Beaten-up Beetras
Once upon a time this was a shining beacon of hope to the oppressed. A mighty machine bristling with firepower, dispensing justice and sowing fear among evil-doers. A power to be reckoned with.
These days, it’s mostly armless.
This was a bootleg of a Beetras toy called Beet-Gadol. Transformers fans would know the mould better as the Deluxe Insecticon Barrage.
Beet-Gadol was designed by Aramaki Shinji and produced by Takatoku, the same company that produced the Macross figure that would be resold as Jetfire by Hasbro.
Bootleg or original, Beet-Gadol was a pretty good toy for its time. An interesting insect mode, good robot mode and a very involving transformation considering its size. One of my favourite toys back in the day.