Tonight is a small Anglo-Dutch party. My very good friend Maz from TF-1.com and I are proud to present to you some of our most interesting work to date. We hope you will find it is also some of our best work to date, because we’ve certainly poured our collective hearts and souls into it. Both articles that we’ve just finished writing go into amazing detail on a subject matter that we are pretty passionate about: European Joustra Diaclones and MB Transformers respectively.

First off, above you can see some of the graphical design for the latest installment in my series of articles on MB Transformers, which is now finally online! This fourth chapter examines the very close ties between the afforementioned two vintage toy lines from the mid-1980’s. This is the big one. Both in size and in message. Some numbers; the first two installments were around 2,500 words each. The third installment was the biggest one yet with approximately 5,000 words. The first draft of the fourth installment came close to the 9,500 mark! That was way too big. I also found the flow of the article was just too chaotic and I commenced on a 2-week long redesign, which ultimately saw this article end up with 7,500 words. Still quite large, but I now feel confident that it is ready for consumption and succeeds in getting my message across.

Content wise, this is why I embarked on this unholy mission of writing a series of articles on MB Transformers. The previous three chapters, while informative and enjoyable in their own right, were all leading up to the information that can be found in chapter four. It ties an important and relatively unknown portion of early European Transformers history together. This is the story I wanted to tell. This is what I think happened between MB and Joustra in 1985 and I think it’s very exciting. This is what I needed to get out of my system and share with fellow G1 Transformers enthousiasts on the world wide interwebs. I guess observant collectors will have put this together before, but to my knowledge this information has never been published online in such a comprehensive way and since it’s been more than 25 years, I thought it was high time it got told! I really hope you enjoy it!

Please don’t think that the rest of the series will be boring. Although I cannot deny that this is really the high point of the series, there is still much more to tell and you can count on my usual nerdy and meticulous methods of investigation and obsessive attention to detail for the remaining 6 chapters. I won’t give out an estimate for the release date of the 5th chapter, because I need an even bigger break than after the last chapter. It’ll be here when it’s here. For now, enjoy the “MB and Joustra Connection” by clicking here.

 

“Joustra Diaclone Lancia Stratos”

But like I said, that’s only one half of the party! As soon as you’re done reading the “MB & Joustra Connection” there is some further reading that I can heartily recommend from my favourite vintage Transformers site, TF-1.com.

Through an amazing bout of luck and coincidence my good friend Maz got his hands on a very, very rare Joustra Diaclone wave 2 item; Lancia Stratos, a.k.a. pre-Wheeljack! This is the first time a Joustra Diaclone Lancia Stratos has surfaced publicly complete inside his packaging! You can count on Maz to thoroughly examine this item and place it against the background of both its earlier and later incarnations, accompanied with many, many photographs in his trademark style. It’s the next best thing to owning one yourself! At this moment this is the only known Joustra Diaclone Lancia Stratos in the world of which publicly available, photographic evidence exists! Check out TF-1.com’s amazing scoop by clicking here.

UPDATE:

The fourth installment of my series on MB Transformers is ready to go and will be published today at 2200 CEST (Amsterdam), 2100 BST (London), 1600 EDT (New York). There’s a reason behind this exact publishing time aside from trying to act dramatic, because a new and exciting article will be going live tonight at UK based TF-1.com around that same time. We’ve chosen to synchronize the publication time of our respective articles for practical reasons. All I can say is that TF-1.com has a real treat in store for fans of European Transformers. So that’s not one, but two pieces of new and original content on European Transformers that you can look forward to. Good times!

 

ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS:

Regular visitors of this website will be familiar with my ongoing series of articles on the subject of European Transformers released by MB (Milton Bradley) and everything that surrounds it. So far I have published three articles on this subject matter and my goal is to finish this epikos with a mammoth total of 10 articles. A constant concern that I have in everything that I write for this site is that I want to strike the best achievable balance between hardcore geeky information that will appeal to the hardcore collector and content that is still digestible by the majority of visitors, who might have nothing more than a passing interest in the subject matter. To whichever category you feel you belong, I want you to feel welcome whenever you visit this site. That’s not always an easy task. But what continues to fuel my desire to keep on writing is the number of unique visitors that have read my MB articles so far and the number of visitors who are visiting this site on a regular basis. I’m quite humbled by the number of visitors and some of the reactions I have gotten so far. Very cool.

I know there are several of you out there who are very eagerly awaiting the fourth installment in my series on MB Transformers (Hi, Christophe!). I’m afraid it’s still not finished yet. The third installment was the biggest one yet and was twice the size of the second installment! Well, much to my own surprise, the first draft of the fourth installment was even double the size of the third installment! After walking away and coming back to it after a couple of days, it was clear to me that the fourth installment needed some trimming and improvement. I am currently wrestling with both the length of the article and the visual presentation. With so much information that I want to convey in this chapter, the visual aspect is more important than ever.

All I can say is that this fourth installment will be my favourite! And although it’s shaping up to be the most challenging chapter for me to write yet, I’m having lots of fun creating it. I hope some of that fun will be reflected in the article itself when you get a chance to read it in the near future. Transformers remain my number one passion….. and if you feel the same…. well, you’re in very good company here. :-)

Ooh boy! I was screaming like a 12 year old school girl when I got the following items in the mail last week! I’ve been seriously collecting boxed and carded vintage G.I. Joe items since mid 2009 or so I guess and as I have often mentioned before on this site I specifically try to collect the first three waves of G.I. Joes that were released in the Netherlands in all-Dutch packaging in 1987 and 1988. Although it’s pretty hard to find boxed items in Dutch packaging, finding vintage G.I. Joe action figures that are still sealed (MOSC, mint-on-sealed-card) in all-Dutch packaging is virtually impossible as most veteran vintage international G.I. Joe collectors will agree with me.

 

Only a couple of months ago I finally scored my first sealed Dutch vintage G.I. Joe action figure, Chung-Ho, from the third wave. Just last week I couldn’t believe my luck when I came across no less than the four MOSC vintage G.I. Joe action figures in Dutch packaging from wave 2 that you can see above! These particular items were found as part of the inventory of a Dutch toy store that went bust a couple of years ago, so they’re in sublime shape with near perfect backer cards and bubbles!! Let’s have a more detailed look!

“Zarana & Zandar”

First off, we have Zartan’s sister and brother Zarana and Zandar! Just like their brother Zandar, these two action figures had a very cool gimmick. They were made of UV reactive plastic that turned blue when exposed to sun light! Sort of like a crude chameleon effect.

 

“Baco and Waterrat”

The next two are Baco and Waterrat. Baco is part of the Dreadnoks sub group and US readers will probably recognize him as Monkeywrench. The Dreadnoks were called “Waaghalzen” (plural) in the Dutch line, so that’s why you see “Waaghals” (singular) printed on the card. Waaghals, by the way, translates literally into “daredevil”, because there’s no real fitting translation for the word “dreadnok” in Dutch, I guess.

Waterrat is known in the US as Wet-Suit. Waterrat means just what you would expect in Dutch. It means water rat. I guess that sounds more acceptable as an action figure name in Dutch than it does in English.

“Klaas van der Meulen”

One of the many aspects that makes me appreciate the effort that Hasbro put into the promotion of their G.I. Joe line in Europe, is the fact that a lot of the action figure file cards featured Dutch names and Dutch birthplaces. For example, did you know that Waterrat was born in Pieterburen, Friesland, the Netherlands? And that his real name is Klaas van der Meulen? No? Well, now you know:

Waterrat's Dutch file card

 

I understand how some patriotic US G.I. Joe fans find it is a blasphemy that G.I. Joe was changed from a real American Hero to an international fighting force in Europe, but quite frankly, (as a European myself) I have to commend Hasbro for going that extra mile. I know that the toy line appealed to me that much more back then, due to these translations and attention to detail.

"De Internationale Helden"

"The International Heroes"

 

The seller I got these four vintage Dutch G.I. Joe’s from was a really nice guy. He sold them to me way below their market value. He could easily have asked double the amount that I ended up paying, so I was really lucky there. I guess feverishly checking classified ads each and every day (like I do) tends to pay off once in a while. LOL!

 

“Dutch G.I. Joe’s – wave 1 (1987)”

I wonder if I’m going to score one of those elusive first wave Dutch G.I. Joe’s any time soon. At first I was very pessimistic about the prospect of ever finding these, but my recent hauls have given me some hope! For reference, below are all the action figures that were part of the first wave.

Dutch G.I. Joe action figures - wave 1 (1987)

 

If you have any of these above in Dutch packaging and want to sell. Get in touch with me!! :-) If you want to see what else got released as part of the first wave, check out the scans of the first wave Dutch G.I. Joe pack-in catalog that I made here.

 

 

 

1985 saw the introduction of a new toy line by Mattel, called “Wheeled Warriors”. A cartoon was introduced that same year called “Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors”, which was loosely based on the toy line. This was probably also the cause of the line’s downfall, because there was just too much disparity between the cartoon continuity and the toy line, which led to poor sales and so Mattel cancelled the line the very next year. The cartoon itself has never gained the same level of popularity as, say, the Transformers or Masters of the Universe cartoons did, but it was a kick ass cartoon nevertheless with one of the coolest 1980’s theme songs ever, composed by veteran Shuki Levy.

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors cartoon title card (1985)

 

“Lightning League vs Monster Minds!”

The Wheeled Warriors toy line was divided in the usual two factions of good and evil. Evil being the Monster Minds, part vehicle and part organic plant life and the Lightning League, who were the good guys doing battle with the Monster Minds. The toy line saw a total of eight regular vehicles and two large motorized vehicles, evenly divided over the two camps. There was also a giant Lightning League Battle Base gift set and two accessory packs that came on blister cards.

Wheeled Warriors vehicles

“Characters? Who needs characters?”

The afforementioned cartoon featured the eponymous character of Jayce who was in search of his father to unite two parts of a special root that would end the menace of the Monster Minds once and for all. None of the good guy characters from the cartoon were available in Mattel’s toy line. Instead, the Lightning League was nothing more than a couple of unnamed, dorky looking action figures with the posability of a stick.

"Hi! I'm generic Lightning League guy.

I prefer wearing flesh coloured shades."

 

It was quite clear that the toy line centered heavily on the vehicles instead of the characters. When the time came to create a cartoon series to promote the toy line, the creators obviously had to make up their own characters in order to give the show at least some appeal.

“X-Changeable Parts”

Where would a 1980’s toy line be without a gimmick? Nowhere, right?! So Mattel cooked something up for the Wheeled Warriors line which was actually pretty cool. The line featured exchangeable parts, so you could mix and match vehicle parts and create your own personalized vehicles, within the confines of what was possible of course. You could e.g. take off all the wheels from a vehicle and use them with another one. All vehicles came with extra X-changeable parts so you had enough to choose from. Quite an interesting way to encourage kids to buy more vehicles, because the more vehicles you bought, the more spare parts you had to play around with!

"Yeah, it's me again. Look, I could use a little help replacing

this tire. I can't see shit through these flesh coloured shades."

 

“Collection”

I currently have two Monster Minds vehicles in my collection (the leader Saw Boss and K.O. Cruiser), which will look very familiar to anyone who’s ever watched the show! I also recently got a Lightning League vehicle from a good collector friend of mine as part of a trade; Quick Draw. The Monster Minds are MISB (mint-in-sealed-box) so I won’t be opening those, but Quick Draw has been opened so I’ve made some photos of the inside of the packaging and the toy itself.

 

“Look out! It’s the Beast Walker!!”

I also have the large, motorized Monster Minds vehicle called Beast Walker, which can be observed in the intro of the cartoon. It’s one of the most goofy looking toys that I own, but somehow I still find it’s pretty cool. I guess that’s what nostalgia does to you. I mean, get a load of this:

The Awesome Beast Walker!

 

Now is that funky looking or what? Can you just imagine that thing walking around your living room floor as a kid? Here are two screen grabs of the Beast Walker from the cartoon. As you can see he’s even more goofy looking here than he is in his toy form, because it actually looks like he’s got some nerdy glasses on! Ah well, just adds to the charm in my opinion.

 

“Accessory Packs”

Two accessory packs were released that featured spare parts you could use with your Wheeled Warriors collection. One was the Lightning League Victory Pack and the other was the Monster Minds Attack Pack. I currently only have the former in my collection.

The Lightning League Victory Pack

 

Granted, these toys aren’t that popular and they’re more or less forgotten, but they still have a cult following just as the cartoon does. To me, toy lines like these are all the more interesting due to their relative unfamiliarity. Althought it’s a pity there was only one wave of toys that saw release, the upside to that is that it’s much easier to complete your collection, because of the limited number of items that made up the line. That does not necessarily mean they’re very cheap. The two motorized vehicles and the Battle Base especially can command healthy amounts on the collectors market, but nowhere near the sums being laid down for e.g. a MISB Fortress Maximus or an Eternia play set!

So, that’s our introduction to Mattel’s Wheeled Warriors line! I plan to write more in-depth articles on the various individual items in the future, so keep an eye out for those!

In 1987 one of the most popular action figure toy lines ever, the Masters of the Universe, was dying. Mattel’s flagship product of the 1980’s somehow took a wrong turn and managed to drop from record revenues of 400 million dollars in one year to something that barely registered on the radar. What the hell happened? Well, I don’t know… But by looking at Mattel’s 1987 dealer catalog it certainly didn’t look like it was due to a lack of trying. One of the last items to get released in 1987 as part of wave 6 of the Masters of the Universe toy line was the Cliff Climber.

Cliff Climber was part of a new gimmick that Mattel introduced, which featured “motorized power paks” that were driven by AA batteries. As soon as you had inserted a battery into the “power pak” you could use it to power various aspects of the accessory. In case of the Cliff Climber you could use it to power the pulley mechanism, which allowed the action figure wearing the Cliff Climber to hoist itself up any mountain in sight!!

Another way to use the power pak was to stick it inside the “Chest Crawler”. By doing this and putting the action figure flat on its chest, it would crawl along the surface! Still yet another way to use the power pak was to use it to drive the Roto Drill. A special arm attached drill that would rotate through the awesome power of the power pak.

“Motorized Power Pak”

Yeah, I know it sounds kinda cheesy when you read it like that, but this shit is actually pretty cool if you look at it through a haze of 1980’s nostalgia. Mattel released a total of three accessories that made use of their new motorized Power Paks gimmick. Besides the Cliff Climber there were also the spectacular underwater Scubattack and the awesome Tower Tools specially made for “Castle battles”, whatever those may be. Here’s a snapshot from a 1987 commercial that featured all three motorized Power Paks.

“Collection”

Yesterday, I got a MISB (mint-in-sealed-box) European version of Cliff Climber in the mail that I bought from a Dutch collector. I bought some other Masters of the Universe stuff from him that I will feature here soon. Part of what appealed to me was the incredibly amazing packaging artwork. As with most boxed Masters of the Universe artwork it is just such a sight to behold. I mean, just look at it:

The above artwork was created by the enormously talented William George. For me personally, there are two Masters of the Universe mythologies. One is the awesome Filmation cartoon that most children of the 1980’s will know and love. The other is the even more exciting, mythical fantasy world that lives in my imagination, evoked by the wonderful Masters of the Universe packaging artwork. Of all the cool 1980’s toy line packaging (and there were many), the Masters of the Universe packaging is the unequivocal number one in my book. Even though I’m well into my thirties now, I’m still amazed at how much of an emotional response some of this artwork manages to trigger in me. Here’s a close up of Man-at-Arms again wearing the Cliff Climber.

And below here’s a snapshot of He-Man wearing the Cliff Climber in “Chrest Crawler” mode while he is crawling down a mountain path against a fantasy, indigo sky. I just never tire of looking at Masters of the Universe box art!

Stay tuned for more Masters of the Universe posts in the near future along with some Wheeled Warriors and G.I. Joe posts. It’s a veritable 80’s toy bonanza!!