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!

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 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.

Another Hasbro G1 "Orange Canopy" Ramjet

The Hasbro G1 Ramjet variant with the orange canopy and I seem to have an inseparable destiny. I once owned a Hasbro production sample Ramjet with a pre-rub style orange canopy but gifted it to a friend. I then found and bought a production version of the same variant, and sold that too. Now, I have what I believe to be an even later production version orange canopy G1 Hasbro Ramjet - and in all this time I'm not aware of anyone else having found another example. So what's the deal?

1987 Autobot Movie Targetmasters - Gallery

This week I finally got around to another lovely Generation 1 article. I am spacing these out because they are so tremendously enjoyable for me to do, and so finite, that I want to extract every last bit of enjoyment from my recent acquisition of many 1987/88 figures as I can. It's an era that I neglected a lot in my earlier collecting days, and am now discovering and enjoying with great enthusiasm. I did have a few Headmasters and Targetmasters from my childhood, but nowhere near the level of now. Sadly, they are not cheap and finding G1 from 87 and 88 in the condition I desire for these articles is very difficult. Anyway, thanks to my feature on Autobot Targetmasters from the TF Movie (Hot Rod, Kup, Blurr), I can now share the full hi-res gallery of the photos used in that article.

1988 Autobot Headmasters - Gallery

In addition to Tuesday night's 1988 Autobot Headmaster article for TFSource Blog, here are the photographs in full resolution. Enjoy Hoeshead, Siren and Nightbeat!

Hasbro G1 Autobot Headmasters Gallery

Please find below a brief gallery of the main Autobot Headmasters from 1987, that is, Brainstorm and Arcana, Chromedome and Stylor, Hardhead and Duros, Highbrow and Gort. This Tuesday will see the start of a number of TFSource articles on Headmasters and Targetmasters from 1987, so for now it's just a selection of Autobot Headmaster group shots in higher resolution than on the upcoming Source Article, which will have a more detailed written overview of the category. After that there will be individual figure posts on this blog. Enjoy!

Mexican G1 "Trailbreaker Head" Hoist

MEXICAN HOIST HAS THE WRONG HEAD! Maybe you knew that already, after all this is one of the oldest and well-established G1 variants of all. Along with the Canadian G1 Red Slag, the European Milton Bradley G1 Red Tracks and black Mexican G1 Prowl, "Hoistbreaker" is a legend. Believed to have been released in 1986 in Mexico and subsequently exported around Europe, the Plasticos Iga Mexican Generation 1 Autobot Hoist was manufactured with Trailbreaker's head cast in green instead of the Diaclone Wrecker/Hoist head sculpt. It's commonly referred to as the Mexican Hoist with Trailbreaker head, and that's precisely what it is. I personally have never seen a corrected Mexican Hoist, they've all been like this in my experience.

Optimus From Yugoslavia - Part 3

In 1988, The Transformers made it to the former Yugoslavia in the shape of the iconic Optimus Prime G1 toy. In Part 1 and Part 2 of this mini-series we discovered that Yugoslavia, like many European countries, received G1 Transformers from Mexico manufactured by Plasticos Iga. While everything other than Optimus was standard issue variant Iga Mexican TFs in Iga packaging, the Optimus came in a specially made box for the Yugoslavian market that was 99% Iga, but sporting the logo of then-Yugoslavian toy manufacturer Marčanka. In this final part, we'll look at the Mexican Optimus Prime in the Marčanka package.

Optimus From Yugoslavia - Part 2

Behold, the original 1980s Generation 1 Transformers Optimus Prime from the former Yugoslavia. Yesterday we got our first look at this seemingly Mexican Optimus Prime from the notorious and fruity Plasticos Iga. Spanish text on the box and the toy itself clearly indicated a Mexican variant - which we will explore more carefully in part 3 - but it was bought in Serbia mere days after another similarly boxed Mexican G1 Optimus showed up, also in Serbia. What really set this apart, made it unique and another significant chapter in the history of G1, was the fact that the box bore the logo of a new (to us) company, not Iga.

Optimus From Yugoslavia - Part 1

In June 2014, that feeling came again. The feeling where everything you think you know about the limit of Generation 1 Transformers is once again lain to waste with the discovery, or rather uncovering, of an age-old lost section of vintage G1 variants. This time it was a boxed Generation 1 Optimus Prime from...Yugoslavia! Thanks to the Serbian Transformers community, this absolute gem of a hybrid variant was posted on TFW, and I couldn't wait to dive in and get involved. If it wasn't for the sharing and kindness of the Serbian TF community, there'd be nothing to report, so first off, my sincerest thanks to Danilo, Nikola and G1 Aerialbot for help with that auction, for information and communicating their knowledge.

Recent Departures - New Year 2015

A few more finalised and significant sales to help me towards affording a property in the near future and also to pay for my daughter's first term at part-time nursery. And Masterpiece Skywarp. What a ridiculous price tag. For both! First departure was the above Diaclone police type Countach LP500S (Police Sunstreaker). It sold for $1475 shipped and had been the subject of many an authentic upgrade from yours truly. I had added better styro, better fists, unbroken shoulder attachments, unused missiles with the correct white plastic base, unused stickersheet and instructions. Only the box, car and driver were from original acquisition. One day, one day I'll keep one for myself. I guess this one was always in the shadow of my first Police Sunstreaker, a toy so mint it still makes me cry.

Takara G1 "16 Megatron"

Takara's 1985 G1 Megatron, designated 16, is a wonderful thing. It has no chrome and is so much noticeably heavier than its chromed Hasbro counterpart since it still retains the bullet firing mechanism. That's right, it comes with bullets. Basically, this is the Transformers release of the Micro Change Series grey MC-12 Walther P38 Gunrobo. You can see the complete lack of stock attachments, and instead the retention of MC-12's sword. The box artwork is unique, not too unlike the MC-12 artwork and nothing like the Hasbro Megatron/MC-13 UNCLE artwork. It's shown with red inner legs, but of course this version sports blue plastic. 

A Big Reveal (Reprise 3) - UPDATED!

Normally it irritates the hell out of me when I finish an article topic, thinking it's definitive, only to discover something else or to have it brought to my attention. It happens a lot, there are always surprises, so why should I be surprised? I'm not, I'm also not irritated this time because I seriously love these KO Spanish minibots by Gisima, and while I haven't found a new variant (well...), there is something new to add to the "Big Reveal". What you see above are all the minis already featured in the Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Finale, Reprise and Reprise 2, as well as an original Gisima store display slightly different to that featured in the previous chapters.

Hasbro G1 "Orange Canopy" Ramjet Quickie

 

For the longest time I owned a Hasbro US production sample early G1 Ramjet, originally owned by the Hartman brothers and before that by an ex-Hasbro employee. The toy was resealed to the card and had an orange canopy like on Ramjet's box artwork and stock photography. It was basically a pre-release variant, a sample of immense value and unique feature. Well it was until I found what I believed to be an actual production version of an orange-canopied G1 Ramjet. 

A Big Reveal (Finale)

Armed with the company name "Gisima S.L." and the original information provided by Pablo, it became much easier to track down information on the company responsible for manufacturing and selling the Spanish bootleg minibots. Websites led to blogs, which in turn led to forums and eventually the scope of these releases - and the number of available variants - became clear. Painfully clear.

New Arrivals

Matsushiro painted-wing symbol variant G1 Jetfire

What better way to launch a Transformers blog than with a G1 Jetfire? Since there doesn't have to be a theme or any real reason for my making posts here, it can be as basic and fundamentally linked to one of the best parts of a toy-collecting hobby as possible; the actual buying and receiving of new Transformers and toys!