Jackpot (G1)

Jackpot is anAutobotAction Masterfrom theGeneration 1continuity family.

Hit me. Hit me. Hit me. Uh, hit me. Hit me.

Jackpotseems to have "lucky" built into his core programming. He really gets a kick out of placing bets on dangerous predicaments and coming out on top. The higher the stakes, the happier he is. He once bet aDecepticonguard he could escape from the cell he was being held in... and now that Decepticon is in the cell Jackpot formerly inhabited.

To tilt things even further in his favor, Jackpot relies on his avianpartnerSightsto scout out information beforehand. Of course, some are just waiting for the day Jackpot's luck runs out... which might have disastrous results for theAutobot.

Jackpot has a big thing forfembots(especially ones with racing stripes), despite it being the one aspect of life where he isn't (getting) lucky.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance:Spotlight: Arcee

Function: Bookie

Long ago, Jackpot was one of the Autobots stationed at theGarrus-9penal colony. He andRadwere the ones to haulImpactoraway after the (now former) leader of theWreckerswas found guilty of murderingseveral prisoners of war.Last Stand of the Wreckers #5Much later, he was still there whenBanzai-Tronraided the prison and was caught in an explosion during the first salvo.Spotlight: Arcee

Jackpot was among the Autobots who fled fromKimia FacilitywhenGalvatron's minions attacked, and later listened toArceeandHardheadtell the survivors of Galvatron's plan.Genesis

After the war ended, Jackpot made a bet with someone. He lost, and as a result was forced to board theLost Light.Life After the Big BangLater, he ran intoUltra Magnusand simply swatted aside the latter's remark about his crooked badge. Jackpot then attendedTailgate's Autobot initiation ceremony where he placed bets withBrainstorm,Chromedome,andRewindabout how long it would takeRodimusto say his famous "'Til all are one"line.You, Me, and Other RevelationsHe was among the crew members who responded toOverlord's rampage through the ship.Under Cold Blue StarsWhenSwerve'swas wrecked in aLegislatorattack, Jackpot helped cleaned it up, discovering the deactivated Legislator that would becomeTenin the progress.No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases

Following theLost Light's brief return to Cybertron, Jackpot remained on board the ship as the mission continued. The day Tailgate was released from the med center, Jackpot drunkenly (VERY drunkenly) welcomed him back.Words Hang in the AirAlongside the rest of the crew he abandoned ship when theLost Lightbegan disappearing into nothing piece by piece.Predestination: A Beginner's Guide

On the on-course quantum duplicate of theLost Light,the quantum duplicate of Jackpot was killed by theDecepticon Justice Divisionand had histransformation cogharvested byTarn.slaughterhouse

Later on the regularLost Light,Jackpot was seen drinking in Swerve's withRollout,The Lopsided Triangleand again onceThunderclashwas (temporarily) back on his feet.Filling in the Blanks

DamagesPrimusand is killed byThunderclash?He IS lucky.

As one of many crew members unhappy with their lack of progress andMegatron's presence on their ship, Jackpot supportedGetaway's mutiny that saw Rodimus and hisclosest circleremoved from the vessel.How Bright Their Frail DeedsIt was Jackpot who sabotaged theRodpodso that its teleport drive only held enough charge for a one-way trip, abandoning Megatron and his "fan club" onNecroworld.However, he was taken aback after learning of some of the measures Getaway had taken in pursuit of the mutiny. Like most of the crew, he was later subjected to shadowplay bySunderon Getaway's behalf, clouding his memories and making him believe Rodimus and the others had abandoned them, instead of the other way around.Filling in the BlanksHe gave this version of events toFirst Aidwhen the Protectobots reconnected with the ship.Full CircleHe was also on the bridge whenPerceptortested use of theWarrento shortcut through space and time, and theLost Lightfinally found Cyberutopia.Journey's End

Except, they didn't. Cyberutopia was nothing more than a holographic sham, an theLost Lightwas soon confronted by thePhantom Fleetof theGrand Architect.Getaway sold out his crew to save his own neck, allowing Jackpot and the others to be subjected to aSparkeatervirus byScorponok,turning them into shambling, hungry zombie-bots. They were unleashed on Rodimus and the other Autobots when they caught up with Cyberutopia, forced to attack their former comrades in their diseased state. When Jackpot's acid vomit meltedRung's arm off, Thunderclash shot and seemingly killed him.A Dance Before Dying

TransTech

When Jackpot andHubcaparrived onAxiom Nexusvia aspace bridgeaccident, they both were processed, given identification cards and bolts, and sent out with their guideScattorshot.After listening to Scattorshot explain the city—an explanation involving quantum mechanics much to Jackpot's irritation—Jackpot merrily dragged the reluctant Hubcap deeper into the city.

Jackpot wanted to go to the most lawless part of the city, while Hubcap wanted to stay somewhere slightly safer, so they compromised and eventually ended up atThe Blue Deployerin the middle. Hubcap wandered off to gamble while Jackpot was greeted byCryotekwhile ordering a drink at the bar. Later he made his way to the gambling area himself, though more interested in gambling on the roulette wheelcroupierthan at any of the tables.

Eventually he caught up with Hubcap, who was in a high-stakes quantum physics card game withGutcruncher.Jackpot's luck aura clashed with the quantum probabilities, causing Hubcap to lose all of their money. But Gutcruncher was impressed with Hubcap's skills, offering him (and Jackpot as Hubcap's "business consultant" ) a job if they met him at a certain time and location the next day. Though both Autobots were skeptical, Cryotek urged them to go, and their curiosity and need for money won out.

When the two arrived, they realized they had been invited to Gutcruncher leading the "lowtech"gang members of Axiom Nexus in a revolution. Before they could start panicking, an energy shot went past their heads and killed Gutcruncher... and everyone else immediately thought they did it. The two realized they had been set up and made a run for it, Jackpot hanging off the top of Hubcap'saltmode.One of the gang members latched onto Hubcap, and Jackpot kicked him in the face, causing the gang member'splasma blastto go astray and strike a fluid main. As the fluid flushed out the gang members, the two Autobots narrowly outpaced the wave, the resulting geyser launching them to safety.

When they soon discovered the police wanted them now as well, Jackpot convinced Hubcap that they should return toThe Blue Deployer,figuring that was the last place they would be expected to go. Cryotek was unwilling to protect them, however, so Jackpot had a new plan—find the real killer themselves to clear their names. Hubcap thought that was insane, but Jackpot accidentally bumped into a policebot before he could convince Hubcap otherwise. He and Hubcap tried to escape again, but were caught.

The two were interrogated byCheetorandStungun,including Stungun mistakenly assuming Jackpot being anAction Mastermeant he had adrugproblem. The officers knew the two couldn't have assassinated Gutcruncher, but still wanted them in protective custody, so Jackpot had Hubcap smoke Cheetor out by reminding him of "that one time on Antares 3". Jackpot then sent Stungun sprawling with a punch, and he and Hubcap ran off yet again.

I WON A NOSE!

They headed towards theWidow's Cafe Cybertronian,a potential hideout gateway recommended by Cryotek. But once there they got literally tripped up by more gang members, one of whom shot at Jackpot. The shot struck the middle of Jackpot'sidentification boltand ricocheted intoa police officertailing them, sending the officer crashing to the ground. That started a chain reaction which downed a neon sign, electrocuting the gang members. The Autobots left the damaged officer behind as they made yet another run for it.

Jackpot was in bad need of a rest to recover his nucleon andenergonstores by that point, but before they could hide in one of the abandoned buildings in the area, they were approached by Cryotek's flunkyBlack Shadow.Black Shadow revealed that he had killed Gutcruncher and set the two up, and now was going to kill them and throw their bodies to the gangs, so the two split up and ran for it. Jackpot ended up being pursued by Black Shadow'sCrossformershell, and got into a fistfight with it after it chased him into a dead end alleyway.

The fight ended up going badly for Jackpot, and he eventually found himself beaten and completely depleted. But just as the shell was about to execute him, it suddenly cracked apart and crumbled to the ground, due to Hubcap having been able to get the real Black Shadow found out and killed elsewhere. After learning the news from Hubcap, Jackpot strolled confidently out of the alleyway... and bumped right intoOfficer Airazor.

Their names finally cleared of Gutcruncher's assassination, the two were given expedited exit visas toa universe similar to their own,having been classified as "undesirables" after all their antics. Though instead ofCybertronorEarth,theTransTechssent the two Autobots to the backwater planetZegrisinstead. They ended up landing on and taking outKillzone,a Decepticon who had been terrorizing the populace. After finding out why a Decepticon would be interested in a backwater planet, the two were all too happy to help the aliens deal with their millions of tons of horribleexploding pink rocks...Gone Too Far

Classics

Jackpot was contributing to the reconstruction ofIronworkswhen the Autobot base was attacked by evil Autobots fromanother dimension.Invasion

Regeneration One

Around twenty years after the supposed end of thewar,Jackpot found himself on the front lines, defending Cybertron fromBludgeon'sBlitz EnginesalongsideGroove,Guzzle,andRollbar.Destiny, Part Five

Beast Wars: Uprising

Jackpot survived into theBuilder-era on Cybertron, wired into a pillar in his fully owned casino inProximax,dubbed "Sights & Sounds".Whenseveral factionscrossed paths in his city, Jackpot agreed to host a neutral summit for them to work out their differences...in exchange for the access codes to a recently abandonedMCSFfacility nearby, and the Beast Upgrade tech within.Cultural Appropriation

War for Cybertron Trilogymarketing material

I want to tell you about the Transformers! This character article is astuband is missing information on theirfictional appearances.You can helpTransformers Wikibyexpanding it. Golden Disk CollectionChapter 2Golden Disk CollectionChapter 4

2019 IDW continuity

Jackpot worked as a bookie in one ofVelocitron's many bars and took bets during the lead-up to that year'sSpeedia 500.Tread & Circuits Part 2

Toys

The Transformers

Considering the placement of that cannon, I'm not sure I want to know what it fires

• Jackpot with Sights(Action Master,1990)

• Accessories:"Sights partner", "Heat Induced Photon Rifle"
• Known designers:Masakatsu Saito(concept artist)

Part of the second assortment of individually-cardedAction Masters,released in the seventh and final year ofThe Transformersin the US, Jackpot is a non-transforming 3¾-inch action figure of a robot whose design shows elements of a sports-car alternate mode, likely aFerrari Testarossa.His construction is broadly similar to that used by theG.I. Joefigures of the time, having a swivel neck, shoulders and knees, plus ball-jointed hips attached via a steel rod internally secured by a rubber "o-ring". His hands have standard 3 mm holes which allow him to hold any other accessory in the Action Master line, plus his feet have holes in the bottom to secure him to larger vehicles. On top of that, the hole in his back is compatible with5 mm posts.

He comes with his transformingpartnerSights,who can transform into a large cannon Jackpot can hold.

• More information on Jackpot at TFU.info

War for Cybertron: Kingdom

Well, now if you want your Action Masters to transform, you know what to do; toss them into a time vortex.

• Autobot Jackpot / Autobot Sights(Deluxe,2021)

• Chapter 2:...And Out the Other Side
• Accessories:Sights partner, blaster,Fire Blast effect
• Known designers:Mark Maher(Hasbro)^[1]

Part of the second release in the "Golden Disk Collection",War for Cybertron: Kingdom"Autobot Jackpot" is a redeco and retool of theStudio SeriesDeluxe ClassJazzmold, transforming from an unlicensed approximation of a Porsche 935 Turbo into a robot mode based on Jazz's Generation 1 cartoon character model. Jackpot's newly-tooled head is based on his original Action Master toy.

Jackpot comes with a blue redeco of Jazz's photon rifle and "Autobot Sights",a redeco ofPteraxadon.Despite the addition of this $6 toy, the set still cost only $22.99, the nominal MSRP for a Deluxe toy of the time.

A production flaw means that the halves of Jackpot's helmet have slight but significant molding flaws that prevent them from fitting together properly, leaving them uneven and with a prominent vertical seam. Guess he wasn't so lucky. It is possible to carefully pry the head apart and shave down the inner parts to get them to fit together as they should.

Jackpot and Sights were revealed and made available for pre-order onSeptember 28,2021, and were the second of four daily announcements concerning the Golden Disk Collection; as with the other sets in this series, Jackpot's packaging is printed with a portion of aGolden Diskgraphic, and customers are encouraged to collect all four packs to unite the full image. The figure is anAmazonandHasbro Pulseexclusive in theUS,Canada,and theUnited Kingdom.Unlike the other three Golden Disk Collection sets on Amazon US's website, Jackpot was not made available to international customers and would show up as either being "sold out" or "currently unavailable", then available. The reason why only this set was made unavailable for international customers, is unknown.

Despite the scheduled release date being forMarch 1,2022,Amazon Canada started shipping the set inNovember2021,^[2]with Amazon US following suit in very earlyDecember.The original version of this mold was also heavily retooled intoLegacyKnockout.

Notes

• Greg Sepelakhas mentioned that Jackpot's personality in "Gone Too Far"was inspired by" the goofy, gabby, pun-hurlingTony Oliver-voiced version "ofLupin III.^[3]

Foreign names

• Japanese:Jackpot(ジャックポットJakkupotto)
• French:Gros Lot(Canada)
• Italian:Inspector

References