The toy and packaging variation oddity, mystery and discovery thread

[Nevermore]

Aaaaaand then there is the ever-changing Canadian French name for the Predacons.

Now, European French/Dutch/German packaging always called them "Predators" for whatever reason (whereas Europen English/Spanish/Italian packaging called them "Predacons"). Canadian French, though?

Initially, the BW Predacons were "Prédacons", just with with an accent above the "e", whereas the Spanish name for Latin America was "Predacóns" with an accent above the "o". Here is 1996's Waspinator in Canadian/Latin American packaging, with the singular form "Prédacon":


1997's Razorclaw and Tripredacus are both still "Prédacons":



1998 is where it gets weird. Basic Fuzor Quickstrike and Deluxe Fuzor Sky Shadow are both still "Prédacons":


Likewise, Mega Transmetal Megatron is also still a "Prédacon":


But then we get to Basic Fuzor Terragator and Deluxe Fuzor Injector, and all of a sudden, they're "Prédators"! Just like in Europe, except with an additional accent above the "e".


Deluxe Transmetal Waspinator is also a "Prédator":



But then it gets even weirder: Both Deluxe Transmetal Terrorsaur and Ultra Transmetal Rampage are identified as a "Prédatore", with an additional "e" at the end?!?


The name "Prédators" (with an accent above the "e") still appears in the Canadian French franchise summary on the back of the 2001 Robots in Disguise toyline's packaging, whereas the English texts call them "Predacons", and the Spanish texts now call them "Predacones", without an accent but with an additional "e" for the plural form that wasn't used for Canadian/Latin American Beast Wars packaging. European RID packaging called them "Predacons" in the English franchise summary and the Spanish and Italian translations, and "Predators" (again without any accents) in the French, Dutch and German translations.

 

[Nevermore]

Aaaaand I just discovered that there are two different European Robots in Disguise packaging variants?!?

What the hell...

This is the usual, totally unsurprising release of RID Rollbar in European packaging I already posted above: Texts are in English, French, Dutch and German. Just as expected, nothing to see here.


But what the hell is this? Texts in French, Spanish, Italian and German?


I already knew that later-run RID releases such as the Tiny Tin Spy Changers or the TRU UK exclusive Destructicons Scourge and Bludgeon featured texts in six languages (English, French, Dutch German, Spanish and Italian), but this is craaaaaaazy.

 

[Sabrblade]

That second Rollbar has no English blurb text on the back of its packaging.

 

[Nevermore]

Yeah, I just noticed. That's actually French, Spanish, Italian and German.

 

[Nevermore]

Hey, packaging variant for RID Megatron!

Both are American (texts in English, French and Spanish). One version has "6 Modes" in English only, the other has a multilingual "6 Modes/Modos".



Version 1 also has the Spanish translation of the franchise summary on the back of the box end in mid-sentence, the text layout is different, the franchise summary calls Megatron's faction "Predacons" while the second version calls it "Decepticons" in all three languages, the UPC barcode is different, the difficulty rating just features the English versions of the different levels three times instead of French and Spanish translations, the French translation of the safety warning label is titled "Attention" instead of "Mise en garde", the "trademark" ™ claim after the "Transformers" logo is black instead of white.......

It seems this variation is already known to Shmax.com, but they don't have any photos yet.

For comparison, here is a Megatron in European packaging, featuring texts in English, French, Dutch and German, and a multilingual "6 Modes/Functies/Verwandlungen":

 

[Nevermore]

Okay, so regarding the French Canadian name for the Predacons, I think I figured out what happened in 1998.

For some reason, Hasbro decided to change the name from "Prédacon" (used for all the 1996 and 1997 releases) to "Prédator", but then couldn't decide on the spelling. First it became "Prédator", then "Prédatore", but then Hasbro reversed that second decision for the 1999 releases.

Here's the breakdown by waves:

Basic Fuzors: Wave 1 Quickstrike is "Prédacon", wave 2 Terragator is "Prédator", and wave 3 Buzzclaw is "Prédatore".


Deluxe Fuzors: wave 1 Sky Shadow is "Prédacon", wave 2 Injector is "Prédator".


Deluxe Transmetals: Wave 1 Tarantulas is "Prédacon", wave 2 Waspinator is "Prédator", and wave 3 Terrorsaur is "Prédatore".


Mega Transmetals: Wave 1 Megatron is "Prédacon", wave 2 Scavenger is "Prédatore".


Ultra Transmetals: Wave 1 Rampage is "Prédatore".


By 1999, all of them are "Prédator".

 

[Nevermore]

Gnaaaaaah.

The European Wave 1 Robots in Disguise Deluxes also came in restickered trilingual American packaging.

 

[Nevermore]

Aaaaaand Rollbar is not alone anymore. Here are Super Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus in the second style of European packaging, featuring texts in French, Spanish, Italian and German:



For comparison: The "other" European versions featuring texts in English, French, Dutch and German.



Topping off the insanity is a restickered American packaging Ultra Megatron released in Europe:


Comparison with the "genuine" European-packaged version:

 

[Nevermore]

Team Bullet Train in European packaging. Midnight Express and Rapid Run are English/French/Dutch/German, Railspike is French/Spanish/Italian/German.


Update: Basic X-Brawn/Scourge in French/Spanish/Italian/German packaging too.

 

[Nevermore]

Instead of weird international packaging variants, here's something quick and simple for a change that isn't a mystery to me, and has been reported on several times already, but I'd just like to raise awareness:

The final waves of the Beast Hunters assortments saw limited distribution due to the impending launch of the Age of Extincton line. I think aside from the Voyagers, none of the final wave figures were ever officially released at retail in the United States.

They were, however, alll available in Europe. And not only that - Deluxe Class Windrazor, the "upscaled" version of the Cyberverse Legion Class figure, even had a significant running change variant that was also available in several European markets, including Germany! However, based on what I've been able to confirm first hand, the second version was even rarer, with only one confirmed manufacturing date stamp compared to four known stamps for the first version.

Here are my photos, some of them from back in the day, while the last one I did for TFWiki last year.

 

[Nevermore]

Huh. Actual European packaging (English/French/Dutch/German) for the Hot Shot/R.E.V. two-pack.

 

[engledogg]

Huh. Actual European packaging (English/French/Dutch/German) for the Hot Shot/R.E.V. two-pack.
View attachment 7851

Nice. Below "R.E.V.", does it say "Race Evolution Sportscar" or "Race Exertion Vehicle"? My old eyes aren't strong enough to make it out.

MIKE
engledogg

 

[Sabrblade]

Nice. Below "R.E.V.", does it say "Race Evolution Sportscar" or "Race Exertion Vehicle"? My old eyes aren't strong enough to make it out.

MIKE
engledogg

The image is too blurry to tell, even when zooming in real close on it.

 

[Nevermore]

The Allspark forum software keps resizing images. Quite annoying, that.

Here's a cropped zoom from the same source, hosted on Imgur:

English: "Race Evolution Sportscar"
French: "Voiture Evolutive"
Dutch: "Race Exercitie Sportwagen"
German: "Jagd-Racer"

 

[engledogg]

Thanks!

MIKE
engledogg

 

[Nevermore]

Aaaaaaand the plot thickens regarding those "Canadian"-carded versions of Euro Classic Breakdown and Fireflight:

This site has yet another Breakdown in bilingual French/English packaging:


There's that Chinese sticker in the upper right corner again.

What's particularly interesting, though, is that the same website also has Breakdown's teammate Wildrider as well as Protectobot First Aid in stock. Both are packaged in English-only US 1986-style packaging, but again with that Chinese sticker. Additionally, Wildrider has an import sticker from Peterborough-based Kingsley Paige PLC, who are known to have imported many of the Chinese G1 figures around 1994.


The Chinese G1 figures are known to have included several odd instances of inexplicable multilingual packaging: Soundwave and Buzzsaw (released in 1988) came in European packaging sporting texts in French, English, Dutch and Spanish (based on the third European packaging variant of Soundwave, originally made by Ceji/Joustra for the European branch of Hasbro/Milton Bradley and released in 1986); the 1987 Headmasters Skullcruncher, Mindwipe and Apeface (released in 1993) came in Canadian packaging, featuring texts in English and French (as well as the additional French Canadian names "Broyeur", "Amnesiak" and "Gorillo", respectively), even though the rest of the Headmasters came in regular English-only packaging; and the 1988 Headmasters Nightbeat and Siren (released in 1994) came in European packaging, featuring texts in French and Dutch. There's a good chance that "Canadian" Breakdown and Fireflight are Chinese releases (which would have come out ca. 1990, and were probably produced back to back with the European "Classic" versions), and for whatever reason, Hasbro just picked the wrong packaging design for these two... namely, unused templates intended for a Canadian release that never happened. Unfinished templates even in the case of Fireflight, whose Canadian packaging design was left with double English names for himself as well as his fellow Aerialbots in the cross-sell on the back.

 

[Nevermore]

Another thought just occurred to me: The imports of the Chinese figures (which were available in the UK and the Netherlands) happened around the same time the Mexican figures by IGA were also imported to numerous European countries. Just goes to show how popular the Transformers brand must have been in Europe at the time if stores were willing to source additional product from overseas.

 

[Nevermore]

Also also: I've had this photo of a genuine European-packaged wave 1 Deluxe X-Brawn (compared to his American counterpart) for at least three years.

 

[Nevermore]

Quick one:

The 2016 Robots in Disguise Legion Class figure Groundbuster came in four different packaging variations: American (featuring texts in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese) and European (featuring texts in English, French, German and Spanish) packaging were both released with the branding of the "Mini-Con Weaponizers" and "Combiner Force" subline imprints. The "Mini-Con Weaponizers" version is named "Decepticon Groundbuster", whereas the "Combiner Force" version is simply named "Groundbuster".


The instructicons omit the "Decepticon" prefix entirely, but there's more: The European instructions misspell his name as "Groundbutter", with a double "t".

Two different copies of American "Mini-Con Weaponizers" instructicons, featuring the correctly spelled name "Groundbuster":


Two different copies of European "Mini-Con Weaponizers" instructicons, featuring the spelling error "Groundbutter":


American "Combiner Force" instructicons, featuring the correctly spelled name "Groundbuster":


Does anyone own any version of Groundbuster's instructicons (especially the European "Combiner Force" version) and can check theirs?

 

[Nevermore]

Here's another one to unravel:

The ever-changing police badge stickers for G1 Prowl.

Here's the breakdown (I'm excluding later reissues for the time being unless someone tells me there's something super-weird about those as well):


Takara's original Japanese Diaclone "Police Car Fairlady Z" featured a red "R" inside the yellow police star as well as "Diaclone" markings. This applies to the factory-applied stickers featured on the car hood and doors, as well as the stickers for the robot shoulders that are part of the included sticker sheet. (Source: eBay)


When Hasbro released the figure as the Transformer "Prowl" in the United States, an early pre-rub version still featured a "Diaclone" marking on the hood (but not on the doors or the shoulders!), but already lacked the red "R". (Sources: Transformerland, Maz, TF Scraps)


The more common version of Hasbro Prowl then lacked the "Diaclone" markings on the hood as well. (Sources: TFU.info, Transformerland, tjparkside on Flickr)


Joustra's European Diaclone Fairlady Police, despite being branded as a "Diaclone" release, lacked nor only the red "R", but also the "Diaclone" markings on the factory-applied stickers for the car hood and doors. However, the stickers for the robot shoulders that were part of the included sticker sheet still did feature the red "R" and the Diaclone markings. (Source: Maz)


GiG's Italian "Trasformer" Fairlady Z Police was essentially the same as the Joustra Diaclone version (except for those silly "bopper" missiles): No red "R" and no "Diaclone" markings on the factory-applied stickers for the car hood and doors, but still a red "R" and Diaclone markings on the the stickers for the robot shoulders that were part of the included sticker sheet. (Source: Maz)