“MB Trailbreaker”

Been a nice week collection wise. I managed to add three G1 (Generation 1) Transformers to my collection, being an upgrade for my MB Trailbreaker, a European Powermaster Optimus Prime and a European Soundwave. I took some quick snapshots of the lot. I am most satisfied with my new MB Trailbreaker!

This particular MB Trailbreaker came to my attention through a visitor of this site. As you can see the box is in immaculate condition, with one side still sealed with the original factory tape. The insides aren’t bad either. The styro foam insert and accompanying cardboard support are in great shape, as well as the toy itself. Trailbreaker’s legs are slightly loose, but not in a way that negatively affects the toy either in robot mode nor vehicle mode. Trailbreaker features a lot of chrome and as such this specific Transformer is very susceptible to chrome wear. Although this Trailbreaker looks like he’s been played with now and again, the chrome work is surprisingly intact with only very minor visible wear.

Trailbreaker’s paperwork is included, with the red decoder strip, the Milton Bradley 1985 pack-in catalog and the quad-lingual European instructions booklet. The only thing really missing is the sticker sheet.

“Powermaster Optimus Prime”

The next item is Powermaster Optimus Prime. Released in 1988 in Europe by Hasbro, this was Optimus Prime’s long awaited come back to the Transformers toy line. This is the French/Dutch version of Powermaster Prime that was presumably sold in France, the Netherlands and Belgium (and most likely also Luxembourg). As a kid I remember seeing Powermaster Prime at my local toy store many, many times and I desperately wanted to have him. But as was often the case in those days, I just didn’t have the moolah.

As most G1 collectors will know, the amount of detail and sophistication that went into most of the Headmasters, Targetmasters, Powermaster, etc. completely pales compared to the early G1 releases. I mean, really, instead of die cast metal, chrome finish, rubber tires and actual see-through windows, what we have here is plastic, plastic, plastic and stickers that are supposed to represent windows. It’s a complete disappointment compared to the original Prime if you ask me and I wasn’t blind to that in 1988 either, but somehow I still found this Powermaster Prime to be a kick ass, must have toy. I think what really sold this to my 12 year old self was the absolutely stunning packaging. I mean, just look at how cool Prime looks:

Even if the toy itself was not that grand looking, my 12-year-old mind compensated that with the absolutely bad ass box art representation of Powermaster Optimus Prime. Now, some 23 years later in the dazzlingly futuristic year 2011 I finally have the same Powermaster Prime in French/Dutch packaging that was available in my local toy store. The kicker is that I only paid around 50 euros for it.

“Hasbro Europe Soundwave”

I got it together with the Hasbro Europe version of Soundwave that is pictured below from a Dutch collector who was cleaning out his collection. Good times!

By the by, the fourth installment of my series of articles on MB Transformers is coming along nicely. The text is now about 90% completed, with still a lot of graphical work to be done. It should be online within two weeks or so!