Hasbro will be showcasing its
Transformers and Power Rangers brands along with partner brands Star Wars and Marvel at
Paris
Comic Con, MCM Comic Con London, Lucca Comics & Games, Manga
Barcelona (with German Comic Con Dortmund coming later in December).
Additionally,
we will be
selling multiple convention items, including figures available for sale
first to fans at EU conventions before being available elsewhere around
the world.
·MARVEL LEGENDS 80TH ANNIVERSARY EXCLUSIVE INCREDIBLE HULK and MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES 80TH ANNIVERSARY X-FORCE DEADPOOL Figure
Available at:
Paris Comic Con, MCM Comic Con London, Manga Barcelona
·STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES LUKE SKYWALKER (SKYWALKER STRIKES) figure Available At: Paris Comic Con, MCM Comic Con London, Manga Barcelona and German Comic Con Dortmund
I've made my love of late European G1 to all of G2 Transformers known more than on a single occasion. The design style that started in that nebulous area between the end of G1 in European countries (oh the things we missed out on here in the States) and went through Generation 2 (with those European molds surfacing in Machine Wars and Universe). It's just perfect to me, the ideal evolution of that Diaclone/Microman genesis to original Transformers. Even now with all our fancy engineering in modern Transformers, if something makes me think of that era, I gravitate towards it.
It's a major reason why I like the more simple toys that come from lines intended for smaller children (Turbo Changers, Authentics, Cyber Battalion and so on), it's that they are extremely similar to this era of design and that's just something I love. Take that Authentics Bumblebee, despite all his budget restrictions slapping you in the face, he's got the skeleton of a G2 car bot. The various more simple toys of Robots in Disguise are 100 % seemingly lost in time relics of this era. Hell, there's a couple of 3 Step larger versions of Optimus Prime from RID that would blend right on in with a Victory or Brave figure. Whenever people say they wish Transformers were made like they used to be, all one has to do is point towards those. There was a Fast Action Battler toy from Age of Extinction, Vehicon, who was pretty much a remake of Stormtrooper Rage.
Occasionally I get asked why I like these oddball toys, and I usually just answer that I just like the random stuff (and I do), because sometimes folks just don't get it. They don't have too, it's all subjective and really not important. Everybody enjoys things differently, and this is one of the ways I enjoy things.
Man, there's just something about that announcer that makes me love this commercial. His voice, accent, and just general 'alright fellows, let's go!' vibe to his delivery that makes this commercial more fun than it already is. As is, it's a basic selling of the 1986 movie Autobot car guys (that look to be in darker colors, but that could just be the video quality). The most noteworthy thing outside of the awesome announcer is the framing, that mirrors G1 packaging. Which is rad.
I wasn't aware that Thunder Clash's name in Italy was Uragan. But Uragan sure has a fun commercial. Simply just showing off the toy's features in a cool lanscape with a little vehicle action. GiG sure knows how to sell a Transformer.
One thing I've always enjoyed was the random story pages inserted in with Transformers instruction or product catalogs. Maybe a blurb of fiction here or there, or as in this case, a mini comic. This little one page provides a cool little bit of adventure with the new toys in the catalog included with the toy. Little things like this can go a long way towards giving that toy a life of it's own and providing character. In cases like these late European G1-G2 toys it was some of the only fictional appearances some of these toys might have gotten until a random inclusion in a later convention comic or small role in a mainstream book if anything at all. It's not much, but it's something. Not to mention, that art is wonderful.
One of the more interesting teams in Transformers is the Rescue Force, a somewhat more obscure group that feature recolors of Lio Kaiser molds into new Autobot characters simply named after their vehicle mode. The four members can still combine, just not into a complete combiner robot. To me, personally, this is a perfect idea for some sort of box set. Reuse appropriate enough molds in the decos, give them more exciting names (there's literally a million good enough names already in the Hasbro registered book of names), and boom there's a cool batch of neato toys. Some cool fiction wouldn't hurt either.
I could see them as some sort of Autobot Sentai team that rapidly deploys in crazy situations. Say, for example, that there's a big Decepticon attack and somebody has to help evacuate the humans while Optimus deals with the situation. Welp, here comes the Rescue Force!
Late G1 was pretty interesting in European countries. Worldwide Transformers kept going strong, while in the U.S it was on hiatus for a bit before coming back as Generation 2. As the line started re-branding some of the products being released in those European regions began the slow shift to the new G2 make over. The newer toys had the new G2 symbols and the packaging began to resemble what we came to expect during Generation 2.
Eventually Transformers got the full name on packaging and Transformers Generation 2 was running strong. On this booklet, you can see many of the toys that got released in G2 here in the states as well as some familiar faces that stuck around as fan favorites. A few got re-released in Generation 2 packaging (some even with new names).
I'm not too proud to admit that I've very jealous of you lucky people in these countries that got these awesome bots at the time.
