TF Views

Encore Minibots:

Despite the rather abrupt break in the line when Takara was merged with Tomy a few years back, "Transformers" is still a presence on the Japanese (and US import) toy market. Rather than continue with strictly faithful recreations of 25+ year old molds, (that really do not live up to the childhood memories of collectors), TakaraTomy decided to improve older molds with their "Encore" line.

Generally, "Encore" re-issues feature better coloring (either through base plastic, or applied paint) than original toys and occasionally restored molding. It is amazing what a bit of extra paint can do for an older mold.

The 5 Minibots in this set: Bumblebee, Outback, Pipes, Tailgate and Swerve. Aside from Bumblebee, all of the toys in this set are the 1986 "replacements" for older characters.


Bumblebee: The only part of this set to feature new, (not restored) molding. The original Bumblebee had a face-plate, while this one has a cartoon accurate smirk. (The face-plate only appeared in a few early issues of the comic, and briefly in "War Within".) The chest sigil is now painted on, and the heat-sensitive sticker is now on the back of the car/robot's head. The head and tail lights are not painted. This is the best variant of the original Bumblebee one is likely to find. It is also the only recent Bumblebee to use the VW alternate mode, as the movie and "Classics" toys use other forms (owing to Volkswagen's senstivity to being associated with the property). Bumblebee is probaby the most iconic character in this set, appearing in many cartoon episodes.
5/5 A good mold for the time it came out originally, and improved.


Outback: This jeep is based on the original Brawn mold. I had one of these as a kid, and it was fragile. (Of course, that is not a problem with a display piece.) As with the original, there is a gun that can be pegged onto the top of the jeep. I did not see any molding differences, but the only references I have for the original are memories from a decade ago and current pics at tfu.info. The face is better painted than the original. The heat-sensitive sigil is still on the side of the truck, and there is also a painted sigil on the other side of the truck. Outback made a good showing in later episodes of the show, and occasionaly in the UK comics. Other than that, the character showed up in a BotCon comic in '05. The UK and BotCon comics made use of the character's fatalism, which the cartoon generally ignored.
3/5 I assume the fragility is still an issue, and the gun does not integrate into the main toy. (I am not making a concession on the mold being older, as I have seen older molds do this.)


Pipes: At first, this looks like a straight recolor of the origional Huffer toy. However, despite the similarities in the truck alternate forms, Pipes is differently engineered than Huffer. I cannot see any differences in mold or coloring between this toy and the original. The face looks more or less the same. (Mind you, Pipes had a better than average painted face back in 1986.) There is a painted sigil on the back of the truck cab. Pipes showed up in a few later episodes of the cartoon. Pipes was a pack-rat.
5/5 A fun and fiddly, if dated, mold.


Tailgate: This white sports-car replaced Windcharger. Near as I can tell, aside from better paintwork on the face, there is not much difference between Tailgate c.2008 and Tailgate c.1986. Windcharger was a sentimenatal favorite of mine, as it was the first TF I ever got as a kid. Tailgate always appealed to me on the basis of the character bio. He was an activist for the rights of non-sentient machines. Despite the possibilities this offered for writers, I cannot recall Tailgate doing much more than losing a fight with Trypticon in the cartoon. He may have shown up in the UK comics, I dunno.
4/5 Considering Hasbro releases Spychanger molds of similar complexity now, and calls them modern, I cannot grade this too harshly. Pipes is a bit more complex though.


Swerve: Swerve replaced Gears, and is a little proto-SUV. The only change made to this toy from its original release is the improved paint on the face. My copy has a sideways sigil (heat-sensitive decal) on the hood. But, I am pretty sure this is a QC error unique to my copy. Swerve is such an obscure character, I had to look him up on tfu.info to find any information. Swerve has the distintion of not getting an entry in the original Marvel sourcebooks. And, unless he showed up in the UK, he is known primarily for getting stepped on by Trypticon in "Five Faces of Darkness", one of the worst episodes of the original cartoon.
4/5


Grade (for the set): B It may seem I am being overly charitable with this set. But, aside from Outback, the molds and engineering actually hold up pretty well. And, Pipes is actually more complex than the (anachronistic) Spy-changer molds Hasbro still releases from time to time, and is about equal to some of the modern designs in the "Legends" sub-set. The new molding on Bumblebee and generally better paintwork on the set also help. Easily worth picking up if you can find it. (Snagged these at http://www.digital-toys.com if you are curious.)



Dom
-was hoping for Hubcap or Wheelie in this set.

Sounds like a good set, and one that wouldn't duplicate any figures I already own. I might have to look into it.

Swerve: Swerve replaced Gears, and is a little proto-SUV. The only change made to this toy from its original release is the improved paint on the face. My copy has a sideways sigil (heat-sensitive decal) on the hood. But, I am pretty sure this is a QC error unique to my copy. Swerve is such an obscure character, I had to look him up on tfu.info to find any information. Swerve has the distintion of not getting an entry in the original Marvel sourcebooks. And, unless he showed up in the UK, he is known primarily for getting stepped on by Trypticon in "Five Faces of Darkness", one of the worst episodes of the original cartoon.

And of course, Swerve has the distinction of being remade into an Alternator, and the last repaint to get a new mold for the head, as far as I know. Not bad for such an obscure character. I'm with you though... apart from the name, I don't really know anything about the character.

I'm getting this set. Fond of Minibots in moderation. Not as slavish as some, and I don't pay huge prices for them, but they're a very dinky little subset.
This particular lineup grabs me where the other set did not, in part due to my distaste for the Dreamwave book-style reissue packaging, and in part due to the characters and moulds used here. Still no reissue Seaspray, though, bah.

Worth noting that Encore isn't specifically about improvements per se, since the original reissues did this too, with the die-cast combo and inclusion of all a given character's weapons etc. All the way to completely recolouring Galvatron and re-engineering his electronics. Bumblebee's face is not a new sculpt for this set, it was first done for the previous Minibot reissues. I too am disappointed that he was included in this set instead of Hubcap, Hubcap does not get anywhere near enough love. Of course, I own Hubcap, and not Anime Head Bee, so it does technically work in my favour.

Tailgate was actually my first Transformer. I disliked him due to his lack of articulation, and traded him to my cousin for Micromaster Stakeout. Stakeout was a police car with movable legs, but that one was a very bad call in retrospect. Not lease because Stakeout broke. So there is an element of nostalgia at work here.

Swerve seems to be Hasbro's catch-all red repaint character these days. See: Universe, Alternators, and Cybertron.

Dominic wrote: -was hoping for Hubcap or Wheelie in this set.

Y'know, wwwaaayyyy back in the day, back when I was securing the mini-con Thunderblast for myself and JT, I spotted ol' Wheelie at the secondhand store and thought "Man, I should so get that. He still has his visor!" But, I didn't, and sumbitch if I've ever seen him again. I'm probably one of the few people anywhere that would regret missing him.

Ah, well, he'll turn up again.

I almost want this set because minibots are awesome. Plus, good ol' Outback...he's always willing to lend a hand...


Good ol' Outback....

138 Scourge wrote:I almost want this set because minibots are awesome. Plus, good ol' Outback...he's always willing to lend a hand...


Good ol' Outback....

Well, Dom did say he was fragile...

Dang, I still want a Titanium of the 'Spotlight' version of Kup. With Outback's hand...

I just want a Kup figure after that issue of "Spotlight". I do not know if it is still the best one, but damned if it is not still one of the best IDW comics from the last 3 years.

I stand corrected about Bumblebee's head molding. But, I would not want to five up BB for Hubcap. I was thinking I would rather give up Outback, as that is the most flawed toy in the box. (It is also the least stable, which I neglected to mention above.) I just could not afford the other set when it came out. Box art really does not bother me. If it is good, then great, I have a little something extra. But, the package could be a picture of Pat Lee pulling a Goatze for all I care. It is the toys, and character bios, that I want.

In fairness to Takara though, they did make Wheelie..... with Kup. Hey Scourge, if we can find a set, wanna split it?

Dom
-growing oddly fond of Swerve.

Dominic wrote:Dom
-growing oddly fond of Swerve.

Have A Swerve! I can say that now.

Swerve actually ended up totally getting a bit part in my Jetfire fanfic that's still not finished. He's the new leader of a sub-squad of Autobots because Skyquake murdered his commander. Magnus says he has leadership potential, and when Prime finally returns, Matrix in hand, they can revive his leader. Jetfire thinks it's a crock of shit.

If I didn't already have the originals of these guys, I'd get the set.

Decepticon Spike wrote:If I didn't already have the originals of these guys, I'd get the set.

That's my reaction to the majority of reissues. This set, hey, there's enough Minibots I don't have to be keen. Minibots aren't mind-bogglingly awesome, so they're not particularly high up my vintage to-get list.

I actually prefer re-issues to originals, as they re-issues are more likely to be in good condition. Even if I want a G1 toy, (rare in and of itself), much of what I see at cons is junk that I would only tolerate if it was a cherished toy from my youth. For what I have to pay for incomplete, (usually C7 or lower), toys, I may as well spned the same, if not a bit less, on re-issues.

Dom
-finds "Classics" to be a better bang for the buck anyway.