Tag Archives: Japan
Is It Conceivable? – Part 4
GiG Trasformer Micro Change Series
Chic, prestigious, expensive, revered, exotic and understated all at once, these are the Pre-Transformers. All of those things that make them special contribute to so many of them being unobtainable. As widely as Diaclone and Micro Change Series toys were released globally in various guises, their distribution and quantity was certainly nothing compared to the blanket that was …
Posted in Diaclone, Micro Change, Minibots, Source Articles
Tagged Battle Convoy, Black Tracks, Blackhood Bluestreak, Blue Bumblebee, Diaclone, GiG, Italy, Japan, Micro Change Series, Microx, Police Sunstreaker, Raiden, Red Bumblejumper, Red Hoist, Reflector, Takara, Trainrobo, Yellow Trailbreaker
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Is It Conceivable? – Part 3
Iga Pipes, Hasbro and Kabaya Huffer
Welcome to the jungle. This is no place for collectors who dwell in the safe confines of AFA cases or between walls of MISB Japanese Transformers. The minibot collector and variant hunter has to get his hands and feet dirty travelling well off the beaten path. Digging up histories of countries not previously associated with …
Posted in European Transformers, Japanese Transformers, Mexican Transformers, Micro Change, Minibots, Prototypes, Source Articles, US Transformers
Tagged Antex, Argentina, Beachcomber, Brawn, Brazil, Bumblebee, Ceji, El Greco, Estrela, Europe, Gears, Hasbro, Huffer, Iga, Japan, Kabaya, Lynsa, MB, Mexico, Micro Change, Minibots, Peru, Prototypes, Rubiplas, Seaspray, Seven, Takara, Transformers, Venezuela, Warpath, Windcharger
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Is It Conceivable? – Part 2
Early Cybertron wall
Japanese Transformers are not just an exotic flavour to be sampled by collectors who fancy adding a touch of spice to a normal G1 collection. Some Transformers enthusiasts actively try to complete the whole run of Takara G1 Transformers from start to finish. In addition, a few hardy souls even take up the challenge of finding all of these foreign …
Posted in Japanese Transformers, Source Articles
Tagged Artfire, battlestars, Convoy, Cybertron, Destron, Deszaras, Dinobots, Guard City, Headmasters, Japan, Liokaiser, Masterforce, Megatron, Operation Combination, Overlord, Stepper, Takara, Transformers, Victory, VSX, VSY, VSZ
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Am I Just Being Paranoid?
Diaclone Marlboor Lancia Stratos Turbo
Why are the prices of Diaclones and specific Japanese exclusive Transformers ballooning out of control? Is it really because there are so many more collectors on the market due to Michael Bay’s movies? Are we really to believe that Transformers-only collectors who finally got around to completing G1 are all of a sudden …
Posted in Diaclone, Japanese Transformers, Micro Change, Source Articles
Tagged Diaclone, eBay, Japan, Scalpers, Takara, Transformers, Yahoo Japan
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Mail-away G1 Transformers – Part 2
Japanese G1 mail-away Gnaw "Limited Edition" sticker
One man’s pegwarmer is another’s mail-away rarity. While toys like G1 Ratchet were common as muck and available everywhere in North American and European toy stores, in Japan it was never sold in stores and only available as a mail-away, and he wasn’t the only one! From exclusive artwork and packaging to standard Hasbro-packaged items, the second part of …
Posted in Diaclone, European Transformers, Japanese Transformers, Minibots, Paperwork, Reissues, US Transformers
Tagged Diaclone, Dinobots, Dirge, Gnaw, Hasbro, Japan, Japanese Transformers, Lander, Landmine, Mailaway, Masterforce, Minibots, Omnibots, Pretender, Ratchet, Reissue, Repugnus, Sharkticon, Takara, Tigertrack
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Japanese Transformers 1988 (Chōjin Masterforce) – Part 2
Over priced, Over hyped, Overlord
Japanese exclusive Transformers are old news aren’t they? Big time collectors have long since moved onto areas like Euro variants, AFA graded museum pieces and pre-Transformers. If that was true, then 1988 Destrons such as Overlord, Darkwings and Black Zarak would not be commanding 4 figure sums. Still an extremely hot area of collecting, Japanese exclusives from the Masterforce series are not …
Japanese Transformers 1988 (Chōjin Masterforce) – Part 1
Preeee-tend-aaaah!
I hated Masterforce. The intro to the anime was unbelievably camp, they were trying to glorify Pretenders, there was too much of a human-centric approach, the toys are ridiculously expensive, the humour in the show was immature and just generally unbearable. I hated Masterforce…until I actually watched it! By the third episode I was not only a convert but an avid follower, fan, enthusiast, whatever …
Posted in Japanese Transformers, Reissues
Tagged Cab, Cybertron, Destron, Go-Shooter, God Ginrai, Godbomber, Godmaster, Grand Maximus, Hasbro, Headmaster Junior, Japan, Japanese Transformers, Lightfoot, Masterforce, metalhawk, Minelba, Minerva, Powermaster, Pretender, Ranger, Super Ginrai, Takara
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The Chicken or the GiG? – Part 2
Apparently Swoop could not be sold in Europe because he was too light for the price point
Transformers and TraSformers, what’s the difference and which came first? Last week we started looking at the origin of the Italian Takara Diaclone and Micro Change Series toys labelled as “Trasformer” and started to question whether the use of …
The Chicken or the GiG? – Part 1
GiG Trasformer Perfidi Distructor Ciclone - Pioneer or saboteur?
Which came first? The chicken or the egg? The Transformer or the TraSformer? This is absolutely straightforward, Hasbro released their global phenomenon known as “Transformers”, then companies like Ceji Joustra in Europe and GiG in Italy got in on the show and did their best to mimick Hasbro’s masterstroke in order to cash in on the popularity. …
Posted in Diaclone, European Transformers, Micro Change, Paperwork, US Transformers
Tagged Autobot, Autorobot, Car Robots, Ceji Joustra, Diaclone, Diakron, GiG, Hasbro, Italy, Japan, Micro Change Series, Takara, Transformers
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In Their Own Words – Part 4
Unique artwork is quite a theme this week
In true Douglas Adams style, welcome to the 4th part of the “In Their Own Words” trilogy! And just like Douglas Adams influenced a generation of science fiction writers, the Transformers had their major influences as well. Takara’s Diaclone and Micro Change lines are not just populated with cars and cassettes, there are just as many odd peripheral …
Posted in Diaclone, Interview, Japanese Transformers, Micro Change, Minibots, Paperwork, Prototypes, US Transformers
Tagged Arabic, Campaign, Canada, Change Attackers, Diaclone, Gunrobo, Honda City Turbo, Japan, Magnum, Micro Change, Minibots, Skids, Slag, Takara, Transformers, Triceratops
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