Jazz (G1)


 * Jazz is an Autobot in the Generation 1 continuity family. He is also known as Meister.



Jazz is Optimus Prime's right-hand man. Unlike Prowl, Prime's military strategist, Jazz responds well to change and improvisation. Whatever surprises the Decepticons spring, Jazz can deal with it. His position as Special Operations head calls for all the skills he possesses, yet he still has time to add some style to everything he does.

An admirer of Earth music of every kind, Jazz loves culture. More than most other Autobots, he has his finger on the pulse of Earth trends and lingo. Chances are, Jazz could tell you the status of almost any reality television show and each week's Top 40 list.

Jazz's personality makes him well-liked among the others of the Ark crew, especially Bumblebee. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find an Autobot who doesn't like or admire Jazz. Except perhaps Grimlock, who doesn't like anyone anyway.


 * Nickname: Coolsville
 * Preliminary name: Jazzz
 * Portuguese name (Brazil comics): Lero-Lero
 * Japanese name: Meister
 * French-Canadian name: Saxo
 * Italian name: Tigre
 * RTM1 dub name: Marshall

Generation 1


Before Optimus became leader, Jazz was part of the self-styled Magnificent Six, a team of Autobot warriors who would be tortured and humiliated by the sadistic Megadeath.

Jazz was one of the Autobots who crashed on Earth four million years ago, waking up in 1984. Jazz showed an affinity with human pop culture almost immediately, responding to Prowl's non sequitur assertion that his "logic center dictates the most advantageous course of action in any situation" with "Well, that is neat-o, Prowl."

Jazz's first foray into action came when the Decepticons attacked him and his fellow Autobots at Witwicky Auto Repairs, resulting in the kidnapping of Sparkplug Witwicky. Later, when Sparkplug was rescued and it was learned that the auto repairman had devised a way for the Decepticons to convert Earth fuel into a usable resource, the Autobots were enraged. Jazz shot a stream of fire to prevent Sparkplug's escape, causing the human to suffer a heart attack.

''It was discovered that after the Autobots crash-landed on Earth, a rescue ship was sent after them which was buried somewhere in England. The Man of Iron, one of its crew, had awakened a number of times in England's history and had become a local legend. Jazz, along with Trailbreaker, Mirage, and Bluestreak, were dispatched to England under Optimus Prime's supervision. Jazz befriended (and kidnapped) a young boy, Tommy Harker, whose dad worked at the castle where the Autobot rescue ship had been partially unearthed. After questioning the boy, it became apparent that the rescue ship must be destroyed. At the climax of a battle with the Decepticons over the buried ship, Jazz fired his weaponry down into it, and it was pulverized.''



''Jazz later was Christmas shopping with Buster Witwicky when he was attacked by Circuit Breaker. However, Buster's pleas and the spirit of Christmas prevented her from killing him.''

''Later, Jazz took part in a mission in England to find a power source that reversed Transformers' personalities. Jazz eventually ended up destroying the Core of Pard during a battle with Starscream.''

''Jazz spent three weeks in a shipping container in order to get to Skagway, Alaska unnoticed by the Constructicons. Hoist then became stuck while scouting the base, and Jazz suffered brain damage while coming to his aid. Hoist was forced to drag the uncooperative, bewildered Jazz through hostile territory to safety. The damage was repairable.''

''When Galvatron time-jumped to 1986, Jazz was sent to scout out Decepticon territory and was captured. He was then used as bait to draw the Autobots into an ambush and was told of Galvatron's origin before his brain was operated on to turn him into a murderous zombie-soldier. He was used against his fellow Autobots and needed severe repairs afterward.''

Jazz was one of dozens killed in the Underbase battle and would later be resurrected by Ratchet as a Classic Pretender. He, Bumblebee and Grimlock emboldened the Autobot resistance before being sent back to Earth, but the actions of the Mayhem Attack Squad caused them to end up in the center of Cybertron, at the face of the sleeping Primus. The end result was Primus being awoken and, as a result, Unicron heading for their world. Jazz was part of the team sent to VsQs to retrieve the Creation Matrix during the Matrix Quest but was defeated by Thunderwing. He fought in the battle against Unicron, and was briefly rear-ended by a speeding Siren

In an alternate future of 2009, Jazz was one of the last seven Autobots left alive in the universe. After the destruction of Cybertron and the death of Rodimus Prime, North America was left completely under the control of Galvatron and the Decepticons. With the rest of the world united as a European Crisis Coalition, Jazz and the human leader, Spike Witwicky, were left with a 24-hour deadline to show the world America was still fighting. If they didn't, the remaining human governments were going to unleash nuclear armageddon in a last-ditch effort to eliminate the Decepticons. With little time to spare, the few Autobots left staged an assault on the Decepticon powerbase. Getaway, Chainclaw and Guzzle made a suicidal play to keep the most powerful Decepticons, Scourge and Cyclonus, occupied, while Crossblades sacrificed his life to let Jazz and the others in through the base's force field. Forced to fight Galvatron himself single-handedly, Jazz held out long enough for Spike to scale the base's tower and unfurl an American flag, showing the world outside that there was still fight left in the U.S. of A. As if to punctuate that point further, the heralds of Unicron known as Hook, Line, and Sinker suddenly arrived from cross- and down-time, disabling Galvatron in moments and then vanishing with him in a flash of light. Shocked by his sudden good fortune, Jazz led his two remaining comrades, Prowl and Inferno, in a renewed effort to save the human race.

Earthforce
When Optimus Prime took the Ark'' out into space and named Grimlock as Autobot Commander of Earth, Jazz chose to remain on Earth under his Dino-buddy's leadership as part of Earthforce. His first mission was to recover the poison gas Megatron had planned to seed in Earth's atmosphere by rocket. He and Sunstreaker raced to the site where Prowl had forced the rocket to crash, hoping to beat the two Decepticon factions to it before they could recover the poison. They failed, as both the Battlechargers and the Stunticons got there ahead of them. Jazz was ready to risk fighting through the 'Cons, but Prowl showed up and pulled him aside. It seemed Prowl had already had plenty of time to render the rocket harmless, and now the Decepticons were fighting over a useless contraption! ''

''On another occasion, Jazz joined Sunstreaker, Ironhide and Bumblebee in infiltrating the Decepticon Enclave. They arranged a fake assassination attempt against Megatron, and framed Shockwave's men for it. The feuding that followed carried the Decepticons out of the cave where they were holding their detente, and so Jazz and the others took the opportunity to listen to their music and eat their munchies. Partee! Later, he also joined Earthforce and the Survivors in bringing down the Mayhem Attack Squad. He scored an impressive hit against Bludgeon, paying him back for past indignities that probably did not or would not happen in this timeline. ''

When Wheeljack unveiled his new defense system for the Autobot Earthbase, he forgot to keep track of the little details, like how it wasn't a good idea to bring everyone outside for a demonstration when the defense grid could only be turned off from inside the base.'' As Prowl ran the gauntlet to reach the shutdown control center, Jazz and Bumblebee ran interference for him, drawing the fire from some of the defensive cannons to clear his path. Soon after, he helped repel a Decepticon attack on the Earthbase, while their defenses were still down from the earlier incident. ''

''As time passed, one Decepticon named Octane began making even more trouble among the humans than his fellow soldiers. A bully by nature, Octane enjoyed "playing" with humans, scaring them on the highways before ultimately driving them off the roads. Fed up with the Decepticon's antics, Jazz posed as a human vehicle and presented himself as bait. By eluding Octane's attempts to run him down, Jazz enraged the Decepticon to the point where he chased his "prey" without paying attention to where they were going, and so Octane ended up stranded in the middle of a military testing ground, chock full of inflammable fuel, and running the risk of exploding at any second. As Jazz watched from a nearby hilltop, the icing on the cake came when Octane radioed his fellow Triple Changers for help, and instead they abandoned him after hearing how he got himself into the mess. ''

''After training in the Combat Room with Ironhide, Jazz was called into action when the Stunticons kidnapped the Autobots' reporter friend, Irwin Spoon, and he joined his fellow cars in chasing down Motormaster. Jazz managed to get close enough to transform and shoot out the Stunticon leader's rear tires, but this gave Breakdown a chance to ram his legs out from under him as well. Still, Bumblebee and Tracks managed to catch up to the slowed Motormaster and recover Spoon. ''

''Jazz, along with Silverbolt and the remaining Magnificent Six, was sent in 1990 to recover any traces of the Underbase in Yuss, where they'd run afoul of Megadeath. They re-encountered their old enemy and were tortured by their memories, and it was up to Silverbolt to convince them to fight on. Jazz helped beat Megadeath to death, exorcising his demons. 

Marvel UK future timelines
''Jazz was present in 1995 at the California football stadium where Optimus Prime unveiled Arcee to a group of human feminists as the "first female Autobot". Observing Prime's misguided efforts to placate the interest group, Jazz tried to explain to Hot Rod the difference between human men and women, but only ended up offending one of the women while describing her "upper chassis". ''

''In 2007, after the defeat of Unicron, the Autobots were trying hard to defend their territory from Shockwave's Decepticons. Jazz was seen working with Ultra Magnus, ambushing a team of Decepticon flyers when they made an assassination attempt on Rodimus Prime. ''

Generation 2
Before the Autobots broke off into micro-units after Klo, they had another encounter with Bludgeon's Decepticons on a long abandoned world. Jazz was part of that unit alongside Prime and the others. He separated from the rest of the Autobots for a time but, when Optimus Prime and Grimlock discovered the threat of the Cybertronian Empire, they called in Autobots scattered across the galaxy, including Jazz. He was first seen as part of the rescue squad Grimlock assembled to pull Prime out of Decepticon clutches on Earth. Jazz remained involved, if peripherally, in the conflicts with the Cybertronian Empire on Ethos and Earth over the coming days. When Autobots and Decepticons alike joined forces to defend against the coming Swarm, Jazz worked with Rotor Force member Powerdive to assemble the shield generators that would protect their position.

Generation 2 (UK)
When Bludgeon began his assault on Earth, Optimus Prime was summoned back to the planet by Grimlock and brought Jazz, Skram, and Sideswipe with him. While Prime confronted Bludgeon directly, Jazz and his operatives engaged another detachment of Decepticons. Despite their small numbers, Jazz's team defeated their more plentiful opponents thanks to the fact that the 'Cons were operating on reduced power levels. Too much prolonged death and destruction takes its toll. They then joined up with Optimus and the Dinobots to drive off the returning Megatron as well.

American cartoon continuity

 * Voice Actor: Scatman Crothers, Wally Burr (US), Kōki Kataoka (Japan)



Blacker than the inside of a drive shaft—that's how Jazz described the north side of Cybertron. The slang-talking operations specialist was on a recon mission to ascertain Cybertron's bleak energy reserves, and his reports are what prompted the Autobot mission to search for new sources of energy outside of their home world. Jazz served as pilot for the Ark until severe asteroid turbulence knocked him from his seat. The Decepticons took advantage of the confusion and attacked, and both vessels and parties crash-landed on Earth.

Four million years later, in 1984, the Autobots and Decepticons awoke reformatted to fit in on the planet. Jazz traded in his sleek Cybertronian form for an even sleeker Porsche 935 Turbo mode. As a lieutenant to Optimus Prime, Jazz was charged with assembling task forces and special mission teams to counter the Decepticon threat. Jazz accompanied the first mission to an offshore oil rig, where his wrist-mounted grappling hook and winch came in handy saving Optimus Prime. He used the same line to stop Prime from riding the rapids at Sherman Dam and to pull Bluestreak and Ironhide from an unscheduled lake swim.



Throughout their stay on Earth, Jazz was seen giving orders and accompanying Optimus Prime on almost any mission they undertook. He also actually used his light and sound show attack on at least two occasions. In addition, he helped liberate the people of Titan from subjugation by Decepticons pretending to be gods and appeared particularly horrified at the Decepticons' use of religious enslavement.

By 2005, those dang Decepti-jerks had overtaken all of Cybertron, forcing the Autobots to operate on Moonbase One, Moonbase Two and Autobot City on Earth. Though most of the Autobots' senior command staff were killed as a result of the Decepticons' attack on the city, Jazz remained on Moonbase One, where he and Cliffjumper survived. Bad news was, the ginormous Unicron arrived, and subsequently ate both moons. Fortunately, Jazz, Cliffjumper, Spike, and Bumblebee were spared when Spike's son Daniel saved them from being dropped in an acid pit. Jazz and the other Autobots drove out of Unicron (and through space) and arrived on Cybertron, where he joined in the chanting of "'Til all are one" as Unicron's severed head orbited Cybertron.

Dreamwave comics continuity
8.2 million years ago, Jazz and Prowl met Grimlock in the remains of Praxus's Helix Gardens to discuss the worthiness of Optronix to lead the Autobots. Jazz later attended the Matrix-transfer ceremony at the Chamber of the Ancients. He attempted to save Optronix—now Optimus Prime—when Prime was attacked by Decepticons, but was restrained by Grimlock. When Prime defeated the assassins, Jazz was convinced of his worth.

Soon afterward, Jazz questioned Prowl's decision to allow Prime to explore the depths of the planet alone, but was prevented from pressing the issue any further when Shockwave attacked Iacon with an army of Decepticons. Jazz helped direct the battle from the Decagon, but the defenders were soon overwhelmed. Jazz was forced to begin evacuating important artifacts and hardware from the city, but was unable to finish before the Decepticons overran the Decagon. He and a handful of Autobots made a desperate last stand, but were saved from extinction when Starscream activated the planetary engines, devastating the city and forcing Shockwave's army to retreat.

7.4 million years ago, Jazz witnessed the space bridge explosion that seemingly killed Prime and Megatron. After the subsequent fragmentation of the Autobot faction, Jazz remained with the Prowl-led Autobots. He accompanied a group of Autobots to investigate a new mobile battle base at the Praetorus Wharf, only to learn that the base was fully operational. Despite the arrival of reinforcements, the titan was too much for Jazz and his cohorts; only when Shockwave recalled Trypticon to the Neutral Territories were they saved them from certain doom.

Battered, Jazz and the others limped back to Iacon, only to be forced to repel an attack on Autobase by the Fallen. Although Jazz, Mirage, and Sunstreaker fought valiantly, the mysterious entity defeated them and achieved his objective: freeing Blitzwing from captivity.

Jazz was among the crew of the Ark when it crashed on Earth, and he awoke in 1984 to battle the Decepticons. After years of fighting, Jazz and the other Autobots took part in Operation: Liberation in 1998, a joint human/Autobot operation that defeated and captured the Earth-bound Decepticons. However, the Ark II, which was meant to convey the Autobots, the captured Decepticons, and a number of humans back to Cybertron, was sabotaged by General Robert Hallo, sending Jazz and his comrades to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.

A few years later, Optimus Prime awoke Jazz and a number of other Autobots to combat the sinister Lazarus. He aided in the cleanup of Lazarus's latest target, the SmitCo oil refinery, and then moved on to Lazarus's base, which had been taken over by a revived Megatron and his deadly "metal virus". Jazz and the others briefly battled the Decepticons, but were stopped in their tracks when Hallo dropped a nuclear bomb on them. The virus absorbed most of the blast, leaving the Transformers unharmed, but continued to expand across the countryside. Jazz remained behind with a team to combat the virus, while Optimus Prime took a contingent of warriors to combat Megatron in San Francisco. Armed with Wheeljack-designed blasters to combat the virus, Jazz and his squad fought bravely, despite the blasters draining their energy and the well-meaning interference of the Canadian Army. But soon the virus overwhelmed them, forcing Wheeljack to sacrifice himself to destroy it. Jazz mourned over Wheeljack's fallen form.

Some time later, Jazz participated in a battle in Alaska over possession of an escape pod containing Scourge, only to be forced to flee with the other Autobots when Shockwave arrived from Cybertron, proclaiming a new era of peace. While Optimus Prime and a number of other Autobots surrendered to Shockwave's lieutenant, Ultra Magnus, Jazz was left behind on Earth to command a small team of Autobots. After Magnus and Prime had departed, Jazz, Brawn, and Windcharger returned to the battlefield, but found no trace of the pod or Scourge.

When Starscream returned to Earth with a small unit of Decepticons, Jazz and his team fought back against them and managed to capture most of the invaders. Starscream's enforcer Bruticus, however, proved to be too much for them to handle, and Jazz was deactivated and left to rust at the bottom of a lake by the mighty super-robot. He was eventually fished out by Warpath and Bumper (who had arrived from Cybertron with Bumblebee with supplies), but they were waylaid by Earth Defense Command. The EDC completed the repairs on Jazz, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe themselves, and asked a favor in return: for the Autobots to accompany their agents in investigating a small town which mysteriously went off the grid a few days ago. Teamed with Marissa Faireborn, they uncovered a plot by Bombshell and the Insecticons to take over the humans with cerebro-shells and breed a swarm of techno-organic Insecticlones. The Insecticons were defeated and captured by the Autobot forces.

Binaltech continuity
When the Decepticons began to infiltrate the Binaltech project, Jazz volunteered to uncover how the enemy had managed to co-opt several new Autobot bodies for themselves. Working with several members of Earth Defense Command on this counter-intelligence endeavor, nicknamed "Operation: Carwash", Jazz decided to undergo the Binaltech process in secret himself in order to keep an eye on the programs better. To aid him on his special operations missions, Jazz also adopted a variation on the Genetronic Translink tech into his new body, enabling him to communicate with and direct a second autonomous body. Gifted with a self-developing artificial intelligence based on his own personality, this secondary Transformer was nicknamed "Zoom-Zoom" by Jazz, and the two began operating as a highly skilled combat duo on Earth.

IDW comics continuity
What appears to be a pre-war Jazz was a member of the Kaon Security Services, where he spent many an hour being bored to death by Prowl. How little things change.

Jazz is part of a detachment of Autobots that has operated covertly on Earth for at least four years, attempting to foil a Decepticon insurgency. His role within the Autobot detachment has not been revealed as of yet. He got a crash course in Earth culture from Verity Carlo and her friends, and was surprised to find the emotionless, dead-eyed fixed smile on his holomatter avatar creeped people out. He and Wheeljack were attacked by Machination agents when trying to locate (what was thought to be at the time) Sunstreaker's remains, but survived. He later participated in the battle with Decepticons at Brasnya.

Jazz was aboard the Ark-19 when it was shot down by Sixshot and he was seriously injured by the Decepticon "living weapon" during the subsequent battle - Sixshot tore off his left arm with apparent ease. He was still injured when Optimus Prime ordered the Autobots to leave Earth for Garrus-9.

A year later, he was serving in a high command position; Optimus was severely injured and the Autobots were hiding on Cybertron, so whatever put him in this role wasn't fun. Prowl brought him some bad news which left Jazz despondent.

Generation 1

 * Jazz (Autobot Car, 1984/1985/2002/2003/2008)
 * Japanese ID number: C-06, TFC-01




 * Jazz was part of the original assortment of Autobots released in 1984. He transforms into a Martini Racing Porsche 935 Turbo.  In robot mode, he is armed with a silver "photon rifle" and a shoulder-mounted, spring-loaded rocket launcher that can fire three silver missiles.


 * A slight variation of this toy, with different decals on the car doors, was available as a mail-away exclusive offer from Cookie Crisp cereal.


 * This mold was also used to make the pre-Transformers Diaclone Porsche 935 Turbo and Ricochet.


 * Jazz (Pretender Classic, 1989)


 * Jazz (Legend, 1989)


 * Jazz w/ Turbo Board (Action Master, 1990)




 * Action Master Jazz's sculpt was based upon his cartoon model, but with some of the toy details added in. As with most Action Master figures, he cannot transform, but his Turbo Board partner can transform from a skateboard into a large blaster weapon.  Jazz was part of the first wave of individual Action Master figures.


 * There are reportedly several minor variations of this figure, all regarding the color of his headlights. Some have them unpainted, while others are light blue or greenish-blue.


 * Meister (2003)


 * An e-Hobby exclusive, sold with the "anime version" of Bluestreak, this version of reissue Jazz is almost entirely constructed of vacuum-metalized gold plastic, based on Jazz's electrum-covered appearance in "The Golden Lagoon". Fingerprints and chipping, ahoy!

Generation 2

 * Jazz (Autobot Car, 1993)




 * Generation 2 Jazz is a slight retool and redeco of the original toy. His face (apparently degraded from mold usage) now has a strange smirk. His roof has been retooled with a small hole to accommodate his new bright green, spring-loaded missile launcher. The launcher was not created for the Generation 2 line, but came from the Snow Serpent from the G.I. Joe toyline.  All of his Martini racing stickers have been replaced with various new stickers depicting his name and the number '1' laid over a rainbow-colored musical note.


 * This mold became the basis for future reissues of Jazz, complete with his smirk.

Unreleased

 * Jazz (Laser Cycle)

Universe

 * Autobot Jazz (Spy Changer, 2004)

Smallest Transforming Transformers

 * Meister (2004)


 * World's Smallest Transformers Jazz is a tiny replica of the original toy. His wheels do not roll, and he has a simplified transformation scheme.

Alternators

 * Meister Mazda RX-8 (Alternator, 2004/2006)
 * Alternator ID number: 7
 * Japanese ID number: BT-08

"Do it with style or don't do it at all"




 * Alternators Meister transforms into a highly accurate 1:24 scale Mazda RX-8. He features an opening hood with engine, opening "suicide" doors and trunk with a realistic interior.  In robot mode, he is sculpted to resemble both the original G1 Jazz toy and the G1 cartoon model.  He is armed with a rifle that transforms from his muffler.


 * This mold was also used to make Zoom-Zoom and was retooled into a Mazdaspeed RX-8 as Shockblast and Meister


 * Meister (Binaltech, 2008)
 * Japanese ID number: BT-20
 * Accessories: Muffler-blaster


 * This version of Meister utilizes the "Mazdaspeed Version II" remolded RX-8 body introduced with Shockblast (Laserwave), but using the original Meister head and a traditional left arm. It is touted as a "Movie Version", somewhat resembling the look of Movie Jazz, due to its silver paint job, and is slated for introduction in June 2008.

Titanium Series

 * Autobot Jazz (Robot Masters, 2006)




 * Titanium Jazz is a small, 3" non-transformable die-cast metal figurine based upon his Alternators design. He has articulation in his waist, shoulders and head.

Attacktix

 * Autobot Jazz

Universe (2008)

 * Autobot Jazz (Legends Class, 2008)

Robot Heroes

 * Autobot Jazz (Heroes of Cybertron, 2003)

This PVC figure was based on the cartoon rendition of Jazz.

Trivia



 * A commercial for Transformers reflective iron-on patches advertised the "Prizes in Disguise" competition. One of the prizes was a party with "life-size" Transformers!  Among the "life-size" Transformers shown were Jazz and Skywarp.  If you actually did party with Jazz and Skywarp, please let us know.  So far, only a certain "Starscreamer89" has reported going partying with them.
 * Jazz is one of the main characters in the series up to season three, when he started making only a few cameos with no lines. This is because Scatman Crothers, who voiced Jazz, died not long after The Transformers: The Movie (which takes place between seasons 2 and 3) finished production.  He is given speaking lines and more on-screen time, however, in the Japanese-exclusive The Headmasters. A character from the first episode of the third season, named Munka Spanka, has Jazz's likeness.  Many fans affirm that this strangely named robot was probably initially Jazz, but was renamed after the death of Crothers.
 * Scatman Crothers (as Jazz) is often credited as having coined the term "ginormous" (a combination of "gigantic" and "enormous") when using it to describe Unicron in The Transformers: The Movie, a term which was officially added by the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary in 2007 ; however, the term has actually been around for much longer, being listed in the Oxford English Dictionary as a "British informal" word that has existed since at least the mid-20th century.
 * His real name is unpronounceable in English, so just call him Jazz.
 * In recent years, toys sporting the name "Jazz" require an additional "Autobot" prefix for trademark reasons, hence making the official name "Autobot Jazz".
 * The first toy planned for the Alternators line was Jazz as a Porsche 986. A prototype was made, but Porsche refused to grant Hasbro and Takara the license, stating that "Transformers are not worthy [of] carrying the Porsche trademark. They are war machines, and the toyline in no way represents the lifestyle and ideas which Porsche represents." As a consequence, the toy ultimately never went into production.  Photos of the prototype were depicted in the Japanese book The Transformers: Binaltech & TF Collection Complete Guide, and Hasbro later also displayed the prototype during the BotCon 2007 Hasbro Tour.
 * The Alternators Mazda RX-8 (which ultimately ended up as Meister) was originally intended to be named "Camshaft", according to various early store listings and a premature reply from Hasbro's customer service. This would also fit with the early idea of making the Alternators toys "direct updates" of their characters' G1 predecessors. A prototype was leaked to the public in early 2004 sporting the same basic colors as the later Alternators "Autobot Camshaft" toy (the Acura RSX), although it's uncertain whether the prototype colors for the RX-8 were supposed to be indicative of the proposed colors for Camshaft (since the Acura redeco was originally intended as a G1 Bluestreak homage before being renamed into "Autobot Camshaft"). The reason why the RX-8 Alternator was ultimately not named "Camshaft" was apparently because the real-life Mazda RX-8 car doesn't have a camshaft. The irony is staggering, as Camshaft's original toy was an RX-7, which ALSO lacks a camshaft.
 * Furthermore, there have been at least two different reasons stated why the Hasbro toy was named "Meister" rather than "Autobot Jazz": For once, Hasbro was still hoping that Porsche would have a change of mind and grant them the license after all, as Chevrolet had done; also, Aaron Archer has been quoted stating that he thought a third toy named "Autobot someone" following "Autobot Hound" and "Autobot Tracks" would have been somewhat "redundant".
 * Jazz went through a slight redesign in IDW's G1 comics, going from more G1-looking legs in Infiltration (car kibble mainly on the back and sides) to more Alternators-like legs in Escalation (with the rear bumper forming the feet and such).