More on the Bluestreak 3-D Jigsaw Puzzle

A few weeks back, I mentioned a 3-D Puzzle as one of the few (if not, indeed, the only) officially-produced items to actually depict the Generation One Bluestreak character, in his original body, but in blue, as the original package art and photos had it. I mentioned at the time that I may need to go back and pick the box up on my way to BotCon. Thanks in part to a comment from box art-guru "Botch the Crab," I did indeed do so, returning to Orange County on my way south to San Diego, and although I had to wait until after BotCon to properly put everything together, I can now comment further on this piece of 80s nostalgia.

There were indeed some signs of the puzzle showing its age (more on this later), but all of the pieces were indeed present. The first thing I did upon opening up the box (and finding sufficient room on the floor to work) was complete the more standard 2-D puzzle, featuring a piece of Generation One art that I hadn't realized existed before seeing the front of the box at that antique shop a few weeks ago. The only significant difference between the finished image and the smaller one on the package is the caption at the bottom, which is merely descriptive of the action.

Although all the puzzle pieces themselves were present, the original instructions were not, and thus I found myself glad to have assembled the 2-D Puzzle — almost certainly the easiest of the three forms this puzzle can take — first. When the 2-D Puzzle is completed, the reverse shows this array of semi-completed robot- and auto-mode parts, thus making at least the first part of the assembly of those modes that much easier.

Given that these puzzle pieces are nearly 30 years old, they've held up pretty well, but there has been some warping of some of the pieces. This wasn't too much of an issue when putting together the 2-D Puzzle, but it made putting together the 3-D assemblies a bit more difficult. However, once it's all done, you get a robot mode that's quite impressive. To get a sense of its size, here is the robot alongside my Action Master custom figure (my other "blue Bluestreak") and the non-blue Bluestreak reissue (actually called "Silverstreak" more for trademark reasons than because of it's color, although the color did dictate what the alternative name was to be).

Besides the warping, some pieces are considerably more fragile than they presumably were 30 years ago, and I inevitably damaged some of the "finish" of the pieces while assembling the car mode (you'll notice some white patches that weren't apparent when the pieces were still on the 2-D layout). Also, given the lack of instructions, I can't help but wonder if there's a stabilizing support structure that was meant to go along the bottom of this car mode to keep it from sagging in the middle, but I couldn't figure out where those pieces would come from, so this mode is what it is. Even so, the fact that Puzzle Bluestreak is practically the correct scale such that the Action Master version of himself could be his own driver is more than a little amusing!

Definitely-Not-Transformer Finds

One of the things I like to do when I have some spare time is drive to various parts of Southern California and check out the discount shops and thrift stores. Every now and then, I see some rather interesting Transformer-related items on the shelves. Neither of these toys I'm sharing today are technically Transformers, of course, but I figure they're still relevant....

The first oddity I thought worth writing about is this "Racing Force" set of two out-and-out knock-offs of Generation Two-era jets in packaging clearly meant to emulate the Transformers: Animated logo. I'm not entirely sure how those colors can be said to be the "latest fashion style" with a straight face, but there you go.

The other item is this transforming robot. When I realized what it was, I was reminded of an item that people had wished was real back when the 2007 live-action Transformers movie had first come out. In an important scene from that movie, an artifact from Cybertron called the "Allspark," which had fallen to Earth ages ago, was used to grant life to a number of regular mechanical objects. One of the items to be granted life in this manner was a Mountain Dew vending machine, and fans were known to be clamoring for an actual transforming toy of it for months afterward. While this little hunk of plastic doesn't turn into a soda vending machine, it does transform into a soda can (and, if the name on the package is any indication, a green one, although the robot sure looks blue to me)! I make no promises of liquid refreshment inside, and if there is any such liquid to be had, I really don't recommend drinking it!

But then, I only ever drink the real excessively-caffeinated Mountain Dew when I'm pulling an all-night paper-writing session (something I haven't had occasion to do for years now), so what do I know?

The Legend of Blue Bluestreak

There is perhaps no Transformers myth more legendary than the purported existence of "blue Bluestreak." Basically, what seems to have happened is that, somewhere along the process of taking toys from the old Diaclone line and repurposing them for the Transformers line in 1984, a Datsun Fairlady Z toy was sold in a grey-and-red coloration and given the name "Bluestreak," even though the original toy catalog, the instruction booklet, and even the package art on the front of the box itself, all used a blue coloration, a common color variation (among several) of the original Diaclone toy. Although many long-standing Transformers fans claim to remember seeing a "blue Bluestreak" in Transformers packaging back when they were kids, no evidence has ever surfaced to indicate that "blue Bluestreak" was ever officially released as a Transformer.

Perhaps even more odd is the fact that this remains true, even to this day, despite a myriad of special Diaclone-based color schemes having been used for various other reissues over the years, especially as e-HOBBY exclusives. Nor does any other official Transformers merchandise depicting this character in this form — only blue — seem to exist.

With one possible exception....

One of the more unusual bits of merchandise released back in the 1980's was this 3-D Puzzle set featuring, you guessed it, a "blue Bluestreak." Basically, the idea was that you could assemble the pieces to form Bluestreak in robot mode, then take the puzzle back apart and reassemble the pieces in vehicle mode.

When I found this box for sale at an antique shop recently, I was surprised to learn that there was yet another way to assemble the pieces, such that you could get a traditional flat puzzle with this piece of Transformers art on it. This scene is certainly compatible with other Transformers art of this era, such as that found of the back of the toy packaging, but I can't say I recall seeing this particular work before.

I didn't pick this box up when I was at the antique shop, but I was sorely tempted, especially for that art! I may find myself heading back there on my way south for BotCon next week!

The Guy Who Did the '84 Transformers Back of the Box Art

Perhaps one of the most iconic images to come out of the original era of Transformers, the image you see here graced the back of the packaging for most of the first year's worth of Transformers toys back in 1984. I still get a nostalgic twinge whenever I see it.

Apparently, this art was created by an artist named David Schleinkofer, and the alt.toys.transformers mainstay who currently goes by the name "Steve L.K. Macrocranios" (although long-time readers may remember a guy I referred to as "Crazy Steve." It's the same guy) has been in contact with him. Steve reports that he's working on an e-mail interview with Schleinkofer. Although I sadly missed Steve's deadline for sending questions over the weekend, you can still go to this link to see the discussion on alt.toys.transformers, and can see more of Schleinkofer's work at his flickr account, where Steve says you can send your own questions anytime!

UPDATE - 6/18/13 - The interview has been posted here.

Loot Crate Highlight of the Month - May 2013

So, this was the third and final month of my initial Loot Crate membership, and thus the last month I'll be featuring a highlight from the box set. In the interest of protecting the surprise for those who care about such things, the reveal will come in the next paragraph (after the "Read More" link on the main page and RSS feed)...

The theme this month was "Equip," and what better way to equip your galaxy-trotting hitchhiker than with this towel? The timing coincides nicely with "Towel Day," which is just three days away at the time of this writing.

Besides being an obvious reference to Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy books, the message on the Loot Crate towel nicely references another meme that's been going around this past few years. Perhaps you've seen the various messages all over the internet working off of this "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster. What you might not know is that this meme originates back to the earliest days of World War II. "Keep Calm and Carry On" was one of three posters commissioned in 1939 by a publicity and propaganda wing of the government in the United Kingdom, designed to strengthen morale in the face of the attacks to come. Oddly enough, this particular poster was never used publicly (the other two apparently were), and most of the posters that were produced were lost after the war ended. Fast-forward to the year 2000, when one of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters surfaced in an English book store, where prints of it were made and became extremely popular.

As I indicated earlier, parodies and pastiches of "Keep Calm and Carry On" have become common in the past few years. I've even done this one myself, which I posted on Facebook some time back. You can make your own at this link. If you'd like to see what other Loot Crate goodies came out this month, do a search for "Loot Crate Equip" on YouTube and you'll get a bunch of options. Then, come back and click this link to subscribe to Loot Crate for yourself!

Loot Crate Highlight of the Month - April 2013

So I'm still getting the hang of this Loot Crate thing. It wasn't until some time after I'd posted last month's highlight, featuring a Darth Vader Bobble-Head, that I'd realized "Maybe some people don't want to get spoiled by the subject line or the image they see before they've even clicked the link...". No one posted any angry comments last month, but I'm going to play this a little more coy this time around. If you want to see which item I've highlighted from this month's Loot Crate, click the "Read more" link (or keep reading the next paragraph, depending on what your current view of this page is like). If not, no harm done....

The theme for this month's Loot Crate is "Token," and has items related to arcade video games. Perhaps no item highlights the theme more than this candy tin shaped like a classic Space Invaders video game. While Space Invaders (released in 1978) may not have been the first coin-operated video game (Pong was released in 1972), it was one of the first to become really popular. Word has it that entire video game arcades opened up featuring only this game.

But back to this tin. Theoretically, it exists to house the candies inside, but I don't think too many people will care about them. I've tried to edit the picture just a little bit to bring out the fact that the candies have little "Space Invader-character" shapes on them, but let's face it. These things are pretty forgettable. It's the tin that's the highlight!

Admittedly, the tin is pretty small. Too small to properly be in scale with most of my action figures (most of which are of the 3 1/2" variety). However, since Transformers come in pretty much all sizes, I didn't have to look to hard to find one that worked with the Space Invaders tin. Here's Skram enjoying a game.

If you'd like to get boxes full of geek-related "loot" like this, check out Loot Crate's web site and sign up! If you'd just like to find out what other items are in April's box, you'll still want to go to the site, and then scrounge around for the videos that fans are posting of their "unboxings"! Either way, it's worth checking out!

Transformers Feature - Platinum Edition "Year of the Snake" Omega Supreme

I've reached a point in my Transformers collecting where more of my purchases are likely to be online than at the local store, as the vast majority of what's on the shelf holds little interest compared to the prices now being charged. This actually comes as a surprise to me. While I certainly understand the reality that shipping items costs money, the thought of having to pay for shipping always incites in me a visceral reaction of aversion. Thankfully, Omega Supreme is exclusive to Amazon.com (well, also to BigBadToyStore) in the US, and shipped for free as it's well over Amazon's usual $25 threshold.

This version of Omega Supreme, which came out at the beginning of this year, is a remold of the version of the character created for the Energon line back in 2004. These colors are much more in keeping with the original Generation One toy, and it's easy to assume that this toy is intended to be an updated version of that character. The TFWiki, however, places this toy in the "Aligned" continuity. While there a couple of cues in the bio and the toy itself that lean in this direction, there is room for interpretation, and indeed the "Aligned" continuity is arguably more "Generation One-esque" than any previous attempt. If thinking of this toy as representing the original is your preference, go for it!

Omega Supreme's transformation is arguably one of the simplest of all Transformers. Basically, the toy splits down the middle, and each side straightens out a bit to form a vehicle. You can play with two vehicles, as seen on the left here, or combine them into one long train, as in this link.

There is a bit more you can do with these parts, however. Bend one of the limbs (the one seen in these pictures on the left) around a bit to get what the box still calls a "working crane" (except that, due to changes from the original Energon version of the toy, it neither "works" nor resembles a crane in any meaningful sense), while the other (seen here on the right) is a reasonably convincing weapons platform.

I'd be lying if I claimed to have a real explanation for the recent trend in Chinese zodiac-themed Transformers toys. This seems to have started last year, with a "Year of the Dragon" Optimus Prime toy (using a mold created for the most recent live-action Transformers movie). There are two "Year of the Snake" toys this year, the other being a remold of Energon Optimus Prime, and that toy retains the ability to combine with this one to create a new form. I don't have any iterations of the Energon Optimus Prime mold, however, so I can't demonstrate the combined form here. You'll have to settle for TFWiki for that.