Jackpot (G1)

Jackpot is an Autobot Action Master from the Generation 1 continuity family.

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

Jackpot seems 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 a Decepticon guard 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 avian partner Sights to scout out information beforehand. Of course, some are just waiting for the day Jackpot's luck runs out... which might have disastrous results for the Autobot.

Jackpot has a big thing for fembots (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 the Garrus-9 penal colony. He and Rad were the ones to haul Impactor away after the (now former) leader of the Wreckers was found guilty of murdering several prisoners of war. Last Stand of the Wreckers #5 Much later, he was still there when Banzai-Tron raided the prison and was caught in an explosion during the first salvo. Spotlight: Arcee

Jackpot was among the Autobots who fled from Kimia Facility when Galvatron's minions attacked, and later listened to Arcee and Hardhead tell 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 the Lost Light. Life After the Big Bang Later, he ran into Ultra Magnus and simply swatted aside the latter's remark about his crooked badge. Jackpot then attended Tailgate's Autobot initiation ceremony where he placed bets with Brainstorm, Chromedome, and Rewind about how long it would take Rodimus to say his famous "'Til all are one" line. You, Me, and Other Revelations He was among the crew members who responded to Overlord's rampage through the ship. Under Cold Blue Stars When Swerve's was wrecked in a Legislator attack, Jackpot helped cleaned it up, discovering the deactivated Legislator that would become Ten in the progress. No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases

Following the Lost 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 Air Alongside the rest of the crew he abandoned ship when the Lost Light began disappearing into nothing piece by piece. Predestination: A Beginner's Guide

On the on-course quantum duplicate of the Lost Light, the quantum duplicate of Jackpot was killed by the Decepticon Justice Division and had his transformation cog harvested by Tarn. slaughterhouse

Later on the regular Lost Light, Jackpot was seen drinking in Swerve's with Rollout, The Lopsided Triangle and again once Thunderclash was (temporarily) back on his feet. Filling in the Blanks

Damages Primus and is killed by Thunderclash? He IS lucky.

As one of many crew members unhappy with their lack of progress and Megatron's presence on their ship, Jackpot supported Getaway's mutiny that saw Rodimus and his closest circle removed from the vessel. How Bright Their Frail Deeds It was Jackpot who sabotaged the Rodpod so that its teleport drive only held enough charge for a one-way trip, abandoning Megatron and his "fan club" on Necroworld. 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 by Sunder on 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 Blanks He gave this version of events to First Aid when the Protectobots reconnected with the ship. Full Circle He was also on the bridge when Perceptor tested use of the Warren to shortcut through space and time, and the Lost Light finally found Cyberutopia. Journey's End

Except, they didn't. Cyberutopia was nothing more than a holographic sham, an the Lost Light was soon confronted by the Phantom Fleet of the Grand Architect. Getaway sold out his crew to save his own neck, allowing Jackpot and the others to be subjected to a Sparkeater virus by Scorponok, 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 melted Rung's arm off, Thunderclash shot and seemingly killed him. A Dance Before Dying

TransTech

When Jackpot and Hubcap arrived on Axiom Nexus via a space bridge accident, they both were processed, given identification cards and bolts, and sent out with their guide Scattorshot. 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 at The Blue Deployer in the middle. Hubcap wandered off to gamble while Jackpot was greeted by Cryotek while ordering a drink at the bar. Later he made his way to the gambling area himself, though more interested in gambling on the roulette wheel croupier than at any of the tables.

Eventually he caught up with Hubcap, who was in a high-stakes quantum physics card game with Gutcruncher. 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's altmode. One of the gang members latched onto Hubcap, and Jackpot kicked him in the face, causing the gang member's plasma blast to 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 to The 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 by Cheetor and Stungun, including Stungun mistakenly assuming Jackpot being an Action Master meant he had a drug problem. 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 the Widow'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's identification bolt and ricocheted into a police officer tailing 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 and energon stores by that point, but before they could hide in one of the abandoned buildings in the area, they were approached by Cryotek's flunky Black 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's Crossformer shell, 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 into Officer Airazor.

Their names finally cleared of Gutcruncher's assassination, the two were given expedited exit visas to a universe similar to their own, having been classified as "undesirables" after all their antics. Though instead of Cybertron or Earth, the TransTechs sent the two Autobots to the backwater planet Zegris instead. They ended up landing on and taking out Killzone, 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 horrible exploding pink rocks... Gone Too Far

Classics

Jackpot was contributing to the reconstruction of Ironworks when the Autobot base was attacked by evil Autobots from another dimension. Invasion

Regeneration One

Around twenty years after the supposed end of the war, Jackpot found himself on the front lines, defending Cybertron from Bludgeon's Blitz Engines alongside Groove, Guzzle, and Rollbar. Destiny, Part Five

Beast Wars: Uprising

Jackpot survived into the Builder-era on Cybertron, wired into a pillar in his fully owned casino in Proximax, dubbed "Sights & Sounds". When several factions crossed 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 abandoned MCSF facility nearby, and the Beast Upgrade tech within. Cultural Appropriation

War for Cybertron Trilogy marketing material

I want to tell you about the Transformers! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their fictional appearances. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it. Golden Disk Collection Chapter 2 Golden Disk Collection Chapter 4

2019 IDW continuity

Jackpot worked as a bookie in one of Velocitron's many bars and took bets during the lead-up to that year's Speedia 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-carded Action Masters, released in the seventh and final year of The Transformers in 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 a Ferrari Testarossa. His construction is broadly similar to that used by the G.I. Joe figures 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 with 5 mm posts.

He comes with his transforming partner Sights, 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 the Studio Series Deluxe Class Jazz mold, 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 of Pteraxadon. 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 on September 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 a Golden Disk graphic, and customers are encouraged to collect all four packs to unite the full image. The figure is an Amazon and Hasbro Pulse exclusive in the US, Canada, and the United 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 for March 1, 2022, Amazon Canada started shipping the set in November 2021,^[2] with Amazon US following suit in very early December. The original version of this mold was also heavily retooled into Legacy Knockout.

Notes

• Greg Sepelak has mentioned that Jackpot's personality in "Gone Too Far" was inspired by "the goofy, gabby, pun-hurling Tony Oliver-voiced version" of Lupin III.^[3]

Foreign names

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

References