Have you seen this Micromaster card art before?
crazysteve
character art that I don't recognize. This is the best picture I could
manage to take of it and I haven't photoshopped it at all.
Despite the crappy quality of the picture I think the art might be all
of the same team. The guy on the far left is hard to make out but I
think it looks like the Off Road Patrol just in different poses. I
wish I had the actual ad instead of a picture of a microfilm copy but
it's the best I can do. Has anyone seen anything like this before,
like if this is indeed the Off Road Patrol is there some rare Japanese
variant out there with these poses? I know the regular release
Japanese version essentially uses the US character art.
I kind of freaked out when I found it, thinking that there was some
rare Micromaster set with a mix of jets and cars that I didn't know
about. But I looked at the toys pictured and how they're from
different teams and seemingly just laying on the card so I figured it
was a mockup. I thought maybe it was possible that this had been on
ebay at some point or something as an unreleased package sample and
someone might remember that.
The bombshell is that the ad came from a Toys R Us circular from El
Paso, Texas on 20 October 1988. Yup, 1988. I know that goes against
the conventional wisdom that Micromasters were first released in '89,
but I triple checked my notes so I'm sure it was 1988. The same
circular appeared in Houston, Texas that same week on October 23rd.
(Chances are if anyone in the US had a TRU in their city back then,
their local main library probably has this ad in their microfilm
newspaper archives.)
Its strange to me that TRU used the card for their ad at all. From
that point forward (through 1990) I have never seen another TRU
Transformer ad with packaging pictured. In my experience TRU using
packaging in their ads is fairly rare. I'm not some TRU ad expert,
though, so take that with a grain of salt. I want to blog about this
ad but before I do that I want to be sure it's worth writing about so
that's why I'm asking.
Zobovor
wrote:
> I came across an old Toys R Us newspaper ad that has Micromaster
> character art that I don't recognize. This is the best picture I could
> manage to take of it and I haven't photoshopped it at all.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/b62uep
That looks like Freewheeler and Highjump and Stormcloud in the
packaging, but the card art appears to include Mudslinger. How
completely bizarre. Steve, you do make the coolest discoveries.
> The bombshell is that the ad came from a Toys R Us circular from El
> Paso, Texas on 20 October 1988. Yup, 1988. I know that goes against
> the conventional wisdom that Micromasters were f irst released in '89,
> but I triple checked my notes so I'm sure it was 1988.
I've been telling people for years that I got my first batch of
Micromasters for Christmas in 1988. I think they were yet another
example of next year's product that showed up in stores early (kind of
like the 25th anniversary toys that were available last month even
though it wasn't 2009 yet).
> Its strange to me that TRU used the card for their ad at all. From
> that point forward (through 1990) I have never seen another TRU
> Transformer ad with packaging pictured. In my experience TRU using
> packaging in their ads is fairly rare. I'm not some TRU ad expert,
> though, so take that with a grain of salt. I want to blog about this
> ad but before I do that I want to be sure it's worth writing about so
> that's why I'm asking.
I'm sure this is just an early packaging mock-up that Hasbro sent to
retailers so that they would have a picture of the product to put in
their advertisements. Look at the way the card appears to be punched
near the top with a hole puncher; that's clearly not retail
packaging. I agree that it's unusual to see packaging featured in
advertisments like this, though.
Some people seem to think that to print their ads, all the different
retailers get a shipment of product, rip the packages open, and take
their pictures. I'm sure this happens at least some of the time
(explaining some of the incredibly bad mistransformations you see in
the store circulars), but most of the time the stores are using
publicity images sent by the manufacturers. This ensures that the
printing of the circular can more closely coincide with the actual
product release. Since the circulars are printed months in advance,
though, a lot of the photographs used are of early prototypes or hand-
painted samples (Hasbro uses lots of these photographs on their retail
packaging, too).
I have a small collection of fliers that I started collecting when G2
first came out, and numerous circulars from 1993 that were advertising
G2 Megatron showed the toy with a blue-colored face. I've got one for
Toys "R" Us, Kay-Bee Toys, Kmart, and a couple of other ones.
Megatron was never sold like this in stores, which means that none of
these places opened up a package to take their own pictures. Either
Hasbro sent them photos to use (I'll have to check to see how many of
them are the same shot) or they were sent preproduction samples to
photograph themselves.
Zob
crazysteve
> packaging, but the card art appears to include Mudslinger. How
> completely bizarre. Steve, you do make the coolest discoveries.
Thank you thank you thank you for the names. I don't know Micromasters
well at all and I started pulling out my copies of Cybertronian and
cross referencing card art with Botch's site and it was getting
overwhelming.
> I've been telling people for years that I got my first batch of
> Micromasters for Christmas in 1988.
Yup, I guess this is one of those misconceptions people have about
release dates of certain figures (like Jetfire, Shockwave and Skids to
name a few) because they base their conclusions solely on catalog
appearances. I remember discussing the Air Strike Patrol I had just
got with my cousins during New Years of '89.
While I was at the library taking the pictures it never dawned on me
that this was a 1988 Micromaster/Micro Transformer ad. And it doesn't
look like this was an isolated instance to me. Now that I look through
the pictures I took from other places I do indeed have 1988
Micromaster ads from Children's Palace in both Houston and Denver,
Colorado. Although the best Children's Palace ad I got is a big blurry
mess I can tell their picture is of the production packaging Off Road
Patrol. I wish I would have gotten better shots. I can't just go back
to Texas or Colorado on a whim to reshoot pictures.
> but most of the time the stores are using
> publicity images sent by the manufacturers.
My experience with ads looking supports that idea. I've suspected
that's the case especially with the early '84-'85 ads that use line
drawings of the figures lifted right from the catalog poses. I wish I
could have gotten some alone time with the Hasbro marketers at Botcon
'04 to ask them about the line art from the early days and related
questions like that.
> Megatron was never sold like this in stores, which means that none of
> these places opened up a package to take their own pictures.
Oh man! Since all I've collected are black and white microfilm copies
from G1 I could never make color distinctions like that. You make me
wonder what I'm missing! Thanks again.
牛魔王
> I've been telling people for years that I got my first batch of
> Micromasters for Christmas in 1988.
Yeah, I can vouch for that.
Doesn't that first wave even have 1988 style packaging?
Thunder Strikes Twice!
> Yeah, I can vouch for that.
> Doesn't that first wave even have 1988 style packaging?
I'm impressed you guys can remember back that far to precisely when you
bought your Micromasters. I know I bought several but can't recall
precisely *when* anymore (except that it was around 89-90 roughly).
You're right about the '88 style packaging. I remember that and still
have some remnants of my old cards here.
t.k.
Chad Rushing
>
> I'm impressed you guys can remember back that far to precisely when you
> bought your Micromasters. I know I bought several but can't recall
> precisely *when* anymore (except that it was around 89-90 roughly).
I am impressed, too. I bought quite a number of Micromasters in the
very late 1980's and very early 1990's, those being the majority of G1
toys still available at that time, but I could not even begin to tell
you exact purchase months or stores if my life depended on it.
- Chad
crazysteve
> bought your Micromasters. I know I bought several but can't recall
> precisely *when* anymore (except that it was around 89-90 roughly).
I was 14 in '88 and I remember every September 18th I would make a big
calendar out of posterboard and count down the 100 days until
Christmas. In each square I would write down what toys or comic books
I got that day. I did this for a couple years but it's not exactly the
kind of proof most people would believe when I make claims about
release dates of toys that go against the current urban legends.
Plus I only used to get Transformers during two seasons-Christmas and
tax return time. So pretty much all of my early G1 come from those two
spots on the calendar.
> You're right about the '88 style packaging. I remember that and still
> have some remnants of my old cards here.
I think the flavor text on the back of the early Micros is pretty
cool. There's a paragraph stating that they were "commissioned by the
Powermaster" which is funny wording. Like "the Powermaster" was a
character or something.
Zobovor
wrote:
> I think the flavor text on the back of the early Micros is pretty
> cool. There's a paragraph stating that they were "commissioned by the
> Powermaster" which is funny wording. Like "the Powermaster" was a
> character or something.
The impression I had always gotten from that text blurb was that the
Micromasters were actually Nebulans, and that they were the next step
in evolution past being able to transform into a Powermaster engine.
I mean, think about it. Micromasters are the exact same size, in
robot mode, as the Headmaster/Targetmaster/Powermaster partners. I
was actually kind of surprised when the ficiton portrayed the
Micromasters as Cybertronic robots, because I was so sure they were
really Nebulans who could turn into vehicles.
Zob
ShadowWing
"Zobovor" wrote
>I was actually kind of surprised when the ficiton portrayed the
>Micromasters as Cybertronic robots, because I was so sure they were
>really Nebulans who could turn into vehicles.
Likewise. I would have enjoyed them that way, but the downsized TF do at
least make a fanon bridge to the Beast Era.
Thunder Strikes Twice!
(at least, I think).
t.k.
SteveD
>I mean, think about it. Micromasters are the exact same size, in
>robot mode, as the Headmaster/Targetmaster/Powermaster partners. I
>was actually kind of surprised when the ficiton portrayed the
>Micromasters as Cybertronic robots, because I was so sure they were
>really Nebulans who could turn into vehicles.
GoBots?
ShadowWing
"SteveD"wrote
> Zobovor wrote:
>
>>I mean, think about it. Micromasters are the exact same size, in
>>robot mode, as the Headmaster/Targetmaster/Powermaster partners. I
>>was actually kind of surprised when the ficiton portrayed the
>>Micromasters as Cybertronic robots, because I was so sure they were
>>really Nebulans who could turn into vehicles.
>
> GoBots?
No, the GoBots were always depicted as being taller than humans, even
Scooter, who should be shorter than G1 Bumblebee.
G.B. Blackrock
I'm guessing SteveD was referencing more the fact that GoBots were
cybernetic beings (i.e., they had organic brains and such) rather than
true robots, as Transformers are.
But it's also true that GoBots were never just humanoids with a bit of
surgery wearing mechanical suits, as the comic Nebulans were (I don't
recall for certain how large the cartoon Nebulans were. I seem to
recall they were also humanoid in robot mode with suits that could be
removed, yet this would be at variance with how they could comfortably
walk into and sit within the head mode... Scale gone wonky once
again!).
G.B. Blackrock
G.B. Blackrock
> Micromasters are the exact same size, in
> robot mode, as the Headmaster/Targetmaster/Powermaster partners. I
> was actually kind of surprised when the ficiton portrayed the
> Micromasters as Cybertronic robots, because I was so sure they were
> really Nebulans who could turn into vehicles.
>
> Zob
Yeah, I had this impression at first, too....
G.B. Blackrock
SteveD
I've seen some depictions of suited-up Nebulans as being slightly taller
than regular humanoids, possibly due to either their armor bulking them up
or their biomechanical enhancements extending them to the point where
there's enough volume to fit everything in. Maybe a little of both.
-SteveD