The Art of Opening Transformers - How to open/remove G1 Transformers packaging and cardbacks

Now that I have talked about How to Remove price tags and stickers from Transformer boxes and Transformers, it is time to take the next step. Taking the Transformer out of its packaging.

There is an art to opening G1 Transformers.

I said this in the Origin Story, Chapter 1: Fantasies and Inflections. I wish to talk about it now. And just in time for Christmas present(s) opening too.

First off, why should there be any art to opening G1 Transformers?

Good question. Why? They are just toys after all and what's to know about ripping them from their packing, whether its one way or another?

Arguably, they are more than 'just toys' to a very large number people out there. But that is an argument for another day and place. There should be an art to opening G1 Transformers, especially US boxed or US carded G1 Transformers because opening them the 'right way' will preserve their displayability and collectibility and make them more than just average run of the mill Mint-in-Box ("MIB") or Mint-on-Card ("MOSC") pieces.

For MIB and non-Mint-in-Sealed-Box ("MISB") collectors out there, displayability is perhaps the most important and compelling reason for opening G1 Transformers the 'right way'.

Isn't it too late in the day for such a post? G1 Transformers would have been ripped out of their bubbles approximately 25 years ago. This post is 25 years too late to do any good.

Admittedly, it is too late in the day to help anyone in terms of opening G1 Transformers, but the principles below are equally applicable to opening boxed toys that are sealed in a plastic bubble (or plastic 'blister' or plastic insert).

The principles below may also be useful to people who are opening MISB G1 Transformers today. For example, anyone thinking of opening their early '90s Chinese reissue Nightbeat (lots floating around eBay lately because a large stash of them was apparently found in some Chinese warehouse), might find the principles useful.

What were the principles mentioned in the Origin Story again?

In the Origin story, I said the following:

"My brother and I were perceptive, or some can say strange, kids. We did not rip our toys right out of their packages, no. For carded Transformers: We used a pen knife to slice off the bubble to remove the toys, without ripping into the cardback at all. If we still had the backing cards we would be able to scan them in for perfect G1 box art. For boxed Transformers: We sliced the tape with a pen knife; we then made incisions on the backing card with that same pen knife and removed the toy from the back without ripping off the 'bubble'. All our Transformers can be packed back into their bubbles and displayed as MISB even after play."

I will elaborate the above paragraph below.

How to open US boxed Transformers in bubble/blister packing.

Steps:

1. First off, do not rip the bubble/blister from the cardboard insert.
2. Turn the cardboard insert around (so the the bubble/blister faces away from you).
3. Use a sharp pen-knife to make some light and small incisions on the cardboard where the figure is. I note, small and light incisions. The incisions should not puncture the cardboard and end up damaging the figure.
4. Use your nails to dig into the incisions and peel back the cardboard. Sisters come in handy if you do not have nails.
5. Peel back enough of the cardboard so that you can remove the figure but making sure that the entirety of the edges of the bubble/blister is still attached to the cardboard.
6. Remove the figure; Figure may be reinstated in bubble and displayed as if it were MISB.

The idea result, if you are really skilled with a pen-knife, is how Skullcruncher was removed from his bubble/blister packaging (below). But first, an example from my 1985 attempt at opening Grimlock.

EXAMPLE 1: My Grimlock from 1985

MIB Grimlock with bubble insert still (rather) firmly attached to the cardback and displaying upright.

Do not rip the bubble from the front, but turn it behind and make small incisions in the cardboard.

Use your nails/fingers to peel the cardboard back slowly, and if necessary small piece by small piece, but ensure that the edges of the bubble is still firmly attached to cardback.

Of course in this case I didn't do it well enough and so parts of the cardback has become detached from the bubble. So, here's a better example...

EXAMPLE 2: My recently purchased Skullcruncher MIB, opened with a lot more finesse than I opened my Grimlock in 1985.
Step 1: Do not rip the bubble/insert from the cardback.

Step 2 & 3: Turn the cardboard insert around (so the the bubble/blister faces away from you); Use a sharp pen-knife to make some light and small incisions on the cardboard where the figure is. I note, small and light incisions. The incisions should not puncture the cardboard and end up damaging the figure.

In this case, the incisions were so well done that the cardback can be opened like a flap.

Figure ready to be removed and replaced at your leisure.

Figure may be reinstated in box and displayed as if it were never removed from its bubble/blister.

How to open US carded Transformers

1. First off, do not rip the bubble/blister from the cardback.
2. Use a sharp pen-knife to slice the bubble insert at the point between where it pops up and where it makes contact with the cardback (by this I do not mean the absolute edge where the plastic portion of the bubble ends; please see Rumble/Ravage and Frenzy/Ratbat cardbacks below for illustration). You should be slicing the bubble insert, making sure the pen-knife does not damage the cardback.
3. Taking the example of a rectangular bubble, say for the cassettes, I'd normally slice the left, right and bottom of the bubble leaving the top edge intact so that I can 'flip open' the bubble and remove the cassette.
4. The entire bubble may be sliced off it is desired to store the packaging flat.
5. This all can be done without damage to any of the printed graphics on the cardback. If Step 3 is properly followed, the Transformers and its accessories may be reinstated into its cardback bubble and displayed almost as if it were still MOSC.

For illustrative purposes, cardbacked Transformers should not be ripped open like the 4 Stunticon cardbacks below were. More than half the print on the Deadend card was ripped off together with its bubble.

Example of Step 3 being properly followed:

Properly sliced cardbacks (with all the bubbles removed) would look like the left and right cardbacks below. There is no damage to the cardback graphics at all, but the toys, accessories and bubbles are removed.

Deviation of Step 3:

Seawing and Nautilator removed from cardback but not exactly as per Step 3 and thus there is slight damage to the cardback graphics. The key difference is this - these 2 bubbles were sliced at the edge of the flat portion of the bubble, whereas in accordance with Step 3, it is recommended that the bubble be sliced at the point where the part of the bubble that pops up first contacts the cardback (see the Rumble/Ravage and Frenzy/Ratbat cardback picture above for clarification).

Brawl and Swindle removed from cardback but also not as per Step 3.

Have fun! If you have any questions, feel free to email me here.

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Related Post

How to Remove price tags and stickers from Transformer boxes and Transformers

Series 5 (1988) - Pretender Cloudburst

I've previously talked about Cloudburst when I posted an entry for the MIB Cloudburst that I acquired with MIB Targetmaster Cyclonus.

This is another Cloudburst though. It is the one I got as a set together with all my Autobot Pretenders from eBay seller nancyfancypants.

This loose Cloudburst is in a much better condition that the Cloudburst that is MIB. It is therefore, worthy of being featured in its own entry here. Will not say too much by way of introduction since I've previously said it, but will get on with pictures!

The head-sculpt of the Cloudburst Pretender shell is probably the best looking, most proportionate with its suit and most natural among the humanoid Autobot Pretenders. I know I like the Cloudburst head-sculpt best, coming close second is Landmine's head-sculpt.

The Cloudburst inner-robot. I always thought that he is coloured a little too red overall and that his head is a little too big for his body. Note the cool Autobot symbol his chest. It's a custom symbol and is present on all the Pretenders that this eBay seller sold me. I suspect all 12 Pretenders were previously owned by a very meticulous and careful collector from the way all the stickers were applied and also from the fact that each Pretender inner-robot has custom made faction symbols at appropriate places.

Cloudburst inner-robot with Pretender shell. The Pretender shell wields a whip and is perhaps the only G1 Transformer to have that as a weapon. Makes me think of Leoric, the leader of the Spectral Knights in Visionaries, also a Hasbro toy brand.

Space-jet mode of Cloudburst inner-robot. Note the custom Autobot symbol on the nosecone.

Pretender Landmine - Function: Asteroid Miner

I previously mentioned that I acquired a large army of Pretenders, well all 12 of the 'main line' 1988 Pretenders actually and that I will be featuring them individually.

Here I go. First individual feature goes to Pretender Landmine!

Among the 1988, Pretender figures, Landmine ranks very highly in my mind. There is just something about the design and colour-scheme of the figure, his function (asteroid miner, how cool is that?) and his comic appearances that does it for me. For me, Cloudburst and Landmine were the 2 'main' Autobot Pretenders back in the 80s.

It was unbelievably cool that they battled and then bartered with Amazons in an issue that covered by the (back then) soon to be legendary Jim Lee. I was delightfully surprised when I went back to my TF comics in the early 90s (after said Jim Lee's explosion onto the Uncanny X-Men and later X-Men scene) to discover that the Jim had actually pencilled some Transformers covers - one of which featured Landmine.

Nowadays, Pretenders are no longer 'Pretenders'. The Simon 'godfather of Transformers' Furman has reinvented mere 'pretender shells' into what is known as 'polydermal armour' that can be grafted onto Transformers giving the recipients highly enhanced physical attributes and endurance. In Transformers: Revelation, this process was successfully performed on Cloudburst, Waverider, Groundbreaker and of course, Landmine.

I gotta say, that just adds an extra layer of cool to Pretenders.

Some pictures and thoughts about this great figure...

Close up of the Landmine 'polydermal armour'. I can almost imagine Landmine wearing this armour into deep space for exploration and asteroid mining, on his quest to discover new materials and maybe chance across the universe's last eletrum deposits?

Landmine, the Transformer, without his polydermal graft. A very nicely designed robot, who needs to put on a bit of weight.

The Landmine shell and Transformer.

Landmine's vehicle mode. I'd like to imagine this as an all terrain vehicle with wheels made of an enhanced poly-durable alloy for traversing inhospitable alien terrain. Other than Groundbreaker, Landmine is the only 'main line' Pretender to have wheels for his vehicle mode.

Random Pic of the Day - Size

Random pic of bits of my collection... I'm calling this picture - size.

The Year was 1988

The year was 1988 (and 1987). It was a significant year for Transformers, with many new subgroups, including the Headmasters, Targetmasters, Powermasters, Monsterbots, Pretenders and the Sixchangers.

It was truely a year where Transformers innovation was at its peak... before the coming of Micromasters and Actionmasters, which to my mind, signalled the downfall of the "Generation One" Transformers franchise.

I remember still being wildly fascinated with Transformers back in 1988, if because of nothing more, it was because of the Marvel Transformers UK comics (which were more readily available at news-stands than the Marvel US comics were). Marvel UK was released on a weekly basis and served to fuel my Transformers imagination for that year.

Who can forget these great advertisements that were in the Marvel UK comics? I can't, and still find them as fresh as the morning dew even when I look at them now.

 

The Headmasters advertisement (left) featuring the original 7 Headmasters - Highbrow, Hardhead, Chromedome, Brainstorm, Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher and Mindwipe. For some reason, Snapdragon and Apeface were featured (and written) separately.

The Targetmasters advertisement (right) feature all of the 1987 Targetmasters - Cyclonus, Scourge, Misfire, Slugslinger, Triggerhappy, Kup, Blurr, Hot Rod, Sureshot, Pointblank and Crosshairs. Pointblank was featured prominently on the centre of the poster, possibly the reason for my sustained interest in the character and the toy.

 

The Powermaster advertisement (left) featuring the 1988 Powermasters except for Optimus Prime - Joyride, Getaway, Slapdash, Dreadwind and Darkwing. There were a lot less Powermasters than either Headmasters or Targetmasters.

The Pretender advertisement (right) featuring only half of the original 1988 Pretenders - Waverider, Cloudburst, Landmine, Skullgrin, Bomb-Burst and Submarauder. Apparently, the other 6 Pretenders were US exclusives and thus not sold in the UK and for that same reason is not part of this advertisement. Not sure if I'm right, but it does appear to be the case. For that same reason, the other 6 Pretenders are rarer on the second-hand market today.

The presence of so many characters makes the 1987 and 1988 years one of the more difficult years to complete. There were just so many characters, some of which were very obscure, with correspondingly limited production runs making them highly challenging to find in mint and complete condition today.

The other 6 Pretenders that are not in the advertisement above are examples of figures that are highly challenging to hunt down today, they are - Groundbreaker, Sky High, Splashdown, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback.

I recently made a big push to complete in MIB condition as much of the 1987 and 1988 Transformers as possible. The efforts have paid off, I'd say.

Not content with keeping them in their boxes, I took them all out to for photographing today. Here they are...

The 1987 Autobot Headmasters - Hardhead, Chromedome, Brainstorm and Highbrow

The 1987 Decepticon Headmasters - Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher and Mindwipe

The 1987 Decepticon and Autobot Headmasters - Weird wolf, Mindwipe, Skullcruncher, Hardhead, Chromedome, Highbrow and Brainstorm

The two 1987 triple-changer Headmasters - Snapdragon and Apeface

1987 Headmaster Leader Scorponok

The 1987 new mold Autobot Targetmasters - Crosshairs, Pointblank and Sureshot

The 1987 new mold Decepticon Targetmasters - Misfire, Triggerhappy and Slugslinger

1987 Targetmaster (based on 1986 mold) - Cyclonus with Nightstick

The 1988 Decepticon Powermasters - Darkwing and Dreadwind

The 1987 Monsterbots - Repugnus, Doublecross and Grotesque

The 1988 Autobot and Decepticon Pretenders - all 12 of them

The 1988 Autobot and Decepticon Pretenders

Top Row (Pretender Shells) - Groundbreaker, Sky High Splashdown, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback

Second Row (Pretender Shells) - Landmine, Cloudburst, Waverider, Skullgrin, Bomb-Burst and Submarauder

Third Row (inner robots) - Groundbreaker, Sky High Splashdown, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback

Last Row (inner robots) - Landmine, Cloudburst, Waverider, Skullgrin, Bomb-Burst and Submarauder

Army of Transformers Series 4 (1987) and Series 5 (1988) figures!

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- The MIB Collection -

1987

Clones - Fastland & Cloudraker; Pounce & Wingspan

Double Agent - Punch/Counterpunch

Headmasters - Chromedome, Hardhead, Apeface

Targetmasters - Pointblank, Crosshairs, Cyclonus, Slugslinger, Misfire, Triggerhappy

Monsterbots - Doublecross, Grotusque, Repugnus

Japan exclusive - C-131: Raiden giftset

1988

Casettes - Squawktalk & Beastbox

Seacons - Seacons MOC, Snaptrap MIB

Sixchanger - Quickswitch

Headmasters - Siren, Nightbeat, Hosehead (Carb), Fangry, Horri-Bull, Squeezeplay

Powermasters - Slapdash, Getaway (Lightfoot)

Pretenders - Cloudburst

Japanese exclusives - C-308: Doubleclouder, C-309: God Bomber, C3-11:Grand Maximus

Series 4 - Targetmaster Crosshairs

Targetmaster Crosshairs - Autobot Weapons Supervisor.

That's odd. What exactly is a "weapons supervisor"? I guess "armourer" or "quatermaster" might be more apt. In any case, Crosshairs seem to be responsible more for a logistics role than for a frontlines fighting role.

My MIB Crosshairs is really an "MIB" Crosshairs. He's not a pedigree. The components that makes up the MIB-ness of this toy did not all come from the same original toy. It is a mix and match between:

- an almost junker Crosshairs I bought at the August Parramatta Fair;

- a second complete Crosshairs, with much better stickers, I bought from eBay Australia; and

- a very minty Crosshairs box I bought from jgon of OZformers.

Looking at it now, the Crosshairs box is so nice and minty that it could give my MIB Pointblank box a run for its money.

I would not have ordinarily done this. But this is how Crosshairs turned out. I suspect Sureshot is going to turn out this way as well. heh.

Here are the pics of the consolidated components...

Gestalt Team Leaders - Motormaster and Scattershot... boxes

One of my favourite G1 characters, Motormaster, and one of the G1 characters I least understood, Scattershot.

I liked Motormaster so much, I also died to buy it back in 1985, literally. But that is a story for another day, perhaps.

Recently acquired these two really pristine, C9+, boxes. Their acquisition completes the MIB-ness of my gestalt team leaders! Happy days!

No flap crease!