Since I was a boy, I've always really liked the cassettes, whether they were Autobots or Decepticons. I just thought they were so cool and the concept of them being spies just fit so well. Since the 80s, cassettes have become something of an anachronism, but that has not stopped Takara from releasing Masterpiece versions of various Decepticon cassettes. I'm sure there will be more than one 90s or post 2000-born kid that will ask their parents what a 'cassette' is!
I started my group shot series with the Cybertron cassettes. Now, I included C-116: Twincast in the shot not to show off that I have him, but because that version of Steeljaw that comes with C-116 is a variant and has a sticker showing Scorponok's weaknesses. Of course, I also included my AFA-ed C-124, but that's purely showing off, heh.
In the shot below there are:
- C-65: Steeljaw MOSC
- C-66: Armhorn MOSC (aka Ramhorn)
- C-67: Rewind MOSC (x 2)
- C-68: Eject MOSC
- C-121: Gurafi MIB
- C-122: Noizu MIB
- C-123: Dairu MIB
- C-124: Zauru MIB
- C-124: Zauru MISB + AFA (80)
- C-116: Twincast MIB unused
Next, I took a shot of the Destron cassettes - the boxed and the carded versions. I love that there are both boxed and carded versions of Frenzy, Ravage and Laserbeak. Arguably, the carded ones which came later are, can I say.... reissues?
In the shot below, there are:
- 18-Frenzy MIB
- 18-Frenzy MIB (variant box)
- 19-Jaguar MIB (aka Ravage)
- 20-Condor MIB (aka Laserbeak) x 2
- D-108: Slugfest MIB
- D-109: Overkill MIB
- D-58: Frenzy MOSC x 2
- D-59: Jaguar MOSC x 2
- D-60: Condor MOSC
- D-61: Ratbat MOSC x 2
This is the Frenzy variant box - look at the bottom of the box. The bar code is printed on and not a sticker.
After the above shot, I took away all the duplicate pieces and did a group shot that consists of all the Japanese cassettes in packaging. VSZ is included because it was the first time Japanese collectors would be getting Buzzsaw in Japan prior to the release of D-101: Soundblaster. 17-Soundwave came with Rumble and is the only place that one could get Rumble in Japan back in the day. D-101: Soundblaster came with Buzzsaw, which is a variant of the Buzzsaw that came with VSZ. Like the Steeljaw that came with C-116: Twincast which has a sticker showing Scorponok's weaknesses, the Buzzsaw that came with D-101 has a sticker which shows Fortress Maximus' weaknesses.
Now, it can be argued that I should also have included the VSY set in this shot, because that set came with a Frenzy. However, I have not included VSY in this shot because that Frenzy is the same as 18 and D-58, not a variant of any kind and also because I do not have a VSY set (this being the best reason in the world!).
In the shot below, there are:
- 18-Frenzy MIB
- 19-Jaguar MIB (aka Ravage)
- 20-Condor MIB (aka Laserbeak)
- D-108: Slugfest MIB
- D-109: Overkill MIB
- D-58: Frenzy MOSC
- D-59: Jaguar MOSC
- D-60: Condor MOSC
- D-61: Ratbat MOSC
- VSZ giftset with Buzzsaw
- 17-Soundwave with Rumble
- D-101: Soundblaster MIB with Buzzsaw
This is another shot, but I took away the VSZ set to make it less cramped.
Here, I took a shot of all the cassettes only and didn't include cassettes that came packaged with other toys. It's quite glorious to be honest and I really like this shot.
This is a close up shot of all the carded cassettes.
In the shot below, there are:
- C-65: Steeljaw MOSC
- C-66: Armhorn MOSC (aka Ramhorn)
- C-67: Rewind MOSC (x 2)
- C-68: Eject MOSC
- C-121: Gurafi MIB
- C-122: Noizu MIB
- C-123: Dairu MIB
- C-124: Zauru MIB
- C-124: Zauru MISB + AFA (80)
- C-116: Twincast MIB with Steeljaw
- VSZ giftset with Buzzsaw
- 18-Frenzy MIB
- 18-Frenzy MIB (variant box)
- 19-Jaguar MIB (aka Ravage)
- 20-Condor MIB (aka Laserbeak) x 2
- D-108: Slugfest MIB
- D-109: Overkill MIB
- D-58: Frenzy MOSC x 2
- D-59: Jaguar MOSC x 2
- D-60: Condor MOSC
- D-61: Ratbat MOSC x 2
- 17-Soundwave with Rumble
- D-101: Soundblaster MIB with Buzzsaw
freakin' awesome HD , what more can I say
ReplyDeletewould be great to see the Takara and U.S carded versions all together in one shot in the future
gotta hunt down a rewind after seeing this post hah
great! ;)
Deletehiya burntrolls (or trolls!). I'll work on the shot you mentioned next, but whilst I have all the carded US cassettes here, 1 set is currently back in my hometown, so I need to get that back to HK firsst before attempting the shot.
DeleteA Japanese Rewind is a nice nice thing... made nicer by MTMTE of course.
LEx-Maximus, thanks for dropping by!
DeleteHeya I had a look at these awesome pics again, why do you have multiples of the carded figures? are they card/toy variations? Also Takara Frenzy comes with gold weapons which i found interesting, does the U.S version sometimes come with gold weapons as well?
DeleteAlso let me know if you are selling a MOC Frenzy or Rewind ;)
Just amazing! Even though I like the Autobot cassettes more (I never had any Decepticon cassettes when I was a child for some strange reason) I really like the style of the boxed Decepticon cassettes. Is there a reason why the carded ones were re-numbered?
ReplyDeleteAnd man, with a collection like yours, you are more than welcome to show off anytime ;)
Thanks for the kind words man. When I was a kid, I used to have both the Autobot and the Decepticon cassettes, but then I never ever had Ravage and Rumble (red one). So I had to pretend that Frenzy (blue one) is in fact Rumble... and it kind of matches with the cartoon too.
DeleteThe boxed Decep cassettes (ie: nos 18, 19, 20 - but no "D" preffix) were released in Japan in 1985 ie: Japanese Series 1, aka the Fight! Super Robot Lifefom series. Then in 1986, for the Transformers 2010 Series (Japanese Series 2), the released the re-numbered carded cassettes and included Ratbat as well.
One of the reasons for re-numbering them (I'm guessing) was because that year, all Cybertrons and Destrons started with the "C" or "D" preffix and they had to make the cassettes fit into that numbering system. To so quickly re-release them the next year, the cassettes must have (understandably) be quite popular.
Oh, it's also worth mentioning that *boxed* 11-Bumble(bee) from Fight! Super Robot Lifeform (Japanese Series 1), was re-numbered as *carded* C-56: Bumble(bee) and re-released in the Transformers 2010 series (Japanese Series 2).
DeleteAh ok. Well that makes sense then. So I'm guessing the carded "low" numbered ones are a bit rarer than the boxed versions?
DeleteA boxed Bumblebee?? I didn't even know he came boxed! :O All the years I've been collecting, I've never seen one. I've seen the Throttlebots, but never a Bumblebee. You learn something new everyday! haha ;)
That. That is a sight to behold. So glorious.
ReplyDeletethanks dude, much appreciated for the kind words! =)
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