G1 Skywarp - USA pre-rub, Mexican, Takara 23-Skywarp, SCF Skywarp

I bought a Mexican Skywarp from Masterforce.co.uk at around the time they started their online toy business - I wanted to show support in terms of actually buying something from them.

It was a pleasure buying from them - the responses were prompt, the package was well packed and the shipping was fast. Overall, I was a very satisfied customer.

Left to right: loose USA pre-rub Skywarp; 23-Skywarp MIB (Japanese box); USA Skywarp box; Mexican Skywarp (plane mode) and box.

Xmas is now around the corner (or at least near enough I think) and many fans and collectors might be thinking of doing some shopping - which is why I'm bringing this up now... Masterforce.co.uk might be a good place to start (they sell more than just Transformers).

Masterforce also has a FaceBook page.

Ok, now on to Mexican Skywarp....

Mexican Skywarp is MIB, but it does not have the bubble insert unfortunately. A key difference that can be seen immediately is that instead of a black nosecone, Mexican Skywarp has a purple nosecone! That's anime accurate for those sticklers for detail....

Other than that, there are the 'usual' differences between Mexican and US (or Jap) releases. For example:

• the plastic used (for everything) is generally of a lower quality and less shiny, feels more brittle
• instructions are in Mexican and not glossy and the paper used feels like its recycled old newspaper.
• the box itself also suffers from not being glossy and feels to be of generally inferior paper - the printing on it is dry and parched and very rough.

Here are another few shots to show the brilliant purple nosecone.

Box comparison. USA box on left; Mexican box on right.

Back of box comparison. The Mexican box version does not have the Tech Specs graph.

Close up of Tech Specs area.

Bottom of box.

Many Skywarps, including the SCF Skywarp.