It may seem weird to us now, either as people who grew up with Beast Wars, Unicron Trilogy or even the 10 year old Movie franchise, or even as 30/40 year old adults who’ve just gotten used to tank-mode Megatrons, but there was a time when gun mode was all the rage.

 

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Growing up, I had to make do with Galvatron, running around and making electronically provided “pew-pew” noises, but before that, and before Transformers even, there was Micro-Change, and they gave us not one, but three distinct gun mode transforming robots to choose from.

 

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Although MC12 / MC13 made it over to the Transformers range as Megatron, and later MC07 received a release in the Japanese line as Browning, one of these molds never made it across to the Westernised Transformers brand.  That figure was MC11 Gun Robo S&W Magnum 44, otherwise known as MC11 Pistola Robot 44 Magnum in the Gig distributed Trasformer line, but affectionately known by most as simply Magnum 44.

 

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This was my birthday treat to myself this year, once again an expensive toy justified for my collection as a “future blog article”, when really I just wanted it for myself.  The box isn’t amazing, but it’s more than good enough for my collection, especially seeing as I’m supposed to be a Loose collector anyway (owning a unique Takara mold is the important bit for me), but I must confess to really enjoying any of the Japanese or Italian pre-Transformers releases, as I feel the packaging mitigates the risk of depreciation in the unlikely event of a reissue (legitimate or otherwise).  Sure, value is not why I collect, but all the same, it is good to protect your investment.  And damn, does the packaging make the idea of becoming a boxed collector appealing!

 

 

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Of course, there are many box variations for this guy, including a very similar Japanese text box, and of course the obligatory high-end KOs, including this most interesting and very Kingdam looking packaging featuring new character art.

 

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This is probably how this piece looks best.  Removing the outer packaging really lets this mold shine; with the lovely sleek black weapon and wooden-effect gun handle, this really is the colour toy guns look best in.  The chrome weapon also looks great, but we can see one of the parts-forming weaknesses of this mold, with the arm extension and fists packaged separately.  All bullets are included (actually includes four extra!), but for me the highlight of this version is the pack-in cardboard targets, which feature what look like Waruder bad-guys, unusual, seeing as Microchange and Diaclone were considered separate lines.

Update:  Thanks to Bryan Wilkinson for pointing out the card artwork is of the AcroSatans (amazing name) from earlier in the New Microman line circa 1982, just before Microchange started.  There is a similarity to the Waruder designs, because these too were designed by legendary Takara designer Kohjin Ohno.

 

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Small cardboard targets might not look like much, but they’re the kind of thing that are not looked after and are easily damaged or lost, and for me go one step beyond, reminding jaded adult collectors such as myself that these are toys, designed to be fun for kids, not just sit behind glass on a shelf.

 

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Lets do gun mode first, as we’ve already teased that in packaging.  This is arguably his better side; cleaner, with the metal arm pin hidden.  The little S&W sticker is an amazing detail, from a more innocent time where not everything was licensed because many companies simply didn’t have licensing wings and Intellectual Property lawyers.  As a gun, you could probably fool a few people with it, although less so with this version and it’s EU friendly orange plug (I blame Brexit!) which was absent from the Japanese releases.  Although I daresay it would be easier to convince US police that this is real than in other countries, but would you really want too?!?

 

You can pull back the hammer and that locks into place, waiting for the pull of the trigger, which is presumably what makes these fire, just like a real firearm!  However, given the delicate nature of some toy’s firing pins after 35 years, I am reticent to try!  The only real negative with this alt. mode as a disguise, is that the head doesn’t really go anywhere, and just folds down, hiding the face from view.  At a glance, and in pictures, you can’t really notice, but in hand, it is glaringly obvious – as much as you might try and justify it as a sight for targeting – and the first indication that maybe this toy isn’t as perfect as it first looks.

 

The rounded multi-slug chamber in the middle of the gun really is the most convincing part of this toy, because it’s very hard to imagine how that transforms into a robot in a convincing way.

 

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The transformation is very clever.  The legs are pretty much the same as Megatron’s; flipping forwards, stretching out and unfolding feet.  For the torso, you slide and rotate the mid-section, then there is a tiny trigger release on the back of the robot which you need to activate in order to release the chamber, you fold that down and push the metal pin which somewhat amazingly reveals an upper-arm hidden INSIDE the chamber!!!  This is brilliant, and by far the genius moment of this transformation.  Unfortunately, there is not enough space in the chamber for an entire arm, hence the arm extension and plug-in fists are necessary.  A shame, but for a toy from the early-eighties, you cannot really complain.

Every holds together nicely, but I wish the chamber could click back into place just a little more on the right hand side of the body, and the shoulder joint coming mid-way down the left shoulder / mid-torso is a little odd, as seen below.

 

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The head detail is stunning, just a fantastic and interesting sculpt, which might make you think of this toy as Rumble or Frenzy’s Dad, as there is a bit of family resemblance there!  Colour wise, this guy is actually a little bland, and you can see how the flash or red and blue on the inside of the Megatron / Browning figures made a big difference to the robot modes.

 

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Everything feels great, and the figure is sturdy and displayable, but in hand, this guy just doesn’t look as nice as it does in pictures, and I think it’s purely because you never see pictures of this guy from the side, where you can see how slightly awkward the body shape is, the slightly floaty head, and how much leftover gun just sits behind the figure’s torso.  I included one above to help people make an informed choice when considering purchasing him, because this piece is a bit of a grail item these days, and was on sale at Botcon 2016 for as high as $750 for a MIB version!

That’s not to say this guy isn’t worth picking up for your collection, and certainly, I needed to buy him and he looks great on display with the other guns!  He’s an amazing little figure for the time and an excellent piece of history, but he’s definitely one for Microchange and pre-TF collectors, and perhaps one that G1 collectors who might have considered picking up to boost their G1 Decepticons might want to evaluate, because I think Hasbro definitely made the right choice when it came to picking their Decepticon leader out of the three gun molds available.

 

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So, just who is Kiloton?  Never let it be said that the awesome chaps and chappettes over at the TFwiki leave any obscure reference untapped, and they like to associate the obscure Kiloton character and Megatron mentor as a reference to this unused pre-TF mold.  Not for me, personally, but I always enjoy attempts to integrate unused molds into TF lore.

Sadly, there have been zero official or third party updates to this character.  Ever.  So it’s difficult to show comparisons to how he might look in 2016, or to include links back to Kapow, but just go check out the site and look at their selection of Megatrons and third party versions to see whether you prefer gun modes, or modern updated modes.  What do you think, has the time of gun mode passed?  Did G2 Megatron get it right?  Comment below, and thanks for reading!

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

Over the last few years, I’ve enjoyed branching out evermore into the Takara design back-catalogue, rather than just collecting Transformers branded items.  This has opened the door to my love of big, bulky Brave toys from the nineties, and to the early 1980s Diaclone and Micro-Change figures that were not utilized in the Transformers line.

As a subline to the New Microman line, Micro-Change figures avoided all mass-shifting complications by existing in a 1:1 scale.  Hence they were real world objects such as cassettes, guns, microscope, and Penny Racer deform toy cars.  Only Browning held this scale over into the TF line, transforming into a tiny robot sidekick in the Japanese cartoon.

A quick look at a catalogue reveals some familiar faces, the shot below is of the 1984 Gig Trasformer releases.

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Not pictured in the catalogue above are Perceptor and Blaster, and a few more releases that didn’t make it into Transformers.

I could write articles about each of these releases quite easily, and spend weeks just discussing some of the other Diaclone toys that never made it to the Transformers line, but today, our focus is on these two:

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MC17 Con Combinazione

This guy is a working combination lock, known as Dial Man in Japan.  I wouldn’t want to use it to secure any valuables because I imagine it wouldn’t take much force to tear it open, and I’d be more concerned about the damage to the toy than most “valuables”.

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Packaged in alt. mode, it’s another one of the Micro-Change “common things beside you”, an every-day household item that also transforms into a robot defender.  The combination for the locks varies, but due to its transformation the middle number is always 8, reducing 1,000 possibilities down to a mere 100.  Like I said, you shouldn’t really be using it as a lock anyway, but as a kid I’m confident I totally would have.  The “secret” combination is stickered on the back, and for the sake of completion and minty freshness that is where it will stay.

 

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Shush! Don’t tell anyone.

 

The transformation is great fun, starting with unlocking it which pops up the robot head in the process.  From there, it’s a few familiar twists and turns to get this into that familiar Takara bipedal form.  It works exactly how you want it to.  The metal hoop is very obvious, but Takara try to mitigate this using it as a missile holder (unshown, as I am keeping my missiles on the sprue).

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He’s a lot of fun.  He does come with a stickersheet (unapplied), but the simply factory-applied chest sticker screams early Transformer to me, and he’ll absolutely fit in with the rest of my curiosos and unreleased figures, squeezed in with the e-hobbies somewhere.

MC18 Magnetico

Released in Japan as Magneman, Magnetico is a working key lock, with a magnetic twist (the name might have given that away).  Again, I would want to use the lock to secure a factory full of Aston Martins, but as a kid I would have had great fun with this.  The lock mechanism is actually quite strong, with a metal lock coming up out of the foot into the hoop lock, put to the stress, I think the plastic would fail long before the metal mechanism.

 

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No, he’s not just a Mini-Blaster.

 

Unlike MC17, this guy comes with a little handgun which can be stored in his opening chest cavity in either mode.  The magic comes when you open the foot panel and jam the handgun into the open hole, this allows a release on the lock mechanism meaning you can pop it back down into the unlocked position.  Quite genius, and like a lot of the Micro-Change, feels very ahead of it’s time (considering it’s now 33 bloody years old!).

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Free to transform him, you’re in for a treat, transforming like a slightly more intricate Blaster.  He makes a fun robot, and again the metal hoop can be used as a missile holder.  The slide-down hands are similar to what Astrotrain nearly received before Hasbro cost-cutting nixed that idea.  You can see the hole with magnet reactive metal in his right shin, and the magnet in the end of his handgun; this is what is used to unlock him in lock mode.

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No doubt had they been released as TFs they’d have been Decepticons due to the way Hasbro / Marvel split the 1984 range, but I like to think of them as classic enemies to each other rather than a sub-group within a faction.  If I was in charge of naming them I would have made MC17 a Decepticon called Lockout, and MC18 an Autobot called Secure. But I’m not and they aren’t.

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I’m no expert on the Micro-Change line at all, and I’m still collecting them and discovering more about them every day, but for my money there is no better collection of Micro-Change than in Ras’ collection.  Check it out if you want to see some amazing bits.

 

In conclusion; these are not the most expensive toys in the world, nor are they the hardest to find.  I bought these in the last five minutes of Botcon this year on a complete whim, offering a dealer much less than he was asking for on my way out of the dealer hall and to my surprise he said yes!  Score.  On tone with what I was saying above, they’re not the most expensive toy I bought at Botcon, or the rarest, but man are they fun!

Two original Takara molds from 1984 I have had no prior experience with, how could I say no?  Easily my favourite purchase of the show.

Thanks for reading,

-Sid / CZH / Ceno / Another name I made up for no reason.