Category Archives: US Transformers
Ambassadors – Part 2
Generations
If you were trying to sell the concept and qualities of the Transformers Animated toy line to a non-collector, or an enthusiast who doesn’t collect Animated, which one toy would you pick to represent and ‘sell’ the line? What about Generation 1 1984 to 1986? And Masterpiece? DOTM? These are the questions we put to our contributors, and their responses demonstrate the kind of …
Posted in Animated, Movie, Source Articles, US Transformers
Tagged Animated, Constructicons, Convoy, Devastator, DOTM, Hasbro, Ironhide, Masterpiece, Movie, Optimus Prime, Prowl, Transformers
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Four Figure Hobby
The definition of rare
Everywhere you look now in vintage Transformers collecting, every niche and sub-category, the bitter end items that are required to polish off a section of the hobby are running into the very high hundreds or even low thousands of dollars. The purposeful march of certain toys and rarities towards four figures has left many a collector grateful for their early interest …
Posted in Comics, Diaclone, European Transformers, Japanese Transformers, Lucky Draw, Mexican Transformers, Micro Change, Minibots, Prototypes, Source Articles, US Transformers
Tagged Artfire, Black Zarak, Bruticus, Comics, Diaclone, Gears, Giftsets, God Primus, Hasbro, Huffer, IDW, Iga, Japanese Transformers, Jetfire, Lynsa, Malignus, Matsushiro, Mexican Transformers, Overlord, Peru, Prowl, Sideswipe, Smokescreen, Star Saber, Sunswipe, Takara, Tracks, Transformers
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Ebay Adventures
Discolouration Articulation Nation
No Transformers blog is complete without the occasional rant about auctions, that is after all where most of us still get our toys, especially vintage. Whether it’s through eBay, Yahoo or a proxy bidding service, most of us have had bad experiences and taken chances that haven’t worked out. So here is my first auction rant of 2014.
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Masterpiece or Not?
No, that's not a chocolate Easter egg, it's actually Huff's packaging
Could this be a masterpiece, or a Masterpiece, even? It was meant to be. Once upon a time Takara Tomy considered releasing a Huffer (or “Drag”) to go with Masterpiece MP-10 Convoy but the idea never came to fruition. So, with their debut offering, have Cubex nailed Masterpiece levels of aesthetics, quality, design in …
Posted in 3rd Party, Masterpiece, Source Articles, US Transformers
Tagged 3rd Party, Cubex, Huff, Huffer, Krank, Masterpiece, Pipes, Stax, Takara Tomy, Transformers, XTransbots
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Marginally More News To Me
Apparently a rare toy!
Under the weight of newer Transformers products, one can sometimes find it hard to keep up with every new variant and development that comes along, never mind continue to catalogue the unyielding tide of vintage discoveries that continue to be made. In some cases, the vintage revelations are news to most of us who hadn’t paid close enough attention to certain …
Posted in European Transformers, Mexican Transformers, Minibots, Paperwork, Source Articles, US Transformers
Tagged Bandai, Ceji, Generation 1, Hasbro, Iga, Jetfire, Macross, Matsushiro, Mexican Transformers, Seaspray, Shockwave, Skids, Takara, Thrust, Trailbreaker, Transformers
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Last But Least?
Cause and Effect
He finally arrived, on the very final day of 2013 for me having been pre-ordered in March of the same year. Delayed beyond his Masterpiece Datsun stablemates on account of his re-tooled shoulder design and for reasons of recreational Takara Tomy fan torture, MP-19 Masterpiece Smokescreen has landed to a tremendously mixed reception. MP-17 Prowl and MP-18 Streak set the …
Top 5 Purchases of 2014?
Still no Megatron...
And so begins 2014, a year that promises much in the way of new official and unofficial Transformers figures from Takara Tomy, Mastermind Creations, FansToys, Hasbro and many others. The Masterpiece line continues to churn out fan favourites, whether they be licensed Autobot cars or leaders like Ultra Magnus and Star Saber. Third party companies like MMC will complete their Not-Predaking …
Pre-Deluxe – Part 2
Compare with today's toy shelves
There’s more to “Pre-Transformers” than Diaclone, Microman and Takara, and there’s definitely more to them than just being predecessors to Transformers toys. The figures we looked at last week in Pre-Deluxe – Part 1 included Takatoku and Bandai Valkyries from SDF Macross, the Mugen Calibur and Ovelon …
Posted in Japanese Transformers, Paperwork, Source Articles, US Transformers
Tagged Astro Magnum, Barrage, Beetras, Chop Shop, Deluxe Insecticons, Hasbro, Mechabot-1, Omega Supreme, Ransack, Shockwave, Takara, Takatoku, Toybox, Toyco, Transformers, Venom
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Pre-Deluxe – Part 1
Beetras and Dorvack, toy-lines not diseases
Just as the Takara-designed Autobot Cars, minibots, Decepticon jets, Megatron, Soundwave and his cassettes have their roots in the early 1980s Takara Japanese toy-lines Diaclone and Micro Change Series, a number of non-Takara Transformers – like the Deluxe Insecticons, Deluxe Autobot Vehicles, Omega Supreme and Jetfire – originate from older Japanese toy lines as …
Posted in Paperwork, Prototypes, Source Articles, Uncategorized, US Transformers
Tagged Dorvack, Hasbro, Jetfire, Macross, Mugen Calibur, Ovelon Gazzette, Roadbuster, Starforce, Takara, Takatoku, Transformers, Valkyrie, Whirl
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Deluxe
Not Big in Japan
Between late 1984 and 1986, Hasbro released a series of Transformers characters in North America and Europe that never saw release in Japan as “Transformers”, despite previously being available as part of other Japanese toy lines. These non-Japan Transformers became known in the Western world as Jetfire, Deluxe Vehicles and Deluxe Insecticons. Another thing …
Posted in Japanese Transformers, Source Articles, US Transformers
Tagged Bandai, Barrage, Beetras, Chop Shop, Deluxe Insecticons, Dorvack, Hasbro, Jetfire, Macross, Matsushiro, Mugen Calibur, Omega Supreme, Ovelon Gazette, Ransack, Roadbuster, Takara, Tatsunoko, Transformers, Valkyrie, Venom, Whirl
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