Asides
Updated the blogroll with links to Yusuke’s site, Tom Prankerd’s Gobots archive and the Transformers Baka Ichidai blog.
Throttled down
It’s tricky to come up with a good transforming robot with a motorcycle for an alternate mode. Recent attempts are pretty good but back in the 80s, there certainly were some awkward motorcycle transformers.
This is one of the better ones.
Part of Tonka’s Gobots line, Throttle was released as part of the third wave of Super Gobots figures in 1986. There were two different versions and this is the silver European variant. Articulation was very good considering the era with posability at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees.
Like most of my toys from the 80s, this one hasn’t stood the test of time and play. The rubber on the wheels has gone missing, the fairing and windscreen (which double as the robot helmet) have broken off and the paint job on the die-cast torso is mostly a memory.
It looks bad now but I sure did have a lot of fun with it back in the day.
Tom Prankerd, in his review of the figure, noted, “Throttle is a classic figure, one of the best of the line, and one of a select handful who really stand up to the better Transformers figures.” I couldn’t agree more.
Toy links
Transformers Ironhide. [via]
A G1-inspired kitbash by ruffledsubstratum based on the Voyager Rescue Ratchet figure.
Transformer Cyclonus.
This kitbash by Viagra Prime includes a Nightstick Targetmaster and is based on an Energon Stormjet.
Transformers Wreckage repaint.
More: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. A classy paintjob by pairadocs and fantastic photography to show it off. (Here’s the original figure for comparison.)
Oh, how cu- … AAAH.
A scary Busou Shinki custom by 4th.
The perils of kitbashing.
This is why people with low pain thresholds should leave kitbashing to others.