Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)

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The Air Defense Mini-Con Team is easily one of the most important Mini-Con Teams, as together they form the Star Saber, quite possibly the mightiest weapon known to all Transformer-kind. When held by Decepticons, they become the dark, twisted Air Assault Mini-Con Team, forming the Dark Saber.

Even without their sword-form, the trio are skilled and extremely valuable warriors, with a wealth of technical skill, military planning, and good old-fashioned luck.

The Air Defense/Air Assault Mini-Con Team is composed of

• Jetstorm the Concorde SST
• Runway the Boeing Sonic Cruiser
• Sonar the VentureStar shuttle

Fiction

Toy pack-in comics

While demolishing a Decepticon satellite dish, the Air Defense Mini-Con Team detected a Mini-Con distress signal and reported it to Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader ordered them to wait till they had backup, but the impatient Mini-Cons set out on their own, finding the distress signal to be a trap by Galvatron. Capturing the three, Galvatron forced them to combine into the Dark Saber. The weapon was of little help in battle with Optimus Prime and Jetfire, who rescued the Mini-Cons by combining and kicking Galvatron away. Released from captivity, the Mini-Cons were reprimanded by the two Autobots for their disobedience. Armada Volume 3

Armada cartoon

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Dreamwave Armada comic

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Toys

Armada

• Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Mini-Con 3-pack, 2002/2003)

• Takara name: Air Defense Micron
• Takara ID number: MM-02
• Takara release date: December 26, 2002
• Known designers: Hironori Kobayashi (Takara)

Released in the first wave of Armada toys, the Air Defense Team of Runway, Jetstorm and Sonar are sold as a trio of high-tech jets. Each one has at least one "Powerlinx" socket on the underside of their vehicle mode that allows them to attach to toys with compatible Powerlinx plugs, activating special gimmicks on the larger toys when attached to a "live" plug.

The three can also combine to form the Star Saber sword, which can be held by any other Transformer that has 5 mm fist-holes. The Team's main body is cast in transparent plastic in order to utilize the light-up-fist gimmicks in Super Mode Optimus Prime and the Takara releases of Hot Shot.

This mold-set was used the make the Takara Air Assault Micron, and remolded to make the Energon Saber Mini-Con Team, Blizzard Intervention Mini-Con Team, and the Sky Terror Mini-Con Team.

• Hot Rod & Air Defense Micron (Multi-pack, 2002)

• Sonokong name: Red Gun & Air Defense
• ID number: MS-01
• Takara release date: December 26, 2002

In Japan, the Air Defense Microns were available both in an individual release and in a multi-pack with Hot Rod and Jolt, released in the first wave of Legends of the Microns toys. All of the toys were identical to their individual releases.

This set was also released by Sonokong in Korea, with no changes from the Takara release, other than the packaging. This was also the only way to obtain "Red Gun" (Hot Shot) and the "Air Defense" in Korea.

• Air Defense Micron Exdimensions (Mini-Con 3-pack, 2002)

• ID number: MM-07
• Release date: December 26, 2002

A limited-edition (yet still standard retail) "Exdimensions" redeco of the Air Defense Microns was released in the first wave of Legends of the Microns, alongside their normal-colors counterparts. For this version, the team's opaque plastics changed to orange and red, and the paint trim changed to match.

This deco was repurposed as the Zephyr Blade Mini-Con Team.

• CD Limited Edition Air Defense Micron (CD pack-in, 2003)

• Release date: February 1, 2003

Cast entirely in blue and clear-blue plastics, this incarnation of the Air Defense Microns is supposed to represent the Star Saber as it appears in the cartoon when combined into the Star Saber, as a glowing blue "energy blade".

It was only available as a pack-in with the CD single of the Legends of the Microns cartoon's ending theme, "Never Ending Road", by Psychic Lover.

The team's official name has bounced a bit: the name listed above is what it's called on the packaging. Magazine solicitations called it the "Air Defense Micron Clear Blue Edition", while the "Micron Museum" portion of Takara's website called it the "Air Defense Micron Anime Color (CD version)".

• Jetter (Change Micron, 2003)

• Change Mircon ID number: 4

• Mach (Change Micron, 2003)

• Change Micron ID number: 5

• Shuttler (Change Micron, 2003)

• Change Micron ID number: 6
• Release date: April ??, 2003

Part of the first Kabaya candy toy Change Micron assortment, each of the Air Defense Microns were sold in individual boxes, packed with a small bag of sugar-pellet candy.

The most immediately-noticeable change to these toys is that their transparent plastics have been replaced with opaque white (which certainly makes them a lot more sturdy). However, these toys are also actually a completely new mold-set, with various tiny detail differences from the Hasbro/Takara releases.

• Mach (Micron Booster, 2003)

• Booster ID number: 3

• Jetter (Micron Booster, 2003)

• Booster ID number: 4

• Shuttler (Micron Booster, 2003)

• Booster ID number: 5
• Release date: August 7, 2003

Part of the first Micron Booster set, sold only in individual blind-packed boxes, this version of the Air Defense Microns is almost wholly identical to the normal retail release. The only difference is that this version is cast in slightly-sparkly plastic and uses slightly-sparkly paint. The difference is almost unnoticeable unless you look at the two versions side-by-side.

• Air Assault Mini-Con Team (Mini-Con 3-pack, 2003)

A "tainted by evil" redeco of the team was released by Hasbro in the fourth wave of the Armada line. This version of the trio replaces the transparent plastic with opaque off-white, the other colors turning predominantly black and purple. Due to the lack of any light-up hand features in the Decepticon figures it is made to display with, being cast in opaque plastics makes sense for this release.

This set was also released in Unicron Battles packaging, which was also released in a clamshelled "Bonus Pack" with the Sea Mini-Con Team.

This coloration was slightly altered for the Takara Air Assault Micron, who are separate characters from the Air Defense Mini-Con Team.

Notes

• The Air Defense Team is the only one of the three Armada "legendary weapon" Mini-Con Teams to not see release in either of the Armada sequels.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Air Defense Micron (エアディフェンスマイクロン Ea Difensu Maikuron)
• French: Équipe de Défense Aérienne des Minimodus ("Air Defense Mini-Con Team"), Équipe d'Attaque Aérienne des Minimodus ("Air Attack Mini-Con Team")
• Korean: Air Defense (에어디펜스 Eeo Dipenseu)
• Spanish: Los Minimodus - Equipo de Defense Aérea ("The Mini-Cons - Air Defense Team"), Los Minimodus - Equipo de Ataque Aéreo ("The Mini-Cons - Air Attack Team")