27 November 2014

Takara, Fight! Super Robot Lifeform, 01-Convoy MIB (#21 of 36)

This is piece #21 of 36 of the 36-piece mega-lot (see 'Related Posts' at the end of this entry).

In some ways, this is the piece 'that started it all' as far as Japanese Transformers are concerned. This is likely the very first Takara boxed Japanese TF... 01-Convoy.

From what I understand, there are a number of versions of this piece, a number of variations. My collector buddies Chaos Kit, Maz and Himawari would know a lot more than me, so I'm not going to pretend to state where in time this particular came about, but just state what I see.



This came from the collection of long time veteran collector Devstar37, so I'm quietly confident it has not been frankenstein-ed together in terms of parts. 

Some key features which are evident in the photo above and below are:
  1. box is stamped "Takara Co Ltd. 1982"
  2. metal plates trailer (evident from the 4 holes are the side of the trailer)
  3. roller with no tabs (ie: does not have the 2 spokes at its rear; can tell from the way the styro is cut to fit roller in)
  4. bloated gun (the styro is cut for a bloated gun, so it must be original)
  5. bloated hose pump, hose attachment and fists (not pictured).
  6. grey missiles
  7. VSX style super launcher (see second picture below)
Box is stamped "Takara Co Ltd. 1982" (note that I have another variant where the box is stamped "Takara Co Ltd 1985", all similar parts, except the trailer is a sticker version)

Comparison. Left - metal plates version of 01-Convoy, box is stamped "1982". Right - sticker trailer version of 01-Convoy, box is stamped "1985"

Metal plates trailer

Comparison. Left - metal plates version of 01-Convoy, box is stamped "1982". Right - sticker trailer version of 01-Convoy, box is stamped "1985". However, note that both trailers have the exact same stamping, despite one being a metal plates one and the other being a 'regular' sticker version.

 

Another comparison.  Left - metal plates version of 01-Convoy, box is stamped "1982". Right - sticker trailer version of 01-Convoy, box is stamped "1985".


VSX-style super launcher for Roller. See that its a flat plate compared with a regular Prime's trailer that has a rectangular box with 2 recesses for Roller's end spokes to attach to.

This begs the question - just how super is the VSX-style 'super' launcher? Glad you asked, because I am going to show you..... find out here.

Related Posts:
Posted by at
Label: , , , ,

2 comments:

  1. Optimal Omega27 November 2014 at 09:11

    Until I saw this post, I had no idea that the super launcher had a completely different plate for the launcher. That's awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heroic Decepticon30 November 2014 at 11:17

      yes, it's quite different. the entire assembly seems to be different too.

      Delete

Your comment will be beamed to me and will be visible within 3 to 7 hours typically. Do check back or subscribe to this post for my responses or to see comments from other readers! ~ HD

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Last 30 days' TOP TEN Popular Posts