Okay, it's been 40 years. It's probably time to learn the Dinobots are an elaborate Henshin Cyborg homage. Well, to learn again, it’s a repost from that other site that got ruined. Anyway, Dinobots!

In Japanese fandom, the G1 Rodimus Prime figure is derided as having “frog eyes”, and now I can’t un-see it. Takara was going for a steely-eyed glare of determination, but ended up more like Brock instead. However, Transformers scribe Hirofumi Ichikawa believes this is the result of a paint error.

The story goes like this, in 1967 a little girl called Takara’s customer service number, and asked to speak to Licca-chan. Not wanting to crush a little kid’s dreams, the operator quickly replied “Hello, this is Licca-chan!” Very cute, totally harmless. …right?

Blokees Ultra Magnus makes a perfect Ultra Magnus Jr. from the “Mystery of Convoy” manga. Also, Missing Link Bumblebee apparently has a flight stand port? I choose to believe it is exactly for this reason.

The faces of the 1987 McDonald’s Changeables had a quirky Diaclone /‘84 Transformers inhuman robotic design quality. 1988’s aesthetic was more like the ‘86 Movie’s human-like faces, and even G2-style reissues in garish colors. The 1990 dino series were organic creatures, a precursor to Beast Wars.

From the collection of Anthony Lopez, a 1980’s store display standee from Greece. This is my spirit animal.

For a change of pace, let’s look at a silly He-Man figure! This is Cy-Chop, an original character from Masters of the Universe Classics. An evil cyborg with giant scissor hands, he’s a little goofy but his unique design is endearing. Actually, speaking of his design, it looks kind of familiar….

I love Godzilla toys, but how the hell are you supposed to put these things on a shelf?

Vintage Diaclone TV commercials 1-7, with English subtitles.

“Takara SF Land Complete Collection” (1999) included the bonus CD-ROM, “Commercial Film Collection”. In addition to commercials for Henshin Cyborg, Microman, and Machine Saurer, it included 21 Diaclone commercials. Unfortunately, as a CD-ROM, the quality is not great.

Let’s go over some vintage manga archival tips. Now, because my goal is clean scans, I remove the staples, disassemble the book, and slice out the pages I’m going to scan. This makes some collectors uncomfortable, but counterintuitively, it also makes the archiving and preservation more successful.

Most of Takara’s 1986 G.I. Joe file cards had minor changes (often related to making G.I. Joe a multi-national task force), but Snake Eyes had one especially notable addition. See if you can spot it in this English translation. Larry Hama would be happy, and Henry Golding might deserve an apology.

In 1986, Studio OX drew the art for a G.I. Joe picture book which features Flint smoking, and Gung Ho flipping you off. “Strongest Expert Team on Earth: G.I. Joe, Big Illustrated Encyclopedia”, English translation. (Exporting remainder of translated G.I. Joe from previous account) 1/2

1/3 The Keibunsha G.I. Joe Encyclopedia was a resource devoted mostly to the cartoon, and had no direct connection to the Comic BomBom manga. The simply-written short comic included could be generously described as an origin story, which wasn’t really touched on in the show (Reposting by request)

BTW, because social media compresses images so much, and downloading one page at a time is tedious, I usually also post hi-res versions on Archive: archive.org/details/gi_j... (Reposting since the URL changed after I rearranged the images in the correct order)

The G.I. Joe manga is just like the Marvel comic, with a few key differences: The names are different Not many of the toys are featured It follows an original character It isn’t very good With that in mind, enjoy the English translation of G.I. Joe manga Issue 1, by Hisaji Ueda. 1/5

So, everyone already knows Takara changed Duke’s name to “Grunt”, made minor alterations to most characters’ real names (like Snow Job from "Harlan Moore" to "Harlan Nykänen"), and changed the name of basically every vehicle… but one of the stranger choices was changing “Snake Eyes”, to “Snake Eye”.

I don’t know what I expected the Japanese version of Shipwreck to sound like… but somehow, it’s the actual things he’s saying which are more surprising.

More Transformers designed by kids, from 1986 “Sniper Dester: Transforms into an M-16 assault rifle. He is the father of the Destrons” What? That’s a GREAT idea, and it looks like he holds a full bayonet as a weapon? When I was a kid, you just drew some extra guns on Grimlock, and called it a day

During the 1940s, there were a surprising number of toy “Junior Air Raid Warden” novelty kits, based on preparing for when bombs would be dropped on your friends and family. Note this advertisement makes no mention the helmet and gas mask are nonfunctional, made of cloth and cardboard.

I was going to share several 1986 Transformers designs by kids… but it’s not fair to steal focus from “Dreamer”. She’s a female transformer who changes from a bed, to a centaur, and can destroy her enemy’s brain. Also, if you want to ride her, she’ll put a pillow on her back. She is everything.

There are days when Buzzer is the most relatable character in G.I. Joe.

The Mini-Spies began their lives as Takara’s Mecha Senshi (Englishized as “Mech Soldier”), a series of low-cost robots, originally developed and sold to Takara by a company called “Koma Co. LTD”. (Photo of display box from a collector way more hardcore than me)

Yes, even I think this is excessive. No, it didn’t stop me. All 12 versions of the 1985 Mini-Spies.

1/7 The paint job on this boxer’s face is driving me mad. Even on a tripod, his face still looks blurry. Zoom in and you see it’s just the way he’s been airbrushed. It’s like an optical illusion, was he painted to look like he’s in motion? The longer I look, it actually starts to hurt my eyes…

Part of the 2000’s Microman revival, “Military Force” was a series army builder droids, utilizing a standardized body, with tons of mix and match accessories. Each figure had an environment or mission specific theme, and they were endlessly customizable.

The internet has always existed in some form or another.

1980’s memo to Hasbro from Larry Hama, pleading to let him say new figures are just older figures who dress differently now, to lighten his burden on adding new huge numbers of new characters to the comic every twelve issues. Reproduced from Mark Bellomo's Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe - 2nd Edition

In a stunning example of the lack of oversight Takara used to exercise over fiction, in the 1986 G.I. Joe manga, artist Hisaji Ueda made the baffling decision to make the focus of the comic a completely new main character: “Tate Musashi”. The rest of the G.I. Joe team basically becomes his backup.

Artistic accuracy is important. That’s why I don’t display Onyx Prime in bipedal OR centaur mode. Obviously, the correct option is to have the front legs just kind of hang out in front, so you aren’t quite sure what the hell is going on.

Blast Effects can be a lot of fun, but unfortunately no matter how much I love them, they will never love me back. Let’s talk about plasticizer migration. 1/6

tfw Target will pay you $15 to add a random Hot Wheels car to your order.

Translating pop culture jokes is exhausting.

And it only took 40 years! I really enjoy the new Deluxe Insecticon “Venin”, but I’m still perplexed by the silly name change Hasbro went with. Obviously it’s supposed to be “Beetras 04: Battle Expert Emergency Task Ranger Anthromobile System, Beet-Zeguna”. But apparently that was unavailable?

In Takara’s 1983 Tokyo Toy Show catalog, the prototype art of Cassette Man shows the original Micro Change Rumble / Frenzy cassette deco was… Enemy?

Remembering Ron Friedman

Aside from being some cute little guys, the e-HOBBY color swap versions of Powered System A&B came with some stunning art prints of modern and vintage Diaclone paintings. 1/2

1/3 1977’s Microman Magazine Zero Zero is nearly 80 pages of high concept sci-fi art, devoted to life on Microman’s home planet, from fashion to robot pets. It’s a beautiful thing, which shouldn’t exist. It’s hard to imagine a company today making a book so removed from advertising current toys.

6/10 Henshin Cyborg Command Machine Records 1 & 2 (1972), the records which came with the player.

The 1973 Henshin Cyborg Command Machine was a handheld device that played 2” records. There were 14 in all, each 30 seconds long, none of them very good. However, as some of the first Henshin Cyborg fiction, obviously nothing has ever been more important. This is the attempt to archive them. 1/10

An “Image Song” isn’t quite a soundtrack; it’s an original work, created as a tie-in, to highlight the vibes a property is aiming for. This is the 1972 Henshin Cyborg Image Album. Side one: “Henshin Cyborg No.1” (Side two is longer than the 3 min limit, so I’m linking both offsite instead.) 1/2

In the French Diaclone comics, it’s surprising to learn the character of “Ambulance” is presented as female. Transformers trivia will tell you all about how Bob Budiansky originally intended Ratchet to be female, as a play on the character “Nurse Ratched”, from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.

Marck of the Deathking 1/7 This is Interstellar Emperor Deathking, the big bad of the 1980 Microman line. Aside from being a metal AF emperor king, he represents an important sea change from the original Microman format, into what would become the robot-centric model later seen in Transformers.

Worst part about Optimus getting Ironfist’s name wrong, accidentally robbing him of credit for inventions: There is no effing world where a guy whose head is poking out the unaltered front of a truck, looks like he should be named “Skyfall”.

The person who did this needs to be found, and brought to justice.

Obviously, Takara made Choro-Q toys of the Q-Cars. One of the most interesting is a special edition gold chrome U, given exclusively to CQ Motors shareholders. You can currently find one for around $7, so they‘ve appreciated in value much better than the CQ Motors shares themselves.

Takara’s Cool Girl CG-12, Codename: Ruby comes with some impressive weaponry. Aside from a giant sci-fi rifle, she also has a Beretta 93R machine pistol with all kinds of optional attachments. You can add a silencer, a scope, a stock, and… Waitaminute.

Choro-Q Motors only released four models of Q-Car. The best is probably the "Q-Volt", which was designed by none other than Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball. It totally looks like something Bulma would drive. Unfortunately, the car is not deployed by throwing a capsule on the ground.

@wildwheelshat.bsky.social How it started.

In 2002, Takara’s president Keita Sato invested heavily to enter the automotive market with an electric, street-legal Choro-Q car, called Q-Car. Q-Car was an expensive failure, and Sato resigned as president when Takara reported a 10.5 billion yen loss in 2005. Takara merged with Tomy soon after.