Spacewarp Unreleased Space Team

Original release date: Unreleased

Near the conclusion of the Transformers: Universe line of recolors, there had been plans to release a variety of toys that never made it into production, among them a recolored Armada Jetfire colored in purple and black as an homage to G1 Astrotrain and called "Spacewarp." The idea for the toy was later made into a TFCC exclusive with a newly refined color scheme and remolded head, this time actually called Astrotrain. However, the original Space Team recolor planned to accompany Spacewarp never saw the light of day, as Astrotrain ended up being accompanied by recolors of the newer Giant Planet Mini-cons from TF: Cybertron. Although never released, a tiny number of the teams were produced as samples along with Spacewarp while the production was still being planned.

The set is colored rather peculiarly for a space-themed team in red, pea green, and light blue. They don't appear as if they would have been a very good match for the purple/black Spacewarp. However, the color scheme seems at least creative when viewed invidually, far more exciting than the planned Energon Ultra Magnus Street Speed Team which were very similar to Takara's first DVD-exclusive team. (Although some have speculated this was the reason for the Steet Speed recolor cancellation, it remains unclear if there was any actual connection.) The other two teams of Mini-cons known to have been planned but not released were carded recolors of the Space Team (different than the Spacewarp set), and the Adventure Team.

Judging by the fact that virtually no Micron collectors own them and that they never seem to show up for auction, only a handful of each unreleased team appear to exist. They provide a daunting challenge for Micron lovers who have already conquered the most challenging of limited release items such as the Space Galaxy team and contest edition Microns. The pictures accompanying this entry are from my personal collection.