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As you know, one of the more commonly-remembered variants on the triple-changer Astrotrain is the original "curved-wing", versus the later "snub-wing" release:
In addition, there can be arms with a circular, numbered indent (versus a plain arm) and a foot that comes either plain, or with an extra line running through it (the leg-flap). Note also that the gun is changed between the versions, too: a mold-change, as well as number-stampings:
Reissue Astrotrain: One of the very last of the TRU reissues, it never actually made it there. ;-) He was along the pipe when TRU cancelled the classics reissues line, but since he was far enough along the process, Hasbro decided to release him as a DTC (cirect to consumer) toy off their website. As far as molding, he's pretty much identical to the last release of the Astrotrain in the USA line (snubwing, simple feet, numbered gun) with the notable exception that he's now white! In Japan, Astrotrain was reissued in white, so of course the American reissue had to be white as well (homages galore...though we prefer the Japanese reissue in testshot Astrotrain colors). So, to wrap-up:
Type 1: Curved wing, complex foot, numbered arms, blank gun.
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Blue and purple, or indigo and violet?! This seems to be an on-going problem with Decepticons. Either they can't decide if their symbols are supposed to be blue or purple, or in the case of Axer, whether his entire body should be blue or purple!
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A case of altered bolt patterns; one unit has more than the other. This is a view under the turret (note also the difference in the curved loops that partially encircle the screw-hole). There is also a fist variant, where one unit has longer fingers than the other. And of course, there's a turret-barrel variant, as well (small vs large indent):
And we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the fact that yes, there is a transition unit between these two variants. Ironic that a Triplechanger came in three variations, eh? :-) So, to wrap-up:
Type 1: Simple bolt pattern, long-fingers. So with three versions of him, it's only appropriate that there are *four* different swords for him, as well, although strangely we only have two different guns. Stranger still is that the initial-release of swords has a point to poke your eye out with; the later versions were rounded. There are also 4 head-paint variants between the different versions of him. It is also essential to note that the units themselves came in light vs dark-purple. Presumably, the changeover occurred somewhere along the Hasbro production line, as both types can be found with the Hasbro/Takara stampings:
Joebot adds additional details about the moldings: "There's a heapin' load of differences that make parts between (the versions) entirely incompatible. Type 1: Is the thin details on the sides and cockpit, with yellow behind the red on the visor. It also is thinner overall, barely perceptable, unless you go to swap internal pieces of the wings or chest. The mounting of the cockpit ends is at a steeper angle, and tapers to a thinner point. The lower holes on the robot's thighs are far larger, and the clips that hold the wings up in robot mode are completely differnt, that being half a clip instead of a whole. Type 2: Is thick details on the cockpit and sides of the tank, with no yellow paint behind the visor. It is just slightly thicker all around, with a full wing clip and thicker chest ends. The holes behind the thighs are a smaller radius, making the leg less prone to breakage (not that I've ever seen one broken in such a way).
Therefore: Outer tank panels, wings, launchers, chests, cockpits, and the entire inner pieces which connect to them are incompatible across variations. The only pieces I've seen that seem to be the same are the diecast parts." |
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Ah, a favorite character of the G1 and G2 comics. :-) Bludgeon comes in two different colors on his tank-mode: rust, and maroon (simialr to Thrust). In addition, there is a small peg-variance between the two bodies and their corresponding turrets; like Metroplex, one set fits better than the other set. Best to have two sets to test-fit the difference.
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What, was he out in the cold too-long? Well anyways, the standard variant that everyone knows about is the blue-eared (and bleted, for that matter) version, versus the later unpainted one. In addition, a Targetmaster version was produced, of a slightly darker shade (actually, if you prefer, the purple color had more blue added to it). He also had his handholes enlarged, and a new hole molded into his back, all to accomodate the TM gun:
You will also note that the indent on the underside of the nosecones is more pronounced for the TM version than the regular versions. Also of note, in the words of jerunski, "In the later variations of Cyclonus, they beefed the plastic around one of the moving parts of the wing assy and added some notches to make the wings easier to flip back." (Editor's note: For those looking, the initial-piece was a metal tab with plastic bushings, while the later version replaced the busings with one solid-metal piece.) From what I've seen, the blue ear versions are smooth, the TM versions are notched, and the "standard" version has both types of wings..." Of course, the guns changed between the two versions as well...dark vs light gray. :-)
If that isn't bad enough, another 'transitional' unit enters the fray. :-) It is the later-version standard mold, but it is a *very* odd shade of purple. You know how the regular version is more purple-blue, while the TM version is more blue-purple? Well, this transitioon unit is all purple. It's like the blue was sucked right out of it. Mold-wise, it seems to fit exactly between the late-regular and first-version TM types. It has the notched wings and deeply-indented nosecone, but the regular-version handholes. As we are missing the wing with the copyright (the right arm) we cannot speculate further on the origins of this piece. It is possible that it is from a foreign country; we can only confirm that it was found in america. ;-) More info would be appreciated.
So, to wrap things up:
Type 1: Blue-ears, light purple, shallow nose indent, smooth wings. (Japan) |
 To TM, or not to TM, that is the question. :-) Like Cyclonus (and their Autobot movie counterparts), Scourge went thru some changes in their quest to become a Targetmaster. Again, the handholds were enlarged to accomodate a TM gun, and the toy were slightly re-molded to accomodate a gun in vehicle mode. In the case of Scourge, that involved widening a hole already present in the top of his head, which presented a unique problem: where to store the head gun when the tm is attached...as if he didn't have enough problems with his wings before this gun issue! (For the record, I store the extra head-gun in the hollow of his legs when in vehicle-mode). During his transition, we ended up with two different regular versions, much like Cyclonus. In this case, the choice was painted wings, and sticker wings:
If you want to REALLY get technical (and you know I do) there are actually THREE versions of Scourge: painted wing, sticker wing, and sticker wing Targetmaster:
There is an obvious difference between painted wing, and sticker wing...and between TM and non-TM version...but if you look closely at the pic above, you see other differences between the versions, which will help you to know in the long run, to avoid someone swapping parts on you. There is a distinct difference between the sticker decals on the wings (see photo). In addition, the color of the plastic has undergone a change. It's a slight difference, but you can notice. Another point of interest? The difference between the 'head guns' on the three versions. *There isn't one.* The mold is basically identical (3-later ones were glued in-place. For more details, click here!! So, to wrap things up:
Type 1: Regular version, painted-wings, easily-seperated headgun. |
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I have summoned you here for a purpose...behold! Galvatron! Or at least, a variation on him...he comes with either orange, or red stickers:
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Missing a screw. That's not all he's missing...err, ahem. There is a variation on the shark foot, where in place of one of the three screws, there is instead a plastic tab:
It is interesting to note that the later-version of this mold also showed up in Japan as a mail-away exclusive. See the Jap/Euro section for more information. |
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The eyes have it. Our most vicious little headmaster Fangry comes with either yellow or green eyes:
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Indents/no indents, gold/silver weapons, painted/stickers, plastic/metal...ugh. Like the Autobot cassettes, the Decepticons had varied and complicated changes through the line.
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Yes! he's different. Several variations, actually. There are two main variants; early-release has a solid fist, while the later one has a slotted fist (wrist). There's also a tape door variation, where the chrome trim is silver-gold on one, and pure gold on the other.
 There are several different manufacturer-stampings on the back of the unit; this is a good way to trace the transitional mold-changes on the unit (for more information, see the stampings section). It also helps us trace a certain problem; specifically, a few Soundwaves have turned up where the stamping is on the outside of the battery cover, versus inside the unit itself. It screws things up considerably, because it means you can partswap and make a soundwave without any copyright stamping at all. ;-)
Getting back to the two main versions... There are slight mold variations between the two basic units, so they are not interchangeable. They have different tolerances on the depth of the chest, and the width of the leg gap where it would clip to the chest (one is thicker). This also affects the tolerances inside the unit, so the front of the chest (which one would swap with the cassette door intact since it's such a pain to remove) isn't interchangeable. It leaves a noticeable gap. So much for swapping out parts. :-) Eh, it's a good thing. Maz continues: "I found that the MC Cassetteman (and it's KO) had triangular play/rec buttons that were separate from the middle chrome buttons and the US TF Soundwave was the same. All of them had the intrernal tape hinge mechanism too. The Japanese TF Soundwave, and Soundblaster and the reissue Soundwave appear to have trapezium shaped play/rec buttons which ARE attached to the middle chrome buttons under his tape door. These all have the external tape door mechanism. The VSY Soundwaves I've seen recently appear to be more like the US Soundwave." The weapons fare no better. On the short gun, we have deep versus shallow indents, and differently-sized missle holes, while on the extended gun, we have clean versus crisp lines in the inner barrels, and smooth versus indented handles. The colors vary slightly as well, blue versus dark blue (this dark blue is not to be confused with the dark blue cassetteman knockoff weapons) (yes, there is a knockoff of the diaclone Cassette Man. He's a darker-blue, almost purple, and is stamped 'shimano'on his back, instead of Takara. Click here to see a comparison of the two).
It is interesting to note the evolution of the Soundwave mold; from the Pre-TF 'cassetteman' version, to the black dual-deck japanese Soundblaster, which was modified later on for the japanese reissues (see japanese reissues section for more information). It helps to understand why certain changes exist in the US line.
Dear lord. They used the Japanese Soundblaster mold, but in Soundwave colors. These guys are killing me. So now in the US, Soundwave has a dual-tape door, along with all the other Japanese reissue molding differences found in the previous section.
And just to make it more interesting, they reissued him again...this time as a San Deigo ComiCon exclusive. Along with Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, Ratbat and Ravage (see Cassette sections), this reissue Soundwave sports the single tape door, but with the dual-tape door molding changes mentioned previously. In the end, with the number of variations present, including stamping-changes, one might surmise that Soundwave had multiple mold-lines, some with concurrent running-changes. We'll do our best to put them in some type of order for you. ;-) Soooo...to wrap-up:
Pre-TF Cassetteman: Takara-only (inside), solid fists. It's interesting that type 1a doesn't seem to fit the overall pattern. Why would a Soundwave be released with the modified manufacturer-placement? This reminds me of the backwards-release of the Grapple/Inferno grills. :-) Ah well. My working theory? Perhaps they put it outside for the initial Soundwave-release (running concurrent mold lines)...then saw what a bad idea it was, and put it back inside. :-) Or maybe that mold broke right away, and they didn't bother upating it. Who knows? I just document these things. :-) One final interesting note: It appears that there is a Soundwave mold-change exclusive to France, where the first two fingers are molded as one (similar to Blitzwing, above). So far, France is the only place we've seen this. Is there an American equivalant? Let us know! Or better yet, sell one to us...we're a finger short here. :-)
(Note: While the TRU reissue came with Ravage and Laserbeak, the SDCC Reissue came with Buzzsaw, Laserbeak, Ravage, and Ratbat.) |
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This is a bit of a stretch, but since I first mentioned it in the jets section of the site...Decepticons have this nasty habit of changing their sticker colors. Usually, it's basically either between blue or purple (indigo and violet, if you prefer) on the symbol; in some cases (which I'll scan in later) it's the entire sticker package. :-) Again, the first-issue jets suffer this the most, but Shockwave here flys in with no less than THREE symbol-color variations:
Hey, they did this with the three Scourge variants, so why not with Shockwave, too? |
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The first variant in the Decepticon Pretenders catagory. :-) Skullgrin's insert (inner robot) came with fists that were either solid (hole for gun went only partially through) or hollow (gun hole went all the way through):
There is also a color variant on the robot: purple vs pink on the canopy.
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Hey, gimme a break, it's 4 in the morning as I type this...of the original set of Insecticons, there were many changes to be found. All three come with selected sets of variants, both on their bodies, and on their weapons:
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Of *course* there were Micromaster variations. :-) The micro-figs to Airwave and Greasepit were recolored from the Off Road Patrol and Air Strike Patrol, respectively. In addition, you will recall a pack-variant that states Micro-Stations came in two box versions. This seems to follow a mold-change as well; version one of the bases come with a blocked Macau stamping, while version two has changed mold colors, and an integrated mold-stamping:
We've also got Roughstuff in two colors: light, or dark-blue. Or blue and purple, if you prefer. I've found these in equal amounts, and I don't suspect fading. Just poor lighting, and a blind geezer in the color-matching dept. :-) Yes, the color-change is on every part of him, the weapons, trailer, etc. Similar to the V1 and V2 above, this change occured because of the timing of the mold runs (although the copyrights tend to stay the same, thankfully).
Then there's the Cannon-Transport...for whatever reason, they changed the stickers between the releases. Best seen on the ramps, where the colors were swapped:
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Rumors abound of color-changes on the accessories for the figure; without enough samples, it is hard to determine if this is an actual variant, or some type of sun-damage (I'd have to drill through the parts to see). In the meantime, all the shells have gone through some slight paint-apps changes; sadly, though some are merely a result of shoddy workmanship, others still have the air of a proper change (such as light vs dark yellow points, etc). Take Skowl for example. His eyes (and mouth) come in pink, or purple:
The others are the same. Birdbrain has light vs dark red on his chest, Icepick has light vs dark red eyes, Slog has light vs dark yellow chest, and Wildfly's green comes in different shades as well. :-) Hell, Bristleback is the only one that didn't seem to come with a change. How odd.
Note: Monstructor was recolored and re-released as Dinoking in the Japanese TF line...had different shells, too. :-) |
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Reflector comes in a number of versions, and...a couple of fakes try to weasel their way in as well. :-) The commonly accepted release order for Reflector bits are; the Pre-TF Microx, the fake Microx, early USA and Japanese Reflectors based on Microx mold, updated USA Reflectors, and finally Japanese Reflector based on updated USA mold. Not that this matters to anyone, of course... :-) Variant guns for the Reflector set: it is commonly assumed that the hollow gun, and the tapered-barrel lens laser gun are the initial-variants (Microx, early Reflector) while the solid gun, and reinforced-barrel lens laser are the later-releases. If you look closly at these guns, you can also puzzle out the fakes; they're usually of poorer-quality (a 'softer' molding) than the two sets of real accessories. This applies to puzzling out the x-in box guns as well. Same situation with the missle-firing flash. The regular TF version has a wider hole, that accomodates the larger-diameter tabbed and non-tabbed missles. The fake one is off-colored, molding doesn't line up, and it takes those crazy-narrow-shafted fake ones. :-)
There was also a missle variant in the USA. Reflector came with either a small tab on the upper missle shaft, or without this tab. Do not confuse these missles with the silver microx (or grey KO, for that matter) multi-tab missles, which amazingly did NOT end up in Reflector boxes...that we know of. These missles have multiple tabs around the shaft of the missle.
Also of note, from Himwari, on telling what type of Reflector you have: "...the true Microx version (presumably counter version, too) were made without the plastic pegs, BUT the Transformer version was made w/ both plastic and no plastic peg. To make matters worse, the mold between the original Microx version and the later revised Transformer version with the plastic pegs are totally different. Also, the shade of grey on the Lens of reflector is different between the original Microx and later Transformer w/plastic pegs. I've got 3 Reflectors here all in different condition, none of them are Microx (TF version), and one of them is the same mold as the microx! (Micro Change). Even the picture of Reflector in Figure O (a Japanese toy mag) has the Transformer version w/no plastic pegs. Basically making it the same as a Microx reflector adding the reflector factor sticker and rubsign. As for gun differences, I think Fred already covered those. :-) Thanks." -Himawari If that's not enough, there's a sticker variation on Reflector too...in the words of Crazy-Steve: "...Next up is what could possibly be a Reflector sticker variant. All Viewfinder robots have a small area on the upper right of their chest sticker that consists of a small silver square flanked by two red ones. I have one version where the two red squares are considerably larger than the red squares of the other version." And sure enough, comparing several of them here, we found it. :-)
Soooo...to wrap-up:
Microx: Pre-TF mold, NO pegs on middle robot arms.
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Purple and blue. Since we started putting all the other sticker variations on the site, it seemed time for this one to go up, too. Believe it or not, this was the first one I ever noticed a color difference on. After it was pointed out to me, I began to look at the colors of all the other stickers. :-) That should qualify this for some sort of honor...
Of course, recently Quake earned another honor by having a mold change on his turret. :-) He comes either with a small indent, or an actual deep hole in the base of the turet gun (not that this scan can prove it:)
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Green and blue. How do these things keep turning up? :-) Here we have a spinister with a green canopy, while the other is blue. This is not a fading issue. The colors are fresh, uniform. If you wanna be picky and call one green-blue, and the other blue-green, I'm not going to stand in your way:
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Similar to Nightbeat (See: Autobots), Thunderwing comes in either a light, or a dark blue. This coloring is consistant with the shell, wings, feet, as well as the inner robot's wings and feet. In addition, you will note a change in the color of the paintapps; light vs dark gold.
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Not on the figure this time, but on the Action Master partner itself...Catgut comes with either a 2-step, or a 3-step handle. No, we don't know why either.
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A sticker-change, of course. :-) Light vs dark-purple (indigo vs violet), best seen here on his little car, Fulltilt:
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The G2 Water Launchers, like their Autobot counterparts, came in a large-bellows version, and a small bellows version:
In addition, Deluge had a modified spoiler connection, where the large bellows spoiler attached with a bar connection, and the small bellows spoiler attached with the twin-tab connector. |
 Black vs red rotors. Ransack and Powerdive, Decepticon Rotorforce, had a first-run that included black rotors in the packaging. Subsequent runs had red rotors.
It is interesting to note that all black rotors have pointed tips, while red rotors initially came with pointed tips, then switched to the more rounded tips of the blue rotors from the Autobot Rotorforce. In addition, the Ransack canopy changed. Initial releases of pointed rotors (black and red) came with a thin-lined canopy, while the later rounded red rotor release came with the thinner canopy:
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I can't think of a single Decepticon Gobot that wasn't an Autobot recolor. There were only four Decepticon Gobots, and every one of them had the mold recycled and recolored. Nightracer, a Decepticon, was of the same mold as Bumblebee and Highbeam, but was issued only as a 1995 Botcon exclusive.
The Autobot Blowout shared the same mold as Decepticons Frenzy and Megatron, just as Gearhead and the Decepticon Soundwave did:
Note: The G2 Gobots were recolored, renamed, and re-released several years later in the RID series, and later still in the Armada/Energon series as 'Spychangers'.
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An interesting situation. 3 molds, 6 jets (sound familiar?) In this case, 3 Autobots and 3 Decepticons. Great articularion for the time. Jetfire/Hooligan shared an F-15 mold, Air Raid/Skyjack shared a stelth bomber mode, and Strafe/Spacecase shared an x-plane (think GI Joe Conquest) mold. With the exception of the stealth bomber (both black, but different symbols and highlights), the jets bear striking color differences:
Note: The Cyberjets were reissued in the 2004 Universe line. |
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Yes, Megatron, the ORIGINAL, had a variation...it seems that there were some holdover parts in the unit from when he could shoot plastic bullets. The firing chamber has the original design in the first-release, which is the long plastic runner going uninterrupted from front to back. (That doesn't mean he could actually fire the bullets; merely that part of that design was left in.) American-release Megatron, either version, is not a bullet-firing toy. Safety regulations, and all that. Subsequent releases were of the more common variety, where the long strip is interrupted, and the side clips are more pronounced. There is also a color-change in the eyes; orange vs gold:
There's also a change in the accessories...the silver gun, specifically. It can come without a peg...and with a peg. There is still some argument on whether or not the pegless gun actually came with a us-released toy. So far, only one unconfirmed example has presented itself. We'll keep searching.
But wait! There's more! On the standard-release of the pegged gun, there are three (3!) different versions. In RMT's words: "You're the only one I know (that) might appreciate this disovery. Sometimes I just take out a big stack of the same accessory and see if anything is different or if I let a fake slip in. The result today is that I have found three (3) variations of the pegged verson of the Megatron chrome rifle. All the variations are on the underside. They are 1)the five hole, 2) the four hole, and 3) the slot with 1 hole."
In the words of Argus: "In sort of general order of release: Japanese MC-12: 4 holes (which is the non-handle version as well). Italian MC-13: 5 holes. MB Megatron: 5 holes." When we look at the reissue guns, Defensis adds: "Original 16-Special Megatron: 5 holes, like the one on the right of the pic. 16-S Black Megatron: 5 holes, ditto. Collection 6 Megatron: 5 holes, ditto. Megaplex: 4 holes--the fifth, NEAREST to the back of the gun, is filled in (not like the 4-hole version in the pic, where the hole at the opposite end of the line of 5 is filled)." At this time, I am still unable to properly place the slotted-gun. Judging by mold-markings, the slotted gun would either be the first, or the last-release gun in the US (not confirmed at this time). I go by the fact that, 1) the side peg on the back of the stock is the crispest-cut, and 2) the 'nipples' on the end of the twin-prongs are the thickest/largest (compared to 4 and 5 hole, which go from small, to medium nips). However, if you look at the MiPs (mold-injection points) they appear to be rather blurred-out, almost as though the mold was run a number of times, and was wearing-out. This could mean that the crisp-cut peg was merely a mold-repair. As this is the only gun I have that didn't come originally with a figure, I cannot research it further (to compare variants on the figure would tell us more). So if someone can cough-up a figure with a slotted-gun...let us know. :-)
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In the words of Argus; "We have G2 Megatron. Megatron came with a main gun that could be closed and one that COULDN'T. It connected to the back side of the main body of the gun before the point of it can ever get close to the front connector. All copyrights are identical. The upper flaps are the same length. It's the swivel part which is manufactured incorectly. Up until recently I was under the impression they were all bugged. ;)"
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What can I say? There's a color difference on the figure. Blue vs purple, on the waist, and hands:
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Yes, the ATB exists...just NOT as a mass-produced toy. As Megatron, he never made it past prototype/production sample stage. A few were given out as sample/prizes at Botcon. They show up on ebay from time to time. There are some persistant rumors that somehow, a few of these ended up in G2 Dreadwing boxes. There is also a persistant rumor that somehow, some complete prototypes (box and all) ended up on shelves in Ohio with the regular ones. How is any of this possible? I don't know, so take it with as many grains of salt as you need to. As always, there's no evidence to back up the claims.
Click here to see an entire page dedicated to this mold, from his G2 versions all the way to Armada. :-) |
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What About Unicron?
Sorry, my friends...the original never made it past prototype stage. Our loss. Or perhaps not, if you look at Hasbro's Prototype.
On the other hand, the new Unicron model might have been more to fans liking...if they'd ever gotten past the prototype stage there. :-) There's also rumblings of a new Unicron toy for the Armada series...if it gets released. It looks like they're getting close. But then again, they've been close before. :-) Maybe third time's the charm...More...
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