If you’re an ’80s kid, you’re probably familiar with Collins even if you don’t know it; he was part of the cast of that decade’s two big cartoons, “The Transformers” and “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.” On those shows, he was credited as “Chris Latta.”

With “G.I. Joe,” Collins/Latta’s biggest role was as the leader of the show’s villains, terrorist organization Cobra: his character was appropriately named “Cobra Commander.” Collins portrayed the Commander with a histrionic high-pitched voice; he would hiss his words like, well, a snake. Quite a different take from famed “G. I. Joe” comic writer Larry Hama, who thought Cobra Commander should sound like Orson Welles, aka the eventual voice of Unicron in “Transformers.”

On “Transformers,” Collins got the honor of playing the first character to appear onscreen and speak (besides the unseen narrator): Wheeljack, the Autobot inventor. Collins refreshingly played him not with a zany twisted scientist voice but a brash Brooklyn accent. His biggest “Transformers” role, though, was Starscream, the Decepticon Air Commander who was always trying to usurp Megatron’s leadership. Collins used basically the same voice for Starscream as he had for the Commander (minus the hissing tic). After all, they were both impatient, effeminate, and yelled when things didn’t go their way; the Commander shows what it would be like if Starscream did get to lead the Decepticons. Neither “Transformers” or “G.I. Joe” holds up once you’re past middle school age, but Collins’ buffoonish evildoer performances still hit.

In a fun bit of history repeating itself, actor Charlie Adler would later play both Starscream (in the live-action “Transformers” movies) and then Cobra Commander (in “G.I. Joe” cartoons “Resolute” and “Renegades”). Alder likewise used the same voice for the two villains. Collins’ performance as both Starscream and Cobra Commander overlapped so much that they’re now inseparable.