I'd love to see a Missing Link Ironhide, it'd be either hilariously blursed or the most jaw-dropping, awesomely subversive feat of TF toy engineering ever.
I mean if you could engineer a head and a way to movie the shoulders up, it might actually look fine, but the question is if that's considered changing too much of the original design, I do hope they tackle it though, I really want to see that now
I'm curious where they go with Missing Link. I kind of think Jet Robo / Starscream would be next. I think given the price, they'd prioritise big characters to hook you in, then go for obscure or disliked toys.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Oh man, a Missing Link Hot Rod would be so cool! IMO the OG toy is already one of the best G1 carbots to begin with. That said, I'm willing to bet they're already at least breainstorming an ML Ultra Magnus based on Optimus.
Tow-Line did the Nissan Van play-pattern amazingly well during Energon, but wow does a Headmaster suit the original concept well. It's real genius, I wish we got it in Titans Returns!
In early 1983, I witnessed my first transforming toy -- a dune buggy in the GoBots line code-named "Buggy Man." Later that year, I began to see advertisements on TV for "Diakron" (the American name for Diaclone) three vehicles that transformed into cars. I got one of them for Christmas that year (DK1, the Lamborghini Countach), but I never got the pickup truck (later released as "Trailbreaker") or the van. So when the Transformers line finally came out in 1984, my first Autobot car purchase was Ironhide. I loved that toy, and I never regretted it, not even for a second, because I had some Diaclone figures to put in his cockpit, which was awesome. Thank you for posting.
Everything is going to be someone's first or favorite. Even toys that are pretty disliked like the Nissan Van, others are going to see a lot of entertainment value or interest in them. How you are presented the toy matters a lot too. No problem, I enjoyed making it. I think given the well of topics, I'll be making Diaclone / Micro Change videos for a while lol.
Apocryphal to Transformers lore, but Diaclone has another mold of the vanette, but it is a spring loaded single changer that acutely turns into a battle vehicle that resembles the Car Robots battle station
Can’t help but think it would’ve been a more reasonable decision to just keep Ratchet and Ironhide as mech suits and just have two human characters with the same personalities. I mean, if you can have Spike, Sparkplug, Chip, and Carly…then some human characters could actually directly participate in the fighting, which I imagine would’ve pleased a lot of kids.
It's actually a really interesting idea, but I think it's hard to execute brand wide. It'd have to be something in the brand bible used in both the animation and comics, which would necessitate a single human character to be in both. It also flies in the face of the brand identity Hasbro and Marvel were going for; Robots in Disguise. It's possibly something that could be returned to now and executed very well, rather than something from the time.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Depends on the era of G1. Remember that later G1 had the Nebulons as organic homies filling a somewhat similar role to pilots (though that’s more true with the Japanese continuity). That being said, that’s a fair point. I do wonder if perhaps it could’ve worked as a way to have cross-toy compatibility by having the human characters riding in the other Autobots…until I remember that would make them seem too much like piloted mecha. Funnily enough, that was the same issue faced by the Beast Wars Transmetal II characters. Plus, given just how different the cartoon, comics, and other media could be, that’s a fair point. At the very least, it would have been interesting to have seen the two figures recast as characters with those weirder drone-ish designs, yet still I’m glad with the actual characters we got.
I was more talking in the context of the preproduction of G1, when the molds were chosen and characters written by Bob Budiansky. That's when I think the decision to use the Nissan Van mold in that way would have needed to be put in stone. Someone mentioned both would have made fantastic Headmasters and I totally am on board with that idea. I really liked what Tow-Line did with the concept, but this would have made an absolutely fantastic Titans Return toy. More missed opportunities of Prime Wars I suppose.
See that's your problem; much like with my thoughts of of "why didn't they just modify the audio plug mount in MC-21 to pivot 90 degrees in the tape tray, so that they could retain the electronics AND add microcassette play features", you're suggesting something that simply makes too much sense.
Never hated the mold, not once. I actually loved the van mode and the bot mode, while not toon accurate in any way, i still liked it. The sled was cool to me. I even bought the Encore reissues when they came out.
I think it's a thing if you can appreciate it, you'll like it a lot. I do think the toy had a lot of potential and just needed a bit more work to properly adapt, but it's not the only Diaclone toy that could have used new parts / modification to be better used in Transformers...
@@HgjgkrofmI don't think so. Looking at it now as an adult. Yes, it's a bad design. As a kid, I loved him, he was one of my favorites. Kids will like anything if you put it in a cartoon. They sold us rocks... ROCKS, that transformed 😂 but I loved Rock Lords too!
No sir. I am G1 and I thought Ironhide and Ratchet sucked ass. My friend got them 1st and I quickly crossed them off my wish list when he showed them to me.
There are some things worth unpacking here. Firstly that hole in the crotch isn't weird, it's weapon storage for the turret on the battle sled. It's something I only stumbled upon when I got curious a few years back. Yes that means that Ironhide and Ratchet do in fact have underslung weapons in vehicle mode. What I've learned over the years, and Blaster (specifically his gun) was my first lesson with this, is that if an early Transformer has some weird hole in it, it probably served a purpose in Diaclone, microchange, et al, which wasn't carried over into the Transformers line. It also means that Ironhide was the earliest example of a Transformers figure mold, which featured weapons storage in vehicle mode. Given the mold was only the 5th Transformers figure mold to be created, it shows that weapons storage, and especially functional weapons storage, in an alt mode, occurred far earlier than meny transformers fans might have realised. Secondly, the play value in mech mode is far better than than the pilot merely riding in what is essentially a precursor to an AMP Suit in Avatar - both the Launcher and the turret feature cockpits for Dianauts, while the readout screens which line the sides, allow for additional play options. If you draw a parallel between Dianauts and Minicons, then this is essentially the oldest ancestor of Armada Optimus Prime. Thirdly, I think you misunderstood what I was saying about MC-18. I wasn't merely saying that the head for Ironhide came from MC-18; I'm saying that Ironhide ORIGINALLY WAS MC-18. We know that at some point, the decision was made by Hasbro to make the Autobots cars, and the Decepticons devices, military vehicles and weapons. However we know that there were other design choices at play and that not all of them would have come after that. Now bear in mind this is pure speculation on my part, but Occam's Razor lends credence to what I'm saying. I believe that in the initial stages of planning out the rebrand and amalgamation of the line, not long after 1983, there were a few initial concept character outlines for different toys, back before creative efforts were filtered out by marketing execs about what toys "will shelf-warm" (air quotes intentional on both sides of the argument). For example, robots who turn into jets are going to be soldiers. A robot who turns into a cassette player and robots who turn into tapes, will naturally be paired together and will serve in the roles of communications and intellegence gathering (storage media literally collect data. However what about a van, a family vehicle to get children from a to b screams out security? Transport, sure, but security????? However a robot which turns into a padlock - well that absolutely screams out being a robot whose role is security, as it LITERALLY secures things as its function. To that end, while the name may not have been ironhide at that time, I am saying that it is almost certain that the red and black security robot that we came to know as Ironhide was originally MC-18 in its entirety. Another thing which I think backs this up, is if you look at not only the head, but the rest of the body of the animation model of Ironhide, the design silhouette matches up perfectly with how Bob Budiansky would have stylised the design of MC-18 for an animation model. I think these designs were done as part of a marketting pitch - not every single member of the 1984 cast, but enough of them for a proof of concept. So what do I think happened? I think there were 3 things at play here. The first is the decision for the Autobots to turn into cars, whilst the Decepticons turned into devices. Additionally, the warmer colours, the reds, the oranges, etc, as a rule, became the Autobot colours, while the darker and colder colours, such as the blacks, the purples, the blues, etc, tended to become the Autobot colours. Even the decision to give the Autobots blue eyes and the Decepticons red eyes, matches up with this. Additionally as a bad guy, how much of an evil cool factor does a padlock have, besides next to none. Guns, and jets are a no-brainer. A camera and tapes to spy on people with, sure. But a padlock? I think what happened was that Ironhide the toy wasn't originally on the list to be a Transformer and MC-18 was originally meant to be the Autobot Security chief. However when marketing stepped in, plans changed and they needed another toy to fill the slot. I think the Onebox Cherry Vanette was sitting around unused and it was decided that the animation model for MC-18 would be completely reskinned from the neck down, into what we now know as Ironhide, whilst retaining MC-18's head. The added bonus of this of course, was that it gave them either a working animation design, or a far better animation design, than what might have existed for the Onebox Cherry Vanette Ambulance, which we now know as Ratchet. While we may never get a definitive answer, this strikes me as the most likely scenario for how we wound up with the animation model and toy design for Ratchet, differing so wildly. One other thing, whilst Ratchet and Ironhide might be the most hated early G1 toys out there, I believe any assigning to them of the worst G1 toy ever is misplaced. As someone who owns both MC-21 and G1 Blaster, I can unreservedly say that the worst G1 toy ever, in terms of how the original Pre-Tf toy was handled, is none other than G1 Blaster by a country mile. Not only did they gut the incredible working radio gimmick, which is amazingly executed, but they even removed working switched and dials, when in some cases, all it required was using a plastic part that was already there on the toy - the tuning dial next to the tape deck being the example of this. Meanwhile the gaping hole in Blaster's Electro Scrambler, which is designed to work with a crystal radio earpiece, was never filled in, despite the crystal radio earpiece being removed. In fact if you have a crystal radio earpiece with a 2.5mm plug, it will combine with the gun of any reissue of G1 Blaster, to this day. Meanwhile Blaster gets a free pass, when it should be thoroughly panned as a mold reuse (in fact it should be considered a cheap knockoff of MC-21 in comparison - no matter how officially licensed it might be), whilst the Onebox Vannette mold cops nothing but hate because Hasbro chose to cram a square peg in a round hole, with their choice of mold usage for certain characters. Make it make sense.
Mate, I really like your comments. They're long, but they make you think. Sorry for taking nearly a week to get around to this, but comments can be time consuming and I try to get to everyone. I was aware of the gun going underneath for storage, which the TF release doesn't mention btw, but some things have to be omitted for pacing reasons or I forgot to address it later in the script. I saw the seat in the battle station, but assumed it was just a central one for the weapon to be manned. Truth be told, I've never handled any of the 84 Autobot Cars. I own every other 84 mold, just never got around to the cars. But yeah, I see the evolution to the MiniCon play pattern. MicroMasters too. A few people brought up HeadMasters and that really does feel like the first evolution of the concept. I didn't misunderstand what you said, it's just for pacing reasons it was better to mention it rather than dwell on it. I'd like to actually push harder on it on a video where it is the core topic as honestly, I agree with you. I did as I was writing the video and looking at the images. I was on Aaron Archer's stream yesterday and he's pretty open with the idea Transformers was thrown together and not meant to last. You go into the body shape of the cartoon model later on, I do think that has a resemblence to both toys, which is another reason I said 'influenced' rather than was, but yeah, it's just a case of replacing the sticker from the padlock with a windscreen and the design is converted. I had assumed presumed shelfwarming would have been the issue. Possibly price points and how the toys were shipped to stores playing into it too. I don't think the van is "cool", but potentially an easier sell than the padlock. I think that's poor judgment, but leads me to question how play testing responded in 83. MotU is pretty notorious for Mer-Man nearly being cut because of a poor response from play testers, maybe the play testers for Transformers didn't like some of the Micro Change toys? This feels like the reason for Reflector ending up as a redemption offer too, rather than a proper release. The logic on Ironhide is really sound. When I was brainstorming video topics, before the channel even started, I was going to go with the angle of how does the van suit the character. Not just a people mover, but a van an electrician or plummer would use. Of all the 84 and 85 cars, it's probably the least impressive, but from a character standpoint, the lock makes way more sense. I was looking into the Decepticon Cassettes, since Rumble in the cartoon has arms like Scope Man. It really strikes me that only Buzzsaw, Laserbeak and Ravage fit the themes of Soundwave. The two Micross toys feel decidedly not in theme with Soundwave, like they were edited from something else to be about the tapes. Going back to my thoughts on play testing, we all know Soundwave is a super popular toy of 1984, maybe he had some influence in what molds were chosen. I do see your point on MC-21 / Blaster, but I think it gets by on how good of a conversion it is from MicroChange to Transformers and how popular the MC-10 Cassette Man play pattern is. Yeah, MC-21 can't really do that to my understanding, but Blaster can. I think of all the action features of G1, the cassettes are up there with combiners. Working radio is more unique and interesting though, but it goes back to my point on Soundwave's popularity. I know it was normal to gut gimmicks, but Blaster had considerable retooling that was unusual for the time. Hey, you might be able to answer this better than anyone; do you know the origins of the 85 MiniVehicles? I know 84 is mostly Mysterians, but I'm wondering if the 1985 MiniVehicles were the first "real" transformers or holdovers from MicroChange. They all seemingly share design traits with a singlular piece for the feet, bar Beachcomber.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Just a brief heads up before I respond, I'm severely Autistic (formally diagnosed), so I may be approaching things differently in my communication than you might be used to. When I was making comments on the video, I was referring to the argument made on screen, which you acknowledge was a product of the cutting room floor, figuratively speaking, omitting arguments you'd considered or framing responses to what I and others might have said in a certain way, from end product of the video. However i think the great thing about these sorts of discussions, as you've noted, is that it creates scope for a single video to turn into a miniseries. As for the Mysterions, it turns out I'd fallen for a red herring, just as you have. When you mentioned Mysterions, I automatically thought you meant "The Mysterians", a 1957 Japanese scifi movie, which it turns out, isn't the case. It turns out that the source for Mysterions is a Jim Shooter blog post, which reads: "They [Knickerbocker Toys] called their toy property, based on technology licensed from a Japanese company, the “MYSTERIONS.” ". The phrase "based on technology licensed from a Japanese company", strikes me as interesting, as it suggests that this was a case of reskinning a different property on one or more existing toy lines, which is exactly what Transformers started out as. A couple of other points in there that I note. Shooter states that after the Mysterions pitch failed: "So, we all shook hands and we Marvel types drove back to New York. Mike Hobson guessed that some kind of company shakeup was going on. The next day we learned that, just before our meeting, Hasbro had announced that it was acquiring Knickerbocker. Shakeup, indeed." " Then he goes on to state: "Some months later, the Hasbro exec who was Marvel’s main contact, Bob Prupis, came to my office. He pulled a few toy vehicles out of his bag and proceeded to open and unfold them into ROBOTS. They were bigger and much more complex than the Mysterions. Different Japanese technology, same general idea." I think you and many others have fallen for a red herring here. It's clear from the wording that "Japanese technology" refers to existing line of Japanese toys - or rather the engineering which underpins them. What I suspect is that the Mysterions toy line was actually yet another example of an overseas toy company licensing either Diaclone or Microchange toys - specifically they licenced the Microchange Pennyracers from Takara in this case. When the pitch was made to licence them, it tanked. Around the same time, Hasbro acquired Knickerbocker, complete with a dud of a rebranding pitch for a a subline of a Microman subline. It might also explain why, despite the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show essentially having toy robot fever, Hasbro execs were instead going to look at a remote controlled car there. After all, if the rebranding options are a dud, why go back there. However what seems to have happened, going by Shooter's descriptions, was that it was possibly in fact the Diaclone toys, rather than the Microchange toys, which inspired the initial idea, rather than the Microchange Microman subline. It would also make sense if the Microchange toys had some bad optics attached to them, due to a failed pitch, from a failed toy company which they'd acquired. All this suggests that the Jim Shooter blog has unintentionally been a red herring all along and that these were in fact Microchange toys from the getgo. As for MC-21, I've got to disagree with you completely. I don't know if you own one of them or have seen one of them up close, but I'm lucky enough to own a boxed one (I was lucky enough to have a "summer job" doing customer service work for TAFE at the time and only paid something like $250 for one) and so I could be coming at things from a different angle to you. I honestly think that Blaster gets by on a mix of nostalgia and ignorance from most fans. By ignorance, I mean that people don't miss what they don't know and that Buster Jones did a great job of making the character iconic - as did Marvel Comics stories which featured him as the centre protagonist, as late as the Underbase Saga. I don't know if you know this, but MC-21 does have microcassette interactivity. They sealed it up on Blaster, but on MC-21, there is a door on the figure's back which opens up to store a single Microcasette. However at the risk of making maybe too strong an argument here, I have to call BS on every single argument which claims that MC-21's electronics had to be gutted to make Blaster work with MC-01-MC-03, or if you want to get more specific as of 1986, the Autobot tapes. The only thing stopping Blaster from fitting microcasettes into his tray, is a, I think it's 2.5mm but would need to check as it's not in front of me now, audio jack (the same type of audio jack on smart phone headphone cables) protruding up from the base of the cassette tray. All they needed to do, and it would have required far less remolding and retooling of MC-21 to pull off, would be to redesign the tray and audio jack, so that it was mounted on a 90 degree swivel hinge, so that it could be sticking up when the tuner block microcasette was inserted, and retracted when transforming microcassettes were inserted instead. Apparently though that would have made too much sense. As for the other Minicars, the 1985 lineup were almost certainly unreleased Microchange toys. We know for example, that at least 1 triplechanger was never released, that Diaclone toys would see initial release in Transformers as late as 1987 and Microchange toys as late as the late 1990s. One of the most profound examples of figures to hit after 1985 of course, was the unreleased Jizai Gattai Diaclone subline, which sadly reduced what that toy line could have been it was all kept intact and integrated when imported into Transformers (ie making the Stunticons and Combaticons also Autobots and actually making use of the third modes of combiner torsos as modules for Metroplex, which they're designed to be).
When I finally got Ironhide in the 80s I thought I was missing parts because it didn't have a head until I noticed the stupid sticker at that point I was really disappointed
I really would want detailed video going over why cartoon models deviated from the toys. Like one pattern I noticed is eye color change with Optimus, Soundwave, Perceptor and Blaster from yellow to blue and red. And why the helicopter triple changed never became a transformer.
The optic colors (i.e. eye color) is easy to explain. It's the same reason why in all the old westerns all the good guys wear white hats and all the bad guys wear black hats. The Autobots all have blue optics because they're the good guys and the Decepticons all have red optics because they're the bad guys. Little kids can tell which of the many MANY characters are either good or evil by their optic color.
@mrsamaritan6881 answered some of it, but many can be answered by what I said in the video; simplification for animation or a source other than the final product being the basis for the model. Broadside falls into this heavily later on. As for the Microchange and Diaclone toys not in Transformers, I'm not sure anyone from Hasbro was ever asked. It's likely just a case of things not fitting what they wanted for the brand. You'll notice that Perceptor and Blaster aside, they pull back from Micro Change hard in 1985. I wonder if by that point they'd already realised the limitations of "Itemformers".
It was mostly for easier animation, but many decisions are really hard to understand, yes. But look at the gobots cartoon, they draw them like the toys, and then look which brand has a 40 year anniversary 😉😉
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Makes sense to me, same why the train combiner are never used by Hasbro. But the helicopter/jet triple changer I would want an answer. I totally would like to see new toy of that in legacy representing Diaclone universe. I can see it being retooled into Cyberverse Whirl right away.
I totally agree and it's surprising they haven't introduced it proper, yet go back to Whirl and Roadbuster occasionally. I mean, I know Roadbuster and Whirl are going to be someone's favorite, but they are nothing characters, while HeliJet has an interesting history. I know it's in the comics under several different names though.
Partway through, I'm thinking "that sort of looks like a mech suit, or part of a Zord almost" Then the bit with "they were mech suits" and it clicks, lol
I had the 1985 Ironhide because he was my favorite Autobot on the cartoon, but my friends thought it had to be a GoBot because its design sucked. I liked it, but it didn’t look good compared to the cars. My favorite G1 autobot toy though was the die cast metal Jazz.
I liked Go-Bots, or as we called them down here, MIGHTY MACHINE MEN. Even Crasher is a man in Australia, says so right on her packaging. Jokes aside, I never really understood the Go-Bot hate beyond brand loyalty, which is a bit childish. For what Go-Bots / Machine Robo were trying to do, they were really great little toys. Wish I bought more before the prices skyrocketed...
I feel really bad for any 80’s kids who were watching Transformers, and wanted to get toys of their favorite characters, Ironhide and Ratchet, only to go to the store and see these weird, headless mech shells.
I rewatched a lot of S1 prior to writing this video to refresh my memory since I haven't seen a lot of S1 in ages. I'm gonna say it, I can't imagine them being anyone's favorite. The show seems more interested in pushing Prime, Hound, Mirage, Bee, Starscream, Soundwave, Rumble and Megatron than anyone else early on. Even Wheeljack gets a decent push. I was actually shocked how little energy they put in Ratchet, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz and Prowl, but I get it from a writing perspective.
What made it worse was how much screen time and character development they gave to Ironhide and Ratchet. Overshadowing cooler toys and characters such as Jazz and Mirage. In the pilot Jazz was basically second in command. Then became a background character, where even his character personality was replaced with blaster in season 2.
Maybe it was just cheaper to have Peter Cullen do a second voice than to have Scatman Crothers do more recording. On the other hand, at least Jazz survived the movie.
Rewatching Season 1 before I made this video, I was actually surprised how underused both vans feel. I don't have the time to sit through all of Season 2 right now, but most of the 84 cast don't make an impression.
After learning about the toys origin, I think Hasbro should have made them piloted suits for Spike and Sparkplug Witwicky instead of Autobots. That way they would include the pilot figure.
I have never had a issue with the mold. As someone who prefers toy accuracy to animation accuracy, I thought the toys were pretty good. Still do. There's a lot you can do with them that you can't do with, say, SS86 Ironhide or Ratchet. And I like those too.
I think a lot of the fandom prefers the cartoon accuracy, but I'm with you for the most part. Yellow eyes Prime, toy head Bee and toy Megatron do a lot more for me than the animation in terms of design. For the Van, I really think if I tracked one down, it'd have to be Diaclone over Transformers. I'd need those pilots to properly enjoy it.
As a Diaclone toy, it's fun as a mini version of Battle Convoy's play pattern with a mech and a battle station. It's not shown in the pictures, but the Dianauts can also pilot the van as well. As a Transformer, I was confused that it didn't look like the cartoon, but I knew what Diaclone was, and that's how I figured it what the deal was, and was just disappointed we didn't get the pilots.
Im surprised they even put the character in the show if this is what its based on. They coulda said it was made by humans or made for the humans to help fight against the decepticons
man, after watching this, I immediately grabbed my core class Ironhide and Ratchet and started fiddling with them. Im glad we have better representations of them now.
I remember my first transformer. It was the starscream at the beginning of the video. I recall having mixed feelings because the legs didn't bend and the hands had to be placed on, but love won out and I still have a large collection
I never understood the articulation complaints about G1 when the only contemporaries with superior articulation were O-ring toys like GIJoe. Star Wars, He-Man and later Thundercats and Turtles were all 5 point affairs. This isn't a slight against your comment Dale, just a general observation. G1 within the time frame it was released is perfectly fine.
Indeed, as an adult I can look back and see when compared with other toys of the time, it was pretty standard articulation, but as a 10-year-old with the cartoon in my head, it was a little disappointing. Now that you mention the other toys, I recall the same mixed feelings toward them. Ah, memories. Kids are so ungrateful, lol.
I always thought that G1 Ironhide and Ratchet’s heads should’ve been a separate piece that could’ve set on a peg. It would’ve meant they would’ve had to make a small adjustment to the mold.
I vaguely remember looking at one of those folders that came with the toys and had photos of all the TFs and trying to match each with their cartoon counterpart. I could not figure out who Ratchet and Ironhide were supposed to be...
Hate to say out, outside of some very specific cases, not huge on the Siege aesthetic. Hoping to get around to DK-2 Guard though, that'd be my first time with the mold. The channel has really gotten me interested in checking out all the Earthrise molds I skipped due to having older iterations of the characters just to have the Diaclone colours lol. Spin-Out / Cordon is the other one I want to get around to.
Count me amongst the opposition. I love the mech suit presentation. That was the main thrust of all robot toys in the pre-TF early 80s. It didn't bother me that the show looked different. Ironhide was an extreme but none of the other characters matched either. Megatron was probably more distracting to me.
That's actually interesting you'd find Megatron more distracting. I really like that toy, despite what I think my video on it leads people to believe, is it that the toy has a much more heroic face? He's super likeable and if it was legal for me to own one, MP36+ was something I'd want.
I remember seeing the red version in toy stores here in Germany as a kid. At that time we only had 3 TV Chanels and I had never seen a single episode of transformers. It looked cool in my opinion.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Sadly no, my dad was not a big fan of such "time wasters". I envied my friends, who had the toys, books and cassettes. It shifted a bit when he realized that he could watch more sports over satellite TV
Ironhide and Ratchet were fine in their vehicle mode, but they're transformation to robot was just goofy looking. I can't remember if I every got either of them as they weren't on the top of my want list.
A few people that grew up with G1 have mentioned seeing some of the originals in box and putting them down. It'd be interesting to find out who are the more plentiful G1 toys, the ones kids bought a lot of.
Aha, I was just about to mention the Baron from Gobots! He was odd. I never had Ironhide/Ratchet, so I wasn't aware of the anaemic nature, but I knew about the lack of head.
I like Go-Bots. Didn't think anything of them as a kid bar being cool robots and when I finally saw the cartoon fully, it's fine. Never the massive highs or lows of Transformers, but it's a perfectly fine cartoon. Mid but enjoyable all the way through.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Yeah. Even as a kid I thought of them as a cheapo version of TFs. Having said that, I had Cy-Kill, and it was top quality, really heavy and robust. One of the best transforming toys I ever had, whereas some Transformers were flimsy crap. Cy-Kill and Leader 1 were as good as TF leaders.
Not sure if you are familiar with the ladybird books,'microverse' whee they did their own thing, but the illustrations were very much the toys/box art. Though Iron hides appearances had him scouting in his van mode, or as a team with hound and trailbreaker trying to triangulate Decepticon radio signals.
I had Ironhide as a kid. I absolutely loved that toy, even if it didn’t match the tv show. Pulled all of my G1 toys out several years ago, and he’s still one of my favorites. 🤷♂️
I know what that's like. My favorite from G1 is a little known Decepticon called Apeface. So often overlooked because he has a chunky robot mode with about 40% of his mass in a massive backpack that cannot even be forced to stay in place. But I thought he was the coolest. When watching the cartoon, I would always just imagine that Apeface was with the Decepticons, just standing among the group, shooting at the Autobots. So, I know what it's like to love something most of the fans either hate or just ignore.
Quick little tip those binoculars that turn into a robot we're sold here in Canada and packed into the Transformers line if need be odds are I can dig them out and take a picture I got them as a kid I forget if mine are damaged or not but I'm about 75% sure they're in among the Transformers on shelves in the back room. I've got a collection of 200 or more Generation 1 Transformers and before somebody whines they didn't make that many start factoring and stuff like where they made multiples with different colored plastic not to mention I've got some of the really Oddball rare ones that were technically knock offs like I have Godzilla Grimlock. There was a variant of Grimlock that turned into Godzilla from a robot I'm not making it up dachlan I think was the ones that released it and they were sold here locally. One that I got is missing part of the tale of memory serves me. I lost track of how many they released in the generation one line between many cons Headmasters and all sorts of weird obscure absorbments that didn't actually have their own cartoon to ins. I even have some of the battle beasts which they tried to shoot into Generation 1 LOL I didn't know the battle beasts were part of Transformers till I got a DVD box set a few years back. I thought a piece was missing from Ironhide all this time where he's got that whole where his crotch would be I didn't know it came that way Factory
I've read about the Pre-Transformers making it to different markets, but it's interesting Canada is one of those markets. How is Scopeman as a toy? I'm familiar with the Godzilla Grimlock bootleg. I think it's the same line as the dragon Sludge with the wings? Yeah, I didn't mention it in the video, but the crotch is actually the first instance of weapon storge. The Van's gun goes there.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder The Ironhide that I have is actually made up of multiple parts that I acquired. I thought for a long time I was missing the head till I found out his head was just a sticker and I've often been tempted to get ahead from one of the other Transformers and glue it in the seat in front of the sticker;). i rebuild a lot of them from parts the binoculars are kind of a lackluster Transformer and I remember being confused they were in the show I think the binoculars are even in some of the advertising material whether it was a consumer's catalog or actually in Transformers catalogs that came with the figures. I'm sure you're familiar with the camera that turns into three separate robots there was a crap ton of variance of that Transformer sold here in Canada. The helicopter that turns into a giant cassette tape was sold through consumers as well as a few mom and pop stores I had a black cassette and a red cassette that turned into vehicles but I don't know if I still have them or if I sold them back when I had an ebay account sold a lot of stuff on eBay at one point where I had multiples like four and five of some Transformers and at that point they were going for really high prices. There's a really rare version of Bumblebee that I might have had and sold where are they all look alike to me apparently there is a version with a little circle stamped in part of the plastic or diecast with a little logo on the circle copyright Mark or something like that and it's a pretty rare version of Bumblebee. I've got sea spray still in the original package. Guy at a yard sale flea market type thing apparently had 30 or 40 Transformers in the packages that had been found in a storage locker and he only had one left guy literally said somebody bought all of those and missed that one and I'm shaking my head when the guy says I must have had 30 or 40 of those weird looking robots. The guy was in his 60s and had no idea what they were. He had several boxes of unopened Transformers from Generation 1.the package isn't in a one condition but 15 years ago it wasn't exactly common to find a generation one in the package even on eBay back then. I eventually got to get all the pieces from Beast Wars in one place and see which ones I have enough pieces to put together. I used to randomly get pieces of Beast Wars Transformers all over the place because they're like Lego blocks where they come apart with ball sockets. They eventually abandoned that design after a couple of waves I think when they got into that transmetal Transformers Beast Wars most of them were not done with ball socket design. Most of my Transformers I got as a kid at thrift stores and yard sales and now and then one here and there for like birthdays and Christmas. Believe it or not they were way more expensive here than they were in the US. You also had a lot of places like consumers and little mom and pop toy stores that would get the stuff from Japan in the original Japanese packaging a lot of toys we had sold here at smaller Outlets were in complete Japanese packaging with no English writing. So we got a whole lot of stuff like the original Voltron and a lot of toys that didn't even have cartoons here there were all sorts of toys that were multiple robots that combined into a big robot kind of like Voltron. As an example I have a mostly diecast lying that turns into a body part of a bigger robot robot was made up of a spaceship a lion and I forget what else that turn into a big robot. GoBots was another hodgepodge line that some of the toys from goldbots were actually stand alone and got merged into the goldbots line when they got brought down here to our side of the fence. There was a squirt gun as an example and a robot that turns into a hunting rifle they were merged into the goldbots line from other toy lines. I've got a really weird transforming robot that's not a Transformer or a cobot and never been able to identify it I still own it. The thing is quite large for the day it turns into a blue and yellow and black eagle and from the eagle form it turns into a big robot about 14 inches high. The robot that turned into a pair of binoculars was kind of gimmicky if memory serves me little Chrome pieces were prone to break off real easy an it didn't have much movement once in robot mode
Ironhide was my first transformer action figure. If I am remembering correctly I even had it before the show had started. I loved him. I thought he was great, and carefully watched for him to be on each episode.
I knew something was off with the Ironhide and Ratchet toys, but not a whole missing driver. They should have definitely kept them, I would of probably had both instead of none.
I was lucky enough to find that Diaclone red vanette at a flea market in SW Ohio as a kid in the mid 80s. There was a vendor there who sold a lot of imported toys from Japan/HK/Taiwan. Loved how it's scale and pilot could play well with my favoritest toy ever - G1 Optimus!
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Alas, I was one of those dummies who unloaded their 80s toys in late 90s. Now I'm forced to relive my childhood vicariously through RUclips. My loss is your gain. 😄
There's a company called kitzconcepts that have done some official VF-1 Valkyries, one of which (God of Flames) is done in Jetfire's original white and red color scheme. If you have $150 USD to spend, it's still currently in stock.
I never had Ironhide or Ratchet either, but they come up way more often with more passion than Broadside. There is space for more of these types of videos though.
I got Ironhide and Ratchet in '84, and I'm not saying I'm special, but in the late 70's my dad was stationed in Okinawa and for my 6th birthday sent me what was called the Microman Surveyor One. So I understood that Micronauts came from somewhere else, and then I got those first 3 Zoids from Tomy, so things like the little cockpit of the crane in Prime's trailer and Ironhide/Ratchet I kinda understood. When I opened Soundwave and saw the copyright 1974 Takara imprint I wondered what took so long lol.
The 74 copyright relates to Microman, not the Cassetteman toy specifically, but yeah. I do have to wonder if the pilot seats and cockpits in the Diaclone toys tipped anyone off that these were repurposed toys back in the day.
What would missing link ironhide and ratchet look like? Would they just make their seat heads turn or would they just have a head accessory just like the 3rd party upgrade kit? And also, I highly doubt anyone is gonna pay $40 - $70 for these abominations if they got adapted for missing link
What's interesting is Ironhide was never available in Japan, while Ratchet was only available as a redemption offer like Reflektor was for the western market.
I was so proud and happy back then when I got Ironhide. Today the Figures are much better, but today the Video Game consoles, Computers, Cars and so much else is better, too.
I must've gotten a different memo. I heard the most hated TF toy was the Megatron reissue, where the tip of the gun is recolored to make it look more phony. Believe it or not, it was *supposed* to make the gun look more phony. This was due to a change in toy gun regulations in the U.S..
Even within the context of Diaclone, it's still an oddity in terms of design. The best comparison I could make would be selling a highly detailed model kit of the USS Enterprise next to one of those plastic space helmets with the Star Trek logo pasted on - they might be from the same IP, but only barely.
I loved my gen 1 Ironhide toy. It was my 5th birthday present and I loved it so much that when I broke it I got it again for my 6th birthday. I also got Megatron for the Christmas between the 2 birthdays.
Its true, a lotta people dont like the Oneboxes. I did, thought they looked cool because they werent humanoid (unless you took them off the battle sleds).
Talking about Diaclone so much has made me want a lot of these old toys, including the One Box. Just wish the pilots weren't a pain in the ass. Come on China, bootleg those too.
Classics Ironhide was almost as bad. It had all those glaring panel gaps in car mode and the chest was unable to fully seat because it collides with the hips. I think the Ratchet retool fixed the chest-to-hip issue, but there was no saving the car mode's aesthetics.
I dunno man. I think G1 Ironhide is an interesting historical piece and has a lot of charm in its original diaclone context. Universe 2.0 Ironhide is genuinely bad with little to no redeeming features, especially now.
before transformers conquered the world, the french toy manufacturer joustra distributed the diaclone figures in europe. later, joustra had to repackage the diaclone figures, which then became the MB transformers.
I'd laugh if they just upped the articulation, packed in a better sticker and called it a day. I mean, not likely to happen, but the reactions from the community would be worth it.
If we do. I would assume, unless they have an absolutely mind-blowing toy in mind, it's a very long way away. I'd assume Jet Robo and the Datsuns would happen sooner. Or maybe Cassette Man since he'd need little work.
And a year later they would release Skids who looked like Ironhide and Ratchet should have looked which made it all the more mystifying why they would take two characters who played such pivotal roles in the cartoon and make their toys almost entirely unlike the characters they were writing. I was actually kind of surprised when Skids came out that they didn't release new versions of Ironhide and Ratchet using the new mold.
I just kept hearing "the missin' vanette", "the missin' vanette". I'm like, well, where is it? Took me a while to realize he was saying "the Nissan (nee sahn) vanette".
My friends and I always thought Ratchet and Ironhide were solid, easy to add into adventures, and well-designed, if a little goofy and disappointing size-wise and by comparison to the cartoon character. If you want to talk about hated models, we had Megatron, who had to stay as a gun because he flopped all over the place as a robot and Trailblazer and Hound who immediately flew into pieces despite the most delicate care one put into transforming them.
Y'know this does bring up one of the biggest missed potentials that Hasbro could have done with the Titans Return toyline, Ironhide and Ratchet. How beautifully full circle would it have been if those two were deluxes in TR with their own detachable headmaster partners?
@@TeryJones yep, it's been mentioned in the comments. I need to make a video about Transformers missed opportunities. Also how Botcon redecoed Energon Towline into Ratchet and Ironhide not Hasbro, when the toy was designed in their spirit, is bizarre.
I saw several of the Diaclones on the school bus a year before Transformers. I thought the Vanette, which was black, was the coolest one. I definitely saw a Sunstreaker amd maybe Trailbreaker. None of them were the same colors as their Transformers counterparts.
A few people said that, but it really wouldn't be on brand with what Hasbro was trying to achieve. I'm really sold on the idea some said in the comments about them being Headmasters though.
Yeah they made an absolute joke out of ratchette and iron Hyde . First they cut the damn heads off Then they took half the damn mech tech parts off , then stuck them in the damn box sent it out to stores, threw it on the shelf , called it a damn toy , then racked up the damn price to where noone could even afford the damn things . Then it took Hasbro decades to even perfect the models and release a half decent version of the characters. And us transformers fans had to spend years and thousands of dollars worth of rent money trying to find a decent version of those characters to even so much as add to our collections. And now that we finally have after decades of absolute hell, We are all so old and broke we can't even pay our rent because we spent so much money trying to find a decent mold of those action figures. Really Sucks.
The Studio Series did a good job of correcting the original monstrosity... until you also realize that it's so "solid" when in vehicle mode that there would never be room for a patient inside this supposed "ambulance" LOL!
5:54 im still going to make my own version for tranformers to use too. And 1 so their both equall=so dark of the moons plan might actuelly work(might.).
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
I'd love to see a Missing Link Ironhide, it'd be either hilariously blursed or the most jaw-dropping, awesomely subversive feat of TF toy engineering ever.
I mean if you could engineer a head and a way to movie the shoulders up, it might actually look fine, but the question is if that's considered changing too much of the original design, I do hope they tackle it though, I really want to see that now
I'm curious where they go with Missing Link. I kind of think Jet Robo / Starscream would be next. I think given the price, they'd prioritise big characters to hook you in, then go for obscure or disliked toys.
my thought exactly, i wonder if they have the guts to make it missing link version
I'm curious if they get to 1986 or just stick to Diaclone and Micro Change. Hot Rod and Cyclonus are really loved toys.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Oh man, a Missing Link Hot Rod would be so cool! IMO the OG toy is already one of the best G1 carbots to begin with. That said, I'm willing to bet they're already at least breainstorming an ML Ultra Magnus based on Optimus.
I recently learned that Bumblebee does not turn into a VW bug. He turns into a Penny Racer toy car! You'll never unsee it.
Yep! I mentioned that in the first Megatron video too! Love that toy, my childhood G2 Bee is still on my shelf.
Like Cliffjumper! I noticed the similarities back then, but didn' know the toy wasn't a VW.
Except he does, its just weirdly proportioned
you also forgot to mention how easily Ironhide and ratchet broke...
They did? Never broke one I ever owned. Mirage, Datsuns, Megatron, yeah, never a vanbot.
I don't think they're noted as being easily broken. Mirage is the big one from 84, though I think Wheeljack and the Datsuns break pretty easily.
Mirage is pretty notorious.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder*EXTINCTION DINOBOT COMBINER*
WATCH 😮
Loads of the diaclone cars broke easily, so they fit right in with the rest
This would've been the perfect candidate for an upgrade to a headmaster. You can have both looks, while still retaining the diaclone play features.
Tow-Line did the Nissan Van play-pattern amazingly well during Energon, but wow does a Headmaster suit the original concept well. It's real genius, I wish we got it in Titans Returns!
Yeah, not doing the vans in Titans Return was a missed opportunity.
My boy, he had a rough childhood, but grew into a true hero.
SS86 sure was a loved toy, stark contrast to the conversations surrounding the original.
In early 1983, I witnessed my first transforming toy -- a dune buggy in the GoBots line code-named "Buggy Man." Later that year, I began to see advertisements on TV for "Diakron" (the American name for Diaclone) three vehicles that transformed into cars. I got one of them for Christmas that year (DK1, the Lamborghini Countach), but I never got the pickup truck (later released as "Trailbreaker") or the van. So when the Transformers line finally came out in 1984, my first Autobot car purchase was Ironhide. I loved that toy, and I never regretted it, not even for a second, because I had some Diaclone figures to put in his cockpit, which was awesome.
Thank you for posting.
Everything is going to be someone's first or favorite. Even toys that are pretty disliked like the Nissan Van, others are going to see a lot of entertainment value or interest in them. How you are presented the toy matters a lot too.
No problem, I enjoyed making it. I think given the well of topics, I'll be making Diaclone / Micro Change videos for a while lol.
Apocryphal to Transformers lore, but Diaclone has another mold of the vanette, but it is a spring loaded single changer that acutely turns into a battle vehicle that resembles the Car Robots battle station
Can’t help but think it would’ve been a more reasonable decision to just keep Ratchet and Ironhide as mech suits and just have two human characters with the same personalities. I mean, if you can have Spike, Sparkplug, Chip, and Carly…then some human characters could actually directly participate in the fighting, which I imagine would’ve pleased a lot of kids.
It's actually a really interesting idea, but I think it's hard to execute brand wide. It'd have to be something in the brand bible used in both the animation and comics, which would necessitate a single human character to be in both. It also flies in the face of the brand identity Hasbro and Marvel were going for; Robots in Disguise.
It's possibly something that could be returned to now and executed very well, rather than something from the time.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Depends on the era of G1. Remember that later G1 had the Nebulons as organic homies filling a somewhat similar role to pilots (though that’s more true with the Japanese continuity). That being said, that’s a fair point. I do wonder if perhaps it could’ve worked as a way to have cross-toy compatibility by having the human characters riding in the other Autobots…until I remember that would make them seem too much like piloted mecha. Funnily enough, that was the same issue faced by the Beast Wars Transmetal II characters. Plus, given just how different the cartoon, comics, and other media could be, that’s a fair point. At the very least, it would have been interesting to have seen the two figures recast as characters with those weirder drone-ish designs, yet still I’m glad with the actual characters we got.
I was more talking in the context of the preproduction of G1, when the molds were chosen and characters written by Bob Budiansky. That's when I think the decision to use the Nissan Van mold in that way would have needed to be put in stone.
Someone mentioned both would have made fantastic Headmasters and I totally am on board with that idea. I really liked what Tow-Line did with the concept, but this would have made an absolutely fantastic Titans Return toy. More missed opportunities of Prime Wars I suppose.
See that's your problem; much like with my thoughts of of "why didn't they just modify the audio plug mount in MC-21 to pivot 90 degrees in the tape tray, so that they could retain the electronics AND add microcassette play features", you're suggesting something that simply makes too much sense.
Never hated the mold, not once. I actually loved the van mode and the bot mode, while not toon accurate in any way, i still liked it. The sled was cool to me. I even bought the Encore reissues when they came out.
I think it's a thing if you can appreciate it, you'll like it a lot. I do think the toy had a lot of potential and just needed a bit more work to properly adapt, but it's not the only Diaclone toy that could have used new parts / modification to be better used in Transformers...
Did you interview any of us G1 kids? I was there when Ratchet and Ironhide came out... and we loved 'em. We had imaginations.
Blinded by nostalgia
It’s okay buddy
Rose tinted glasses
@@HgjgkrofmI don't think so. Looking at it now as an adult. Yes, it's a bad design. As a kid, I loved him, he was one of my favorites. Kids will like anything if you put it in a cartoon. They sold us rocks... ROCKS, that transformed 😂 but I loved Rock Lords too!
No sir. I am G1 and I thought Ironhide and Ratchet sucked ass. My friend got them 1st and I quickly crossed them off my wish list when he showed them to me.
@@colorsafebleach5381I thought rock lords sucked! But my imagination often outpaced what I was given at the time.
There are some things worth unpacking here. Firstly that hole in the crotch isn't weird, it's weapon storage for the turret on the battle sled. It's something I only stumbled upon when I got curious a few years back. Yes that means that Ironhide and Ratchet do in fact have underslung weapons in vehicle mode. What I've learned over the years, and Blaster (specifically his gun) was my first lesson with this, is that if an early Transformer has some weird hole in it, it probably served a purpose in Diaclone, microchange, et al, which wasn't carried over into the Transformers line. It also means that Ironhide was the earliest example of a Transformers figure mold, which featured weapons storage in vehicle mode. Given the mold was only the 5th Transformers figure mold to be created, it shows that weapons storage, and especially functional weapons storage, in an alt mode, occurred far earlier than meny transformers fans might have realised.
Secondly, the play value in mech mode is far better than than the pilot merely riding in what is essentially a precursor to an AMP Suit in Avatar - both the Launcher and the turret feature cockpits for Dianauts, while the readout screens which line the sides, allow for additional play options. If you draw a parallel between Dianauts and Minicons, then this is essentially the oldest ancestor of Armada Optimus Prime.
Thirdly, I think you misunderstood what I was saying about MC-18. I wasn't merely saying that the head for Ironhide came from MC-18; I'm saying that Ironhide ORIGINALLY WAS MC-18. We know that at some point, the decision was made by Hasbro to make the Autobots cars, and the Decepticons devices, military vehicles and weapons. However we know that there were other design choices at play and that not all of them would have come after that. Now bear in mind this is pure speculation on my part, but Occam's Razor lends credence to what I'm saying.
I believe that in the initial stages of planning out the rebrand and amalgamation of the line, not long after 1983, there were a few initial concept character outlines for different toys, back before creative efforts were filtered out by marketing execs about what toys "will shelf-warm" (air quotes intentional on both sides of the argument). For example, robots who turn into jets are going to be soldiers. A robot who turns into a cassette player and robots who turn into tapes, will naturally be paired together and will serve in the roles of communications and intellegence gathering (storage media literally collect data.
However what about a van, a family vehicle to get children from a to b screams out security?
Transport, sure, but security?????
However a robot which turns into a padlock - well that absolutely screams out being a robot whose role is security, as it LITERALLY secures things as its function. To that end, while the name may not have been ironhide at that time, I am saying that it is almost certain that the red and black security robot that we came to know as Ironhide was originally MC-18 in its entirety. Another thing which I think backs this up, is if you look at not only the head, but the rest of the body of the animation model of Ironhide, the design silhouette matches up perfectly with how Bob Budiansky would have stylised the design of MC-18 for an animation model. I think these designs were done as part of a marketting pitch - not every single member of the 1984 cast, but enough of them for a proof of concept.
So what do I think happened?
I think there were 3 things at play here.
The first is the decision for the Autobots to turn into cars, whilst the Decepticons turned into devices. Additionally, the warmer colours, the reds, the oranges, etc, as a rule, became the Autobot colours, while the darker and colder colours, such as the blacks, the purples, the blues, etc, tended to become the Autobot colours. Even the decision to give the Autobots blue eyes and the Decepticons red eyes, matches up with this. Additionally as a bad guy, how much of an evil cool factor does a padlock have, besides next to none. Guns, and jets are a no-brainer. A camera and tapes to spy on people with, sure. But a padlock?
I think what happened was that Ironhide the toy wasn't originally on the list to be a Transformer and MC-18 was originally meant to be the Autobot Security chief. However when marketing stepped in, plans changed and they needed another toy to fill the slot. I think the Onebox Cherry Vanette was sitting around unused and it was decided that the animation model for MC-18 would be completely reskinned from the neck down, into what we now know as Ironhide, whilst retaining MC-18's head. The added bonus of this of course, was that it gave them either a working animation design, or a far better animation design, than what might have existed for the Onebox Cherry Vanette Ambulance, which we now know as Ratchet.
While we may never get a definitive answer, this strikes me as the most likely scenario for how we wound up with the animation model and toy design for Ratchet, differing so wildly.
One other thing, whilst Ratchet and Ironhide might be the most hated early G1 toys out there, I believe any assigning to them of the worst G1 toy ever is misplaced. As someone who owns both MC-21 and G1 Blaster, I can unreservedly say that the worst G1 toy ever, in terms of how the original Pre-Tf toy was handled, is none other than G1 Blaster by a country mile. Not only did they gut the incredible working radio gimmick, which is amazingly executed, but they even removed working switched and dials, when in some cases, all it required was using a plastic part that was already there on the toy - the tuning dial next to the tape deck being the example of this. Meanwhile the gaping hole in Blaster's Electro Scrambler, which is designed to work with a crystal radio earpiece, was never filled in, despite the crystal radio earpiece being removed. In fact if you have a crystal radio earpiece with a 2.5mm plug, it will combine with the gun of any reissue of G1 Blaster, to this day. Meanwhile Blaster gets a free pass, when it should be thoroughly panned as a mold reuse (in fact it should be considered a cheap knockoff of MC-21 in comparison - no matter how officially licensed it might be), whilst the Onebox Vannette mold cops nothing but hate because Hasbro chose to cram a square peg in a round hole, with their choice of mold usage for certain characters.
Make it make sense.
Mate, I really like your comments. They're long, but they make you think. Sorry for taking nearly a week to get around to this, but comments can be time consuming and I try to get to everyone.
I was aware of the gun going underneath for storage, which the TF release doesn't mention btw, but some things have to be omitted for pacing reasons or I forgot to address it later in the script. I saw the seat in the battle station, but assumed it was just a central one for the weapon to be manned. Truth be told, I've never handled any of the 84 Autobot Cars. I own every other 84 mold, just never got around to the cars. But yeah, I see the evolution to the MiniCon play pattern. MicroMasters too. A few people brought up HeadMasters and that really does feel like the first evolution of the concept.
I didn't misunderstand what you said, it's just for pacing reasons it was better to mention it rather than dwell on it. I'd like to actually push harder on it on a video where it is the core topic as honestly, I agree with you. I did as I was writing the video and looking at the images. I was on Aaron Archer's stream yesterday and he's pretty open with the idea Transformers was thrown together and not meant to last. You go into the body shape of the cartoon model later on, I do think that has a resemblence to both toys, which is another reason I said 'influenced' rather than was, but yeah, it's just a case of replacing the sticker from the padlock with a windscreen and the design is converted.
I had assumed presumed shelfwarming would have been the issue. Possibly price points and how the toys were shipped to stores playing into it too. I don't think the van is "cool", but potentially an easier sell than the padlock. I think that's poor judgment, but leads me to question how play testing responded in 83. MotU is pretty notorious for Mer-Man nearly being cut because of a poor response from play testers, maybe the play testers for Transformers didn't like some of the Micro Change toys? This feels like the reason for Reflector ending up as a redemption offer too, rather than a proper release.
The logic on Ironhide is really sound. When I was brainstorming video topics, before the channel even started, I was going to go with the angle of how does the van suit the character. Not just a people mover, but a van an electrician or plummer would use. Of all the 84 and 85 cars, it's probably the least impressive, but from a character standpoint, the lock makes way more sense. I was looking into the Decepticon Cassettes, since Rumble in the cartoon has arms like Scope Man. It really strikes me that only Buzzsaw, Laserbeak and Ravage fit the themes of Soundwave. The two Micross toys feel decidedly not in theme with Soundwave, like they were edited from something else to be about the tapes. Going back to my thoughts on play testing, we all know Soundwave is a super popular toy of 1984, maybe he had some influence in what molds were chosen.
I do see your point on MC-21 / Blaster, but I think it gets by on how good of a conversion it is from MicroChange to Transformers and how popular the MC-10 Cassette Man play pattern is. Yeah, MC-21 can't really do that to my understanding, but Blaster can. I think of all the action features of G1, the cassettes are up there with combiners. Working radio is more unique and interesting though, but it goes back to my point on Soundwave's popularity. I know it was normal to gut gimmicks, but Blaster had considerable retooling that was unusual for the time.
Hey, you might be able to answer this better than anyone; do you know the origins of the 85 MiniVehicles? I know 84 is mostly Mysterians, but I'm wondering if the 1985 MiniVehicles were the first "real" transformers or holdovers from MicroChange. They all seemingly share design traits with a singlular piece for the feet, bar Beachcomber.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Just a brief heads up before I respond, I'm severely Autistic (formally diagnosed), so I may be approaching things differently in my communication than you might be used to. When I was making comments on the video, I was referring to the argument made on screen, which you acknowledge was a product of the cutting room floor, figuratively speaking, omitting arguments you'd considered or framing responses to what I and others might have said in a certain way, from end product of the video.
However i think the great thing about these sorts of discussions, as you've noted, is that it creates scope for a single video to turn into a miniseries.
As for the Mysterions, it turns out I'd fallen for a red herring, just as you have. When you mentioned Mysterions, I automatically thought you meant "The Mysterians", a 1957 Japanese scifi movie, which it turns out, isn't the case. It turns out that the source for Mysterions is a Jim Shooter blog post, which reads: "They [Knickerbocker Toys] called their toy property, based on technology licensed from a Japanese company, the “MYSTERIONS.” ". The phrase "based on technology licensed from a Japanese company", strikes me as interesting, as it suggests that this was a case of reskinning a different property on one or more existing toy lines, which is exactly what Transformers started out as.
A couple of other points in there that I note. Shooter states that after the Mysterions pitch failed:
"So, we all shook hands and we Marvel types drove back to New York. Mike Hobson guessed that some kind of company shakeup was going on.
The next day we learned that, just before our meeting, Hasbro had announced that it was acquiring Knickerbocker. Shakeup, indeed." "
Then he goes on to state:
"Some months later, the Hasbro exec who was Marvel’s main contact, Bob Prupis, came to my office. He pulled a few toy vehicles out of his bag and proceeded to open and unfold them into ROBOTS.
They were bigger and much more complex than the Mysterions. Different Japanese technology, same general idea."
I think you and many others have fallen for a red herring here. It's clear from the wording that "Japanese technology" refers to existing line of Japanese toys - or rather the engineering which underpins them.
What I suspect is that the Mysterions toy line was actually yet another example of an overseas toy company licensing either Diaclone or Microchange toys - specifically they licenced the Microchange Pennyracers from Takara in this case. When the pitch was made to licence them, it tanked. Around the same time, Hasbro acquired Knickerbocker, complete with a dud of a rebranding pitch for a a subline of a Microman subline. It might also explain why, despite the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show essentially having toy robot fever, Hasbro execs were instead going to look at a remote controlled car there. After all, if the rebranding options are a dud, why go back there.
However what seems to have happened, going by Shooter's descriptions, was that it was possibly in fact the Diaclone toys, rather than the Microchange toys, which inspired the initial idea, rather than the Microchange Microman subline. It would also make sense if the Microchange toys had some bad optics attached to them, due to a failed pitch, from a failed toy company which they'd acquired.
All this suggests that the Jim Shooter blog has unintentionally been a red herring all along and that these were in fact Microchange toys from the getgo.
As for MC-21, I've got to disagree with you completely. I don't know if you own one of them or have seen one of them up close, but I'm lucky enough to own a boxed one (I was lucky enough to have a "summer job" doing customer service work for TAFE at the time and only paid something like $250 for one) and so I could be coming at things from a different angle to you. I honestly think that Blaster gets by on a mix of nostalgia and ignorance from most fans. By ignorance, I mean that people don't miss what they don't know and that Buster Jones did a great job of making the character iconic - as did Marvel Comics stories which featured him as the centre protagonist, as late as the Underbase Saga.
I don't know if you know this, but MC-21 does have microcassette interactivity. They sealed it up on Blaster, but on MC-21, there is a door on the figure's back which opens up to store a single Microcasette. However at the risk of making maybe too strong an argument here, I have to call BS on every single argument which claims that MC-21's electronics had to be gutted to make Blaster work with MC-01-MC-03, or if you want to get more specific as of 1986, the Autobot tapes. The only thing stopping Blaster from fitting microcasettes into his tray, is a, I think it's 2.5mm but would need to check as it's not in front of me now, audio jack (the same type of audio jack on smart phone headphone cables) protruding up from the base of the cassette tray. All they needed to do, and it would have required far less remolding and retooling of MC-21 to pull off, would be to redesign the tray and audio jack, so that it was mounted on a 90 degree swivel hinge, so that it could be sticking up when the tuner block microcasette was inserted, and retracted when transforming microcassettes were inserted instead. Apparently though that would have made too much sense.
As for the other Minicars, the 1985 lineup were almost certainly unreleased Microchange toys. We know for example, that at least 1 triplechanger was never released, that Diaclone toys would see initial release in Transformers as late as 1987 and Microchange toys as late as the late 1990s. One of the most profound examples of figures to hit after 1985 of course, was the unreleased Jizai Gattai Diaclone subline, which sadly reduced what that toy line could have been it was all kept intact and integrated when imported into Transformers (ie making the Stunticons and Combaticons also Autobots and actually making use of the third modes of combiner torsos as modules for Metroplex, which they're designed to be).
Wow, i've learned a lot from this thread!
My first Transformer toy was Mirage. I had saved up my allowance and bought him for $12 at Ames. My brother got Sunstreaker. Good times.
Sunstreaker is one I really want a copy of, even a Chinese KO. Both look like a lot of fun :D
When I finally got Ironhide in the 80s I thought I was missing parts because it didn't have a head until I noticed the stupid sticker at that point I was really disappointed
Yep. I can imagine that happened a lot. Hasbro should have sported for an additional clip on head or something.
@@warmachine9846 same! 🤣🤣
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder One of the reissues did that, I don't remember which one though
@@ninjanicktf9768 I showed it in the video, the final Takara ones had cut out heads on the box.
Some aftermarket groups are actually selling heads for Ratchet and Ironhide I don't think they were cardboard either
The fuck? Ratchet is one of my all time favorite Transformers from back then. It bothers me to this day that I lost him.
I really would want detailed video going over why cartoon models deviated from the toys. Like one pattern I noticed is eye color change with Optimus, Soundwave, Perceptor and Blaster from yellow to blue and red. And why the helicopter triple changed never became a transformer.
The optic colors (i.e. eye color) is easy to explain. It's the same reason why in all the old westerns all the good guys wear white hats and all the bad guys wear black hats. The Autobots all have blue optics because they're the good guys and the Decepticons all have red optics because they're the bad guys. Little kids can tell which of the many MANY characters are either good or evil by their optic color.
@mrsamaritan6881 answered some of it, but many can be answered by what I said in the video; simplification for animation or a source other than the final product being the basis for the model. Broadside falls into this heavily later on. As for the Microchange and Diaclone toys not in Transformers, I'm not sure anyone from Hasbro was ever asked. It's likely just a case of things not fitting what they wanted for the brand. You'll notice that Perceptor and Blaster aside, they pull back from Micro Change hard in 1985. I wonder if by that point they'd already realised the limitations of "Itemformers".
It was mostly for easier animation, but many decisions are really hard to understand, yes.
But look at the gobots cartoon, they draw them like the toys, and then look which brand has a 40 year anniversary 😉😉
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Makes sense to me, same why the train combiner are never used by Hasbro. But the helicopter/jet triple changer I would want an answer. I totally would like to see new toy of that in legacy representing Diaclone universe. I can see it being retooled into Cyberverse Whirl right away.
I totally agree and it's surprising they haven't introduced it proper, yet go back to Whirl and Roadbuster occasionally. I mean, I know Roadbuster and Whirl are going to be someone's favorite, but they are nothing characters, while HeliJet has an interesting history. I know it's in the comics under several different names though.
that toy should never have been released without the pilot
Probably shouldn't have been chosen for Transformers in the first place. It doesn't adapt well.
@5:20
The classic Ironhide was released first than the power loader from "Aliens" which was shown in 1987.
What was the go bot you mentioned Baron something the red and silver one? Cause I had a Brain blast I had that one
Baron Von Joy.
My bluish Diaclone “Optimus” made me no friends, but did make me life long enemies. And my Dinobots had pilots.
I like the blue Convoy from Powered Convoy. Actually making a video about him soon.
My Dinobots had pilots too! We used the little tiny silver figures that came with our Zoids.
@@RedSiegfried Zoids were top three!
I got Ratchet as a kid, and was totally in denial about it missing the cartoon head. I kept on double checking the box!
Man, I’m sorry! Did you ever get a normal Ratchet when those started coming out?
lol! I could imagine that happening.
Depends on how you define "Normal". It's either Botcon, Universe 2.0 or very recently with Earthrise.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder I just define normal as just, a toy of Ratchet that looks like the character from the cartoon.
Then that'd be Botcon, the re-use of the Energon Tow-Line mold.
Partway through, I'm thinking "that sort of looks like a mech suit, or part of a Zord almost"
Then the bit with "they were mech suits" and it clicks, lol
I had the 1985 Ironhide because he was my favorite Autobot on the cartoon, but my friends thought it had to be a GoBot because its design sucked. I liked it, but it didn’t look good compared to the cars. My favorite G1 autobot toy though was the die cast metal Jazz.
I liked Go-Bots, or as we called them down here, MIGHTY MACHINE MEN. Even Crasher is a man in Australia, says so right on her packaging. Jokes aside, I never really understood the Go-Bot hate beyond brand loyalty, which is a bit childish. For what Go-Bots / Machine Robo were trying to do, they were really great little toys. Wish I bought more before the prices skyrocketed...
I feel really bad for any 80’s kids who were watching Transformers, and wanted to get toys of their favorite characters, Ironhide and Ratchet, only to go to the store and see these weird, headless mech shells.
Would have traumatized me as a kid. Glad we have actual Ironhide and Ratchet figures these days.
Yep. I was one. Big regret asking the parents for Ironhide.
I got these to try complete the collection back than, ugly and hated them.
@@DireTribble Man, I’m sorry, for you and them. Hope you got a real Ironhide toy when they came out.
I rewatched a lot of S1 prior to writing this video to refresh my memory since I haven't seen a lot of S1 in ages. I'm gonna say it, I can't imagine them being anyone's favorite. The show seems more interested in pushing Prime, Hound, Mirage, Bee, Starscream, Soundwave, Rumble and Megatron than anyone else early on. Even Wheeljack gets a decent push. I was actually shocked how little energy they put in Ratchet, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz and Prowl, but I get it from a writing perspective.
What made it worse was how much screen time and character development they gave to Ironhide and Ratchet. Overshadowing cooler toys and characters such as Jazz and Mirage. In the pilot Jazz was basically second in command. Then became a background character, where even his character personality was replaced with blaster in season 2.
Maybe it was just cheaper to have Peter Cullen do a second voice than to have Scatman Crothers do more recording.
On the other hand, at least Jazz survived the movie.
Rewatching Season 1 before I made this video, I was actually surprised how underused both vans feel. I don't have the time to sit through all of Season 2 right now, but most of the 84 cast don't make an impression.
After learning about the toys origin, I think Hasbro should have made them piloted suits for Spike and Sparkplug Witwicky instead of Autobots. That way they would include the pilot figure.
I always thought this one looked really really weird.
Yep.
I have never had a issue with the mold. As someone who prefers toy accuracy to animation accuracy, I thought the toys were pretty good. Still do. There's a lot you can do with them that you can't do with, say, SS86 Ironhide or Ratchet. And I like those too.
I think a lot of the fandom prefers the cartoon accuracy, but I'm with you for the most part. Yellow eyes Prime, toy head Bee and toy Megatron do a lot more for me than the animation in terms of design. For the Van, I really think if I tracked one down, it'd have to be Diaclone over Transformers. I'd need those pilots to properly enjoy it.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Fair. I know, if I had had the option when I was a kid, I would have chosen the one with the little dude as well.
I have the new ss86 ratchet and it's extremely good.
The kid across the street had these and I was so jelly. This video helps with that.
lol. I actually would like the still, but gotta have Diaclone Pilots too.
I def didn’t want headless robots. That it was a mech suit design makes so much more sense now. TY
As a Diaclone toy, it's fun as a mini version of Battle Convoy's play pattern with a mech and a battle station. It's not shown in the pictures, but the Dianauts can also pilot the van as well. As a Transformer, I was confused that it didn't look like the cartoon, but I knew what Diaclone was, and that's how I figured it what the deal was, and was just disappointed we didn't get the pilots.
Yeah, someone else mentioned the seat in the battle station.
I was half through before I realized you were saying Nissan not missing. I couldn’t figure out what was missing 😂
In elementary school, i had a friend who had Ratchet. I thought it was so freakin' weird..
Im surprised they even put the character in the show if this is what its based on. They coulda said it was made by humans or made for the humans to help fight against the decepticons
Gotta advertise what you're selling, for better or worse.
man, after watching this, I immediately grabbed my core class Ironhide and Ratchet and started fiddling with them. Im glad we have better representations of them now.
Even back when they first came out, I was sooo disappointed in Ratchet and Ironhide especially. There were a few others but man those stunk!
I remember my first transformer. It was the starscream at the beginning of the video. I recall having mixed feelings because the legs didn't bend and the hands had to be placed on, but love won out and I still have a large collection
I never understood the articulation complaints about G1 when the only contemporaries with superior articulation were O-ring toys like GIJoe. Star Wars, He-Man and later Thundercats and Turtles were all 5 point affairs. This isn't a slight against your comment Dale, just a general observation. G1 within the time frame it was released is perfectly fine.
Indeed, as an adult I can look back and see when compared with other toys of the time, it was pretty standard articulation, but as a 10-year-old with the cartoon in my head, it was a little disappointing. Now that you mention the other toys, I recall the same mixed feelings toward them. Ah, memories. Kids are so ungrateful, lol.
I might be weird, I just accepted things for what they were as a kid. Still do actually.
I always thought that G1 Ironhide and Ratchet’s heads should’ve been a separate piece that could’ve set on a peg. It would’ve meant they would’ve had to make a small adjustment to the mold.
Not the only toy that should have been adjusted for the Transformers release too.
I remember when my friend got them and I looked at em and though "r u serious?" I thought he already broke them
Hard to take seriously in the Transformers context, huh?
There are 3P upgrade kits that sit into the seat of those figure and finish off the top of the robot to make it look more accurate
Pretty sure there would be 3D prints available now too.
I vaguely remember looking at one of those folders that came with the toys and had photos of all the TFs and trying to match each with their cartoon counterpart. I could not figure out who Ratchet and Ironhide were supposed to be...
I hate that thing as much as I LOVE the SS86 Ironhide
I never bought the 86 mold, but it looks pretty darn good compared to the Siege / Earthrise toy.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnderHey Siege was a good figure.
Hate to say out, outside of some very specific cases, not huge on the Siege aesthetic. Hoping to get around to DK-2 Guard though, that'd be my first time with the mold. The channel has really gotten me interested in checking out all the Earthrise molds I skipped due to having older iterations of the characters just to have the Diaclone colours lol. Spin-Out / Cordon is the other one I want to get around to.
Count me amongst the opposition. I love the mech suit presentation. That was the main thrust of all robot toys in the pre-TF early 80s. It didn't bother me that the show looked different. Ironhide was an extreme but none of the other characters matched either. Megatron was probably more distracting to me.
That's actually interesting you'd find Megatron more distracting. I really like that toy, despite what I think my video on it leads people to believe, is it that the toy has a much more heroic face? He's super likeable and if it was legal for me to own one, MP36+ was something I'd want.
I remember seeing the red version in toy stores here in Germany as a kid. At that time we only had 3 TV Chanels and I had never seen a single episode of transformers. It looked cool in my opinion.
Did you have any books or cassettes? Being familiar with He-Man, I know the German market was big on book on tape.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Sadly no, my dad was not a big fan of such "time wasters".
I envied my friends, who had the toys, books and cassettes.
It shifted a bit when he realized that he could watch more sports over satellite TV
@@isegrim1978 Yeah, I could imagine that. Did you ever manage to get any of them in adulthood?
Ironhide and Ratchet were fine in their vehicle mode, but they're transformation to robot was just goofy looking. I can't remember if I every got either of them as they weren't on the top of my want list.
A few people that grew up with G1 have mentioned seeing some of the originals in box and putting them down. It'd be interesting to find out who are the more plentiful G1 toys, the ones kids bought a lot of.
Aha, I was just about to mention the Baron from Gobots! He was odd. I never had Ironhide/Ratchet, so I wasn't aware of the anaemic nature, but I knew about the lack of head.
I like Go-Bots. Didn't think anything of them as a kid bar being cool robots and when I finally saw the cartoon fully, it's fine. Never the massive highs or lows of Transformers, but it's a perfectly fine cartoon. Mid but enjoyable all the way through.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Yeah. Even as a kid I thought of them as a cheapo version of TFs. Having said that, I had Cy-Kill, and it was top quality, really heavy and robust. One of the best transforming toys I ever had, whereas some Transformers were flimsy crap. Cy-Kill and Leader 1 were as good as TF leaders.
Just as an aside, there is also a seat in the battle platform behind the front gun, for a second pilot to use.
Yep. Other people have pointed it out.
Not sure if you are familiar with the ladybird books,'microverse' whee they did their own thing, but the illustrations were very much the toys/box art. Though Iron hides appearances had him scouting in his van mode, or as a team with hound and trailbreaker trying to triangulate Decepticon radio signals.
I only have the Galvatron one, but I'm familiar with them using the toy designs.
I had Ironhide as a kid. I absolutely loved that toy, even if it didn’t match the tv show. Pulled all of my G1 toys out several years ago, and he’s still one of my favorites. 🤷♂️
I'm curious from a Transformers perspective, what exactly about him did it for you? The battle station?
I know what that's like. My favorite from G1 is a little known Decepticon called Apeface. So often overlooked because he has a chunky robot mode with about 40% of his mass in a massive backpack that cannot even be forced to stay in place. But I thought he was the coolest. When watching the cartoon, I would always just imagine that Apeface was with the Decepticons, just standing among the group, shooting at the Autobots. So, I know what it's like to love something most of the fans either hate or just ignore.
Quick little tip those binoculars that turn into a robot we're sold here in Canada and packed into the Transformers line if need be odds are I can dig them out and take a picture I got them as a kid I forget if mine are damaged or not but I'm about 75% sure they're in among the Transformers on shelves in the back room. I've got a collection of 200 or more Generation 1 Transformers and before somebody whines they didn't make that many start factoring and stuff like where they made multiples with different colored plastic not to mention I've got some of the really Oddball rare ones that were technically knock offs like I have Godzilla Grimlock. There was a variant of Grimlock that turned into Godzilla from a robot I'm not making it up dachlan I think was the ones that released it and they were sold here locally. One that I got is missing part of the tale of memory serves me. I lost track of how many they released in the generation one line between many cons Headmasters and all sorts of weird obscure absorbments that didn't actually have their own cartoon to ins. I even have some of the battle beasts which they tried to shoot into Generation 1 LOL I didn't know the battle beasts were part of Transformers till I got a DVD box set a few years back. I thought a piece was missing from Ironhide all this time where he's got that whole where his crotch would be I didn't know it came that way Factory
I've read about the Pre-Transformers making it to different markets, but it's interesting Canada is one of those markets. How is Scopeman as a toy?
I'm familiar with the Godzilla Grimlock bootleg. I think it's the same line as the dragon Sludge with the wings?
Yeah, I didn't mention it in the video, but the crotch is actually the first instance of weapon storge. The Van's gun goes there.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder The Ironhide that I have is actually made up of multiple parts that I acquired. I thought for a long time I was missing the head till I found out his head was just a sticker and I've often been tempted to get ahead from one of the other Transformers and glue it in the seat in front of the sticker;). i rebuild a lot of them from parts the binoculars are kind of a lackluster Transformer and I remember being confused they were in the show I think the binoculars are even in some of the advertising material whether it was a consumer's catalog or actually in Transformers catalogs that came with the figures. I'm sure you're familiar with the camera that turns into three separate robots there was a crap ton of variance of that Transformer sold here in Canada.
The helicopter that turns into a giant cassette tape was sold through consumers as well as a few mom and pop stores I had a black cassette and a red cassette that turned into vehicles but I don't know if I still have them or if I sold them back when I had an ebay account sold a lot of stuff on eBay at one point where I had multiples like four and five of some Transformers and at that point they were going for really high prices. There's a really rare version of Bumblebee that I might have had and sold where are they all look alike to me apparently there is a version with a little circle stamped in part of the plastic or diecast with a little logo on the circle copyright Mark or something like that and it's a pretty rare version of Bumblebee. I've got sea spray still in the original package. Guy at a yard sale flea market type thing apparently had 30 or 40 Transformers in the packages that had been found in a storage locker and he only had one left guy literally said somebody bought all of those and missed that one and I'm shaking my head when the guy says I must have had 30 or 40 of those weird looking robots. The guy was in his 60s and had no idea what they were. He had several boxes of unopened Transformers from Generation 1.the package isn't in a one condition but 15 years ago it wasn't exactly common to find a generation one in the package even on eBay back then. I eventually got to get all the pieces from Beast Wars in one place and see which ones I have enough pieces to put together. I used to randomly get pieces of Beast Wars Transformers all over the place because they're like Lego blocks where they come apart with ball sockets. They eventually abandoned that design after a couple of waves I think when they got into that transmetal Transformers Beast Wars most of them were not done with ball socket design. Most of my Transformers I got as a kid at thrift stores and yard sales and now and then one here and there for like birthdays and Christmas. Believe it or not they were way more expensive here than they were in the US. You also had a lot of places like consumers and little mom and pop toy stores that would get the stuff from Japan in the original Japanese packaging a lot of toys we had sold here at smaller Outlets were in complete Japanese packaging with no English writing. So we got a whole lot of stuff like the original Voltron and a lot of toys that didn't even have cartoons here there were all sorts of toys that were multiple robots that combined into a big robot kind of like Voltron. As an example I have a mostly diecast lying that turns into a body part of a bigger robot robot was made up of a spaceship a lion and I forget what else that turn into a big robot. GoBots was another hodgepodge line that some of the toys from goldbots were actually stand alone and got merged into the goldbots line when they got brought down here to our side of the fence. There was a squirt gun as an example and a robot that turns into a hunting rifle they were merged into the goldbots line from other toy lines.
I've got a really weird transforming robot that's not a Transformer or a cobot and never been able to identify it I still own it. The thing is quite large for the day it turns into a blue and yellow and black eagle and from the eagle form it turns into a big robot about 14 inches high. The robot that turned into a pair of binoculars was kind of gimmicky if memory serves me little Chrome pieces were prone to break off real easy an it didn't have much movement once in robot mode
Great video!! I’m sure them being so disliked as toys contributed to their demise in the animation movie!! I’m glad I have my SS 86 version of both!!
Nah, the movie was all about selling those shiny new 1986 toys. Clear out the old to make way for the new.
Within the release of the Encore reissues of the Nissan C20 robots, the company BestToys made the heads for Ironhide and Ratchet.
I think I've seen those before on TFW2005 or Seibertron.
Ironhide was my first transformer action figure. If I am remembering correctly I even had it before the show had started. I loved him. I thought he was great, and carefully watched for him to be on each episode.
Yeah, that sounds familiar. lol
I don't know where you got that unicron reformat back screen but you need to make a 10 hr version of just that.
I made it from some other footage I found. Was meant to just be an 80s feel background, but yeah, I see the reformating scene. Thanks!
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder pls make a 10 hour of just that it's so relaxing.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder to be clear I also love your content but that back ground is awesome.
lol We'll see. Specific colour? I have Blue and Purple, been considering Green and Red.
Thanks! :D
I knew something was off with the Ironhide and Ratchet toys, but not a whole missing driver. They should have definitely kept them, I would of probably had both instead of none.
This headless Ironhide was my very first Transformers toy.
Being your first, I bet he meant a lot to you and the character holds a special place to you.
I had him as well. And a yellow Cliffjumper.
I was lucky enough to find that Diaclone red vanette at a flea market in SW Ohio as a kid in the mid 80s. There was a vendor there who sold a lot of imported toys from Japan/HK/Taiwan. Loved how it's scale and pilot could play well with my favoritest toy ever - G1 Optimus!
That is a great find! Still got it and more importantly, the pilot?
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder Alas, I was one of those dummies who unloaded their 80s toys in late 90s. Now I'm forced to relive my childhood vicariously through RUclips. My loss is your gain. 😄
@@CB-ke7eq I'll always be thankful my mum never forced me to do that and I never went through that phase.
I just wish they’d release the original jetfire again.
Does Bandai put out the Valkyrie still? Probably the closest you're getting.
There's a company called kitzconcepts that have done some official VF-1 Valkyries, one of which (God of Flames) is done in Jetfire's original white and red color scheme. If you have $150 USD to spend, it's still currently in stock.
Apparently you've never had Broadside, at least Ironhide was weird enough to be cool, Broadside transformed into 3 kinds of brick
I never had Ironhide or Ratchet either, but they come up way more often with more passion than Broadside. There is space for more of these types of videos though.
third party upgrade kit is gives it plug in part forming head that fits in meaning they just fixed it
I got Ironhide and Ratchet in '84, and I'm not saying I'm special, but in the late 70's my dad was stationed in Okinawa and for my 6th birthday sent me what was called the Microman Surveyor One. So I understood that Micronauts came from somewhere else, and then I got those first 3 Zoids from Tomy, so things like the little cockpit of the crane in Prime's trailer and Ironhide/Ratchet I kinda understood. When I opened Soundwave and saw the copyright 1974 Takara imprint I wondered what took so long lol.
The 74 copyright relates to Microman, not the Cassetteman toy specifically, but yeah. I do have to wonder if the pilot seats and cockpits in the Diaclone toys tipped anyone off that these were repurposed toys back in the day.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder thanks that makes more sense now. I love learning something new everyday 😊
What would missing link ironhide and ratchet look like? Would they just make their seat heads turn or would they just have a head accessory just like the 3rd party upgrade kit?
And also, I highly doubt anyone is gonna pay $40 - $70 for these abominations if they got adapted for missing link
What's interesting is Ironhide was never available in Japan, while Ratchet was only available as a redemption offer like Reflektor was for the western market.
The most hated toy before is now one of the most loved toy in the masterpiece timeline
I was so proud and happy back then when I got Ironhide. Today the Figures are much better, but today the Video Game consoles, Computers, Cars and so much else is better, too.
I think some of that may be a matter of perspective. Like, what are you looking for in the toy?
My brother had a 1979 Datsun 280Z, which were a few Transformers, Prowl was one I think. A blast to drive!
That is really awesome actually.
Only saw one at a babysitter's house I can't remember if it was Ironhide or Ratchet.
Since Ironhide looks less like a sentient robot and more like a two-man battle mecha, as I'm sure that was the original concept in his Diaclone run...
@@CharlesK-n6q Yeah, I cover that in the video.
I must've gotten a different memo. I heard the most hated TF toy was the Megatron reissue, where the tip of the gun is recolored to make it look more phony. Believe it or not, it was *supposed* to make the gun look more phony. This was due to a change in toy gun regulations in the U.S..
Even within the context of Diaclone, it's still an oddity in terms of design. The best comparison I could make would be selling a highly detailed model kit of the USS Enterprise next to one of those plastic space helmets with the Star Trek logo pasted on - they might be from the same IP, but only barely.
Because the rest better pass for robots? Yeah, I get that, but it's only their second and the prior similar toy is more like this, the Cosmo Countach.
I loved my gen 1 Ironhide toy. It was my 5th birthday present and I loved it so much that when I broke it I got it again for my 6th birthday. I also got Megatron for the Christmas between the 2 birthdays.
I got Megatron for Christmas 1984!
Its true, a lotta people dont like the Oneboxes. I did, thought they looked cool because they werent humanoid (unless you took them off the battle sleds).
Talking about Diaclone so much has made me want a lot of these old toys, including the One Box. Just wish the pilots weren't a pain in the ass. Come on China, bootleg those too.
Transformable car toys with eyes on their windshields would be perfect for a transformable version of Disney's Cars.
Pretty sure there is a Korean toyline that is just that.
Classics Ironhide was almost as bad. It had all those glaring panel gaps in car mode and the chest was unable to fully seat because it collides with the hips. I think the Ratchet retool fixed the chest-to-hip issue, but there was no saving the car mode's aesthetics.
I dunno man. I think G1 Ironhide is an interesting historical piece and has a lot of charm in its original diaclone context. Universe 2.0 Ironhide is genuinely bad with little to no redeeming features, especially now.
So Ironhide and Ratchet were the first Headmasters... (till they weren't)
Both should have been Headmasters in Titans Return. Fit them better than Soundwave and Blaster.
before transformers conquered the world, the french toy manufacturer joustra distributed the diaclone figures in europe. later, joustra had to repackage the diaclone figures, which then became the MB transformers.
America had a small failed Diakron release too.
If Takara makes it further with their Missing Link toyline to where these two are next, I wonder how they will handle them?
I'd laugh if they just upped the articulation, packed in a better sticker and called it a day. I mean, not likely to happen, but the reactions from the community would be worth it.
Just wait till we get a missing link version
If we do. I would assume, unless they have an absolutely mind-blowing toy in mind, it's a very long way away. I'd assume Jet Robo and the Datsuns would happen sooner. Or maybe Cassette Man since he'd need little work.
That must be the reason for their gruesome deaths in the movie.
Did everyone forget about Omega Supreme that you basically had to assemble every single time?
And a year later they would release Skids who looked like Ironhide and Ratchet should have looked which made it all the more mystifying why they would take two characters who played such pivotal roles in the cartoon and make their toys almost entirely unlike the characters they were writing. I was actually kind of surprised when Skids came out that they didn't release new versions of Ironhide and Ratchet using the new mold.
I don't think Skids looks like Ironhide and Ratchet...
🤣🤣 " Daaaamn!!!" I remember having ( both ) of them, 😂 Even my mother was "CONFUSED 😕!!" when she saw me playing with them!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh I could imagine that. I've showed people not deep into Transformers and they took an instant dislike.
I never knew this. Would have been great if Ironhide and Rachet became headmasters
Been said a bit in the comments and it's something I absolutely agree with.
I like the vehicle modes better.
It is a nice little van toy, yeah.
@@SGD_ToysDownUnder It sure is.
I just kept hearing "the missin' vanette", "the missin' vanette".
I'm like, well, where is it?
Took me a while to realize he was saying "the Nissan (nee sahn) vanette".
Australian accent.
My friends and I always thought Ratchet and Ironhide were solid, easy to add into adventures, and well-designed, if a little goofy and disappointing size-wise and by comparison to the cartoon character. If you want to talk about hated models, we had Megatron, who had to stay as a gun because he flopped all over the place as a robot and Trailblazer and Hound who immediately flew into pieces despite the most delicate care one put into transforming them.
I don't have that issue with G1 Megatron, but now I'm iffy about buying a Hound.
Y'know this does bring up one of the biggest missed potentials that Hasbro could have done with the Titans Return toyline, Ironhide and Ratchet. How beautifully full circle would it have been if those two were deluxes in TR with their own detachable headmaster partners?
@@TeryJones yep, it's been mentioned in the comments. I need to make a video about Transformers missed opportunities. Also how Botcon redecoed Energon Towline into Ratchet and Ironhide not Hasbro, when the toy was designed in their spirit, is bizarre.
80s was a mixed bag we get names like slag and spazstic (which quickly got taken off of the shelves.
Spastic is from 2011's Power Core Combiners though, not G1.
Ooooh, I have that binocular Transformer somewhere around here ! The box is long lost though.
That's a really nice and obscure thing to own.
I saw several of the Diaclones on the school bus a year before Transformers. I thought the Vanette, which was black, was the coolest one. I definitely saw a Sunstreaker amd maybe Trailbreaker. None of them were the same colors as their Transformers counterparts.
If you're American, that'd be Diakron, Takara's failed attempt prior to Transformers.
Would have been interesting if, in the show, they weren't Ironhide and Ratchet, but humans in mechsuits using their tech.
A few people said that, but it really wouldn't be on brand with what Hasbro was trying to achieve. I'm really sold on the idea some said in the comments about them being Headmasters though.
Yeah they made an absolute joke out of ratchette and iron Hyde .
First they cut the damn heads off
Then they took half the damn mech tech parts off , then stuck them in the damn box sent it out to stores, threw it on the shelf , called it a damn toy , then racked up the damn price to where noone could even afford the damn things . Then it took Hasbro decades to even perfect the models and release a half decent version of the characters.
And us transformers fans had to spend years and thousands of dollars worth of rent money trying to find a decent version of those characters to even so much as add to our collections.
And now that we finally have after decades of absolute hell,
We are all so old and broke we can't even pay our rent because we spent so much money trying to find a decent mold of those action figures. Really Sucks.
Ironhide should get a reboot/design into something appropriate for him, like an Armored Truck or something. Not a lame-o Mini Van!
I like the ute/truck from the movies in red. I just think it works.
The Studio Series did a good job of correcting the original monstrosity... until you also realize that it's so "solid" when in vehicle mode that there would never be room for a patient inside this supposed "ambulance" LOL!
Unrelated but can anyone tell me if mp10 is good?
I have that Ratchet and its so weird, he looks nothing like that in the cartoon and only has that appearance in early comics I believe.
This isnt G1 Wheelie
Wheelie's not a well-liked character, but his toy is a perfectly fine mini vehicle. Kind of creepy face though.
"Iron Hide and Rachet were horrible! Megatron was a bit gay too, but.....:-/ !"
Megatron was laughed at but still beloved
@@allewis4008 Megatron was y semcond fave.
I broke both my Gen 1 Megatron toys because it was so difficult to transform at the arm.
I first handled him as an adult and can totally understand people having it break.
5:54 im still going to make my own version for tranformers to use too.
And 1 so their both equall=so dark of the moons plan might actuelly work(might.).
Old G1 Toy: Ugly
Masterpiece Ironhide and Ratchet: handsomely perfect
I didn’t even have to see this video past the first 5 seconds to know which one it was. I had iron head
I always thought Hound was worse. Bricks for feet and the puniest arms imaginable.
I had Ratchet and loved playing with him! He was great.