Slash (AOE)

Slash is an Autobot Dinobot from the Age of Extinction portion of the movie continuity family.

Somehow more scientifically progressive than a 2015 movie, despite being a giant robot.

Slash is surprisingly sneaky for a Dinobot. Skilled in the arts of stealth and tracking, he can cut down his target without getting detected or hunt down his next victim with ease. Equipped with cyber scythes in robot mode and claws as a Velociraptor, Slash can fight his way out of a bad situation if things go south.^[1]

Fiction

How to Ride a Dinobot! comic

Slash and the other Dinobots were happily frolicking in a Chinese forest when five Autobots arrived. One of them, Hound, attempted to ride Slash, but the Dinobot immediately sent him flying. Bumblebee then tried to win the Dinobots' favor with a snack of nuts and bolts, which Slash and his allies quickly wolfed down. When Grimlock caught the scent of Decepticons, Slash allowed Hound to ride him into battle to a war-torn city. How to Ride a Dinobot!

Kre-O cartoon

Slash participated in a battle against the Decepticons until Optimus paused the confrontation to talk about the live-action film series. The Autobot leader introduced Slash and the rest of the Dinobots to the audience to wrap-up his recap. Then, a pizza was delivered to the battlefield, and the fighting started up once again. Take Us to the Movies Take Us Through the Movies

Toys

Age of Extinction

Note: Guitar not included.

• Dinobot Slash (One-Step Changer, 2014)

• Japanese ID number: LA08
• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)

Age of Extinction Slash transforms from robot to mechanical Velociraptor in a single step. This is achieved using autotransformation, triggered by folding his robot arms/dinosaur legs. Slash shares his engineering with One-Step Changer Grimlock, but the two are otherwise different molds.

The Japanese release of Slash features extensive silver paint, rendering his Velociraptor mode mostly silver, and has red dino eyes.

• More information on One-Step Changers Slash at TFU.info

For a Dinobot who got cut from the film, I sure seem to have a lot of merchandise, don't I?

• Dinobot Slash (Deluxe Class, 2014)

• Accessories: Two cyber scythes
• Japanese ID number: AD25
• Known designers: Hironori Kobayashi (deco, TakaraTomy)

Age of Extinction Generations Slash transforms from a robot to a mechanical Velociraptor. The feather-spikes on his beast mode arms can remove in robot mode to become his Cyber Scythe weapons, which he can hold via 5mm posts in his robot mode hands.

The figure does have a waist swivel, but it is obstructed by kibble.

The TakaraTomy version, part of the third wave of the Movie Advanced Series, features slightly shinier paint, and has a blue robot visor and black faceplate, as opposed to Hasbro's red and grey.

• More information on Deluxe Slash at TFU.info

Construct-Bots

"Alas, poor Snarl! I knew him, Grimlock."

• Dinobot Slash (Dinobot, 2014)

Slash is part of the second wave of Dinobots and transforms from a blue Velociraptor into a robot. In dinosaur mode, Slash is the right size to be ridden by the smaller 'Dinobot Rider' toys in this line. Like all Construct-Bots Dinobots, Slash features a gear-driven gimmick: spinning the gear on Slash's back causes his dino-mode claws to slash (har-har) up and down in a back-scratching manner.

His nominal Dinobot Rider counterpart is Hound.

Unlike the other Movie Dinobots who have a corresponding Construct-Bots counterpart, Slash's head sculpt is entirely different from his Age of Extinction Generations release. Interestingly, this head is very reminiscent of fellow raptor-bot Dinobot.

The photo on the right is built wrong; his foot-claw pieces are on upside down.

• More information on Construct-Bots Slash at TFU.info

Kre-O

• Lockdown Air Raid (2014)

• Set number: A6956
• Pieces: 203
• Kreons: Hound, Lockdown, Sideswipe.

The Lockdown Air Raid set includes a buildable Dinobot Slash. A "Dino Force" magnet allows him to chomp down on Kreons equipped with ferrous-metal backpacks.

• Galvatron Factory Battle (2014)

• Set number: A6952
• Pieces: 388
• Kreons: Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Vehicon, Dr. Littleman, 2 KSI workers.

The Galvatron Factory Battle includes a similar buildable Slash to Lockdown Air Raid, but he now has blue pieces instead of yellow, and a differently built tail featuring a missile launcher.

• More information on Galvatron Factory Battle Slash at TFU.info

The Last Knight

• Dinobot Slash (Deluxe Class, 2017)

• Accessories: Two Cyber Scythes
• Japanese ID number: TLK-04
• Japanese release date: 2017-04-29
• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)

A redeco of the previous Age of Extinction Deluxe figure, The Last Knight "Premier Edition" Slash once again transforms into a rather mean looking robotic Velociraptor and back.

Along with most The Last Knight Wave 1 Deluxes, Slash is a shelfwarmer.

Notes

• Velociraptor Dinobots were at one stage planned to appear in the Age of Extinction film, with concept art depicting a large number of them charging into Hong Kong alongside Scorn.^[2] Multiple colorations of these are known; one which was silver and gray, one which was blue and brown, one which was brown and gray. Slash's toy design is based on these pieces of concept artwork; the deco seems closest to the blue-ish version, though the toy's beast mode eyes are red instead of green, and the brown has also been replaced by green. One piece of concept art portrays the proto-Slash with buzzsaws on its legs!
• Some tie-in material seems to indicate that if Slash had appeared in the movie, he would have been paired with Hound, the only Autobot in the finished movie who doesn't have his own Dinobot partner.
• Slash also has the distinction of being the only Dinobot who does not appear in the film to receive a Construct-Bots and recognizable Kre-O figure on top of a Generations release. This, along with his appearances in some promotional material and multiple pieces of concept art, might indicate that he was scrapped later on in production than Slog or Snarl were.
• An online bio was written for Slash that refers to the character as female, but it was never published.^[3] Other materials establish this incarnation of Slash as male. Regardless, the designer intent is referenced in the bio for the Power of the Primes incarnation.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Slash (スラッシュ Surasshu)
• Mandarin: Kǎnshā (Taiwan, 砍殺, "Slash" or "Slaughter")

References