Power Core Combiners

Transformers: Power Core Combiners is a toyline, released concurrently with the 2010 Transformers and Generations toylines.

The design of the toys relies heavily on the titular gimmick, combination. Every main character is a "Commander" sold with either a Mini-Con (which connects in several configurations) or a set of four drone vehicles (which connect as limbs to form a larger robot). The Mini-Cons and drones can be attached to any Commander, leading to millions of possible combinations between all of the figures.

Unlike the Mini-Cons of previous lines, the Power Core Combiner Mini-Cons lack their own independent vehicle or animal modes. Rather, they turn from robots into accessories for their Commanders. In vehicle mode, a Commander can use a Mini-Con as a weapon or tool. In robot mode, a Commander can wield a Mini-Con as a hand-held weapon or wear him as armor.

The drones are similar to Energon Optimus Prime's "Prime Force", being vehicles with no robot modes. While the drones are left/right interchangeable, an arm-drone cannot become a leg-drone (or vice versa) making them more limited than the Prime Force drones. However, the fact that there are several teams of drones who can be swapped among Commanders adds a Scramble-City-esque dimension of play. Also, people who love Transformers but hate transforming can breathe easy in the knowledge that the drones automorph into and out of limb mode simply by being plugged into and removed from a Commander.

Fictionally, the Power Core Combiners are not strictly connected to any other continuity,^[1] although Smolder and Chopster have made an appearance in the live-action film continuity via Cyber Missions, and Bombshock via the Classified novels.

The TakaraTomy counterpart to this line is Transformers United EX.

Fiction

The toys' packaging presents a simple storyline about Power Core Combination technology being found on Earth. A more robust account was published in the Collectors' Club magazine #32. There was no narrative fiction to accompany the series, only summaries and bios.

Place in continuity

Smolder and Chopster have a hot night on the town.

Regarding which larger continuity family (if any) Power Core Combiners was intended to fit into, clues are scant and contradictory:

• The storyline blurb on the packaging references "monsters like Devastator" in terms that best match the live-action version, but fit most Devastators reasonably well.
• Salvage's bio is fairly explicit that he is his movie counterpart, even referencing his origin as an AllSpark Mutation.
• Huffer's bio is phrased in a way that makes little sense unless he's a pre-existing character, and points pretty clearly to the original Huffer in particular. Word from Hasbro at BotCon 2010, where he was referred to as a "heritage character," supports this notion.
• Many other characters' bios are also very obviously directly based on those of their Generation 1 continuity family namesakes, but of course this tends to happen with some frequency in any continuity family.

In practice, contemporary media treated Power Core Combiners as a source of live-action movie continuity family characters:

• Smolder made an appearance in Cyber Missions episode 9.
• Icepick received a new toy in the Dark of the Moon toyline.
• Bombshock appears in the novel Transformers Classified: Switching Gears.

Years later, Steamhammer and Smolder turned up as Generation 1 continuity family characters in Transformers: Requiem of the Wreckers.

Hasbro's official stance on the matter is that Power Core Combiners are not tied to any particular continuity family.^[1] This is in keeping with the company's then-current apparent reluctance to tie its toylines to specific universes, and can be interpreted as "both," "neither," or not actually even an answer. Any conclusions are up to the reader to make.

(Transformers United EX, conversely, is explicitly set in the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity.)

Toys

Commander 2-packs

Smolder...

Each 2-pack contains a roughly-Scout-class-sized Commander figure as well as a partner Mini-Con.

Commanders transform from a robot to vehicle mode, as well as a "power up" torso mode that can be combined with any of the drone sets from the 5-packs (see below). Commanders also have standard Mini-Con Powerlinx plugs, so they are compatible with any Mini-Cons, not just their pack-in partners.

Mini-Cons have multiple configurations to enhance their larger partners. Each one transforms from a robot to "armor" that any Commander can use (though with limited usefulness on the 5-pack Commander molds due to placement of their Powerlinx plugs). They also have weapon modes; most have separate configurations for Commanders' robot and alternate modes, though a few only really have one that works on both.

Wave 1 Huffer with Caliburst Searchlight with Backwind Smolder with Chopster		Wave 2 Icepick with Chainclaw Leadfoot with Pinpoint Sledge with Throttler		Wave 3 Darkstream with Razorbeam Steelshot with Beacon Windburn with Darkray		Wave 4 Heavytread with Groundspike Skyhammer with Airlift		... and his pack-in partner Chopster.
Wave 5 Salvage with Bomb-Burst Undertow with Waterlog

5-packs

Bombshock...

Each 5-pack contains a Commander and four drone-units.

Unlike the Commanders designed for the 2-packs, most (if not all) of the Commanders designed originally for the 5-packs do not have Powerlinx hardpoints that normally function for the 2-pack Mini-Cons' armor modes while in their standard Commander robot modes. However, these Commanders' power up modes allow for the proper placement of their Powerlix hardpoints.

The drones each automatically transform into a super-robot limb when they are attached to the bright blue connector points on any Commander's "power up" mode, and snap back to drone mode once removed. Arm-drones and leg-drones cannot swap functions; they can be attached to each other's connection points, but arms will always be arms and legs will always be legs. Each drone also has Mini-Con Powerlinx hardpoints. Due to the mechanisms involved, these arms and legs have essentially no articulation.

Wave 1 Bombshock with Combaticons Skyburst with Aerialbots		Wave 2 Double Clutch with Rallybots Mudslinger with Destructicons		Wave 3 Crankcase with Destrons Stakeout with Protectobots		Wave 4 Grimstone with Dinobots Steamhammer with Constructicons		...and his Combaticons.
Wave 5 Over-Run with Stunticons

Exclusive value packs

Toys"R"Us

• Skyburst with Aerialbots (Includes Skyburst, Searchlight, Backwind, and the Aerialbots)

Walmart

After most stores had long gotten rid of Power Core Combiners (and a few waves of product virtually never hit normal retail shelves), Walmart put out these Black Friday bonus packs of a 5-piece combiner team with a two-pack taped to the side... all for the whopping price of ten dollars. TEN DOLLARS. These were placed mostly on pallets pretty much wherever there was room in the aisle. There does not appear to be any particular order to who got packed with what, but reported combinations include:

Notes

• Sadly, on the whole, Power Core Combiners is one of the most physically fragile Transformers lines, with Leadfoot, Over-Run, Mudslinger, Salvage, and likely others having a number of possible breakage points due to design flaws or long-term plastic stress. This owes to several factors: the heavy use of autotransformation in the drones can stress both the mechanisms and the blue "plugs", the heavy use of translucent plastic in the Mini-Cons causes them to be far more fragile, and many of the individual figures suffer from design flaws, which are often exacerbated by the difficulty involved in acting as combiners. If a PCC figure unexpectedly shatters, know you probably aren't at all alone.

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "...they basically exist on their own." October Hasbro Transformers Q&A Answers for Cybertron.ca