Dave's Japanese Transformers Rant Megatron featuring Nike Free 7.0 Keychain Knockoff Convoy Permalink: http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Japan/Megashoe Several years ago, a Nike ad featured a transforming shoe, and there was great disappointment online that there would not be an actual toy forthcoming (IIRC it was designed in such a way that a real toy could have been made). Finally, as part of the Transformers Sports Label, we get some transforming shoes. ;) Wonkimus Major picked up Megatron for me on the one day it was actually available in stores...toy stores don't really restock in Japan, apparently, and it sold out pretty quickly. Update: http://www.x-entertainment.com/nikecontest.html shows the contest to win the original Nike shoebot. Sorry, contest expired in 2003, no more entries accepted. Update: I got some keychain knockoffs on eBay from Hong Kong, notes on them at the end. You can see a picture of them at http://www.dvandom.com/images/nikeboots.JPG CAPSULE Megatron: Pretty much a shellformer, with all the usual plusses and minuses. Interesting design, though, and worth picking up one of this mold. 2299 Yen originally, import price variable. I wouldn't recommend paying more than $30 before shipping, though. Knockoffs: Shrunken and simplified versions of the Convoy mold, quality control is total crap, but the set of four makes for a nice army builder if you're willing to pay the shipping. Mine were $5 "buy it now" plus $10 shipping from Hong Kong. RANT 2007 is seeing some oddball Transformers tie-in stuff both in Japan and America. Some is directly movie-related, but some simply seems to be taking advantage of the higher profile the movie will bring in order to sell stuff that might otherwise warm shelves. The Transformers Sports Label seems to be of this sort, and while I haven't heard anything concrete about future releases, there is the implication that the shoes won't be the last. Transformers Music Label will be coming out with an MP3 player, speakers, and an iPod speaker dock trailer, for instance. Anyway, the first release under TFSL is a pair of shoes: Megatron and Convoy. Aside from a head swap, they share the same mold, just differing in colors. So I decided to just get one of the two, and I liked Megatron a little better. http://tfkenkon.com/g/?mode=album&album=Collection/act438 shows the Convoy shoe if you're curious. It is also a left shoe, they didn't mirror- flip the mold so that buying both would get you a color-mismatched pair. Of course, for all I know, there's a burgeoning miniature replica shoe collectors' market out there, and the left shoe is the standard. Packaging: This is a miniature shoebox, 6.5" (16.5cm) wide by 4.25" (11cm) deep by 2.5" (6.5cm) tall. It's made of brown cardstock and has a fold-open lid (folds along the long side). The left 40% or so is reddish orange, as is the right panel. A gray ink is used for most of the logo stuff and for the pseudo-photo on the top of the robot mode. White ink is used for the Nike swoosh, the TakaraTomy logo, the Transformers Sports Label logo and the 02 on the lid (presumably a 01 on Convoy). In addition to the simple logo, a sort of heraldic shield with a stylized Convoy head above a shield with TFSL surrounded in scrollwork is found on the lid and on the back. Under the 02 in the lower right corner of the lid is the following text in red-orange: TRANSFORMERS SPORTS LABEL [MEGATRON feat. NIKE FREE 7.0] IT IS A WORLD TRANSFORMED, WHERE THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM IT IS THE WORLD OF THE TRANSFORMERS... A WORLD OF HEROIC CYBERTRONS AND EVIL DESTRONS! On the front end of the lid in white are "OPEN" under an arrow, and then the Just Do It catchphrase. The bottom of the box has all the usual legalese and stuff in Japanese in gray ink. The left side has a sticker based on the size/style stickers on real shoeboxes. On the left in a purple field are the product number 02 and "SCALE 1/2", then a white Decepticon symbol under that. The UPC symbol is along the bottom of the remaining three quarters of the sticker. The rest is white in red-background boxes. First, the first two lines from the text above is repeated (the sports label stuff). Then the color is listed (black), "Made in China" and the webpages www.nike.com and http://www.takaratomy.co.jp (yes, there's no http:// on the Nike one). Flipping up the lid reveals a single show in a blister tray wrapped in a sleeve of cardstock with a shoe-shaped hole through it. This sleeve is mostly black with an orange rim around the hole. In the upper left is a photo of the shoe with the text, "FOOTWEAR MODE / NIKE FREE 7.0 / BLACK" where / is a line break. Two intertwined white lines lead up to the inside lid, with the tiny word "TRANSFORM" printed in white between them. The inside lid has a sticker with loads of Japanese text I don't know the meaning of, presumably the storyline behind why Megatron is a baby shoe. The intertwined lines from below (with another "TRANSFORM" between them) lead up to a photo of the robot mode, labeled, "ROBOT MODE / MEGATRON / DESTRON LEADER/RUNNER". Yes, it looks like his function is Leader/Runner. Cutting four pieces of tape lets you pull out the whole tray and sleeve, revealing a baggie with other paperwork in it below the tray. Inside the baggie are a glossy cardstock trading card (box lid image on the front, photos and notes on the back), glossy thick paper folded instructions with "catalog" showing both shoe varieties, a mini-poster with a brief history of Transformers (and photos of some of the G1 toys), and a little ad for the takaratomyfans.com site. The cardboard sleeve has "JUST DO IT." printed in white on the front and back (the window being on the top), plus the swoosh and the sports label logo in white on the bottom. It slides off from around the blister easily. The two halves of the blister are taped together. There's a plastic sleeve around the shoelaces and a plastic insert inside the shoe. I may be getting a translation of the official profile, but until then I'll make up my own. DESTRON: MEGATRON Function: Leader/Runner Altmode: Nike Free 7.0 Learning of the VIDAR (Variable Induction Dynamic Action/Reaction) project, MEGATRON had his spies steal the technical data from the human factory working on it. Finding, to his amusement, that it was a plan to let OPTIMUS PRIME merge with SUPERION in the form of a giant shoe, MEGATRON had himself rebuilt according to the project's specifications as well. Now, when MENASOR needs help kicking a little skidplate, MEGATRON transforms and gives the Stunticons a helping foot. With the VIDAR system's enhancements, MENASOR is able to kick a main battle tank a distance of 5.6 kilometers, or kick a hole in a mountainside in a single blow. (In one telling of the Ragnarok story, the god Vidar kills Fenris with the help of a magic boot made from all the cast off leather bits saved by humanity.) Shoe Mode: 5.75" (14.5cm) long. At 1:2 scale, that makes it a 11.5" long shoe. My size 10.5 shoes are 12" long, for comparison. The whole thing is rigid plastic except for the laces where they emerge from the top, which are real (albeit small) laces with plastic aglets. The part of the laces that's actually interlaced on the shoe is sculpted. Each lace end is 8" (20cm) long, and you can do a standard bow knot with the amount provided. The shoe has black and silver uppers, and white sole with black bits. The uppers have the look of hand-sculpted ceramics trying to look plush, especially on the silver parts around the heel. Oddly, though, the mesh pattern along the heelback is distorted towards the back, it's just a projection onto the shoe rather than wrapping around. In other words, if you look from the side on, the mesh pattern doesn't warp as the shoe curves away. It's a kinda weird detail that suggests some computer-aided design with a touch of carelessness. Anyway, the black uppers are actually more of a charcoal gray plastic, molded to look like leather along the sides and near the toe. A black painted mesh is molded along the heel, and the rear half is otherwise painted silver. Over the toes is a silver-painted mesh, which is also found on the tongue. The ventilation holes on the sides are painted silver, and the molded laces are painted a light gray (CCCCCC) to match the actual laces. The Nike swoosh can be found on the tongue and on both sides (but not symmetrically) A plate with "NIKE FREE" on it in silver is at the base of the tongue. The rim of where the foot goes in is painted gloss black, as is the interface between the sole and the uppers (although this part is actually part of the sole's plastic on the toy). At the very toe tip on the gloss black border is molded "EST. 1972". Most of the sole is white plastic that glows strongly under UV. A couple of little bits at the heel are actually part of the uppers charcoal plastic, painted white. Some of the tread details are painted black. Near the heel, the Nike swoosh and "7.0" are molded and painted white (not left unpainted). On the rear outstep tread bits are molded (but not picked out in paint) "NIKE FREE" and "bhs1000" (I dunno what that means, maybe it's the sculptor's signature). A 7.0 is also molded raised on the outstep side of the sole. The shoe is, obviously, not hollow inside, but there's enough of a hole to maintain the illusion. Some smaller Transformers could put their foot inside the hole, and I've seen Classic Starscream wearing Megashoe to kick Prime. Transformation: Okay, it's pretty shellformer-y, you kinda have to expect that. Separate the uppers from the sole, the uppers then split apart into massive shoulderpads and the arms. The tongue section rotates up to become the chest, and the robot arms lock onto little tabs. The very rear of the heel has to rotate 90 degrees to bring the robot head up. Also, the head should be left facing backwards in shoe mode to maximize the space inside, so it'll need to be brought back around. The sole splits into the legs, which pull out a bit to allow for some knee motion. The toe end folds back into asymmetric heel spurs, with shoe-molded feet flipping forward. The gun is clipped in two pieces on the heel area shell halves, and in a clever bit of design can be put together in two ways. One way is Convoy's rifle, the other is Megatron's arm cannon. Same mold, although different colors, and the instructions only show the relevant character's assembly instructions. Getting the panels all back in place for shoe mode is rather difficult. The struts holding the uppers need to be in just the right place, and you need the robot shoulders positioned properly in advance or it's really hard to get things in place without popping ball joints. It's not too hard once you get the hang of it, but until you do, it's very hard. Robot Mode: 5.25" (13cm) tall at the head, 7.5" (19cm) tall at the shoulder kibble if you have it pointed straight up. The shoulders, forearms, abdomen, thighs and shins are light gray plastic. The gun pieces, upper arms, pelvis, feet, hip joints and knee joints are black plastic. The chestplate is the charcoal gray of the shoe's tongue piece. Not sure what color the head is, as it's fully painted silver with red eyes and black eyebrows. The fists and most of the shins fronts are painted glossy black. The bottom of the chest and the foot upper details are paintd silver. There's red bits on the abdomen, pelvis beltline and kneecaps. He has a purple Decepticon symbol painted slightly off-center on the silver part of his chest. A white strip is painted around the bottom of the feet. The head is a bit oddly shaped, sloping back from the top of the forehead and making it look like he's missing a big chunk of the back of his head. This is presumably to lower its profile in shoe mode. The feet are molded to look like Nike shoes of the same sort that Megatron turns into, a cute touch. But the weirdest bit of molding is the lacing pattern on the wasp-waisted lower torso. Dude, he's wearing a corset! Very kibbly in this mode. The rear halves of the uppers just hang off the upper arms like massive shoulderpads, they're least intrusive if positioned so that the laces cover the biceps. The "real" shoelaces hang off the panels like minimalist capes or something. On the backs of the legs are big tread chunks, which are not symmetric and make the figure look a bit odd from behind. The forearms have large toe pieces as shields. Despite the kibble, though, it's possible to fit the gun into the peg hole on his right forearm. Jointing is pretty good, although the kibble impedes a lot of it. The head is on a limited ball joint, but the waist does not turn. Shoulders are universal joints, elbows are single hinges, and there's a swivel just below each elbow to let the forearm turn. No wrist joint. The hips are universal joints, with a swivel just below each. The knees are hinged, but only bend a little before running into kibble. The ankles are hinged, and the uneven heel spurs long enough to let the figure stand stably despite the major upper body kibble. Overall: A cute novelty, and certainly an altmode we've never seen before. Like most shellmasters, it's tricky to get the altmode to fit together right, but it looks good in that mode. Worth picking up one of the two, if you can find it for under $30 or so. Dave Van Domelen, hasn't bought a pair of shoes costing more than this figure since the mid 90s.... UPDATE: KNOCKOFFS Packaging: In cellophane bags closed with a gold twist-tie, four shoes taped into a larger plastic bag. No labeling or anything, suggesting these are made and marketed for knickknack stands or even something like the Oriental Trading Company. There's four to a package, in shoe mode. Mold: It takes the basic mold of the Nike Free, but fuses the legs together into a single chunk (toes flip out separately, but heels are joined too). General Legends-like molding tricks and ball joints. In theory the chest pegs onto slots on the inner torso and the shoulders lock onto tiny tabs, but the shoddy quality control means your odds of getting this to work are nearly zero. None of my four hold together properly. Getting back into shoe mode is a constant "fear of shattering" affair, though, because the shoulders are so stiff and the struts so fragile. Robot mode is 3" (8cm) tall at the head. Shoe mode is 3.5" (9cm) long. So this is roughly 2/3 the size of the real toy, and thus about 1/3 the size of an actual shoe. They're slightly smaller than the Subway Sketchers robot toy. The head is on a peg, and pops off easily. The shoulders are universal joints, the elbows are hinges, and there's a swivel below each elbow. No waist or leg articulation. The joints are variably very tight (shoulders) or loose (elbows and forearms). The kibble wings formed by the sides of the shoes are hard to do anything with, as their ball joints are very loose and they tend to pull the arms out of position. There is a keychain loop attached to the heel of the shoe, which becomes the center back of the robot. The shoe mode holds together pretty well, although I needed a knife to get it pried apart to transform to robot mode. There are holes where you could add laces with string or something, but no laces come included. I'm not sure I could find aglets small enough to kitbash something.... Colors: They all have white plastic on the soles. The uppers are either black, white, gray or red. All of them have white plastic heads and chests, and white sockets on the "wing" pieces. The legs and toes are the same color plastic as the uppers. For reference, I'm going to name the four by their uppers. White upper is Ultra Minimus, black upper is Nemesis Minor, red upper is Autoboot Ratchet, and gray upper is Sixwide. Ultra Minimus has extensive red paint on the uppers, with black accents and laces. The swoosh and heel stitching are gold. There's pale purple on the face and "ears", red on the chest and feet, bright blue on the shins. Theres gold on the pelvis, knees and shins. Nemesis Minor has mainly silver paint on the uppers, with gold swooshes. Face and ears are purple. Black on the chest, red on the pelvis. There's silver on the shins and feet, gold on the waist, knees and lower shins. Autoboot Ratchet has black paint on the uppers, although not as extensive as others have their secondary colors. The laces, stitching and some other details on the uppers are silver, and the swoosh is white. The face, ears, chest bits and pelvis are red. The shins and foot details are silver, the waist, kneecaps and lower shins are black. Of the four I got, this one holds together the best, which isn't saying too much. Sixwide has extensive purplish blue on the uppers, with white laces, grayish blue over the toes, some black side details, and yellow swooshes. That purplish blue recurs on the chest and feet. The face, ears and shines are teal. The pelvis is bright blue, and there's gold on the waist, knees and lower shins. The whole white with purple and teal thing is why I name this after Sixshot, BTW. The elbow was unfixably broken on mine. Very tiny fragile connection. It can still hold together well in shoe mode despite the break, though, because of the pegging. Overall: If you could find these for $5 for the four and NOT have to pay $10 shipping, it'd be worth grabbing for novelty value. But a total of $15 for the four is a bit much, given that these are essentially brittle and badly made Legends figures. I might try to mod one up to work better, but odds are they'll end up as head-donors for other projects. Dave Van Domelen, gonna add these guys to his Christmas Ornament slash keychain rack....