Gatchaman - La Battaglia dei Pianeti September 28, 1980

From September 28 on Channel 5
The most extraordinary science fiction series
to ever appear on the screen. For 7 months
every Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 5:30pm,

Gatchaman - La Battaglia dei Pianeti  September 28, 1980

Z Knights

Gross Pretender Monster Shells

 

I'm just going to say it. I love this commercial. The slime, the monster hands, the spooky ooky atmosphere. It's perfect! Monster Pretenders were a super cool team of smaller toys with gross rubbery monster Pretender shells. The team combined to form Monstructor, a behemoth among robots. If the rubbery shells weren't gross enough on their own, as they age, they tend to mold! That's probably not the greatest, but you can definitely appreciate the toys living the gimmick. Of all the teams that could use an update, THIS is the set that could really use one. 

Part of me wants to think that they could half do it. Maybe instead of the Pretender shells, it could just be robotic monster alt modes or perhaps the robot modes that resemble the Pretender shells like they've done in the past. I might even be ok if they didn't combine, just throw me a freaking bone already Hasbro!

F Is For Firebot

The Letrabots are a blind bag line of transforming robots who as their name would suggest, turn into letters. I've seen other letter based robots come in sets and really have no clue what line those belong to. I was at Target, saw the box, and grabbed a pack. Firebot comes from the series 'COMBO BIG ROBOT ADE' as this team combines into a larger robot named ADE (I know).

This series is specifically a glow in the dark series, I don't know if the other series by Cicaboom feature this, but I'm game to try their other sets if I can find them. They're pretty neat looking in an old school kids meal way. The combination aspect is motivating me into trying to complete the set more so than the toy. The figure is pretty neat, but an end result to completing the series is a plus.

Firebot is a little bot who turns into a capital F. His included card has reversed colors than the actual toy and I'm not sure of that's a case variation (one proper colored, one reversed per case) or just a production change. Despite being a simple little toy, his transformation is a little more involved that I expected going in. There's actually a swiveling part in between his torso and legs which has you doing an additional twist to put everything into place. It's not super complicated, but I didn't see it coming.

I didn't take a picture of the extra bits in the bag. One is a hand and the other is part of a gun for ADE. Firebot is ADE's left arm and I swear the combiners name is going to give me a coronary. For a basic little toy, it's pretty neat. I can't tell if there's a code system or not for the baggies, but there is little peep holes which may or may not be any help. I guess I could feel what letter is in each one, I just grabbed one blindly and got Firebot here.

You say Exogini like it's a bad thing

Exogini by GiG is an Italian keshi line made from Kinnikuman, Ninja Mites, Fistful of Aliens, and a few original molds. Exogini doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, though the line does obviously catch my attention with it's use of molds and blind bag nature. Honestly when I first discovered the series, I wrote it off as an Italian version of M.U.S.C.L.E and pretty much forgot about it. That is until I saw more of it and honestly wouldn't mind having some.

The Devil's Tater Chips

I've talked cursed videos here before, I've talked spooky snacks here as well. This just might be the first time I've talked about a video containing a cursed spooky snack. That spooky snack of course would be Horror Show by San Carlo. The Italian snack maker in 1996 confused a potato chip recipe  with a spell in the necronomicon. Thus Horror Show was born, providing all those who dared to eat with hell on earth.

Biocombat on a dark and stormy night

Transmetal Scavenger is a funny toy. He was obviously intended to be Transmetal Inferno at some point, so much so that the Japanese version IS Transmetal Inferno. Considering Inferno was originally meant to be Megatron, Inferno has a habit of intended to be somebody else at some point. Hell, I still remember my Scavenger's receipt saying 'Inferno'... and Rampage's said 'Killer Crab' which would have been a great name. Though on his own, Scavenger is a good looking toy. I'm convinced he's a homage to Warudaros, but that's a return to all the intended to be talk earlier.

Pretender Monsters

Christmas in July, Halloween in May. Summer is the prelude to Halloween and I've got monsters on my mind. With so much of my focus on smaller Transformers (and fortunately Hasbro feeding this need) I find myself really wishing they'd do something like the Monster Pretenders again. Not just because it's something I'd personally love (maybe 95% why), but as Generations has been focusing on late G1 the past few series, I think this would be a great fit and add a little variety. That and monsters are hip daddy-o, monsters are on the rise in popularity. Godzilla is doing so well in America that Toho is setting up offices here to capitalize after the deal with Legendary expires in 2020. You damn well know I'm excited about that.

This Italian commercial from GiG's Transformers line calls the Monster Pretenders just Pretender Monsters. This works really well as it flows a little better than Monster Pretenders as a name. At the time I'm thinking Monsters in my Pocket were on shelves as well as other 'gross' toys, so obviously GiG was marketing towards that market with this cool as crap commercial with monster hands ripping away the monster shell. Not to mention that AWESOME logo. I am so freaking jealous of that logo and with the way GiG sold these guys. So freaking jealous.

It's kind of genius in a way, if they really sold well, they could release multiple color variations so you could make your own Monstuctor and even get some cool slime add on for the shells. Just imagine a world where Transformers became a cool monster line. I do often admittedly, but as the line has had so many damn monsters in it already... why didn't it?

GiG Diaclone Powerdashers

Like others, I often compare Diaclone to Titans Return as they're super similar. Which has led me down the path of wondering why the Powerdashers didn't make an appearance in Titans Return. Sure, they were hardly a footnote in Transformers, but they played the same role in Diaclone as a Titanmaster partner or even how the Titans Returns incarnation of the Clones worked in the line. The more I think about it, they're pretty similar in construction to an Energon Igniter figure. If I could be so bold to hope for another line with Titanmasters/Primemasters style play gimmicks, maybe I could be just a touch more bold and hope for Powerdasher type figures.

Damn, I loved Titans Return.

GiG Pretenders Commercial

Mr. Denim Jacket over the Shoulder here apparently has special powers. Because when his hands turn blue, he can rip a Pretender shell in half. Which doesn't exactly sell the longevity of the toy very well. Outside of the neon horror and toy mutilation, the commercial does do a decent job of selling Finback to viewers. It's hip and cool, perfect during an afternoon of children's television at the time. I'm kind of impressed and maybe a little frightened to let that kid around my toys.

GIG Cominer gift sets commercial

I wish the store employees were this happy to sell me Transformers at Target.

GiG Predators and Turbomasters commercial

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.

Gig Monsterbots

I'm not even going to lie, Tigerbot and Drekbot are better names than Grotusque and DoubleCross. Actually, Il Drago and La Tigre is even better. I don't have any tattoos, but if I did, it would be Flammeggiante around my bicep. That would be so much cooler than barbwire. You hear that linebacker in 1998? IT WOULD BE BETTER THAN YOUR BARBWIRE.

Imagine Grotusque BUSTING THROUGH A WALL.

Transformers Uragan Italian commercial 1993

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.