Squeezeplay (G1)

Squeezeplay is a Decepticon Headmaster from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Rar! I'm all scary and the like!

Squeezeplay (aka Crashbash) doesn't draw much of a line between sabotage and devastation. He considers himself an unstoppable engine of destruction, and will charge into any situation without regards to safety. He's not an idiot—he's merely harnessed the tactical advantages of brute force and intimidation. As Squeezeplay figures it, he is strong enough, tough enough, and fierce enough to plow through most battlefield fortifications and opponents without much damage, so...why not simply do that?

His Nebulan partner, Lokos, was a smuggler and air pirate on his home planet before joining the Decepticons. His relationship with Squeezeplay is two-fold. On the one hand, Lokos was always a creative and crafty criminal, and so he tries to get Squeezeplay to use his head more in combat. On the other hand, though, he recognizes the sheer brutal effectiveness of his partner's methods, and so more often than not is comfortable just to let Squeezeplay have his fun.

Why mess with what works?

Fiction

Marvel Comics continuity

Marvel The Transformers comics

That's not the way to get ahead in life.

Squeezeplay worked with his partners Horri-Bull and Fangry in manipulating a group of human bounty hunters called the Roadjammers into capturing the Autobots for them. Unfortunately, the Roadjammers discovered that their human partners were actually robots in disguise. Though they did use the jammers they were provided to capture three Autobots, the Roadjammers used a frequency splitter to jam three more Transformers—namely, Squeezeplay and his companions Fangry and Horri-Bull. The Decepticons' plans were scrapped when the Roadjammers used their jammer to control all six jammed Autobots and Decepticons to attack Mr. Z and Scorponok. Overwhelmed, the Decepticons' anti-jammer was required to free them all, allowing Squeezeplay and the others to escape. Ca$h and Car-nage!

Dynamo sets his phasers to "butter."

When the Decepticons under Scorponok and Ratbat came to blows with one another, Squeezeplay led the charge against their foes along with Rippersnapper, Sinnertwin and Horri-Bull. Cold War! Some time later, he was with Scorponok's army when they were transferred to Cybertron by Primus in anticipation for Unicron's imminent arrival. Squeezeplay helped beat back several Unicron cultists before the dark god himself turned up in Cybertron's orbit. The Void! Upon seeing the planet-sized enemy, Squeezeplay fled in fear. On the Edge of Extinction!

After Unicron's and Scorponok's death, Squeezeplay came under Bludgeon's leadership and stood in a meeting for the joint Autobot-Decepticon government. Exodus! The coalition soon gave away and Squeezeplay joined Bludgeon in his invasion of Klo. The Last Autobot? When the newly reborn Optimus Prime arrived on Klo with the Last Autobot, Squeezeplay was one of many Decepticons who tried and failed to disable him. When the Autobots reorganized with the Neo-Knights for a counter-offensive, Squeezeplay was blasted with considerable power by the humans Rapture and Dynamo. End of the Road!

Marvel UK future timelines

In 1995, Squeezeplay and his fellow Headmasters joined Shockwave in attacking the Autobots at a feminism rally. He and Fangry double-teamed Jazz, and then all the Decepticons joined up against Optimus Prime. However, Squeezeplay was then shot in the back by the new Autobot warrior, Arcee. Prime's Rib!

Transformers Comic-Magazin

The characteristics of Squeezeplay and the other Headmaster Decepticons were reviewed by Optimus Prime and Bumblebee in a simulation watched by Goldbug. Memories of Bumblebee

Regeneration One

Twenty-one years after the battle of Klo, Squeezeplay remained a member of Bludgeon's forces aboard the Warworld. He interrupted his commander's genocide of the inhabitants of Torkulon to deliver an important superstring-slingshot from Soundwave. Loose Ends, Part 3

Ladybird Books continuity

The story's called "Decepticons Underground" because the Autobots bury them alive. No joke.

Squeezeplay, Fangry, and Horri-Bull operated a secret underground base on Nebulos within the "Nebulos Triangle." They maintained this secrecy by shorting out electronics and causing whoever wandered into the area to disappear... at least until Optimus Prime decided that these phenomena were probably caused by a secret Decepticon base.

Anyway, the Autobots stormed in, and Quickmix poured Nebulite-enriched concrete all over the fleeing Decepticons, leaving Squeezeplay and the others trapped in a living tomb. Decepticons Underground

Universe comic

You've given me a snake head, Dan.

Hailing from Primax 113.23 Gamma, Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/20 Squeezeplay was one of the many dimension-displaced Cybertronians released from the Cauldron due to the actions of Silverbolt and Trailbreaker. Escape but he somehow switched places with the Ransack of Primax 1108.12 Kappa when they returned to their home universes. Squeezeplay quickly adapted to the battles of his new universe. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/20

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

During the Dark Ages, when the Decepticons and Autobots splintered into several smaller factions, Squeezeplay fell in with Ratbat's Ultracons. War Within: The Dark Ages Following Megatron's return to Cybertron, the Decepticons were once more united under a single rule, and the Autobots were conquered. At this time, Squeezeplay was put to work as a guard in Internment Camp Pi, where he overlooked the Autobot workforce as they were forced to dig to Cybertron's core. The Age of Wrath Pt.2

2005 IDW continuity

First appearance: Drift #1

Squeezeplay served under Turmoil during Deadlock's failed attempt at a mutiny. He was present when Deadlock escaped and fled from Turmoil's troops. Drift #1

After the Chaos War, Squeezeplay was one of the Decepticons who started rioting on the streets of Cybertron in celebration of Megatron's return. City on Fire

Following the Necrotitan event, the Autobot city Metroplex became the core of the New Iacon city-structure. Squeezeplay and many Decepticons moved out of the city into a ghetto on the outskirts. When Prime-loving Camiens began preaching on the streets, Squeezeplay objected when Acid Storm took a look at their literature. The Transgressors

Decepticon rallies soon started being held again in the ghettos, thanks to Galvatron. Aphelion Squeezeplay was recruited by Needlenose and Brawl into a raid on the Space Bridge nexus, taking advantage of another Bridge node on the Autobot shuttle Ark-7. The Decepticons overrode the shuttle's node, transporting as a boarding party to claim the Autobot's ship. Lagrange After securing the vessel, Squeezeplay and the others rode it down to Earth, joining Galvatron at Shanghai, China. Perihelion

Squeezeplay later defected from Galvatron and joined Soundwave's opposing Decepticon faction, which in turn allied with the Autobots to stop Galvatron. It's Beginning To And Back Again He eventually took up residence on Sanctuary Station. Primeless, Part 2 He was later present on Cybertron to hear Starscream speak. Unforgivable

Beast Wars: Uprising

Squeezeplay was an immobilized Builder overseeing Tarn and Fortress Maximus. He had become addicted to animal death sports in his twilight years, spending most of his remaining power monitoring various broadcasts for his pleasure. When the Resistance mounted an assault on Fortress Maximus, Squeezeplay was largely ineffectual in coordinating the Micromaster defense of the city, and was killed in an explosion. Head Games

Titans Return marketing material

Crashbash was an ancient Titan Master robot, traveling the early universe as support crew for the great Titans. As a gift to the civilizations they met along the way his unique spark had the power to grant powerful berserker rages to others. Ok... Anyway, upon reemerging in modern times he joined up with the Decepticons.

Crashbash, his robo-chicken thing, and Scourge tracked Hyperfire to Velocitron, and attempted to kidnap Blurr's Titan Master on the final lap of the planet's biggest race. They didn't get far before having to fight Sentinel Prime, Hardhead, and Optimus Prime. Titans Return: The Power of the Titan Masters

My Little Pony/Transformers

Squeezeplay was one of the many Transformers brainwashed by King Sombra and sent to excavate the ancient Titan Scorponok. When the Autobots attacked, Trailbreaker tackled him; after Sombra's spell was later broken, Squeezeplay and all the other afflicted Cybertronians returned to normal. Finale

Commercial appearances

OH YEAH!

Fangry, Horri-Bull, and Squeezeplay burst through a wall, and the three engaged the new Headmaster Autobots. Galvatron noted that their new Headmasters would give the Decepticons "more brainpower than ever." Small Headmasters Commercial

Toys

The Transformers

Craaab people... Craaab people... Taste like crab... Talk like people...

• Squeezeplay (Headmaster, 1988)

• Accessories: Lokos Headmaster, tail/mace, overrider rifle

Squeezeplay transforms from a robot into a bipedal crab monster. His tail detaches into a handheld mace. Like the other Small Headmasters, there is a compartment in which Squeezeplay can store Lokos while in crab monster mode.

In robot mode, like all Headmaster toys, Squeezeplay has a panel on his chest which houses a spring-loaded mini-Tech-Spec-meter which gives readouts for Speed, Strength, and Intelligence. The tumbler is activated when Lokos (or any other Headmaster unit) is plugged into his neck socket. As a smaller Headmaster, Squeezeplay's power meter is on a single tumbler—so any head plugged into Squeezeplay will result in the same stats. His small size also robbed him of the door that usually hides the tech spec meters on larger Headmasters.

Squeezeplay's box showed a picture of his gun protruding from the back of his crab mode. However, the actual toy lacks any compatible or secure attachment points for it.

This mold was released in Japan without changes as Super-God Masterforce Cancer.

• More information on Squeezeplay at TFU.info

Titans Return

Sentinel Prime says you're a robo-chicken, so you're a robo-chicken, recruit!

• Crashbash (Titan Master, 2016)

• Accessories: Gun/Dragon/Dinosaur
• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro), Emiliano Santalucia (concept artist)

Part of the first wave of Titan Master figures in the Titans Return subline, Crashbash (renamed for trademark reasons) can interact with other figures from the line. As a robot he can ride on Legends Class figures in their alt modes, and can be plugged on every Deluxe, Voyager, or Leader figure. He comes with his vehicle partner, that can transform into a dragon (which can be ridden by Crashbash in bot mode), a dinosaur (which is completed by Crashbash forming its lower jaw and arms) or a gun that can be used by larger figures...although it looks like a dinosaur lying down and shooting with its butt and feet, but you can remove the Titan Master in gun mode anyway.

The instructions had a slight error: The wing/stomach parts were shown closed in steps 6-8, even they told you to open them in step 5. Although stock renders had the dinosaur head's eyes being painted blue, the final product painted them lime.

As with most Titan Master vehicle accessories, care must be taken with the gun mode's handle: the handle fits tightly in many 5mm-compatible closed hands, and combined with the handle's lack of metal pin running through the joint, removing it by force causes the handle to pop out of the joint. This is incredibly common when inserting the gun mode into the base modes of leader class toys like Blaster and Soundwave, whose holes are too small for Crashbash's post. Get some pliers ready.

Crashbash was originally designed by Emiliano Santalucia as a new character, and sported an original head mode design. The mold was redecoed into Overboard and retooled into Clobber. Takara released the head as Cancer along with Shockwave, while its partner was redecoed as Butla and Servant, Skull and Wipe's partners. The partner also served as the model for the non-toy Beast Wars: Uprising incarnation of the Diagnostic Drone.

• More information on Titans Return Crashbash at TFU.info

Legacy

For his neutral special, Squeezeplay wields a GUN.

• Prime Universe Cliffjumper VS Beast Wars Universe Tarantulas, G1 Universe Squeezeplay, Cyberverse Universe Tarn (Multi-pack, 2024)

• Accessories: Tail/mace, "Browning" pistol
• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)^[1]

Legacy "G1 Universe Squeezeplay" is a heavy retooling of Titans Return Mindwipe, turning into a crustacean-esque monster. He includes "G1 Universe Lokos" as his Titans Return-style Headmaster who can sit inside Squeezeplay's tummy-based pilot compartment, just like the original 1988 toy. Also like his original toy, his tail becomes a mace in robot mode, but his overrider rifle has been replaced with a non-transformable Browning in pistol mode (not identified as Browning on the packaging, but explicitly called that in Hasbro livestreams). The rotating struts that held Mindwipe's robot mode wings now have a pair of rotating blasters modeled after the original toy's legs, but with barrels added to the bottom of the "feet." They can be positioned to point forward in monster mode.

Lokos contains off-white plastics with a slightly blue-tinged face, mimicking details that Cancer has in the Super-God Masterforce cartoon... but Browning is in silver like his toy, rather than the bronze of his cartoon model.

The softer tan plastic used for the strut that attaches the monster head to the chest, as well as the upper part of Lokos's legs, is extra flexible and ends up popping off easily as a result, especially during transformation. His stock photography is very slightly mistransformed, as the crustacean head is not pegged in properly and is pointed at a high angle as a result. When transformed properly, the gap between the shoulders and head isn't quite as pronounced and appears closer to the original design.

He was only available as part of a Target-exclusive four-pack, packed in with Beast Wars Tarantulas, Prime Universe Cliffjumper, and Cyberverse Universe Tarn.

• Designer commentary on Legacy Squeezeplay from Mark Maher on Instagram

Notes

• Squeezeplay was depicted as one of the Transformers fleeing the Cauldron in the Universe comic (see above) because he is a favorite of convention organizer Glen Hallit.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Squeezeplay (スクイーズプレイ Sukuīzupurei)
• Hungarian: Szorítókar ("Squeezearm"), Facsargó ("Squeezer")
• Italian: Morsa ("Grip")