Dave's Japanese TF Rant: Turbo Team (2002 reissue) Bought a case online from bigbadtoystore.com for about $45, which included one complete regular set, and a second set that had two black "chase" variants in it. CAPSULES Note: Unless you live near a cool store like WizzyWig, you probably won't be able to buy these separately, they'll be sold as sets or unopened cases. However, just in case, I'll provide a recommendation of each component. Road Police: Good vehicle mode, interesting transformation, okay robot mode, and he wears a tie. Recommended. Glide: A good attempt at a Micromaster motorcycle, but a bit hurt by loosely-attached parts. Mildly recommended. Circuit: Another F-1 racer, whee. Nice arms in robot mode, but otherwise a loss. Neutral. Neo-Wheel: Similar in many ways to Road Police, but a bit less stable. However, it's Armada-compatible. Recommended. Discharge: A fairly average Micromaster, but notable as being a female in this release. Recommended. Sireen: This one rocks. Cool transformation and robot mode. Strongly Recommended. SixTurbo Set: A good combined form, if a bit too reliant on Combiner Kibble. The kibble also forms a nifty jet. Recommended. RANTS Rather than being sold as a boxed set as they were originally, this time the SixTurbo figures were sold in little "toys with candy" type boxes (but without candy), much as the PVCs have been sold in Japan. The main difference is that there's a small hole in the box through which a sheet full of numbers is visible, so you can tell which toy you're buying before you pay for it (I've seen this trick on other toys-with-candy boxes). Each Micromaster figure comes with an instruction sheet and a piece of "combiner kibble" in the box. The figure is tightly wrapped in a plastic bag, which is then in a looser bag with the kibble. The instructions sheet is color on one side, with art and a storyline for the team, and B&W on the other side with instructions and a bio note. No tech spec stats, however. Thanks to Doug Dlin for translating the information from the instuction sheets! Oh, and Digo (or Diego as I first saw the name) is part of the SixLiner train Micro-Combiner, released in the same fashion earlier this year. Notes in [] brackets are Doug's. If I make any comments, they'll be in {} squiggly brackets. From what I've been able to gather, this storyline is all new, and is not the same as the background for the sixteams back in 1992. STORYLINE: ENTER THE URBAN DISASTER RELIEF SPECIALISTS!! In the course of their evolution, the Micromasters who crashed on Earth divided into heroic Cybertrons and evil Destrons and began to war among themselves. Using a part of their crashed spaceship as a base, the Cybertron warriors resolved to stay on Earth until there was some hope of returning to their home world of Seibertron. Wishing to co-exist with the people of Earth, the Cybertron forces made the best of their ability to transform and take action around the globe in order to smooth communication with human society. Like the Liner Team, the members of the Turbo Team participated and blended into human society. Already a group of specialists in urban disaster relief, when faced with even greater disasters, the Turbo Team combined and went into action as Sixturbo and faced squarely against Destron assaults. One day, the evil hands of the Destrons reached out for Road Police while he was patrolling the highways. Using a mind-changer virus, they reverse-evolved him into a Destron, and Road Police began destroying the city. Circuit, Neo-Wheel, Glide and Discharge came charging in, but one by one, the other members were also infected and became Destrons. The deployed Cybertrons could only stand idly by, unable to approach lest they also become infected. At Digo's instructions, Sireen arrived after completing work with Joe on the development of a vaccine program. However, the vaccine program required a direct connection and installation time to be installed. In order to minimize the infection damager, it was necessariy to install the vaccine into all five members at the same time. Having worked out a plan, Sireen approached to bargain with the Destronized warriors. "What say I join you as a Destron and we become the ultimate fused fighter." Having thus goaded them into combining, his strategy was to install the vaccine at the same time as they merged. As Sixturbo began to combine, Sireen struggled desperately, the virus flowing through his body. Just when it was thought that Sixturbo was totally Destronized, he regained his Cybertron self through the vaccine program. The Cybertrons' strategy had succeeded. Joy welled up among the Cybertrons. Sharing a firm handclasp under the setting sun, Sixturbo and Sixliner vowed to each other to fight together for peace. However, the Cybertrons had not yet noticed six shadows in the sunset, gazing at them with cold optics. To be continued... [As you can see, the Reverse Evolution Turbo Team is supposed to be the exact same characters as the regular one, so it's no wonder they don't have different bios.] {I've modified the format of the bios a bit from what Doug posted, mostly to present the information in the same way I do for other reviews, including guesses at their function.} General note: for these reissues, Takara added more paint applications. I have pictures of the original sets, and they lack a lot of the painted detail of this set. CYBERTRON: ROAD POLICE Subgroup: Turbo Team Function: Turbo Team Commander Alt Mode: Patrol Car SixTurbo Component: Chest SixTurbo Kibble: Chest Block, Head The leader of the Turbo Team, Road Police has a warm central processor and a strong sense of justice. A gun collector without equal, he enjoys accumulating Earth handguns, though he's annoyed that they're not the right size for him. A master of the fast draw, he's the best of the Micromasters in short-range marksmanship. Heh, it's Ohta (Patlabor). Vehicle Mode: 2.25" (5.5cm) long sportscar-type police cruiser, mainly white with black trim, silver windows and red flashers (red plastic, rather than red paint), plus painted red Autobot symbol on the hood. It's a pretty standard Micromaster vehicle in that you can flip it over and see the robot hiding inside. Transformation: Standard Micromaster car, but with a twist. Rather than having the hood flip back on a joint where the hood meets the window, the front window is also included and the joint is the top of the roof. Robot Mode: Just a touch over 2" (5cm) tall, the torso/leg bits are a medium blue with black and silver accents. Specifically, silver lapels, although they didn't color the TIE black. Yes, Road Police is wearing a tie. And a policeman hat. Despite what seems like a significant backpack/skirt out the back, the figure stands stably. Component Mode: Bend the car over and deploy the legs. The front half the car becomes the chest. The peg-hole in his feet (standard to most Micromasters of all lines) connects to a peg inside the chest kibble piece. Overall: A nice twist on an old standard, plus he's a sharp-dressed Bot. Worth picking up. CYBERTRON: GLIDE Subgroup: Turbo Team Function: Scout Alt Mode: Motorbike SixTurbo Component: Backpack SixTurbo Kibble: Upper Legs Among the Cybertrons, this warrior is known to be the happiest about their coming to Earth. When not in combat, he can usually be seen having fun tooling around, giving rides to Earthling females. He claims it's all a part of his intelligence-gathering activities. Though he appears frivolous, make no mistake, this fighter's got speed and strength in spades. Vehicle Mode: 1.75" (4.5cm) long, a blue police-cruiser-style motorcycle with gray underside, black seat and wheels, gold and silver windshield, gold accent on the back, and a red Autobot symbol on the left cargo case. The exhaust pipes are silver, and have little fins on the bottom to keep the cycle upright as it rolls along. "'92, '02 (C) Takara" and "China" are printed in white on the right cargo box. Transformation: Pull the cargo box piece down to form the arms and chest, unfold the front into legs and feet. The cargo box part is just held on with little nubs in holes, and is therefore very likely to just come off during transformation, a common Micromaster problem. You can choose to have the legs straight up and down, or fold them back a bit so that the figure looks like it is leaning forward (but this is actually more stable). Robot Mode: 2" (5cm) tall, with more gray in this mode. The head is totally unpainted, but light enough plastic that you can make out the details. The arms are stubby, and pretty much by design do not reach out past the chest (but there are fists molded on the inside of the arm panels). The exhaust pipes now look like arm-mounted weapons. Component Mode: Unfold the front half of the vehicle and plug the foot hole into a peg on the pelvis piece. It pretty much just hangs onto the back kinda uselessly, like one of the trains on SixTrain. Overall: It's tough to do motorcycles, especially at the Micromaster scale, and this is a good effort. But it is seriously hurt by the "clip on chest" effect. CYBERTRON: CIRCUIT Subgroup: Turbo Team Function: Recon/Courier Alt Mode: F-1 Racer SixTurbo Component: Left Arm SixTurbo Kibble: Left Fist, Left Shoulder Radar Mount Boasting of the highest speed of the Turbo Team, Circuit is often given reconnaissance and messenger missions thanks to his impressive scouting ability. Though unrivaled in driving technique, he is easily excited and often races around wildly. This has earned him frequent warnings from Road Police. Circuit has the special ability to converse with the wind(?). [Yes, that question mark is there in the original. No, I'm not sure why.] Vehicle Mode: Yet Another F-1 Racer, sigh. 2.3" (6cm) long, it's mainly white with red accents, a gray spoiler and black wheels. It has an Autobot symbol at the front of the vehicle. Transformation: Flip back the front of the vehicle, unfold the legs. The spoiler kinda gets in the way. Robot Mode: Worst of the lot. 2" (5cm) tall, his airdam section just sticks straight out his back in an Armada Starscream sort of way, but he lacks the heels necessary to stand up straight. He has to lean forward a little to stay standing. Plus the spoiler looks kinda ugly as kneecaps. His head/torso/thigh piece is yellow plastic with blue and silver accents. The one saving grace is that he has some of the best looking arms of any Micromaster (although you can clearly see the L and R on them, suggesting he not only gets his arms blown off regularly, he forgets which goes on where). Component Mode: Unfold the legs halfway and plug the spoiler onto the chest box. Plug the fist into a hole on the car's underside, and attach the gray radar/missile unit to the top of the boots. Note, the peg hole in the spoiler is just the right size to fit on a Powerlinx hardpoint (although will not trigger a live hardpoint). Overall: If, for some reason, you're not trying to get all six to form SixTurbo, avoid this one. It's pretty bad. CYBERTRON: NEO-WHEEL Subgroup: Turbo Team Function: Warrior Alt Mode: Super Car (Lamborghini) SixTurbo Component: Right Arm SixTurbo Kibble: Right Fist, Gun An aloof, nature-loving warrior, Neo-Wheel has little taste for following and participating in strategies with the rest of his team, save for those that require combining. If anything, he is often found in the wild amongst animals. He won't say for sure himself, but he appears to have the special ability to communicate with the animals. Neo-Wheel is indeed a warrior of many mysteries. {Doug's translation had the last sentence refer to Circuit, not sure if it's his oops or Takara's.} Vehicle Mode: A 2" (5cm) long yellow Lamborghini with black windows and a red Autobot symbol on the hood. It's the same variety as Sparkplug the Mini-Con (not the Diablo used on REV). Despite being structurally very similar to Road Police, it doesn't hold together as well in vehicle mode. Transformation: Essentially the same as Road Police's Robot Mode: 2.25" (5.5cm) tall, with a red torso/leg color, gold and silver painted accents. The head and chest almost look more like he's supposed to have a jet vehicle mode. Component Mode: Similar to Circuit's, but the legs only unbend a little bit and the gray bit that attaches to the chest box is on the underside of the car. And like Circuit, the peg hole is the right size to fit smoothly onto a hardpoint. It should be noted that both of these gray pieces are made of a softer plastic, reminiscent of the "caps" used on Gundam models for joints. Neo-Wheel has no shoulder piece like Circuit, but he goes get to hold the gun. Oh, and the gun's handle is a dead Powerlinx hardpoint, although only a few Mini-Cons have connectors in the right places to take advantage of this. Overall: A pretty cool figure, with some advantages over "brother" Road Police, and some disadvantages. Worth getting. CYBERTRON: DISCHARGE Subgroup: Turbo Team Function: Firefighter Alt Mode: Fire Engine SixTurbo Component: Right Leg (can be either leg, really) SixTurbo Kibble: Right Foot Contrary to her robust outward appearance, Discharge is a female Cybertron warrior. Few Cybertron fighters have seen her true appearance, as she is usually equipped in her heat-resistant armor. Devoting her passion to firefighting and rescue missions, Discharge really shines, no matter how she looks on the outside. She doesn't enjoy aggressively participating in battle, but she can be rather scary when angered. Someone who followed the original Operation: Combination line claims Discharge was not mentioned as female before, but the limbs were all drones anyway. So this is clearly a new characterization. Vehicle Mode: A 2" (5cm) long red brick with black and silver details and a white ladder-like thing mounted on top. It's sort of a cross between a very small folded ladder and a large water cannon, kinda weak. A white Autobot symbol is on the left side, and there's lots of molded detail (grilles, hoses, compartment doors, etc). There's also what appears to be a smaller water cannon molded onto the roof of the drivers' compartment. Transformation: Flip up the front, fold down the legs. Pretty standard Micromaster. Like Glide, the legs can either be straight down or angled back. Unlike Glide, Discharge has enough backpack that she can't stand with straight legs. Robot Mode: 2.25" (5.5cm) tall, a little shorter if you only go up to the head. The torso and thigh bits are white plastic with blue and silver paint details. The head looks like a modified firefighter helmet and oxygen mask, but with long silver and white projections on the sides that evoke strands of hair. The torso has a couple bits of asymmetry molded onto it, a nice touch. The arms are molded onto the insides of the truck side panels (the panels keep the arms from rising above straight forward, BTW). And FWIW, it's easy to remove the arms, the pegs aren't as tight as on some other Micromasters. But the don't just fall off, thankfully. It's interesting that they decided to make this one female, given the overall butch appearance (and also given that the medic is usually the token female of the group). One could argue that this is the Earth form of one of the Autobot Femmes (Firestar, IIRC). Component Mode: It's the vehicle mode. Front pegs onto the upper leg, foot pegs into a gray hole that's the right size for fitting on a hardpoint. Although it doesn't move, so you'd essentially have a fire truck sticking out longways from the peg. Overall: Somewhat disappointing vehicle mode and over-kibbled robot mode, but not badly constructed otherwise. And notable as one of the rare official females, so worth picking up for that reason. CYBERTRON: SIREEN Subgroup: Turbo Team Function: Medic/Strategist Alt Mode: Ambulance SixTurbo Component: Left Leg SixTurbo Kibble: Left Foot As his appearance suggests, Sireen is a doctor who conducts the Cybertrons' health care and medical treatment. The equipment over his head doesn't store offensive weaponry, but rather various medical tools and devices so he can deal with all sorts of emergency repairs. He and Digo of the Liner Team are old friends, and the two of them work together as the "central processors" of the Micromasters for designing strategies. Vehicle Mode: A standard boxy ambulance, 2" (5cm) long in white with red and black accents, plus a red Autobot symbol on the passenger side door (well, driver's side in Japan). Also a bit of silver on the front grille. And very interestingly, there is NO underside robot kibble visible! Just a solid flat panel on the bottom. This may very well be the only ground vehicle Micromaster with no robot bits visible in vehicle mode (some of the other vehicle types pull it off, though). Transformation: Now this is quite clever. Pull the front of the vehicle forward a few millimeters until it clicks. Then fold it and the entire underside panel down to form the legs (you can also fold each bit down separately and rejoin at the bottom, but it's cooler this way). Pull the arms down, and pull out the overhead med unit. Robot Mode: 2.25" (5.5cm) of curbstomping might. Okay, so the gray unit over his head is medical tools. What about the obvious blaster arrays on his shoulders, or the missile rack that takes up the entire right side of his torso? This is one medic that can take 'em apart as easily as he puts 'em back together. The torso piece is black plastic with yellow and silver paint, and the repair unit is a separate piece of gray plastic that slides in and out. The robot has a big backpack/helmet that makes it look like Sireen's ready to wade into a firefight between Guard City and Battle Gaea in order to retrieve the wounded. He and Dirt Boss should hang out together. Component Mode: Dittos from Discharge. Although the individual transformation joints let SixTurbo bend at this knee, more or less. Overall: If you only get one member of Turbo Team, get Sireen. It's very good for a Micromaster. CYBERTON: SIXTURBO Subgroup: Turbo Team Function: Super Warrior Alt Mode: Super Jet Components: Road Police, Circuit, Glide, Neo-Wheel, Discharge, Sireen No bio note for the combined mode. The original 1990s bio note for SixTrain made it sound like the combined mode was the true personality, with the components just being facets or even drones. Clearly, however, they're not going that way with the reissues. The "Alt Mode" of Super Jet is a jetlike vehicle that can be built from the Combiner Kibble. Super Warrior Mode: 6.75" (17cm) tall, with a rather large amount of the overall structure provided by combiner kibble. In fact, you can make a complete (if hollow-chested) SixTurbo without Road Police and Glide (but you do need the kibble that comes with them). This is basically how all the sixteams combine, and the extensive use of kibble lets them avoid having to acommodate too much combiner stuff in the individual pieces. The figure has shoulder poseability, although the range of motion is blocked by the wide chest fins. The head also turns. And, except for Sireen letting one leg bend a bit, that's it for the poseability. The fists can't even rotate, because they're on partial arm panels and peg onto the side of the arm, not the end. Transformation to Kibble Jet: Okay, I figure this thing has an official name, but I haven't seen it yet. And it's a jet made of combiner kibble, so I call it a kibble jet. Starting from Super Warrior mode, remove all the Micromasters. Now turn the head 180 degrees and mount the radar/missile unit on back of it. The fist pieces plug onto the shoulder pegs (yeah, all of these pegs and holes are Powerlinx sized) and the feet onto the fists to make wings. Finally, the gun goes between the legs, please refrain from making lewd comments. Kibble Jet: Looks surprisingly good. Mostly blue in front and black in back with silver accents on all parts and some red on the chest box piece. 6.25" (16cm) long, 5.25" (13cm) wingspan. The pilot compartment holds one Micromaster, but the peg for the feet is too close to the back of the compartment. Only Circuit can stand on it while mostly completely transformed. Neo-Wheel and Road Police can stand on it if they leave their vehicle front halves stay untransformed. No way for the other three. [Clarification: I'm talking about standing on the peg inside the pilot compartment. All of them can sit in the box, but only the ones mentioned can be pegged on.] Overall: This was part of the last gasp of Micromasters, period. But as much as I'd like to say it might have sold really well if released here in 1992, Transformers were in trouble for reasons unrelated to the quality of the toys. Still, it would have gotten me more interested in TFs faster if the G2 line had launched with Operation: Combination. You might have to buy a case to get a decent deal (I still kick myself for not snaffling up all the sets at BotCon 94 for $20 each, but I effectively got two copies of SixTurbo for $45 this time). Worth picking up if you can find it for less than, oh, thirty bucks for one complete set. REVERSE EVOLUTION! Ha, bet you thought I was going to finish off without mentioning the chase figures. Each case comes with two complete sets, numbered so you can be sure you got complete sets without opening them. BUT, on average, two of the figures on one side will be replaced with black variants. Solid black, with white Decepticon symbols. The only other colors are a metallic face and neon green eyes and forehead gem on Reverse Evolved SixTurbo. I'm told by someone who has bought a large number of cases that the ratio isn't exactly two per case, but it's fairly close. I got RE versions of Road Police (which is why I know what the head of SixTurbo looks like) and Neo-Wheel. No, I'm not really interesting in trading, stop emailing me. }-> There's a couple people who I might trade with, but most of them have known me for years. Anyway, the combined form does look nicely sinister, but I would have preferred more gunmetal accents on everything. Solid black variants seem like a cheap way to get chase figures. Cheap in the bad way. Dave Van Domelen, took his spare colored figures and set 'em up in his office....