I have touched on several toys here and there that Hasbro did not use or changed the colors but I thought it would be interesting to go over all the ones that they passed on, went with only one color out of many or went with their own color scheme out of Takara’s two toy lines, Diaclone and Microchange. 

First is the Diaclone line:

• No. 1 – Countach LP500S – RED: that would be pre-Sunstreaker, remember him? Yellow was just for Hasbro.

• No. 2 – Onebox Cherry Vanette – Black: Also came in Red that became Ironhide.

• No. 3 – Countach Patrol Car Type: Did not make it as a transformer but shares the same mold as No.1. Sunstreaker except he has a police light bar on top and police stickers on him.

• No. 5 – 4WD Hi-luxe – Blue and Yellow: only the black version was used for Trailbreaker.

• No. 6  – Honda City R – Red: The Silver version was used for Crosscut.

• No. 7 – Fairlady Z – Silver: The Blue one was changed to silver for Bluestreak but the silver with a black hood version was rejected… go figure???

• No. 8 – 4WD Wrecker Type – Red and Blue: This would be pre-Hoist, Green was just for Hasbro.

• No. 9 – Honda City Turbo – Red and Black: They only used the Blue deco for Skids.

• No.15 – New Countach LP500S – Black and Yellow: The Red deco was released as Sideswipe. (If he was available in yellow? and Sunstreaker was available in red? why did they go to the extra trouble and just flip over their names instead???)

• No.16 – F-1 Ligier JS11 – Red: The Blue deco was Mirage.

• No.18 – Lancia Stratos Turbo – 598: – Would later be named Exhaust and given a Masterpiece version. It had a different head, color scheme and racing number then his mold mate Wheeljack but shared the same package art.

• No.19 – New Countach Police Car: Repainted the black to red to make a Fire Chief’s car named Red Alert.

• No.21 – Corvette Stingray – Red:  The blue version was released as Tracks.

• Powered Convoy – Blue with Grey and Blue with Chrome: These were repainted in White with Red and Blue for Ultra Magnus.

• Train Robo: Comprised of 6 Trainbots but all were available in two different colors but the second set is more rare then the other.

• Triplechanger No. 2 Helicopter Type: A Blue Helicopter or Jet sold in a two pack with what would become Blitzwing.

Second is the Microchange line:

• MC-04 Mini Car Robo –  01 -03 of this line had three colors Red, Yellow and Blue. The 01 – Red became Cliffjumper,  The 03 – Yellow became Bumblebee and 02 was accidentally slipped in as CJ or BB who also were released by Hasbro in opposite colors to plump out the line. Sadly Blue and 02 never saw an official Hasbro releases:  

• MC-07 Gun Robo 1910 Browning: Transforms from a Browning FN 1910 in red or blue inner robot parts.

• MC-11 Gun Robo S&W Magnum 44: Transforms from a full size Smith & Wesson 44 Magnum with a revolving chamber, with either a brown or gold hilt. (Could you imagine all the chaos it would cause if this saw a North American release??)

• MC-20 Micro Scope – Black: Was recolored in Red and Blue for Perceptor. It also had a third tank mode for a Microman figure to drive it.

• MC-21 Radi-Cassette Robo – Blue: The Red version was used for Blaster, a working radio that also had a range of cassettes like Soundwave!

There were a few left behind that either did not fit the theme such as small metal balls that transformed into robots (Much later on, Bakugan would come out and was very similar in many ways although the two are unrelated) or those who’s alternate form was not really useful such as a key padlock or a combination padlock (Guess who would have to stay behind to keep the base secure?) A pair of working binocular does not sound like a fearsome Decepticon (Although Megatron might find them handy for spotting incoming Autobots) Two full scale cassettes transformed into vehicles for Takara’s Microman line to use that was similar in size to G.I.Joe 3.75 figures.

So since I have come to the end of this report I thought I would leave you with these:

A advertisement in french for Takara’s Diaclone line :

This one is for Diaclone’s Construction Vehicle Robo that came in different colors but was changed to a unified green and purple for Hasbro’s Constructicons.

Alright,  I hope you enjoyed this as much I did writing it. Sometimes the smaller reports can be the most involved and frustrating but in the end the most rewarding, see you next time.