Heroic Decepticon

07 February 2010

MIB Journal - C131: Raiden (ライデン; 雷電) giftset

Perhaps one of the rarest and most desirable G1 combiners right along side D355: Liokaiser, is Raiden (ライデン; 雷電) - the combined form of 6 Trainbots from the Headmasters series in Japan.

One major reason for its rarity is because it was never released in the US or Europe in any form. The Trainbots were released in a very limited form in Singapore back in 1987 through Japanese retail chains like Isetan and Daimaru (and by that token, probably released in some parts of Asia as well).

As I recall, there were actually a lot less Raidens than Liokaisers back in the day. I only came across Raiden once in Isetan and there was only a set or two. But for months and months, I've seen stacks and stacks of D355: Liokaiser giftsets. I was hardly interested in Liokaiser at the time. He was pretty boring compared to Predaking. So when it came time for mum to buy us something, my brother and I opted for all the Japanese boxed Predacons instead of the Liokaiser giftset (which I must say was actually slightly cheaper than the Japanese boxed Predacons).

I recently obtained a C131: Raiden giftset from my trip in Japan. The story of the acquisition is here. I inspected and studied the Trainbots a fair bit when I returned to Sydney. The Trainbots were all Japanese trains that were unique to Japan at the time (ie: during the "diaclone", pre-Transformers, period). Later, Takara released them as part of the Japanese Headmasters series in 1987.

I think, that is the main issue is this - they were Japanese trains, not futuristic trains or Cybertronian trains, but Japanese trains. Marketing people from various countries would perhaps have suspected that kids outside of Japan may have difficulty identifying with the Trainbots on the same level as they will identify with common road vehicles and or futuristic ones. In all likelihood, Liokaiser which is made up of 3 planes, 2 tanks and a buggy would have been considered more interesting and identifiable to kids and therefore more marketable than 6 trains which look more or less similar (I mean, a train is a train, its a rectagular shaped object without much variation).

Maybe that is why Raiden was not imported, at least in large quantities, into the other Asian countries that had access to "Japanese exclusive" Transformers. Hence its rarity.

Another reason that Raiden is so sought after and complete sets so expensive is because of the number of accessories that make up Raiden. Each train not only came with its own little gun and green connector clip, but also another couple of accessories that are necessary for combination into Raiden. Aside from D318: King Poseidon, where each Seacon came with a number of mostly generic accessories, I think Raiden is the combiner with the most number of accessories in G1.

Here are many photos of my Raiden giftset, definitely one of the jewels of my G1 MIB collection.

C-131: Raiden (ライデン; 雷電)

Function: Heavy Series-Linked Gestalt Warrior

Box: C8.5 (close to C9 is not be slightly damaged flap)

Figures: all C9 at least, tight joints, minimal wear

Stickers: C8.5 for Shouki and Kaen; stickers unapplied for Getsuei, Yukikaze, Suiken and Seizan.

Complete paperworks including giftset instructions, bio card, giftset style sticker sheets (4 sheets still unapplied), catalogue and mail-away exclusive catalogue.

C125: Shouki

C126: Getsuei

C127: Yukikaze

C128: Suiken

C129: Seizan

C130: Kaen

C125: Shouki's sticker sheet (used)

C126: Getsuei and C127: Yukikaze's sticker sheets, unused.

C130: Kaen's sticker sheet (used).

C128: Suiken and C129: Seizan's sticker sheets, unused.

Next: Raiden versus Liokaiser!

06 February 2010

Gattai, Liokaiser!

"Gattai, Liokaiser!" - Deszaras to Leozack, Gaihawk, Hellbat, Jarguar, Killbison and Drillhorn.

"Now, destroy Raiden!" - Deszaras to Liokaiser

Next: Liokaiser vs Raiden!

05 February 2010

The Complete D-355:Liokaiser individually boxed robots

Detailed pictures and commentary on individual Liokaiser memebers:

04 February 2010

D-334: Drillhorn (Liokaiser's left leg)

I'm not going to feature the Brestforce individual robots in numerical order, but rather slightly randomly just to mix things up a little.

Today's feature is C-334: Drillhorn, my favourite Liokaiser member. His alternate mode and colour is unique among the other Liokaiser members and in fact unique even among G1 Transformers. His colour scheme is a beautiful lilac colour mixed with grey and he transforms into a drill-tank. I can only think of one other Transformer that transforms into a drill tank and that is Nosecone. The Nosecone toy gets less props than Drillhorn because its rather tiny in comparison and also not as detailed as Drillhorn is.

A brief description from Wikipedia:

"The Breast Force strategist. Like other Decepticon strategists before him, he occasionally loses sight of the little things in favor of the big picture. Transforms into a purple-colored drill tank. His breastplate transforms into a miniature rampaging mechanical rhino."

Gah, that wasn't very interesting, I could live without that description.

I gotta say that Drillhorn has one of the nicest pieces of box art among the Brestforce (although to be fair, all of the Brestforce's box art are very nice, as is consistent with Transformers from the Victory series).

Here are some detailed pictures with comments.

Front of box - As with the rest of the Transformers in the Victory era, the box art is simply stunning.

The individual boxed Brestforce members features bottom of the box art unlike earlier year Transformers which features a representation shot of the toy on the bottom of the box.

Flawless glossy box without creases, dents or rips.

Top of box - Unlike earlier year Transformer boxes which featured transformation sequences of the toy, the box tops of the Brestforce members show instead photos of the toys featuring the 'brest-former' function that is unique to this sub-group (with the exception of Deszaras of course); notice the description actually says "Transforms from tank to robot and back again" - he transforms into a drill-tank rather than a standard tank.

Back of box

Drillhorn's bio card is not included in the paperworks packet but is actually one of the inner flaps of the box.

The other side of his bio-card is actually another flap of the box. I suspect that the printing on each flap were meant to be printed on respective sides of a card, but Takara for obvious reasons cannot do that (ie: print on both sides of the same box flap), so they did the next best thing which is giving us the characters' picture on one flap and then the bio on the other flap.

The contents of C-334, Drillhorn

Instructions and unapplied sticker sheet, plus full plethora of all paperworks like catalogues and other promotional material all sealed in its original bag. Due to the box size, the entire packet had to be folded to fit into the box, but this is how it originally came.

Minty Drillhorn toy and rhino 'brest'. The drill-tank mode is very nice.

***

Detailed pictures and commentary on individual Liokaiser memebers:

03 February 2010

D-331: Hellbat (Liokaiser's left arm)

I recently did a short series of pictures of Liokaiser versus Raiden. Both are very powerful combiner robots that were exclusive to Japan and I had to think hard about which one would actually be victorious in a battle.

I then recalled that I have not completed my showcase of the individual Liokaiser robots - there were still two left: Hellbat and Drillhorn.

I'm featuring Hellbat in this post. I like his cartoon manifestation and his colour scheme. Maybe I just have something for bats, my favourite comic character of all time being Batman and all. Among all the Liokaiser warrirors, his profile stands out the most - he's almost like Starscream, with a little less smarts but is just as cowardly.

Given a little more screen time to establish himself, Hellbat might just become as classic a character as Starscream.

Pictures of D-331: Hellbat...

Front of box - As with the rest of the Transformers in the Victory era, the box art is simply stunning.

The individual boxed Brestforce members features bottom of the box art unlike earlier year Transformers which features a representation shot of the toy on the bottom of the box.

Flawless glossy box without creases, dents or rips, from this side.

Flawless glossy box but there is a slight dent to in on the bottom and top right side of the box as seen here.

Back of box

Hellbat's bio card is not included in the paperworks packet but is actually one of the inner flaps of the box. The artwork for Hellbat is simply stunning, yes?

The contents of D-331, Hellbat. The instructions, unapplied sticker sheet and all the original catalogues and promotional material that came with Hellbat are still sealed in the bag.

Minty Hellbat toy and Bat 'brest'.

Paperworks