Vor-Tech: Undercover Conversion Squad (partially found animated series; 1996-1997)

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Vortech.jpg

Logo for the series.

Status: Partially Found

Vor-Tech: Undercover Conversion Squad was an animated series produced by Universal Cartoon Studios that aired as part of Claster Television's syndicated Power Block from Fall 1996 to September 1997,[1] running 13 episodes.[2]

The show told the conflicts between Hudson Roarke and his cade of vigilantes, the Techs, and the evil BioMechs lead by Roarke's older brother Lord Matrix, a madman intent on spreading a virus that turns its victims into biomechanical beings. Both sides waged their battles with powered armors and transforming vehicles.

While its tie-in toyline is relatively well-documented due to its ties to the older and more popular M.A.S.K franchise (both shows shared very similar premises and the toyline for both was produced by Kenner, with the Vor-Tech toys being lower-quality retools of M.A.S.K toys.[3] According to writer David Bennett Carren, Vor-Tech was created as a way to reuse the M.A.S.K toy. molds[2]), availability of the animated series is highly limited with the only footage available of the show online are a low-quality rip of its opening sequence and two excerpts on YouTube of an unidentified episode, totaling two minutes of footage.

The show was animated by Universal Cartoon Studios, now called Universal Animation Studios, and various animation cels from the show can be found online.

Animation professional Andrew King created a Twitter thread on April 22 2018 recalling his experience working on the show as well as various concept sketches he created and a cover page for the script of the episode "The Hunger". King stated he would donate the material to the National Toy Museum of Canada[4]

On November 7th, 2019, a full episode of the show "The Hunger" was ripped from a VHS tape and uploaded to YouTUbe by the channel TF Archive. A clip of the Spanish dub of the episode "Fallen Angel Part One" was uploaded on Youtube on September 25, 2020 by the channel Natsume Hibari.

The channel "Jeremy Van Duyne" uploaded the partial "Previously On" teaser from the show's final episode, Fallen Angel: Part 2. On May 29, 2022, a Spanish version of the clip was uploaded, alongside the opening scenes of the episode. And on June 10, the full version of the episode was uploaded in English by YouTuber "DragonStarPlanet", alongside various promos of the show.

Recently, a website called identi.io has been resurfaced, and appears to allow people to download episodes from the show. However, the authenticity of the website remains to be seen.

On February 26th, 2023, the YouTube channel Free Step Argentina / Fc / Retro / Contenido Extra uploaded a video of the show, albeit in Spanish. The Spanish version of the show is subtitled "Los Guerreros del Futuro", which translates to "The Warriors of the Future" in English. Free Step's upload is a compilation of the first six episodes of the show: Initiation, Choices, Team Player, Black Day on White Rock, The Demise of Damien Roarke, and Genesis". However, the original English versions of these episodes still remain lost.

Videos

Opening sequence.

Excerpt of the episode "Black Day At White Rock".

2nd excerpt from the same episode.

Spanish opening and a short segment of the episode "Choices".

Full episode "The Hunger".

Spanish clip of the opening and the episode "Fallen Angel Part One".

Full episode of "Fallen Angel Part Two".

Full episode of "Initiation".

External Link

References