As Diaclone advanced through its third year of product, it became clear that the road led inexorably to Transformers. Though initially a small sub-line of disguised fast responder mecha, the Real & Robo Car Robots rapidly expanded to become nearly the entire Diaclone force. Together with additional R&R toys like Jet Robo, Construction Vehicle Robo, …
Continue reading “Diaclone Toy Catalog Scans Translation: Late 1982: Diaclone Gets Real (& Robo)!”
Read more...You wouldn’t know it by the avalanche of vintage knockoffs, but Hasbro had filed US Patents for nearly all of the original G1 Transformers. These legalese-named patents protect the “ornamental design” and often the transformation mechanism of classic Transformers characters, typically for up to 10 years. To the fandom, however, these patents present an interesting …
Read more...Everyone loves G1, but let’s be honest: these toys were not made to last. Shockwave is probably one of the worst offenders: almost every part of his body is waiting to crack, split, crunch, or shatter. That stern die-cast feel and heavy brick-like appearance are just an illusion… Let’s take a look from the ground …
Continue reading “Give Me a Break: Tales from the Shockwave Boneyard”
Read more...I had seen this book go on sale a couple years back, with its friendly cover artwork and generic toy robot clip-art cover background, and I guess I didn’t think much of it. In fact, I may have raised an eyebrow at the time. Now, however, I’ve found myself with much more time for reading, …
Continue reading “A Retrospective Book Review of Dan Gilvezan’s “Bumblebee and Me””
Read more...The Ironhide/Ratchet mold has always been one of the stranger Autobot Cars. For one, it’s not an exotic or sporty car, and for two, his robot mode is… not standard. Aside from all this, though, it’s the only Autobot Car design that can store robot mode accessories. The large circular socket in Ironhide/Ratchet’s belt buckle …
Continue reading “Secrets from Diaclone unearthed: Ratchet and Ironhide hidden gun post storage”
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