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!

***

- 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!

Pretender to the Throne!

My complete set of 1988 Decepticon Pretenders are here!

I bought these from the same seller who sold me the complete set of six 1988 Autobot Pretenders, eBay seller nancyfancypants, one of the best the friendliest eBay sellers I have had the pleasure to buy from. Shipping was top-notch fast and these figures arrived in a little over a week.

I am very happy to be able to purchase these six Decepticon Pretenders in one hit! I'm gonna say it again, my Pretenders are here! Hurrah!

I will be featuring each one in more detail in later posts, but first, here they are - Skullgrin, Bomb-burst, Submarauder, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback...


The Decepticon Pretenders - Skullgrin, Bomb-burst, Submarauder, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback


Top Row: The Decepticon Pretenders - Skullgrin, Bomb-burst, Submarauder, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback
Bottom Row: The Autobot Pretenders - Landmine, Cloudburst, Waverider, Groundbreaker, Sky High and Splashdown


Top Row: The Decepticon Pretenders - Skullgrin, Bomb-burst, Submarauder, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback
Bottom Row: The Autobot Pretenders - Landmine, Cloudburst, Waverider, Groundbreaker, Sky High and Splashdown


Autobot Pretenders vs Decepticon Pretenders!


The Pretender Army
The Autobot platoon - Landmine, Cloudburst, Waverider, Groundbreaker, Sky High and Splashdown
The Decepticon platoon - Skullgrin, Bomb-burst, Submarauder, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback


The Pretender Army
The Autobot platoon - Landmine, Cloudburst, Waverider, Groundbreaker, Sky High and Splashdown
The Decepticon platoon - Skullgrin, Bomb-burst, Submarauder, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback


The Pretender Army
The Autobot platoon - Landmine, Cloudburst, Waverider, Groundbreaker, Sky High and Splashdown
The Decepticon platoon - Skullgrin, Bomb-burst, Submarauder, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback


The Pretender Army
The Decepticon platoon - Skullgrin, Bomb-burst, Submarauder, Iguanus, Bugly and Finback


The Pretender Army
The Autobot platoon - Landmine, Cloudburst, Waverider, Groundbreaker, Sky High and Splashdown


Special Pretender Army shot photographed by E

Series 5 (1988) - Autobot Sixchanger Assualt Warrior Quickswitch

The six-changer concept was something I was very interested in since back in 1988. It was, however, largely unexplored because the US cartoon continuity ended in '87.

The Japanese Headmasters and Masterforce series did show a little more about these powerful robots but did not make them any more interesting. They typically transformed from one mode to another without much rhyme or reason.

With the IDW comics-verse, Sixshot became a star (literally and figuratively, since he is supposed to be made from the 'compacted matter of a fallen star'), but Quickswitch, his Autobot counterpart, still received no love.

I don't recall Quickswitch appearing in any comics or even cartoons. A re-coloured incarnation of him, Sixknight, did appear in Masterforce but that is arguably another character entirely.

I think its high time Quickswitch got some love, but since he still has not, I'm going to give him some - by featuring him here.

Quickswitch is easily as powerful and interesting as Sixshot and also equally unpredictable. Still, he would be an asset to the Autobot cause.

Quickswitch tranforms into:

- a jet;

- a puma;

- a laser pistol;

- a drill tank;

- a hovercraft; and

- a robot.

His Tech Specs say:

"Completely unpredictable. Changes his mood as often as he changes his mode. Can be compassionate, merciless, friendly, hateful, happy, or angry, depending on what time of day it is. Equipped with 6 different modes: robot warrior, assault hovercraft cruiser, jet-propelled laser pistol, assault beast with stealth shielding, armor-piercing drill tank, suborbital fighter jet. Armed with twin photon blasters."

(okay, the Tech Specs are not very informative)

The Dreamwave More Than Meets the Eye Sourcebooks says:

"Among those rare Transformers who are biomechanically inclined to multiple transformations, Quickswitch is the first Autobot Six Changer. His capacity to change form is written so deep in his spark that it dominates his entire personality. He's moody at best and unstable at worst - Qucikswitch can't maintain a feeling or emotion for very long before it turns into something else, often entirely different. Witnesses have reported him exhorting his comrades to show mercy before a battle and then tearing through Decepticons with all the compassion of an energon-scythe. Quickswitch's problem is deeper than a few crossed wires, and its one that he's tried to correct... yet all medical tests show that there is absolutely nothing wrong with him in terms of mental functioning. Quickswitch suspects that the Decepticon Sixshot, the first Six Changer, may somehow possess the clue needed to equalise his own metal processes. The one unchanging thing about Quickswitch is that he is determined to get the answers to his origin and solution to his processes."

I recently acquired this very interesting Canadian boxed Quickswitch for E. Quickswitch is one of the Transformers she likes. It is interesting because it looks very much like its US box counterpart, and so is a lot more likeable than say the European boxes. The main difference is that there are a set of French words for every set of English words that appears on the box.

Here are some pictures...

The Canadian version of Quickswitch came with a massive amount of paperwork - there are English and French versions of each of the catalogues that came with the toy.

See also, Transformers Masterforce C-312: Sixknight MIB.