The Mysterious G1 Hound Stickers

I've wanted to sticker up a Generation 1 Hound for absolutely years, ever since I discovered an error with his vintage (and subsequent reissue) stickersheet. I've owned a Ceji Joustra Diaclone Jeep (European pre-G1 Diaclone Hound, effectively) for almost two decades now, but I haven't had a Transformers Hound for even longer than that, but I finally plugged that hole this year and was able to use the above Takara TF Collection reissue from 2004 to apply the stickers how I believe they were always intended to be applied. I fully believe that a vast majority of G1 Hounds out there today are incorrectly stickered as a result. Yes, it's another one of THOSE articles.

Hasbro G1 Octane - The Missing Stickers

There is much of the vintage Generation 1 Transformers toyline that I have never owned or experienced, what you might call 'bread and butter' figures. The 1986 Decepticon triplechanger Octane was one of those figures until I found and bought a sealed vintage specimen in 2019. Due to the restrictions on travel caused by the pandemic (still cannot believe things like this will be immortalised in articles and blogs now), I didn't get my hands on this Octane until 2021. What unfolded during the stickering and article creation for Octane made that wait entirely worth it.

Hasbro Canada G1 Pre-rub Cassettes

Vintage Generation 1 Transformers from Canada have always had their quirks, from the most famous toy variants like the red cartoon accurate Dinobot Slag to the full trailer sticker Pepsi Optimus Prime. Beyond that, there is the bilingual naming of every character, as well as the notable errors such as "Autobot Megatron" and Tracks-as-Swoop on the tech specs. For those who are interested in such things, there are also other gems to discover such as pre-rub minibots with the Robot Points on the front of the card, due to a lack of real estate on the back!

The Great Cybertronian Write Off - Weeks 7, 8 & 9

It's been a few weeks, but the Great Cybertronian Write Off has not slowed down! Week 9 has just finished and myself, Sixo, Toybox Soapbox and tikgnat are over halfway into 1985's entries. For anyone unfamiliar with #GCWO, it was an idea we had to put out daily G1 Transformers reviews, accompanied by photos, all presented in the style of a poster with vintage Euro and UK Hasbro design elements. We did it to give fans something small to look forward to daily while they were potentially stuck at home for an indefinite period of time.

Hasbro G1 Breakdown - More Hidden Stickers

It seems that every time I go to add vintage stickers to a Generation 1 Transformers toys these days, either the instructions, stock photography, catalogues or packaging artwork throw up some degree of contradiction or lack of clarity regarding sticker placement. This often leads to a bunch of research across multiple sources - even prototype toy specimens - and sometimes an enjoyable discovery. Not long ago, I posted about the hidden stickers on G1 Drag Strip, and now his fellow Stunticon Breakdown reveals his hidden secrets, too.

The Great Cybertronian Write Off - Week 6

After a short break, the Great Cybertronian Write Off returns for 1985's G1 Transformers entries! Myself, Sixo, Toybox Soapbox - with design by tikgnat - have been producing poster-style mini-reviews of G1 Transformers toys daily, with our own photographs, all stitched together and presented in the style of vintage UK and Euro G1 paperwork. Why? Well, in order to give Transformers fans a tiny little something to look forward to daily at a time when most of us are confined to quarters!

The Great Cybertronian Write Off - Weeks 4 & 5

Accept no cheap fan-made imitations, only expertly and lovingly-made fan made imitations! The Great Cybertronian Write Off has now completed four-and-a-bit weeks of daily G1 Transformers photo, review and nostalgia poster-style entries in the style of old UK and Euro G1 paperwork, courtesy of myself, Sixo, Toybox Soapbox and tikgnat! It may seem like a strange point to do a summary, but having completed my own contributions in Week 4, the other two writer/photographers stuck in two more entries to round out all of the 1984 series of #GCWO posts, and yes, that is a hashtag you can - and should - be following on social media to make sure you don't miss any entry in this hyper-crossover!

The Great Cybertronian Write Off - Week 3

The mission is to entertain Earth during this extended period of home stay, and so the write off begins...The Great Cybertronian Write Off!

Well, actually, it began three weeks ago. But it has been raging ever since, and every week it just feels like it's getting more exciting, or at least it is for myself, tikgnat, Sixo and Toybox Soapbox! For three weeks now we have been posting daily G1 toy photos and mini reviews, woven together with the visual magic of early UK and Euro G1 paperwork designs. Myself, Sixo and Toybox Soapbox have been on writing and photo duty, with tikgnat executing the stunning design work. The idea has been to give everyone something - however small - to look forward to daily while we live our lives mostly from home. This short blog post will summarise my contributions to Week 3!

The Great Cybertronian Write Off - Week 2

Hey there, did you know that "Only the real GCWO have these watermarks?"

Well now you do! Welcome to the second weekly summary of my contributions in Week 2 of GCWO - The Great Cybertronian Write Off! Bringing everyone daily G1 Transformers content in the form of poster-style mini-reviews, photography and vintage-style UK/Euro Transformers paperwork posted across our social media accounts, myself, Sixo, Toybox Soapbox and tikgnat continue to - hopefully - give fans of G1 Transformers something small to look forward to in this extended period of home stay. You can catch my Week 1 summary if you've missed any entries, and you can of course follow the #GCWO hashtag on Twitter and Instagram for the daily dose. How long will it continue? Who knows, but we're having a blast doing them!

Hasbro G1 Sunstreaker - Figure & Sticker History

The Hasbro G1 Transformers Autobot Warrior Sunstreaker is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful toys ever created and released. I lusted after a Sunstreaker as a child and was only fortunate enough to get one during the Classic Heroes era circa 1991 in Cyprus, of all places. He did not disappoint, and much of my adult Transformers and Diaclone collecting has centered around this toy. My current collecting focus is finding vintage G1 in perfect condition, which sometimes means applying vintage stickers. Almost every time I undertake a stickering project, I discover something new about a G1 Transformers toy, and Sunstreaker has been no different.

The Great Cybertronian Write Off - Week 1

Welcome to the first weekly summary of The Great Cybertronian Write Off (GCWO)! The GCWO is a project started by Transformers Square One (myself), Sixo, Toybox Soapbox and tikgnat that aims to provide daily Generation 1 Transformers content for fans to enjoy during the indefinite period of lockdown and social distancing many of us are now experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic of 2020. This weekly series of blog posts should allow you to keep up-to-date with all the content produced as part of the GCWO across all three of us!

Plasticos IGA G1 Yellow "Tailgate"

The card says "Tailgate." The toy says "Windcharger." So which is it? As is the case so regularly with the Transformers manufactured by Mexican company Plasticos IGA, the answer is of course "both!" 

What you see there is the Mexican 1987 release of "Tailgate", the yellow variant, which was just a repaint of Windcharger instead of a full retool. The card has Spanish on it, although this particular specimen hails from the Netherlands, and you can see the price tag for the now-defunct Dutch supermarket chain Konmar on the card!

Hasbro G1 Cyclonus - Figure & Sticker History

As far as Generation 1 Transformers and their global or historic variants go, 1986's Decepticon Saboteur "Cyclonus" has never had a particularly complicated or long story. He's popular, extremely well known and widely owned as a toy, but not complicated. He's a toy of three real major variations across his vintage lifespan - an early blue-eared release from 1986, a later release without the blue colouring from 1986, and a final Targetmaster re-release from 1987 - and he has a mere 10 stickers whose intended locations are clearly and consistently defined on his instructions across all releases. Or so I thought.

Hasbro G1 Soundwave - Sound or Power?

While collecting vintage Generation 1 Transformers and their reissues, I've had some recent experience of stickering them up to look as they were intended. As a result, I've come across a number of errors and conflicting resources regarding where one should place particular labels. It's happened with Tracks, Hound/Detritus, Blitzwing/Overcharge, Hurricane, Quickswitch, Drag Strip, and Smokescreen. With the very recent Walmart reissue of G1 Soundwave fresh off the blocks, the subject was very much in the air again.

Hasbro G1 Drag Strip - The Hidden Stickers

The mission to uncover hidden Generation 1 Transformers mysteries and erroneously long-held beliefs is one that seems to have no end, and for that I am grateful. Most of the credit for the subject of this article, however, goes to the inspirational Lee Cheney (@Leeroybrownhu9) who discovered hidden stickers on the label sheet of the 1986 Stunticon Drag Strip. The full account of his adventure can be found on Twitter, called "Lee-Roy's Drag Race", and I will reference that in this article, too, where I took the project a step or two further.

Hasbro G1 Reissue Smokescreen - Devolution

In 2003, Hasbro released a reissue of the Generation 1 Autobot car Smokescreen as part of their Commemorative Series line of G1 sold exclusively in Toys 'R' Us. This was after Takara themselves had reissued Smokescreen in 2002 as part of the TF Collection book-style series. It was a wonderful time. The toy you see above is the Hasbro Commemorative reissue of Smokescreen, but with a slightly historical - and custom - twist applied by myself. So what's the story?

Ceji G1 "Puffer" Pipes

It's been a while, hasn't it? The longest period of time between Transformers articles from me for almost a decade, but it's taken quite a gorgeous and special vintage Generation 1 Transformers item to inspire me to write again. Since returning exclusively to collecting vintage G1 Transformers toys, I inevitably gravitated back towards my variant G1 and pre-G1 roots, but obviously with a modest budget there's only so much one can afford. Finding the above Ceji G1 Pipes - given the fan name "Puffer" - in a mixed lot of junkers was a touch of the good old days for me, and worthy of an article.

Diaclone Jetrobo F-15 Hi-Speed Fighter

Takara's Diaclone Jetrobo F-15 Eagle Hi-Speed Fighter from the Real & Robo sub-series, released in Japan in 1983, was the very first use of the now-legendary Transformers G1 Starscream mould. In my mind, it is as historic a figure as Diaclone Battle Convoy, the predecessor to G1 Optimus Prime. It represents an absolutely magical purchase for me personally, although not one I have ever chased with much fervour - which actually surprises me a lot. The manner in which this toy finds itself in my collection and was completed - it didn't start out as a purchase of a complete toy - is something of a reflection of everything I feel I am about in this hobby and what it means to me.

Hasbro G1 Turbomaster Hurricane

The Turbomasters are an absolute wonder of late European (and Japanese) Generation 1 Transformers. Some refer to these particular Autobots and other toys of the same era as G1.5, as they are so close to the Generation 2 era toys, but they are still absolutely G1 toys, from 1992. They are also some of the best G1 toys in existence because they have the core essence of what makes G1 special evident throughout their makeup. 

Hasbro Canada G1 Pre-rub Bumblebee

In 1984, The Transformers graced the world. Well, some countries in the world. The United States, United Kingdom and Canada are probably the three best known territories that received Transformers toys in the first year of their manufacture. Hasbro Canada had an appreciable pre-rubsign range of Autobots and Decepticons in 1984, including the very earliest 'pre-rub' minibots packaged in vehicle mode on their card backs. Canadian G1 figures had bilingual packaging, English and French, including a French name for the character. In Bumblebee's case, his French name was "Bourdon", and quite apart from being the same as a Hasbro US pre-rub Bumblebee, the packaging featured something extremely unique.