A Big Reveal (Reprise 2)

Had enough of KO Spanish minibots? Well hold on for just one more installment for now as this is the last variant I'm able to source, no more on the horizon for the time being. Inverse colour schemes are evident throughout Gisima's range of vintage bootleg Beachcombers, Windchargers and Seasprays that were released throughout Spain in the late 80s and early 90s. Our final Spanish mini is one of the most interesting as it's another of the highly re-tooled Seaspray variety.

Gisima KO Cream/Red Seaspray KO

Single fan re-tool

This release is the inverse of the KO Seaspray I featured HERE. Of all the Spanish KOs, the Seaspray seems to be thinnest on the ground, and the most in-demand because of the massively different shoulder/fan assembly. As mentioned before, instead of two separate shoulder-mounted fans he has a single large fan mounted inside a circle on the back of his head, with the whole assembly pivoted under the robot head.

Cream/Red Seaspray and Red/Cream Seaspray

Very clear difference between the Gisima and Transformers toys

As if minibots didn't already inspire feverish completism and fostering of that dangerous collector mentality, the fact that almost every Gisima KO minibot has an inverse colour scheme means that once you get one of the buggers, chances are you'll lust after its reverse bot.

Apparently it should have an eyeband sticker

Upside down chest sticker to boot

While the stickers on both Seasprays are the same, the chest sticker on the left appears to be applied upside down, precisely the sort of thing you expect from bootlegs. Quality wise, of course they feel fragile and would break in the hands of children almost immediately if pushed too hard. I have transformed each approximately 5 times for photography and have not noticed any progressive loosening of joints or sections. The stickers are awkwardly applied so that often edges protrude or are not lined up, meaning wear and peel is inevitable. Not at all bad though considering they're over 25 years old.

Noah's Ark

The above picture shows (mostly) just how many variants Gisima squeezed out of their bootleg minibots by switching colours, inverting schemes or just changing a cream to a yellow. The Black Windcharger actually stands out quite a lot as none of the other Gisima minis I've seen, even ones not pictured here, have any black on them at all. It's just red, yellow, cream and blue.

When I wrote the initial Big Reveal posts for the blog, I knew there were a few more Gisima KO minibots I had a chance to acquire and feature alongside the first Beachcombers, and the series grew from there into a proper article I've since posted on TF-1 about this offshoot of unofficial Generation 1 variants. Now, sadly, there are no more Spanish minibot KO variants to look forward to and for the time being, the book is closed on Gisima. It's been a terrific ride, though.

All the best
Maz