Starcatcher is the Mini-Con partner to the spacefaring bounty hunter Astrotrain. How the promising young scientist ended up partnered with Astrotrain is anyone's guess, because he's sure not talking.
Having experienced the wealth that comes from the bounty hunting lifestyle, Starcatcher is all too eager to aid Astrotrain and the Sabotage Team in their pan-galactic profiteering. [1]
Starcatcher and the Astro-troops were the loyal agents of Astrotrain, working with him on a variety of mercenary jobs. They were hired by Cannonball of the starship Kalis' Lament to recover a Force Chip from some Autobots on Sandokan. Starcatcher didn't trust Cannonball to keep his end of the bargain, but cheered up when Astrotrain told him they wouldn't be honoring the agreement either.
Astrotrain and the Mini-Cons attempted to enter Sandokan's atmosphere undetected, but the heat from their reentry drew enemy attention...and firepower. Starcatcher and the Mini-Cons bailed out of Astrotrain, drawing fire and unleashing their own weapons as a counter-offensive. Starcatcher's particle beam cannon, combined with the other assaults, distracted their attacker long enough for Astrotrain to reach the planet below. The creature, known as Synthos, may have been too powerful for them to handle, and so Astrotrain manipulated the monster into agreeing to a truce.
Starcatcher and his comrades took off after the Autobots and their Force Chip, catching up with them at a nearby cave. While Astrotrain engaged the Autobots outside, Starcatcher and the Mini-Cons entered the cave and dispatched the unwary Autobots within, stealing the Force Chip. Returning to Synthos, they attempted to force him to give over the Dark Heart of Sandokan which empowered him, but another battle ensued. Starcatcher and the Mini-Cons powerlinxed with Astrotrain, but even that and the Force Chip were not enough to enable them to defeat Synthos AND the arriving Autobots. Astrotrain and his men were knocked off-line, and missed the battle's finale when Cannonball and the crew of the Kalis' Lament arrived. The Autobots outsmarted Cannonball and escaped with the Force Chip. Astrotrain, Starcatcher, and the others were only allowed to make minor repairs to themselves before Cannonball booted them off his ship as failures. The Dark Heart of Sandokan
Starcatcher is a redeco of the Mini-Con Comettor, transforming into a Cybertronic six-wheeled moon buggy. He also has a third transformation, becoming a landing gear/cannon for Astrotrain's shuttle mode nosecone. He is only available with the Astrotain box set, and exclusive to the Fun PublicationsTransformers Collectors' Club.
Notes[]
Starcatcher's name is a "close enough" variation on a proposed name that had garnered a lot of support on the Fun Publications web forums; "Cowcatcher".
