H.O.P.E vs S.T.O.P & The 2nd Coming of Optimus Prime.

During the late 80’s Transformers had “The Masters” bulking up the toyline with sidekick Nebulons that changed into their heads, guns and engines. A brilliant concept that meant for the partnership of two toys one big and one small that generated extra play value.

“The Masters” had a great run and also meant for return of toys like Hot Rod and Cyclonus now paired with Targetmaster gun partners. 

A big event during the run made for the return of the main bot himself Optimus Prime with a bigger and more powerful design after his demise in both the Animated Movie and Marvel Comic canons. The true Matrix Bearer was making a comeback to the toy shelves, and it was exciting!

Powermaster Optimus Prime, a beefier toy than the original Diaclone design that had a combinable trailer, a Nebulon wingman in “Hi-Q” and more arsenal than before.

It was a must-have toy that sadly I struck out with! Despite opening up a junior Building Society account to save for one - I made about £5.84 towards the £25.99 goal which was later drawn out in the 90’s towards buying a games console. It wasn’t until 2002 I purchased online the re-release of Powermaster Prime’s Japanese counterpart “God Ginrai” (Powermaster Prime with even more extras) that made the 14-year wait worth it.

Ironically, the purchase was the same price I could have paid in 1988.

Optimus Prime’s return has meant for promotional goodness! Hasbro UK launched a fun S.O.S campaign abreast of the already existing Robot Points promotion (where ‘collect and save’ coupons could be cut out from the toy packaging). The storyline behind this campaign is explained in the scanned images. Optimus has gone AWOL and lost his memory whilst exploring (like Autobot leaders do) and it is up to two opposing factions to get to him: The Autobot stable of H.O.P.E (Help Optimus Prime Escape) consisting of Hot Rod, Chromedome and Sureshot; or S.T.O.P (Search & Terminate Optimus Prime) featuring the Decepticon Gunner/Hypnotist tag-team of Triggerhappy and Mindwipe.

 

Any of these 5 Transformers could be purchased via mail away "Mission Enrolment" form on the promotional leaflet. Whilst these toys could already be purchased in the shops, the Robot Point coupons were like a pocket money shortcut to acquiring them.

Toys aside, the crown jewel amongst this promotion is the awesome “Optimus Prime’s Back” T-shirt. Featuring the box illustration from the Powermaster Optimus Prime toy accompanied by the text “I’m Back” on the front. This front design text validates that the “Optimus Prime’s back” behind design isn’t a shirt for Prime himself, but for a child at the time!

 

 Looking at the screenshots, you can agree that It’s an awesome shirt that deserves a homebrewed homage reissue for those of us who have grown a bit since 1988.

Optimus Prime is the comeback king of the robot world, featuring in any excuse for Hasbro to release a new toy version of everyones favorite 'red and blue lorry'.  30+ years since SOS, there's been multiple Primes including a modern "Titanmasters" remake of the Powermaster toy - none of which have had a cool T-shirt costing a 10th of todays inflation backing it. Long Live Optimus!

The Get Along Gang (1985) Haunted Badger Mansion Tour

Almost 30 years on, I still think the Get Along Gang was awesome!

From time to time I obtain artefacts, especially from the toyline. The figures are still collectable and here in the UK there were some exclusives that surfaced after things wrapped up stateside.

Aside from 4 exclusive figures (Ketchum Crocodile, Lealand Lizard, Pocus Possum and Hocus Hare) there was an exclusive playset - The Haunted Badger Mansion!

 For what its worth, the mansion never featured a badger, let alone a haunted one. It was pretty much a generic haunted house with traps and the Get Along Gang branding.

Whilst there isn't a physical playset to showcase, I came into possession of the packaging after acquiring a Clubhouse Caboose on ebay. The box was used to keep that inside and was a nice bonus!

 The appearance of a skeleton in a universe of anthropomorphic animals calls the authenticity of a Get Along Gang item into question. Did humans once inhabit Green Meadow?

If you look very close, you'll find the wallpaper is haunted and covered in eyes!

Montgomery Good News Moose is here to test the mansion booby traps. The ghost is the figure exclusive to the playset.

 There's a Weerwolf here, but still no sign of the Lord of the manor. The piano has an attached resident goblin on guard.

 A trap door full of nasties awaits.

As the old saying goes - That last step is a doozy!
If you survive the steps of doom, a working fun house mirror next to a vampire portrait awaits.

That for now completes our tour of sorts of the UK exclusive Get Along Gang Haunted Badger Mountain. The only mystery that remains is that of the badger... Perhaps an unused character.

As for Monty. Its not been his day.

UK release of Metalhead issue.

Metalhead figures from the Nickelodeon TMNT line have been recently showing up in the UK.

However, it would seem this UK release has been altered.

The right hand gimmick on Metalhead which bears a hole for the missile accessory has been filled in. This has made the missile included with the figure a redundant accessory.

Posted are comparison photos, one of my own American released Metalhead (left) and the UK release (right) courtesy of Kingoji. You can also read Kingojis customer review on Amazon UK here. The review also explains why the hand in the UK Metalhead photo is broken.  

TMNT Buzzrock, Multiflex and Secret Agent Donatello found in UK Woolworths

More UK TMNT related news comes in the form of a recent scalping trip by yours truely to a large Bristol based Woolworths store.

Found today were the highly sought after Multiflex, Buzzrock and Secret Agent Donatello (from Fast Forward).

Finding these in Woolworths and nowhere else makes a lot of sense since 'Woolies' are known to get action figures exclusivley to thier own chain.

Thanks to Nacho for the heads up.