightstick' since that name was taken within my collection. So the Nebulon companion became 'Ricochet' and the Autobot it came with reverted to 'Stepper'. Confused? I am.
One of my favorite "obscure" characters, I first learned about him, or I should say saw him when I saw the Commemorative Series figure while at a Toy's R Us.....sadly I had no money that day. I kind of became obsessed with him because of his awesome colors and design, I thought to myself "this is one bitc**** repaint of Jazz", not knowing anything of his Japanese series history. Then one day a few years later I saw his Alternator figure and luckily had enough to get him and I did, still one of my favorite figures in my collection. Anyways with all that said I have to say I really loved this episode.
Have to be honest and report I'd never heard of Ricochet! You learn something everyday. Also, ... anyone else figure not too many 'con warriors would be shaking in their boots when battling an opponent called "Artfire?" Not exactly a name for the ages. It would be like ramping up to play an NFL game against "the Poodles."
Can't recall how I get to know either Stepper/Ricochet and Artfire, but I'll say they are unique bots. If I would have to own they toy versions; I would pick they both Takara TF: United exclusive releases.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the theory that Stepper and Artfire have their names switched. Because, well, "Stepper" makes more sense on a guy with a ladder (as in "stepladder") and "Artfire" makes more sense on the guy with flame deco.
Good morning Chris interesting video I did have the Japanese reissue of the jazz figure richoshel however you spell it, but still like the original Jazz figure, looking forward to the next video thanks again hope you guys have a nice weekend
The G1 Artfire was so expensive even in it's really loose and played form, that when the MP came out; I jumped in the first opportunity into getting that and securing one for myself.
Executive: We need a new character. How do we come up with one? Character developer: 🤔 Repaint Jazz, slap on the Hot Wheels flame logo, and call him Stepper. Executive: Genius! 😀
Fact: it's been speculated that Stepper and Artfire got their names accidently swapped alongside their partners as each of their names has little to nothing to do with its bearer but could much better refer to an attribute the other of the two has. Add to this the fact that Stepper homage 2001 _Robots in Disguise_ Hot Shot was named Art Fire in _Car Robots._
Maybe for obscure characters month he should do sea spray, brawn,any other minibot maybe pipes, or a good one one would be haller an green recolor of g1 grapple who was a original autobot for the cartoon by accident and was latter expanded somewhere that I can't remember to be a former construction
You know you’re obscure when even a cosmically powered Starscream misses you.
Cid Gaius nice one.
Perfect
If you respond correctly you will have *no* reward, *hello there*
n o i c e
Funny
Artfire is so obscure, he didn't even warrant his own episode.
I think Energon Inferno was based on him.
But apparently he did warrant his own MP recolor though lmao
@@freddyandersensfivehole6424 It's an easy repaint to do. We might even get a new one when the inevitable Earthrise Inferno is made.
*F*
I think he was embarrassed by his name and Stepper’s as well.
So obscure, he didn't even get offlined by a cosmically-powered Starscream.
Everyone is joking about the obscurity of the characters and I'm here laughing at Shattered Glass Stepper. He's The Ventriloquist from Batman: The Animated Series!! That's just awesome!
He's The Ventriloquist from Batman, period. He was introduced in 1988 in Detective Comics #583.
@@OtakuUnitedStudio I didn't read the comics until after TAS so I know him better from the episode where it isn't exactly clear who or what Scarface is even in the end. Still...I want that episode redone with Stepper and maybe Prowl as Batman. It'd make me smile.
@@MasterArchfiend I won't argue with that! One of Scarface's biggest points of intrigue is that he may not simply be a split personality; sometimes he knows things Wesker couldn't possibly know.
Agree with you Krys Williams that' just awesome
You know, if you didn't mention the Ventriloquist and Scarface, I probably would've.
Seeing how we have a Cyberverse Jazz toy...
*CYBERVERSE RICOCHET.*
Charlie Young it surprises me that they made an adventure version
I hope he comes with a targetmaster
For a character that is the definition of obscure and having almost zero media spotlight, Stepper/Ricochet is somehow turning out to have one of the more interesting histories just cuz of one single story. Good ol' Shattered Glass.
I always thought he was a gangster version of Jazz lol
Idea for a theme month:
Evil Optimus clones.
You got Sg Optimus, Nemesis Prime, Scourge, Toxitron, and Guiltaur.
I feel like that's already been covered
@@fenrirsrage4609 only Némesis prime
Yup. He's definitely done a video covering Nemesis/Scourge/Black Convoy. I'm sure Shattered Glass Optimus and Guiltaur would be mentioned in an Optimus Prime video. Toxitron is a weird one though. Probably needs his own video.
Guiltaur, so underrated
Nemisis Prime & Scourge together already have an episode.
his “appearances” are like where’s waldo parodies.
I can’t stop thinking of Nebulon as the tf’s equivalent to the Mandolorian now
Ricochet was my very first g1 toy. I was a beast wars/armada kid and when I discovered g1 around the time of armada, I would covet the g1 reissues but would not get any until 2005, when I got ricochet. I have huge nostalgia for him and would give anything for hasbro to finally use him and artfire in some compacity. I am close to owning every single release of ricochet, and eagerly await a masterpiece one
"The ventriloquist and Nebulon", I see what you did there Hasbro ;)
PS: Basics on Deathsaurus?
Good ide
Why not
I always loved Ricochet, I had the Alternators toy when I was a kid and I always loved his design. I wish and hope they do something big with him in the near future!
Say no more as he’s part of a whole new team of wreckers in IDW 2 verse comicbooks
I've never heard of this man In my entire life so that just tells you how obscure this boy is
"Artfire"
I see 360 noscopes count as "art"
I wish Artfire got more coverage in the Transformers universe. Would be cool to see him and Inferno interact with each other.
Ricochet is like a little brother of Jazz, the little brother that has so much to offer, but the world never allow him to do it
Another great history lesson about a character with in my opinion a very nice color scheme and being based off the Jazz mold
Artfire got a new toy in 2021 in the Generation Selects toyline, recolored from the War for Cybertron: Kingdom Inferno toy, which was the first time Hasbro ever released a toy of him to date.
Plus, there's a fan theory that the names Stepper and Artfire were also switched like their Targetmaster partners were. Stepper as a fire truck had a ladder to step on and Artfire as a car had a flame paintjob.
Art Fire was the name in Japan for the 2001 RID Spy Changer Hotshot.
Artfire was so obscure he didn’t even get destroyed by a cosmic powered Starscream 😞
I only knew who he was through the potp ricochet cause it looked cool lol
I really think it would be cool if they released the retooled reissue G1 Ricochet mold as a G1 reissue of Jazz. I would love a Targetmaster Jazz.
You forgot to mention the "Micron Legends Stepper," the Japanese version of Armada Sideswipe. He is a Stepper after all, and was the most prominent role a "Stepper" have gotten.
Okay but why won't Valve make a sequel to this already?
I always known Ricochet as a clone .Thank you Chris for the awsome work on this one . i cant wait to look up more content on these characters . thanks to you i know were to look . cant wait for the next one.its one of the high lights of the weekend!
The only version of Ricochet that wasn't a Jazz recolor was the Alternators/Binaltech version in where Jazz was a Mazda RX-7 and Ricochet was a recolor of Smokescreen who was a Subaru Impreza WRX.
I always wondered where Ricochet came from. Also have an idea for an episode: all characters that share Bumblebee's bodytype. Of course that might be a super long episode XD
One Christmas in 2007 i had gotten some classic transformers toys and Stepper was one of them though at the time i didn't know or even watch G1, hearing this makes me wish i had held onto them still as I had him Skywarp, Bitzwing, Bluestreak, Prowl, and Rodimus Prime how my family got them is a mystery to me even now
hey at least Artfire has a Masterpiece figure.
Shots fired. No pun intended.
5:09. SG Ricochet is pretty much the TF equivalent to Carnage (Spider-Man).
While SG Stepper, the TF Equivalent of the Ventriloquist.
Ricochet is actually my favorite character, because he’s this sniper guy who definitely deserves more attention.
Definitely obscure! I've never heard of any of the Transformers mentioned in this video, except for the non-obscure Transformers that their stories are connected to.
The reissue Stepper is one of my absolute all time faves but I never attach Nebulon and now I feel kinda bad if he's supposed to be keeping him alive!
Awesome video and you are on target with your assessment on the 2 targetmasters. Both being from Japan and also so obscure adds to their popularity 10 fold. Keep up the great work and I eagerly await the next episode.
Chris: ‘Artfire has never been released in Hasbro markets in any form.’
_Generations Selects_ Artfire: ‘Hello there.’
Oddly enough, Stepper did have a major cartoon appearance in Mircon Legend, but instead of being named Ricochet in the English speaking territories, he was given the name Sideswipe in Armada. Guess Hasbro found Stepper/Ricochet to be so obscure that they decided to give him a name of another character in the series already had.
Ricochet and Artfire is as unbalanced a popularity contest as you can get. Make the coolest possible repaint of the coolest possible Autobot and pair it with Inferno with a little bit of white on him.
4 weeks late but as for his few appearances in recent media, he actually appeared in iDW’s Lost Light issue 1 when tailgate was holding up roller. He could be seen in the background watching Tailgate do so :)
It's actually not him! While working on this episode, I confirmed with artist Jack Lawrence that that's just a generic who the colourist slapped Ricochet's colours on.
Chris McFeely oh cool! A tad unfortunate that this means he’s not running around in space with the lost light crew , but that’s fine. At least he was well known enough to have his colors used on someone else. Nice video though! I learned a couple things about him that I didn’t before, and considering I actually got interested in his SG Counterpart and have been following him there and his actual Autobot self since, I’d say I’m rather impressed in the amount of research you did and found for someone so under the radar :D
I have the Generations version of Nightstick which I call 'Nightstick'. Later I got the re-issue of the toy discussed in this video but was not prepared to call its Nebulon companion something as generic as 'Nebulon' and nor could I call it 'Nightstick' since that name was taken within my collection. So the Nebulon companion became 'Ricochet' and the Autobot it came with reverted to 'Stepper'. Confused? I am.
Ricochet and Artfire are two of my all time favourite obscure Transformers. I’m not sure I could tell you why though.
There's an Earthrise Grapple coming in a few months. I have a feeling that Artfire may see his first Hasbro release as a Selects figure shortly after.
Phaserbeak I hope so
My first and Favorite Transformer is Jazz so being a Jazz recolor has endeared me to Ricochet/Stepper.
Thanks for this video! It's nice to learn about the characters we know nothing about! Keep it goin!
One of my favorite "obscure" characters, I first learned about him, or I should say saw him when I saw the Commemorative Series figure while at a Toy's R Us.....sadly I had no money that day. I kind of became obsessed with him because of his awesome colors and design, I thought to myself "this is one bitc**** repaint of Jazz", not knowing anything of his Japanese series history.
Then one day a few years later I saw his Alternator figure and luckily had enough to get him and I did, still one of my favorite figures in my collection.
Anyways with all that said I have to say I really loved this episode.
Have to be honest and report I'd never heard of Ricochet! You learn something everyday. Also, ... anyone else figure not too many 'con warriors would be shaking in their boots when battling an opponent called "Artfire?" Not exactly a name for the ages. It would be like ramping up to play an NFL game against "the Poodles."
awesome bits of history. Thanks
alternators Ricochet is one my fav uses of that mold. I do like the Siege recolor too
Oh so that's why Nightstick is a Autobot C.O.M.B.A.T. bot in Earth wars. He's Ricochet's Targetmaster partner. Who still has yet to appear.
I swear the version of stepper from shattered glass sounds like a parody of the Ventriloquist and Scarface from the batman books
Can't recall how I get to know either Stepper/Ricochet and Artfire, but I'll say they are unique bots. If I would have to own they toy versions; I would pick they both Takara TF: United exclusive releases.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the theory that Stepper and Artfire have their names switched. Because, well, "Stepper" makes more sense on a guy with a ladder (as in "stepladder") and "Artfire" makes more sense on the guy with flame deco.
You can also have basics on huffer, bulkhead and smokescreen
Good morning Chris interesting video I did have the Japanese reissue of the jazz figure richoshel however you spell it, but still like the original Jazz figure, looking forward to the next video thanks again hope you guys have a nice weekend
I just noticed how artfires weapon looked like an engine block towards the end of the episode.
It's crazy that TH-cam suggested this video just days after the Generations Selects Artfire was revealed
Interesting how Stepper/Ricochet has been released several times over the years, but poor Artfire never has been released in Hasbro Markets yet
Could you please do the basics on trypticon also great video
video: *STATES ARTFIRE HAS NEVER BEEN RELEASED IN HASBRO MARKETS*
me: well that didn't age well
Whos next Tracks?
Could you do the basics on the Seekers group.
He covered many already, star scream, thundercracker & a few others got videos
@@apex2000 I'm talking about the group, not the characters specifically.
I have always dug these two, but like you said, mostly because they were these "interesting" Japanese characters that I had never heard of.
Gotta love those old TV Spots for what were basically statutes. Just static figures and fire! XD
Can you do basics on Ratchet or Smokescreen?
These videos are always amazing
The G1 Artfire was so expensive even in it's really loose and played form, that when the MP came out; I jumped in the first opportunity into getting that and securing one for myself.
Stepper is so good a marksman that to make it fair on the decepticons he's not allowed to hold his gun in his hand.
Please do Arcee next.
You’re a gem.
Great Stuff as always.
Wondered if we could infer his G1 personality from his two Shattered Glass iterations, but they're so different that I don't think we can.
I'm actually shocked nobody mentioned that SG Stepper is clearly a reference to the Batman villain the Ventriliquist.
Even TFWiki missed that.
This is the first video you ever mentioned robot heroes (my favorite transformers spinoff toy line)
Ricochet finally got his spotlight in the Wreckers Tread n Circuits IDW comic!
I would call this one step instead of the English Market name because Stepper sounds like an English name
Executive: We need a new character. How do we come up with one?
Character developer: 🤔 Repaint Jazz, slap on the Hot Wheels flame logo, and call him Stepper.
Executive: Genius! 😀
The fact that this idea came from a Japanese executive not to mention the reuse of a Diaclone mold made it even funnier.
He's back!
since you did the basics on the combaticons, the terrorcons and the predacons. I think its time that you should do the basics on the STUNTICONS.
7:29 *laughs in Generations Selects*
They could repaint studio series 86 jazz into ricochet and shattered glass stepper and I would definitely buy them.
Have you done a Basics on the Lost Light? That would be interesting.
rw:@4:05 Ricochet on the far upper left corner of the screen ,reminds me of Hot Shots friend turned enemy Wheel Jack ,if im not mistaken.
So...any hint as to who the final character for this month is?
Hope it will be dread wing! Fun fact in m.l.p f.i.m the wonder bolts we're designed after the blue angels just like him.
Check the "Thanks for your support" video from the end of last year for the silhouette teases! ;)
Chris McFeely did it...only two I could make out of it were Broadside and maybe the Junkions?
The basics on Colony Worlds, please.
Think about it. If we ever get an MP Jazz. We'll get a MP Ricochet soon after.
6:46 So basically he was the ventriloquist and Scareface from dc comics.
I only new of Ricochet from what of read about shattered glass. I had no idea he had a history before that.
Shattered Glass Stepper is the Transformers version of the Batman villain Scarface.
The basics of thrust or other seekers? I’d find it hilarious since I’m Cyberverse all the seekers were killed off by a cosmically powered Starscream
Fact: it's been speculated that Stepper and Artfire got their names accidently swapped alongside their partners as each of their names has little to nothing to do with its bearer but could much better refer to an attribute the other of the two has. Add to this the fact that Stepper homage 2001 _Robots in Disguise_ Hot Shot was named Art Fire in _Car Robots._
artfrie has never been released in hasbro markets? that didnt age well, since im german im im currently thinking ab out aquiring him
Ricochet... huh I guess it is one that fell though the cracks on my memory when I was watching G1...... NOPE is is proper obscure.
Maybe for obscure characters month he should do sea spray, brawn,any other minibot maybe pipes, or a good one one would be haller an green recolor of g1 grapple who was a original autobot for the cartoon by accident and was latter expanded somewhere that I can't remember to be a former construction
Please do basics about Scorponok
My favorite obscure bot is nightbeat. That fact that hes usually sort of a robot P.I. is cool
For a basic Jazz repaint, Ricochet IS quite the impactful character. :) I just wish the same could be said for poor Artfire as well. ^^;
6:15 I was distracted right before this part and tuned in at this part. To say the least I was very puzzled lmao
@3:58 There was a Robots in Disguise 2015 version of Ricochet??? Japan only? I never heard of this figure being released.
In the Alternators toyline, Ricochet wasn't a recolour of Jazz. Ricochet was a Subaru Impreza and Jazz was a Mazda RX-8.
Please do the basics on huffer
So I was wondering if you could do a episode on repugnus he seems like a very obscure character that I would like to learn about
Have we got a basics episode on demolisher yet? If no, how about it? If yes, please link.