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!

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.

Who is Blaze? (BadCube OTS-Special 01 Sentinel Blaze)

Third Party company BadCube (formerly Cubex) had previously mainly tackled Generation 1 minibots such as Huffer (Huff), Brawn (Brawny), Outback (Backland) and Warpath (Wardog). Evil Bug Corps (Insecticons) aside, they took an enormous step towards being a headline event with OTS-08 Sunsurge, their take on Autobot car Sunstreaker in the Masterpiece style and scale. The Autobot cars are massively popular still, and the Masterpiece Transformers have proven to be as desirable as anything else around. Being the first company to get a legitimately MP-style Sunstreaker on the market ensured Sunsurge's success. Now, BadCube have repainted the modified yellow Lamborghini Countach into its red predecessor, known widely as the Diaclone "Red Sunstreaker"- named BadCube Old Timer Series Special 01 - Sentinel Blaze. I'm going to have a brief look at this upcoming figure, explain its history and significance because it excites me hugely, and needs some defending. Much as I felt the need to address the question Who Is Tigertrack for the Masterpiece release in 2013, let us now ask Who is Blaze?

Goodbye Binaltech

From the very beginning I've been a fan of Binaltech and Alternators, and even when I sold off the latter in one of my many culls, the Binaltech survived. They survived everything, the Diaclone sales, the G1 sell-off, the Animated, CHUG, Movie, artwork and reissue clearouts...you name it, Binaltech stayed. They were at the core of everything I held dear as a Transformers, Generation 1 and model car enthusiast. I even wrote a slew of detailed articles on TFSource Blog to summarise the series up to BT-18 here, here, here, here, here and here, and made a lot of friends by writing the articles at the time of release for TF-1.com here. Having previously declared to the world why I would never sell them here, I have now put virtually all of them up for sale and already said goodbye to a fair few. 

Diaclone "Red & Police Sunstreaker" Model Kits

During the height of Diaclone in Japan, Takara and Nitto collaborated on a series of model kits that covered a fair bit of the Diaclone range, mostly the figures that didn't make it to Transformers and the consciousness of many collectors, things like Dia Battles, Big Powered, Warudaros etc. However, number 16 and 17 in the set covered the very first Diaclone Car Robot mould from the Real & Robo series, the Countach LP500S Super Tuning (red Sunstreaker) and its retool, the Countach LP500S Patrol Type (Police Sunstreaker). What makes these kits essential for any self-respecting Transformers, Diaclone or artwork collector is that they feature the only character artwork ever produced for the red and especially police versions of what would become the famous Autobot "Sunstreaker". 

G1 Ravage Lenticular Wallet

There's very little in the way of merchandise that I have chosen to keep throughout my Transformers collecting adventure, once the novelty has worn off it's just an item in storage that cannot be displayed with any real purpose with my figures in a Detolf where space is at a premium. One thing I have wanted for a couple of years now since learning about it, was a vintage G1 Ravage lenticular wallet. Why did I want it? Because I have the Sunstreaker/Yellow Sideswipe lenticular wallet from the same set, and that says a lot about how I've gone about my collecting down the years.

Milton Bradley G1 "Sunswipe"

Since Mijo of 20th Century Toy Collector confirmed the existence of the mainland European Generation 1 1985 Milton Bradley "Sunswipe" - a Sunstreaker in Sideswipe packaging - there's been a lot written about it by both himself as the remover of the veil of ignorance, and myself as the first owner of probably the best specimen ever found. I have since passed this diamond of a Euro variant onto Mijo, where it belongs to be fair, but here is the first dedicated write-up I've personally done on this variant.

Diaclone "Yellow Sideswipe"

Who is Tigertrack? Well if you'd read THIS you'd know, wouldn't you! This isn't a reissue though, you're looking at the very first yellow version of a Countach that made it to The Transformers, the Japanese Takara Diaclone No.15 New Countach LP500S, or "Yellow Sideswipe". The original Diaclone pre-Sideswipe was released in red around August 1983 in Japan, with a planned all black version seemingly making it to production-ready stages before possible being scrapped. This yellow version was the official second release of the mould and debuted in Japan at the end of 1983, and was then released in Italian GiG packaging as well in 1984.

Selling Art Is Hard

When Alternators and Binaltech were huge, I bought as much original box artwork for the Alternators toy line as I could get my hands on. Why? For investment purposes? Hell no, have you seen the artwork for Alternators? Created by Transformers comic and toy industry legends Marcelo Matere, Alex Milne and Guido Guidi amongst others, they were the lovechild of the best official TF artists around and the best looking Transformers toys we'd had in years. If I had not bought them at the time when they were offered by the artists themselves at conventions, I might have lost the chance to get them forever. Having these pieces of unobscured, full-size history was the mightiest honour and pleasure an Alternators/Binaltech fan could experience. And I loved them, and displayed them fully.