Today’s article will be looking at two things I absolutely love; obscure G1 figures that most people don’t collect, and a third party toy which is about as niche as it gets!

Yup, I’m talking about Action Masters Devastator and Before & After’s incredibly G1 cartoon accurate Engineer General, an item which is probably the most screen-accurate representation of a toy we’ve had since the Animated era in 2009.

Action Master Devastator

 

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In 1990, when the Action Masters hit the market, there had only ever been the one Devastator figure (and one tiny little decoy), it seems weird to think of that now, with the plethora of Devys on the market, not to mention the non combining Euro Devy, two G2 releases, two distinct KO colourations and an Encore release.  Having such a limited scope of Devy releases, you’d think  that would have made it super easy for Hasbro to get the colour right, right?  Wrong.

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I guess it makes sense that this guy was released between the original 85 and G2 releases, as his colour scheme is somewhere smack bang between Constructicon Green and G2 Yellow.

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As an Action Master, I’m sure I don’t need to explain that this Devy is not a combiner or even a Transformer (and there was sort of a tie-in story in the UK comic explaining the all-in-one Devy, but Ironhide destroyed it before completion).  To make up for this lack of transformation, Devy has an animal drone companion called Scorpulator, who can transform from a wicked scorpion into a pretty cool-gun extension thing.  Pointless, considering Devy has a gun already, but now it is Scorpion-powered.  Oh, and Devy now has six legs on his back too.

Devy also features a rather cool head that doesn’t quite look like Devy from any of the fiction, but is sort of close to the original Diaclone designed head.

 

Before & After Engineer General

 

The market place for Devastators (official and third party) is busier than a building site these days, with packaging almost as big as some construction equipment filling attics around the world.  Box-sets, CHUG size, Masterpiece scaled, Combiner Wars, G1 reissues, KOs and vintage add-on sets… it’s quite refreshing that Before & After went in a totally different direction.

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The emphasis isn’t just on super toon accurate aesthetics and heads, it’s also in poseability, with the Engineer General capable of pulling off some menacing poses with his stunning 31 points of articulation.

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Size wise, he’s about the same height as Maketoys Giant at 3ocms / 12 inches, but scale wise, he’s pretty damn good to tower above your G1 Autobots, and scales well to the rest of the Action Master line if you’re so inclined to have the combiners look like monsters.  His joints are very solid and of a high quality, and this makes the figure feel of a very high standard overall, despite the somewhat limited aesthetic of the cartoon look.  This is a completely stylistic choice, and by no means a limitation of design imagination.

 

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His colour choice is spot-on, pretty much perfect I would say.  The lime-green is almost more G2 than G2 in it’s almost fluorescent, and that shade of purple screams “DECEPTICON” no matter who it’s on.  As you can see, he towers over the original Action Masters, but sadly he doesn’t have a scorpion buddy all of his own, a feature I find sadly lacking in all recent Devastators.

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I love this figure.  It’s fun, left-field, and not something I’d expect to see from Hasbro or Takara anytime soon; so pretty much everything I think 3P should be doing rather than outright competing over the scraps of the MP line and all releasing the same bloomin’ figure.  Even though I’ve never been a huge fan of the cartoon, you have to admire how much they’ve set out to hit a certain style, and have completely aced it.  It’s enough to make me want other non-transforming combiners in the same size and style.
It’s weird talking about transformers without covering the alt. modes and transformation, but neither of these figures really lack playability despite this.  Sure; I think the play pattern of the original Devy is pretty hard to beat, especially for it’s time.  I know the Action Master line never really found a place in many collector’s hearts, but it’s a concept that makes sense on paper; boys like action figures, and at the very least it made Hasbro aware of the power of the brand and original characters such as Megatron, Soundwave and more, many of whom had not been seen since 1985.  B&A Engineer General has none of these limitations, as the entire intent behind the figure is very clear for all to see from the day it was first released.

I don’t think any review could change your mind on Engineer General; if you think the concept is dumb I cannot change that.  If however, you had a smile creep over your face the first time you saw it, and though about how cool this would have been in your childhood collection, then this figure is for you my friend, and I recommend you give it a look.

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Enjoy it.

Engineer General is available and in stock at Kapow.


U
PDATE – NTF HERCULES COMBINE GIANT

Thanks to the awesome Ben of Collectibles (link in the side bar) for giving us this little bit of information.

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Turns out in 2014 there was another non-transforming Devastator offered by a third party, with an 18″ tall vinyl Devy homage called Hercules Combine Giant.  He’s a big old boy with a good six inches on Engineer General, but he’s also not the most attractive of figures.  I guess it’s a question of size vs attractiveness (no comment, hey guys?).

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It’s cool to see it, but having not experienced it in hand I don’t feel qualified to discuss the figures good and bad points.  None the less, it’s very cool to see this, and I don’t know how I missed it as I was at all of the main US cons the year this was announced, but there ya go, just another example of the sheer diversity and the wealth of choice in the fandom these guys.

Thanks Ben!

In the official corner, weighing in at 3 metric tons; Hasbro Sunstreaker and Diakron Red Sunstreaker, in the 3rd Party Corner, weighing in at a handsome £70 each (if you can find the yellow one), Badcube’s Sunsurge and Sentinel Blaze.

Who will win?:  The fans (cliched applause for a cliched answer).

Sunstreakercharart

 

What a time to be a Transformer collector!  There is more knowledge and interest in Diaclone than there has been for years thanks to the combined efforts of a huge amount of fan research and investigation into classic pre-Transformer releases, Diaclone V2 releases, a wealth of official Masterpiece repaints (including Clampdown, Red Tracks / Roadrage, Blue Bluestreak, forthcoming Powered Convoy / Delta Magnus, Loud Pedal / Black Tracks and many more) and thanks to 3P companies, we even get interesting gaps filled thanks to releases such as Maketoys Wrestle / Grapple and MMC’s Liger repaint giving us Red Mirage.

Today, we’re taking a look at what 3rd Party have done for us lately, namely; filling a Sunstreaker shaped gap in our collection, and giving us a red repaint too in the process.  And because I love ya, we’ll be looking at the original releases as well with a decent sized gallery of comparisons.

Diakron DK-1 – Red Sunstreaker

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Shown here is my original Diakron DK-1, a North American release of Diaclone Countach LP500S, originally released by Takara in Japan.  The short lived Diakron range featured this guy, Black Ironhide (later released by eHobby as Protect Black Ironhide, an official Transformer) and a Blue version of Trailbreaker (coming soon in future blogs).
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This mold is credited as being the first ever Transformer design, with credit to Kohjin Ohno (our Lord and master), so it’s a pretty important slice of Transformers right here.  It was also released in Diaclone as a Police Car type in white, with red detailing on the head and a lightbar.  More details here at the excellent TFsquareone blog.

PoliceSun1

 

 

Many Transformers fans consider it odd that eHobby have never released Sunstreaker in red as an official Transformer like they have Tigertrack (yellow Sideswipe), but they’ve not released Sunstreaker either, and the rumour is the original mold for one of his arms has been lost in storage.  You might not know is that Sunstreaker’s original working name was Spin Out*, which is a name that the TFwiki (and TFCC) uses as an assumed name for this mold in red.  Although the issue does get more confusing below…


Transformers Sunstreaker

 

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Released in the first wave of Transformers in 1984 as Sunstreaker, along with his brother Sideswipe in red, having swapped colours (but you all knew that, right?).

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Note the Car Robo sticker on Red Streaker

Adding more nerdy trivia to proceedings; there has oft been confusion over the bios for the two toys, with evidence supporting that their colours and names were swapped.  In the very first mention of Transformers in Marvel Age #17, Sideswipe’s description matches Sunstreaker (with references to pile-driver arms and a rocket back-pack), and Sunstreaker is absent replaced by Spin-Out’s description, which matches the bot we know as Sideswipe (shoulder mounted missile launcher).  Whether a decision to swap colour schemes created this confusion, or whether the paint swap happened accidentally because of confusion between the two characters, is unknown.  We’ll never know how deep the confusion went, and whether these guys are the Zuckuss and 4-LOM of Transformers (SSIRSIY!), but it does appear that way.*

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It’s worth pointing out that Sunstreaker does not become a Lamborghini Countach LP500S like his brother, instead he transforms into an unlicensed, unapproved and heavily modified Lamborghini Countach concept car.  This seemingly minor detail has a serious knock on effect down the line, as we’ll discuss later.

 

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Diaclone colours and TF releases.

 

BadCube OTS-08 SunSurge

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BadCube was teased some time ago, and the war was on against newcomer Omnigonix, whose ironically named Spin-Out (what, it’s not like Hasbro or Takara ever used it!) recently came out to a chorus of complaints and disappointment.  Whatever you think of this figure, he has definitely won the war.  So far.

 

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Released at the beginning of 2016, this somewhat divisive figure is a complex little beast.  Some people dislike the chest-cheat, with his windshield and alt. mode roof hiding away in favour of a smaller, arguably more screen accurate chest-plate.  I’ve heard at least one fan derisively accuse SunSurge of looking like a young girl with big feet in a push-up sports bra, and I have to admit a certain Humberto Ramos influence in the feet, but in a way that works for me.  Is there a better way to do it?  I feel it’s very subjective.  Omnigonix tries to follow the original G1 transformation in that he uses the alt. mode windshield and roof as his chest, but some feel this looks too big to achieve that animation model aesthetic that the Masterpiece line is veering towards.

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Sometimes called Rubik’s SunSurge by sarcastic people like me, he can be tricky to transform, but I should point out that it is possible to transform him out of the box without instructions, as I did it twice.  Thankfully, these guys are packaged in alt. mode  (yay!) which means the first transformation is a lot more fun than trying to compact it back down, which can be very tricky indeed.

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Sunsurge with MP Tigertrack

 

 

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Stuck in the middle with you!

I don’t think anyone can argue with the results of the alt. mode, it’s pretty much exactly what anyone would want.  It scales perfectly as a Lamborghini with the official MP Sideswipe, and perfectly nails the custom / modified rear engine / scoop look of the G1 toy.  A lot of people complain about the back of the car, I address that in the Sentinel write-up below.

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G1 and BadCube

 

There are plenty of options with this toy as well, the weapon stores on the alt. mode for a modified attack mode, exactly like we’ve seen across the MP line – I love this feature as it adds a lot play value, not to mention stops people like me losing parts.  As well as this, we get spare parts, so you can swap out chromed parts for subdued painted silver parts for the spoiler, wheels, and engine scoop.  Great value and attention to detail.

 

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G1, BadCube and Henkei

 

Badcube Sentinel Blaze


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Released very recently indeed by BadCube, we get the lovely Diaclone homage I wanted from the first time I saw SunSurge teased.  The red is perfect, and he fits in with the rest of the MP line effortlessly, and makes me glad I committed to a separate Diaclone MP subline.

 

 

 

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Some people complained about the back of the car, but to be honest, it’s absolutely no worse than the original 1984 release which I include for comparison.

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Badcube in weaponised mode.

Few display these in alt. mode (which is a shame as they are beautiful) and fewer still display them in alt. mode facing backwards.  I suppose an argument could be made for lack of real world accuracy, but this modified Lambo does not exist in the real world.  And even if it did, I doubt it would become a cool-ass robot.  Yes, reality sucks.

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Maybe Repro Labels can help?

 

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Conclusion

Are these acceptable figures to use for Sunstreaker / Red Sunstreaker, or is it merely a stand-in?  I guess that depends entirely on your subjective point-of-view.  Traditionally, I’m not a fan of cheats, and the radiator grills in both MP01 and MP-10 both annoy me, but don’t stop me owning the figures, and I barely hear people complain about those, yet many TF fans complain about this guys cheat.  For me, I’m thankful that BadCube committed to this look, rather than compromising with a midway cheat, this way, we have the best of both worlds (if you can get past Omnigonix’s QC and bad reputation).

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All the yellow

 

I absolutely adore this toy, it looks brilliant in both modes, gives us one of those fantastic key Ark characters we sorely need to stop our MP Sideswipes from getting lonely.  We need this toy.

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But what happens if and when we get an official Sunstreaker?  Sadly, I think we know the answer from most fans.  First though, I don’t thing we can count on Sunstreaker being an inevitable MP release, Takara have had a license agreement with Lamborghini since the very start of the new MP cars line-up, so why no Sunstreaker?  As I’m sure many of you are aware, there is a possibility that Lamborghini (who are VERY protective of their LUXURY brand) will refuse to license an unsanctioned modification as an official product, and Takara wouldn’t be able to do it without their approval.  Sticky territory.  As a silver lining, perhaps we should look to the Super Deformed QT release of Sideswipe, which is fully licensed by Lamborghini – how is Sunstreaker different from a deform?

 

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Fully licensed and approved!

Ultimately though, I do not believe that an official MP disqualifies a 3P offering.  I can’t see how MT Hound or MMC’s Mirage homages can be beaten, and I’m someone who replaced MP09 with Carry and kept Quakewave over MP Laserwave.

With the releases of MP Ironhide and Ratchet, and the initial images of Inferno, it seems that Takara is going fully towards show accuracy, rather than maintaining the real world / toy / animation model balance that the line originally strove towards.  If this is the case, then there is totally a place for more comic / toy accurate interpretation of characters for people like me.

Even if we do get Sunstreaker officially, and it totally blows us all away and has that magic “Eureka!” moment we all crave from MP, I dare say at the very least I will keep Sentintel Blaze at the absolute minimum, so I can have the best of both worlds with official and 3P, like I plan to do with Wrestle and MP Inferno, if Inferno somehow convinces me to part with the amazing Hellfire.

 

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What more could a toy collector want than that?

BadCube Sentinel is on stock at Kapow right now!  Go to, and secure your Diaclone repaint future!

*Spin-Out naming clarification thanks to the immense knowledge of Maz!  An excellent article here covers Marvel Age #17.

ultra_magnus

Several people have voiced outrage about presumed cost-cutting measures on the Masterpiece line, the drop down to plastic tyres seems to rankle many collectors, and while I understand there may be practical reasons behind the change, I have to say I miss the smell of rubber tyres, and the overall higher quality feel they provide.

However, these sorts of cost-cutting measures are nothing new.  Metroplex had running changes removing rubber wheels, Powermaster Prime was significantly simplified compared to Takara’s Ginrai, and figures like Octane and Astrotrain were simplified after their initial prototypes.  For me though, one figure stands out above all the rest; the running changes seen so often on the later 1986 versions of Ultra Magnus.

As a kid, I only ever had, or knew about, the unpainted, plastic wheeled, cheaper Ultra Magnus.  I was never really a fan of the toy or the character growing up.  My opinions on the toy changed pretty rapidly once I found out that the original release was of a much better quality across the board.

 

magnusboxed

 

In this article, we’ll have a side-by-side comparison showcasing the difference between the second run UK release of plastic wheel Ultra Magnus (always on the left), and the initial release (always on the right).  For the sake of this article, we’re using the 2002 reissue as a stand-in for the original release, as they are identical toys except for a couple of changes on the missiles and shorter smokestacks.

Be warned, this is probably my most nit-picky article yet, but it was actually requested by someone in a Facebook group as they had no idea of the different release.

 

ULTRA MAGNUS VS ULTRA MAGNUS

 

 

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If we look at the two figures dead on, the only really noticeable difference is in the helmet, and it’s lack of paint detail.

 

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A two-piece cast which is then glued together, the head is the most defining part of the character, and without the paint it’s really hard to even consider the figure Ultra Magnus.  For me this is the biggest sin of the set.

 

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Unfortunately, this was also carried over onto the “White Prime” cab section of Ultra Magnus.  A shame, because the first run on the right had the same paint detail as Takara’s Powered Convoy, the toy which pre-dated Ultra Magnus, and was intended as a powered up version of Convoy, rather than a new character all in himself.  How different would the cartoon and animated movie been had the writers decided to save this power suit for Optimus Prime, maybe even using it as the suit that restores him to life at the end of the movie, and leads to ultimate victory?  We’ll never know.

To the character of Ultra Magnus, this detail doesn’t matter to much, but as a kid, it makes the toy a whole extra character in it’s own right, rather than the sad, dead-eyed white Prime that ruined my slightly inconvenienced but made very little overall difference to my childhood.

 

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While we’re up top, look at the difference a little bit of perspex can make.  I’ve always felt the removal of the windshield weakened the overall look of the alt. mode, and hurt the White Prime mode, although not as much as the paint.  At this point, let’s just be glad they bothered to give us the small hands for the cab section at all!

 

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Smokestacks detail.  Okay, ignore the size disparity as the original release had normal length smoke-stacks, but the one on the right is clearly a nice chrome plated part.  The late 1986 onward release merely had generic white plastic, with a top coat of silver paint.  While they had that out, it’s a shame they couldn’t hit the blue helmet (oo-er missus).

 

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Wheels.  Plastic on the left, chromed with rubber tyres on the right.  I’m not sure why, I’ve always loved rubber tyres on my toys and even as a kid I saw it as a mark of real quality.  Maybe if Optimus Prime and the other Autobots always had plastic tyres it wouldn’t have caught my attention, but after the quality of the first two years of G1, I felt this very noticable.  Ultra Magnus has ten tyres, which are very noticable in alt. mode and on White Prime, that’s a lot of time lost by factory staff putting rubber tyres on chrome wheels.

 

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Ugh, where to begin.  First, lets look at the rubber tyre at the top of the one on the right, it has a sort of tab protruding 2 mil or so from the center (better picture below).  This provides extra stability for the figure in combined mode, and helps kids line up White Prime when inserting him into the armour, and takes some of the weight and stress out of White Primes headlights / hand pegs.  I distinctly remember this as a kid, so I’m sure someone at school had the first release.  Why would Hasbro change this?  Well, tooling and producing 10 identical wheels is cheaper than tooling and producing 8 and 2 different, and reduces the risk of bad factory QC down to the wrong wheel being installed.

Again, chromed parts have been replaced with white plastic, this time completely unpainted, which really hurts the can section and the alt. mode.  It also affects the stability of the figure because…

 

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…well, I’m not sure if it’s because the plastic is cheaper, but the teeth tend to wear down much, much quicker on the all plastic version on the left.  The spring holding the whole mechanism together is noticeable less coiled and thus weaker on the plastic version.  As a dealer, I’ve bought in hundreds of Ultra Magni over the years, and floppy legged white cabs are very, very common.  Even beater G1 Primes tend to have a bit of stability at the hips, even if the knees are trashed.

 

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Metal feet (not a dancing penguin Rob Halford voiced animated movie) on the right, versus plastic feet on the cheaper second run.  Does it make much of a difference?  Actually, it probably helps reduce damage during play having the plastic (as we say with Binaltech Vs Alternator), however, the extra metal does add some stability to the figure in White Prime robot mode.


Summation

 

MPUM

 

It’s easy to see Ultra Magnus massively differs from his Diaclone predecessor Powered Convoy in that Hasbro never intended for the cab section of Ultra Magnus to be used as a character in his own right.  Indeed, in the cartoon and the comics, his cab was swallowed whole by the trailer (as seen in the stunning Masterpiece release above) rather than being a power suit with additional armour (a look that was introduced during the second Dreamwave miniseries in October 2003, and then the concept was utilised for Fans Project’s first full figure; City Commander).

 

DWMagnus

 

Because of this, I believe Hasbro felt it made sense to minimise the attention to detail on the cab section and reduced the cost to maximise profits, it’s very sad that along the way the paint was also removed from the helmet, as this had a knock on effect of really damaging the look of the figure in combined / powersuit mode.  However, the White Prime robot mode is heavily featured right on the front of the box packaging (albeit without face paint), so again, it is weird they would change even a secondary aspect of the figure that drastically after it’s initial release.

 

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Ultimately, cost cutting will always happen.  I personally think the move to lower part counts and simplified figures combined with gimmick-Master of the month helped path the road to G1 cancellation, however no toyline formed in the eighties was expected to last more than 3-4 years, so the fact we’re even here 32 years later suggests that maybe Hasbro knew what they were doing.

 

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Original 1986 first run (Made in Japan) with large smokestacks and 1986 second run (Made in Macau).

 

Last but not least, let’s get real nerdy.

The original 1986 Rubber tyre release of Magnus is marked as Made in Japan, the reissue of it from 2002 is marked Made in China, and of all the UK available second run plastic tyres I’ve checked (three today), all are marked Made in Macua.  All of them are date-stamped 1984 – the year of the original release of the mold.  If you find any with different markings, please comment below.

 

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Thanks to Kapow for hosting these blogs and providing some of the figures, various Magni including the forthcoming Original Animation / Powered Convoy colours Delta Magnus – the subject of a forthcoming comparison blog – are available here.

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When you say Transformers, the first names that pop into the general public’s heads are Optimus Prime and Bumblebee (as well as the big three on the Con side of the street), if you push a bit harder they might be familiar with the name Cliffjumper too.  Ask them who Bumper is, and you’ll likely get a blank face.

 

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Used with permission, thanks to the Diaclone Genome Project. Check it out!

That’s because back in 1984 Bumper – or Bumblejumper as he is sometimes known (both portmanteaus of Bumblebee and Cliffjumper) was never officially a Transformer with his own name and identity from Hasbro or Takara, although he was packaging and sold as one.  He did officially appear as a Transformer in South America, as part of Brazil’s licensed Estrela toyline, where he was available in four different colour-schemes (white, blue, green, and yellow), where he was known simply as Sedan.

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The general consensus is that unsold stock from the various Diaclone and Micro-Change lines was repackaged as official Transformers (hence the rare but existing Red Tracks in MB packaging), but this left poor Bumper with no place to go and he was repackaged on either Bumblebee or Cliffjumper cards (although the former is hearsay, with no carded ones known to have been discovered).

In today’s article, we’ll look at two fairly recent additions to my collection, and explore the history of the character that elbowed his way into the TF fandom.

Bumper (Transformers, yellow) and Sedan (Estrela, Blue)

 

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The robot mode is pretty much what you expect if you have ever experienced the vintage Bumblebee or Cliffjumper toys… charming and fun, and every bit the cheap end of the 80s toy spectrum.  Back then, there was a toy for every price point, and this is what made the line so inclusive and expansive.  Nowadays, there is a toy for every price point, but they’re usually the same character in different scales.

 

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The transformation is text-book G1, easy, fun and intuitive.  Why they even felt the need to print instructions on the card back seems off to me, but I guess it covers the toy companies from any broken toy complaints.

 

-YB-2

 

The alt. modes to these Mini Autobots seems to confuse a lot of fans, especially the ones who abide to the “holy scale chart”, Bumblebee  never transformed into a VW Beetle, and Cliffjumper was never a Porsche 924, rather they were super deformed penny racer versions of these alt. modes, otherwise G1 Cliffjumper would be the same size as the G1 Jazz toy, and MP collectors need to realise that Bumblebee is only in scale with our childhood memories of the vehicles as the Beetle has a larger wheelbase and overall length than a Lancia Stratos.

 

-YB-1

 

To that end, this guy transforms into a Super Deform Penny Racer version of a Mazda Familia.

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Bumblebee, Bumper, Cliffjumper

 

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Yellow Cliffjumper, Hubcap, Bumblebee, Bumper.

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Originally I wanted this guy in blue, because there are quite a lot of yellow bots already in the minibot line with Yellow Cliffjumper and Hubcap, however, once I got the blue version (which I promptly faction logo’d up much to the chagrin of Estrela collectors), I really wanted the yellow one too.

 

-BY-

 

Overall, I’m very happy with these guys, and the conditions I got them in and the prices I paid make them seem especially good.  There are apparently KOs of the yellow one now doing the rounds, so buyer beware on that front!  If the price is too good to be true and the condition way too clean, have a real think about your purchase.

 

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Dear Takara, please make this in yellow with a new head as Bumper please, k, thanks.

 

As technology advances and toys get more and more real world in alt. mode and more and more anime accurate in robot mode, it might seem there is little place left for the concept of Transformers converting into super-cute deform versions of vehicles.  Some might argue that modern day licensing might even back it harder to do, as brands get super protective of their IP and likenesses.  That’s probably why I’m so happy with the current QTF line from Takara, licensed deforms which harken back to the original Mini-Autobots from 1984.  Masterpiece Bumblebee is great, and for a lot of people is the definitive Bumblebee we all wanted as a kid, but for me, the QTF line takes me back to the earlier, more innocent days of the TF line, where various toylines were shunted together to create a loosely-fitting range.  If you’re interested in seeing more of the QTFs, comment on this article and we’ll see about making them a future focus.

 

What makes Bumper very intriguing, is his absolute lack of any further product.  He was fully embraced as an all new character in his own right during the Dreamwave run of comics, but he’s been used very little since then.  We’ve had no new official updates, and no reissues / Encores, and we live in a world with 60+ Bumblebee repaints between 2007-2011 when a new head sculpt could have meant another character, and this in a time when even Scrounge is getting an official toy!

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Does what it says on the box

 

True, we have had a few offerings.  Impossible Toys had one last shot of glory with their attempted minicar range which featured a very true to the original but with articulation Bump that somehow didn’t quite work.

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Small, inconsequential, yellow.

iGear had a Bumper scheduled called Fender, which was cancelled before we was even announced (click here for more about the fate of iGears minibots), and making use of all those Bumblebee repaints, Renderform released an add-on ki;t RF-009 Bump Scout, which gave Bumper his first ever update back in 2011, during the halcyon days of CHUG.

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RF007 Bump Scout

 

So what do you say Hasbro / Takara?  About time we get an official Bumper or what?

Thanks for reading as always, and while we’re waiting for Takara to do something with Bumper, you can console yourself with a plethora of Bees over at the Kapow main page.

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Galaxy Shuttle is one of the most well known and popular of the latter day “Victory”-era Japanese Transformers, even gaining popularity and traction in the West where he has had zero fiction appearances.  As such, he tends to be a very expensive and hard to acquire item, with even average condition loose versions of the toy selling out within minutes of the doors opening at even the biggest Transformers conventions like Botcon.

 

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Stupid flap creases!

Why is this?

Maybe it’s because he is really, really good!  A very solid latter-day Transformer which relies on very few gimmicks, other than his ability to transform from a really cool robot into a really nice Space Shuttle mode.  No Pretender shell, no Micro-Master companion or launcher, no third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh mode, no head / breast / target / power mastery, no Action Mastering,; just a solid toy.  Such a solid toy that he was also snapped up by Gig for the Trasformers line a year later, and then retooled and re-released as a Brave toy six years later in 1996 as part of the Brave Command Dagwon line.

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Galaxy Shuttle

 

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Shuttle Robo as is sometimes known (as he was called in his first appearance), was released in Japan in 1989 under the designation C-326.

 

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The robot mode, as mentioned before, is big, bulky and stunning.  It’s no wonder he was later used for Brave as he in many ways looks more like a Brave figure rather than a Transformer, except for that awesome face that screams Heroic Autobot.  He is a big toy compared to others of the time, whilst obviously not being as big as a city-bot, but that’s because his character is a big robot in the show as well.  Unlike Blast Off or Astrotrain, this guy is a space shuttle capable of carrying huge robots inside him which doesn’t shrink down to insane sizes in robot mode.

 

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His transformation is a joy, everything moves instinctively, but annoyingly his wings do get in the way sometimes.  You can pop them off to make the transformation easier, but repeated popping on and off of the wings tends to cause stress marks to the softer plastic material holding the wings in place, and it has been known to perish and crack on a few unfortunate cases.

 

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That’s not paint scratching… it’s from re-entry.

Once in vehicle mode, he really shines.  You can interact with the Micro-Masters play pattern in a couple of different ways, and you can even open up his cockpit to pop a Micro-Master pilot in there, which does make me wonder why they didn’t include one with him to increase the value of the package and bulk out an already close to bloated line.
There have also been rumours that Galaxy Shuttle was originally supposed to come with a launcher of some type, but I’ve never been able to confirm that, as it’s very hard to search for that without getting assaulted by Richard Branson propaganda.

 

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I can’t decide which I prefer, so have both.

 

You can also pop open his cargo bay doors (his arms basically) to add a further bit of play value, and his weapon stores nicely, becoming his tail-fin in shuttle mode.

 

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He also interacts nicely with the Countdown base playset, as seen above and below, with his rear blasters molded to fit in place of Countdown’s booster rocket.

 

 

 

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Thunder Dagwon

 

 

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I’ve always loved this dual packaging design that you can find on some Brave, with a solid package art piece on one side, and a window showing you the toy on the other.  This is something Joustra Diaclone toys did very well and I’d like to see it more often in today’s toys.

 

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Technically, Thunder Dagwon is actually the combined form of DagThunder and Thunder Shuttle, but most people refer to this guy on his own as Thunder Dagwon.

 

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And all new mold DagThunder is included in the package, comprised of Thunder Rai and his Thunder Bike, but they are in a completely different scale to Thunder Shuttle.  While they’re a cool addition to the package, they just store on the back of the figure and don’t really affect the look of the figure like other combining Braves, so I rarely combine them and keep them separate.  I should also mention that T’Dawg here comes with another spear weapon, not pictured, as I removed it from the figure when i took it to a nerd meet-up for safe-keeping, and I’ve promptly lost it.

 

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DagThunder

 

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Thunder Rai on his Thunder Bike

 

The figure has some extensive retooling, in robot mode this is most noticeable with his new head sculpt.  Not everyone likes his head-crest, and it’s very removed from the Transformers aesthetic, I’ve even heard it described as a curled up gold poop sat on his fore-head, which I think is a tad unfair.  However, it’s no argument that Thunder Dagwon does look a lot more angry and threatening than his Autobot counterpart.

 

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His new chest required that Takara change the entire cockpit canopy, introducing a swivel joint so the flashy chest is contained within the cockpit in alt. mode, but this obviously gives him a very different look in alt. mode as well.  Other than that simple twist of the cockpit, and the folding of his ears away, he transforms exactly the same as Galaxy Shuttle.  Only easier.

 

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Why easier?

Well, they have completely changed his wing attachments, almost making them a fixed double joint which allows for slightly better rotation and clearance, meaning they’re never in the way during the transformation.  Which is great as they can’t be removed.  I also prefer the wings on Thunder Dagwon, as they are more space-shuttley, with Galaxy Shuttle having molded gun detailing on his wing-tips, seemingly just to make it harder to find good condition examples in the future.

 

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Some say the additional front wings do detract from the space shuttle mode a bit though, meaning you’d need to do a hybrid of the G1 and Brave toys to get a perfect Space Shuttle look for the real nerds out there.  You know, the sort of nerds who’d appreciate this designation on the tail-fin.

 

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Nerds like me.

 

Overall, I actually prefer Thunder Dagwon, I love the head, the over-the-top chest, the more stable wing transformation and wing accuracy, and I think the flash of colour and ostentatious chest makes him really stand out.  Hard to do against a wall of other over-the-top Brave toys.

 

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That’s not to take anything away from Galaxy Shuttle, as both are great toys.  I’ve actually wanted Galaxy Shuttle for years before I eventually got him this year at Botcon, whereas Thunder Dagwon just… sort of happened, I guess.  The scarcity and value of Galaxy Shuttle (not to mention the difficulty in finding an un-yellowed one) means that acquiring one is an event, even for the most jaded of burnt out toy collectors, and this too-many-a-grail piece would be a stand-out choice in any collection.  I can definitely see why it is so popular.

 

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But I’m not done yet… that’s not all the secrets that Thunder Dagwon contains.  The sharp eyed amoung you might have noticed a difference in Thunder Dagwon’s gun in the pictures above.  The grey cover on his weapon does more than just make his gun look different, it enables another one of those lovely over-the-top Brave combinations I enjoy talking about.

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Shuttle wears his branding proudly!

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Yes, while Galaxy Shuttle contains the ability to port onto Countdown for a shuttle launch aesthetic (don’t ask where the solid fuel boosters are), Thunder Dagwon contains the ability to re-create another slice of real-world awesomeness from the Space Shuttle era.  Rather than the usual Brave robot combination, this is a vehicle combination, one that’s too big for me to photograph in my light box or more traditional brick-work setting.

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Yep, Thunder Dagwon uses his weapon clip to “combine” with big bad Fire Dagwon, a huge cargo plane.  This is very cool, and the connection is so strong that you can hold the plane upside-down and Thunder Dagwon isn’t going anywhere!  Fire Dagwon is himself a massive beast of a robot, one who follows the traditional mecha formula of combining with another robot, Power Dagwon, to make an EVEN BIGGER robot; Super Fire Dagwon.

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I’m in a Dagwon sort of mood.  Maybe we’ll take a look at that next week…

Thanks for reading!

-Ceno

In the world of Diaclone, there are two big toys that most people know of, even if they sometimes get them confused.  One is Great Robot Base, and the other is Robot Fortress X.

 

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Great Robot Base is probably the better known of the two, as his head is used on some of the Diaclone logos, including on the new Diaclone Revival line, and because he is frankly, bloody massive, second only to Fortress Maximus in the 1980’s Takara scale.  Going in to Botcon 2016, I was interested in picking this guy up, and while there were some very good boxed and loose examples for sale, the prices were quite high and there were about six or so in the room.  Over the whole weekend, I only saw one Robot Fortress X.  Which I bought.

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Which is why today, we’re taking a look at an original 1980 vintage Takara Diaclone Robot Fortress X.

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Okay, the box isn’t in great shape, but then again it is only one year younger than me, and arguably I am in worse shape.  The window is cracked, and the entire top flap has separated from the box, but it still displays well and I’m very happy with the great box art.  Photoshop has a lot to answer for, I miss packaging that looks like this.

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Out of the packet, the first thing we’ll look at are the Diaclone Drivers, 5 of them, all with die-cast heads with incredible detail, and magnets on the feet, which help to keep them in position when they’re displayed in and around Robot Fortress X, or any of the other Diaclone toys.  These are surprisingly heavy, and I can tell straight away that the Diaclone driver I got package with my Diakron Red Sunstreaker a couple of years back is a fake.  These are not!

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Lets jump to base mode next, so we can see some of that Diaclone driver interaction.  You’ll notice that while the box isn’t in the best condition, the toy is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!  Yes, I am excited about this one.  Sue me.

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The base mode keeps on giving, with plenty of hidden interactions, to the point that I’m not sure I’ve discovered them all.  Below we see a shot of the Drivers all hanging out in his chest section, that slightly chrome looking sticker sheet they’re standing on is actually magnetised, holding them nicely in place.

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To start with, the little tanks in the feet shoot out when you press a little button on the back.  Great fun!  And with some force too!

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The gun turrets are fun for driver interaction, and I’m sure most people will be able to see similarities between the little cockpits and a certain trailer for a certain Autobot leader.

 

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Having had zero experience with this toy, I couldn’t help thinking there was more to the base than meets the eye I was discovering, and sure enough, there is!  Some bits I’d left in the box for safe-keeping.

 

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You take these little pods (which you can pop a Diaclone driver in) and you can maneuver them all over Fortress X’s body using a system of elevators and release catches.  You can drop them into his shoulders and they’ll pop into his hand cockpits, or reverse them into the leg using the tank and raise them all the way up into the chest section, around, and back down the other leg.  It’s an amazingly cool – if totally pointless – play-feature, one which I’m sure as a kid I would have got huge amounts of fun out of, and something that would be near impossible to replicate in a modern rendition of third party toy, because of the amount of articulation we have in modern toys.
It’s a hard system to describe, thankfully, the lovely original advert for this bad-boy shows it pretty well.

If you watched the above video, you’ll have noticed this guy doesn’t really transform.  At all.  He sort of parts form, if you can call pulling off his legs and sticking them elsewhere.  Still, the way the chest opens up is cool, and the shin panels pop off so you can watch the pods zip about, so he sort of looks different I guess.  The face just opens up, and the arms don’t even need the amount of movement they show in the video, they just fold down.

 

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Look at this guys face!!!  It’s beautiful.  As an add bonus, look at the reflection?!?  How nice is this chrome?  Funny story; I’m not sure what they used to put in chrome back in the eighties so it ages better than Beast Wars chrome, but whatever it is, it triggers all sorts of warnings from the TSA.  Whilst passing through security Stateside, I took this guy in my carry on luggage to protect the box (I always put modern stuff in my main suitcase), well something on the security X-ray didn’t scan right, and they pulled the suitcase, turfed out all the clothes I’d used to pad the case, and pulled this guy out of the box right in front of me, leading me to very politely ask them to be careful with the box because it’s thirty years old and worth a fair bit of money.  The woman was very understanding and let me repack it, after she’d swabbed the chrome and put it in for analysis.  The good news is; Robot Fortress X has not been handling explosives before we got on the flight!  Phew!

 

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In robot mode, I think he looks stunning.  Just all sorts of awesomeness in his design, and I just want to pick it up and fiddle about with it.  To help give you guys an idea of scale, he is a tiny bit bigger than G1 Scorponok.

 

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Here’s a picture of the back of him, just because you never see this shot and there is so much detailing.  The care and attention to detailing over every square inch is second to none, no corners cut; this was clearly a labour of love for the designer, backed fully by Takara.

 

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Check out the detailing on the chest panels, and that cute little factory applied “X” on the chrome.

Overall, I absolutely adore this figure.  I think most people know I’ve been on a vintage kick the last five years or so, and this guy doesn’t disappoint.  It’s so rare for me to pick up a vintageTransformers toy these days where I have had zero experience of the mold, so this piece of Takara history is a real treat for me.  It’s big, impressive, heavy thanks to LOTS of die-cast, shiny, and very fun.

Sure, it doesn’t really fit in with Transformers at all, and even the Autobot Mini-cars would struggle to interact with this playset, so I can totally see why Hasbro rejected this one for the line during it’s infancy, as it doesn’t really fit in with the play pattern of G1 toys at all (even partsforming master Omega Supreme has distinctly different forms). However, I view this as one of the vital pieces of the puzzle on the way towards Metroplex, which would later lead us to Fortress Maximus.

Although, this piece does make me think Hasbro missed a trick by not retooling / redesigning a Diaclone Driver into Spike or Sparkplug back in the day, I know as a kid my brother and I really wanted small figures to fit in the vehicles and Dinobots, even if I was completely unaware of the Diaclone origins.

He’s an expensive toy these days, and he doesn’t show up in great condition often, but a bit of patience and willingness to haggle saw me get this on the Sunday of Botcon, for HALF of the price the dealer was asking on the Friday afternoon.  Bargains can happen.

Unfortunately, this guy didn’t come with any of his paperwork (I would love a genuine Diaclone catalogue), so no instructions and no stickers, however, it did come with four sheets of uncut reproduction sticker sheets, so I might fire one over to the guys at Toyhax if they need it.  I’ll probably never put them on, but it is very tempting to do so as stickers from back in the day were awesome, and the pods especially are desperately bare without them.

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You can pre-order the new series of Diaclone Diabattles from Kapow Toys right here, or you might prefer a Diaclone flavour with a G1 repaint scheme courtesy of Fans Project’s Warbot Dai-Z.  I’ve ordered both, because I’m insanely excited for Diaclone Revival (with a real mixed feelings about whether they might do reissues), and I’m always down for more Warbots from FP!

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Finally, I’ll leave you with a shot of the boxes art, just for fun, and a copyright shot, because some people love that stuff.

 

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Amazing box artwork.

 

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