The toy and packaging variation oddity, mystery and discovery thread

Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
Okay! So far we have:


Breakdown with date stamp 22531, packaging with date stamp 22621: "Evolution" instructions
Breakdown with date stamp 22631, packaging with date stamp 22641: "Legacy" instructions
Breakdown with date stamp 22771: "Evolution" instructions
Breakdown with date stamp 22781, packaging with date stamp 22911: "Legacy" instructions


Also, supposedly there's a variation within the "Legacy" version of the instructions: Glossy vs. non-glossy paper, and including vs. omitting the Menasor leg mode.
 
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Donocropolis

Olde-Timey Member
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
Okay! So far we have:


Breakdown with date stamp 22531, packaging with date stamp 22621: "Evolution" instructions

Breakdown with date stamp 22631, packaging with date stamp 22641: "Legacy" instructions

Breakdown with date stamp 22781, packaging with date stamp 22911: "Legacy" instructions


Also, supposedly there's a variation within the "Legacy" version of the instructions: Glossy vs. non-glossy paper, and including vs. omitting the Menasor leg mode.

My Evolution instructions are non-glossy and contain no mention of Menasor or the leg mode. Not sure if that's the "standard" for the Evolution version or not.
 

Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
Anyone else willing to share their Breakdown's batch codes?

EDIT: More green "Evolution" instructions from YouTube reviewers:
Legacy Evolution Breakdown instructions 2.jpgLegacy Evolution Breakdown instructions 3.jpgLegacy Evolution Breakdown instructions 4.jpg

Meanwhile, purple "Legacy" instructions from a German YouTube reviewer:
Legacy Breakdown instructions 2.jpg
 
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Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
I already documented the spelling error "Groundbutter" on Robots in Disguise Legion Class Groundbuster's instructions, but here's a small addendum:

I found another sample of the erroneous European version. Interestingly, the name is spelled correctly on the back of the instruction sheet.
Groundbutter EU 3.jpgGroundbutter EU 4.jpgGroundbutter EU 5.jpg

Also, more US "Combiner Force" instructions with a correctly spelled name:
Groundbuster CF instructions US 2.jpgGroundbuster CF instructions US 3.jpg
Groundbuster CF instructions US 4.jpgGroundbuster CF instructions US 5.jpg
 
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Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
Also, another Robots in Disguise 2001 European variant confirmed.

Recolor Prowl English/French/Dutch/German:
RID Deluxe Prowl recolor European EN FR NL DE 1a.jpgRID Deluxe Prowl recolor European EN FR NL DE 1b.jpgRID Deluxe Prowl recolor European EN FR NL DE 2.jpg

Recolor Prowl French/Spanish/Italian/German:
RID Deluxe Prowl recolor European FR ES IT DE 1a.jpgRID Deluxe Prowl recolor European FR ES IT DE 2a.jpg


And more samples of Destructicons Scourge and Bludgeon in European packaging:
RID Destructicon Bludgeon European 1c.jpgRID Destructicon Scourge European 1b.jpg

Aaaand Dreadwind/Smokejumper in European packaging confirmed.
RID Dreadwind Smokejumper European 1a.jpgRID Dreadwind Smokejumper European 1b.jpgRID Dreadwind Smokejumper European 2a.jpg
 
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Donocropolis

Olde-Timey Member
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I already documented the spelling error "Groundbutter" on Robots in Disguise Legion Class Groundbuster's instructions, but here's a small addendum:

I found another sample of the erroneous European version. Interestingly, the name is spelled correctly on the back of the instruction sheet.
View attachment 12205View attachment 12206View attachment 12207

Also, more US "Combiner Force" instructions with a correctly spelled name:
View attachment 12208View attachment 12209
View attachment 12210View attachment 12211

Frankly, Groundbutter is the superior name by any reasonable metric.
 

Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
Another (updated) repeat from my big 1995 retrospective that got lost in the forum crash:

In Canada, the Laser Cycles were called "Motos Laser" in French, Road Rocket was given the French name "Motosprint", and Road Pig became "Motard".
Laser_Cycles_wave_1_Road_Rocket_CA.jpgLaser_Cycles_wave_1_Road_Pig_CA.jpgLaser_Cycles_wave_1_Road_Pig_CA_bio.jpg

Meanwhile in Europe, the Laser Cycles were called "Lasercycles" (spelled as a single word) in English and "Motolasers" in French, and it was Road Rocket who was given the French name "Motard", while Road Pig became "Graisseux".
Lasercycles_wave_1_Road_Rocket_FR_NL_DE.jpgLasercycles_wave_1_Road_Pig_FR_NL_DE.jpg
 
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Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
Just so y'all know, of course the Animorphs line was also available in two different packaging variants (English/Spanish/Italian and French/Dutch/German) in Europe. So there's a packaging variant for the rare Stingray version of Jake!

Aaaand of course they also came with differently colored Yeerk slugs...
Animorphs Jake Stingray EN ES IT 1ra.jpgAnimorphs Jake Stingray EN ES IT 1oa.jpgAnimorphs Jake Stingray EN ES IT 1pa.jpgAnimorphs Jake Stingray EN ES IT 1pb.jpgAnimorphs Jake Stingray EN ES IT 2a.jpgAnimorphs Jake Stingray EN ES IT 2b.jpg

Animorphs Jake Stingray FR NL DE 1oa.jpgAnimorphs Jake Stingray FR NL DE 1pa.jpgAnimorphs Jake Stingray FR NL DE 1pb.jpgAnimorphs Jake Stingray FR NL DE 2a.jpg

Aaand the same applies to the Taxxon as well.
Animorphs Taxxon EN ES IT 1oa.jpgAnimorphs Taxxon EN ES IT 1ra.jpgAnimorphs Taxxon EN ES IT 1rb.jpgAnimorphs Taxxon EN ES IT 2a.jpg
Animorphs Taxxon FR NL DE 1pa.jpgAnimorphs Taxxon FR NL DE 1ra.jpgAnimorphs Taxxon FR NL DE 2a.jpg
 
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Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
More Cyberverse toys featuring the Nezha: Transformers branding:
Nezha Warrior Megatron.jpgNezha Warriors 1.jpgNezha Warriors 2.jpgNezha Warriors 3.jpgNezha Warriors 4.jpgNezha Ultras.jpgNezha Ark Armor Optimus Prime 1.jpgNezha Ark Armor Optimus Prime 2.jpgNezha Ark Armor Optimus Prime 3.jpg

So, the current tally:

Warrior Class Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Prowl, Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave
Ultra Class Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Starscream, Shockwave
Ultimate Class Bumblebee
Optimus Prime & Ark Power

Also: DOTM Cyberverse Legion Class Skids and Topspin with bilingual English/Chinese packaging.
DOTM Cyberverse Legion Chinese.jpg
 
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Nevermore

Well-known member
Citizen
And a bilingual English/Chinese DOTM Cyberverse Legion Class Bumblebee.
DOTM Cyberverse Bumblebee Chinese.jpg DOTM Cyberverse Bumblebee Chinese 2.png
Plus Commander Class Optimus Prime, but we've seen him before.
DOTM Cyberverse Optimus 1.pngDOTM Cyberverse Optimus 2.jpg

Skids and Topspin (see above):
DOTM Cyberverse Skids Chinese 1.jpgDOTM Cyberverse Topspin 1.jpg

Barricade, Sideswipe and Crankcase:
DOTM Cyberverse Barricade Chinese 1.jpgDOTM Cyberverse Sideswipe Chinese 1.jpgDOTM Cyberverse Crankcase Chinese 1.jpg

So basically, that's Commander Optimus and wave 1 of the Legions, right?
 

engledogg

Recovering Completist
Citizen
Cool...I'm assuming those Nezha Cyberverse toys are official releases and not some "Hasbro canceled the line and they got out through less-than-official channels", right?

MIKE
engledogg
 

Sabrblade

Continuity Nutcase
Citizen
Though it's not illustrated in this thread, Nevermore's done a lot of research on the subject of Spychangers, revealing that the proper spelling of the name is indeed the single-worded "Spychanger", rather than the two-worded "Spy Changer" that popped up a few times in the 2000s and, thanks to TFWiki using it for the longest time, went on to influence some minor fictions by Fun Pub.

As seen in the collage below, the single-worded spelling originated from the cartoon's production bible, the title screen for the episode "Spychangers to the Rescue", and was finally used by Hasbro proper for the Walmart-exclusive Universe 2-packs of Optimus Prime w/ Prowl and Ultra Magnus w/ Ironhide.

However, in the time between all that, the two-worded "Spy Changer" spelling was used for the KB Toys/Target-exclusive clear redecos of the Spychangers, the KB Toys-exclusive G1-colored redecos that had a generic subtitle-less "Transformers" logo, and the dollar stores-exclusive Universe-branded rereleases of those G1-colored redecos.

Spychangers_vs_Spy_Changers.jpg


To make matters more confusing, at the same time as when KB was selling those G1-colored "Spy Changers", there was a KB Toys catalog that instead called them "Spychangers".

KB_Toys_G1_Spychangers.jpg


Something else to note is that, when the RID2001 line proper was being sold at mass retail in 2001-2002, the Spychanger 2-packs did not actually use the name "Spychanger" or "Spy Changer" at all. Instead, those 2-packs were simply labeled as "Basic class". The "Spy Changer" name wasn't first used by Hasbro for any toys until the 2002 KB Toys/Target-exclusive figures, which were single-packs instead of 2-packs.

What's more is that the main RID2001 line had each Spychanger sold in a 2-pack at the Basic class, while the rest of the line's Basic class consisted of single-pack Decepticon Commandos (a cartoon-only name), the single-pack small-sized Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus toys, and the redecoed Beast Machines Obsidian mold.

Now, out of all of these toys, fans have referred to only the toys that were sold as 2-packs, plus the Optimus and Magnus toys, as Spychangers. However, I feel it has become a misconception to refer to the Optimus and Magnus toys as Spychangers, since while they were built similar to the Spychangers in how limited their articulation was (and because they were both new-mold Basic class toys just like how the Spychanger versions of X-Brawn and Scourge were), there actually has never been any official labeling of those two as Spychangers from Hasbro.

As stated before, the original toys themselves were simply labeled as "Basic class", and when they were later redecoed and released in the Universe line with the Prowl and Ironhide toys, only Prowl and Ironhide were called out as Spychangers, while Optimus and Ultra Magnus were not. Specifically, the two 2-packs were named "Optimus Prime with Prowl Spychanger" and "Ultra Magnus with Ironhide Spychanger".

VA0ribL.jpg


Furthermore, the RID2001 release of Basic class Obsidian featured a cross-sell on the back of its packaging that showed Optimus and Magnus to be part of the same assortment as Obsidian, and he certainly wasn't a Spychanger.

sZD7gkr.jpg
 


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