Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 6, 2010 19:35:31 GMT
We held a poll on The Hub Forum to vote for the next Transformers Generation 1 review I would write. Here are the options with how they scored:
Jazz & Stepper: 0 votes, 0%
Bluestreak, Prowl & Smokescreen: 3 votes, 37.5%
Inferno, Grapple & Artfire: 4 votes, 50%
Grimlock: 0 votes, 0% Hot Rod: 0 votes, 0% Metroplex & Metrotitan: 1 vote, 12.5% Megatron: 0 votes, 0%
Starscream etc: 0 votes, 0%
Astrotrain: 0 votes, 0%
So ladies and gentlemen for you pleasure and enjoyment: Inferno, Grapple & Artfire.
Inferno
So which came first, Inferno or Grapple?
It's an interesting question. We think of some Transformers being "emergency service repaints" where they're painted in police car or similar colours and have a lightbar slapped on top. Examples include Prowl made from Bluestreak Red Alert made from Sideswipe and Ratchet made from Ironhide. So you might think that Inferno is a repaint & remould of Grapple. Ignoring the parts that are straight changed - the ladder and base for the crane arm and it's base - Inferno is the toy that gains something: in his case the fire hose on the side. A counter argument would be that both Inferno and Grapple have the emergency lights in their roofs so thus Inferno must have come first as he's the only one that needs them. Well I have seen cranes with flashing warning lights on them so this theory doesn't exactly hold water. You're not going to be able to work this one out from the Transformers line where they were released at the same time so it's necessary to go back to Diaclone. If you look here there's a selection of Diaclone catalogues for different years with the cars numbered. Inferno is car #10 in 1983, Grapple is car #20 in 1984. So I think that settles it!
Inferno is very similar to the Diaclone Fire Engine, in fact with the stickers removed you have to look hard to spot the differences. I'll point out the major one when we reach the relevant place. He's moulded mainly in bright red plastic with the rear of the deck being moulded in metal. Certain details, including the fire hose at the side of the vehicle and the three part extending ladder, are moulded in white plastic. There's lots of chrome too including supports for the fire engine, the sides of the ladder base and a pair of tabs at the front of the upper part of the sides. These tabs are usually pictured facing forward in vehicle mode, but they do move to point upwards and if you check the Instructions for Inferno at Cobra Island Toys they're pointing up at most stages of the transformation so I'd be inclined to raise them in vehicle mode. Inferno's cab - red plastic, with clear plastic windows & emergency lights on the top - folds forward to reveal a seat for a Diaclone driver to sit in. The ladder elevates and extends, but unfortunately the turntable at it's base does not turn. This is the one real failing of the toy's vehicle mode, but didn't stop my son from enjoying playing with it!
Transformation: Unpeel the upper sides of the vehicle from the ladder base and fold out to the sides and forward so that they remain parallel to the vehicle. Pull the ladder base away from the back of the vehicle, and fold the entire underside of the vehicle down 90 degrees so it's all reaching down under the cab. Fold the rear of the vehicle up 90 degrees to form the feet. Rotate the front of the ladder base forward 180 degrees and lock onto the back of the cab with the ladder down the robot's back. Fold the arms down to the sides, fold the tabs on the shoulder up. Plug the white wings (I've just peaked at the instructions where I see they're called Nozzles - really?) into the shoulder joints, the fists or missiles into the wrist and plug the gun into his hands.
During the transformation you'll have seen that Inferno's ladder base/head is connected to the rest of the toy by a black plastic strut with a hinge in the middle and at each end. On the Diaclone Fire Engine this is a chromed cylinder with the same articulation that to my mind seems to represent a drive shaft for the vehicle.
Inferno's robot mode is taller than all the standard sized Autobot cars sourced from the Diaclone line, but looks better proportioned than many other Transformers. He's still mostly red with the vehicle cab forming the chest in a way similar to Optimus Prime's. His articulation isn't bad for a G1 Autobot either. Yes, he's a rigid brick from the shoulders to the ankles but the ankles bend back as part of the transformation (pretty useless here without any hip or knee movement admittedly), his shoulders turn as well as being able to swing backwards, his elbows bend and his wrists turn. *If* the ladder based turned in vehicle mode then in theory the same joint would allow the robot head to turn here. The head, as with many other diaclone originated Autobots, is a beautifully sculpted affair with a silver face & yellow eyes with several slatted panels around the outside of the head. As we've already mentioned he comes with interchangeable attachments for the end of his arms. Each forearm contains a missile launcher with a spring loaded trigger found on the outer panel of the forearm. Press the launcher to propel either the fist or missile plugged into the wrist a considerable distance (if you have a full powered Japanese version) or no distance at all (if you have a wussy weakened western version).
Inferno is probably one of my favourite Diaclone originated Transformers. The fire engine mode is nicely done and I'm a sucker for big red robots.
Inferno was sold in the UK & the USA in 1985. He was released in the Transformers line in Japan the same year where he was Transformers toy number 10. He has led an extensive life as a re-issue toy first returning in 1990 in the European Classics range, in 1993 with his Generation 2 version - see bellow, in 2001 as part of Japanese Convention re-issue set F, sold at Wonder Festival 2001, where he was bundled with Grapple, in Takara's 2003 Transformers Collection where he was release 08 and had his eyes painted blue and finally in 2003 where the TRU Exclusive Commemorative Series V Inferno had his wrist launchers completely neutered by having the springs removed..
Inferno has also been an Action Master and a Universe Voyager. Inexplicably the name was also used for an original Universe Deluxe, which by all rights should have been called Red Alert, as well as a horde of more appropriate uses elsewhere.
Grapple
Grapple is an orange crane truck mostly formed from Inferno parts. Indeed in robot mode he looks like a straight Inferno repaint from the front. When you transform to vehicle mode the differences are more obvious. Gone are all the white plastic parts with the sides of the shoulders now being moulded in orange plastic. Also gone is the base of the ladder and the ladder itself replaced by a new base in orange plastic and a new 2 part extending crane arm with a silver hook on the end and a chromed support underneath with locks against the crane arm when it's flat against the vehicle. For all intents and purposes Grapple is identical to the Diaclone crane car
There's some indication that Hasbro intended to release Grapple in 1984: a character named Hauler with Grapple's vehicle design appear in More Than Meets The Eye. There's 11 Autobot cars released in 1984, one set of six and another of five plus one of the first six repeated then seven toys released in 1985. Three sets of six would sort of make more logical sense.
Grapple was sold in the UK & the USA in 1985. He was released in the Transformers line in Japan the same year where he was Transformers toy number 47. He was re-issued in 2001 as part of Japanese Convention reissue set F, sold at Wonder Festival 2001, where he was bundled with Inferno, and in 2004 where the TRU Exclusive Commemorative Series VI Grapple had his wrist launchers completely neutered.
Grapple's name has been reused much less often than Inferno's appearing in 2003 on the Japanese Micron Legend versions of the Armada Smokescreen Crane and the character's evolved form of Hoist. In the following year, 2004, he's used for the Japanese Superlink version of Energon Roadblock, who is itself the evolved form of Energon/Superlink Inferno. There's a forthcoming (2011) Generations Grapple toy based on Universe Inferno. The process of evolving an Inferno toy into Grapple is acquiring a history of it's own!
Artfire
Now the naming of this toy has always confused me. Surely Stepper, the name given to the Targetmaster repaint of Jazz, is a decent name for a toy with a ladder on it's back? Stepper's car mode features a Firebird detail so I've always thought the name Artfire works better there. I've also heard it alleged that the name "Artfire" is a Japanese mispronunciation of "Autofire".
Artfire swaps all of Inferno's white pieces for grey while repainting Inferno's cab & feet white while making the rear deck pieces that are made of metal black.
Artfire comes with Nightstick, Targetmaster originally called Fracas and supplied with Scourge in the west. Confusingly the Targetmaster supplied with the western Cyclonus is also called Nightstick but is called Nebulon when he was sold with Stepper, a repaint of Jazz, in Japan. Nightstick comes with a piece to allow him to be mounted on the ladder in vehicle mode (to act as a water cannon?). Since most Targetmaster have a 5mm peg as a handle I'm guessing the hands have been slightly remoulded to allow Artfire to hold Nightstick in robot mode.
I can live with the idea of a white fire engine repaint better than a a blue one!
Artfire was sold in Japan in 1987 as Transformers toy C-108. He's never been released in the west and has never been reissued so you can abandon all hope of owning him without taking out a second mortgage.
Generation 2 Inferno
Outwardly the Generation 2 Inferno looks quite similar to the original Inferno in both modes. The red is a slightly different shade of red, yes, but apart from the not a lot seems different. However when you start to look closely there's a few changes. For a start the launching mechanism has gone from the arms, the fists just plug straight in on pegs similar to those on Optimus Prime & the Special Team/Scramble City combiners. Gone too are the missiles that used to be plugged into the wrists.
The one new addition that Inferno has now is a syringe like water launcher that clips onto the ladder. The launcher works by placing the nozzle into the water and pulling back on the plunger with it then fired by pushing the plunger forward. All well and good, but the problem is that there's no way for Inferno to hold this weapon in robot mode, a simple 4mm peg would have done the trick!
Cosmetically similar but if you care about the missiles or the launching capability then buy the Generation One version or one of his reissues.
E-Hobby Road Hauler
The name of this toy is a little uncertain: Hauler, as in what was used in the Transformers Cartoon episode which is the inspiration behind this toy? Load Hauler, as in he carries a load? Or Road Hauler, as in he hauls on the roads (cf Road Haulage)?
As I've said this toy is inspired by the Autobot crane that appeared in the episode More Than Meets the eye. It uses the Grapple version of the toy, but recolours it in Constructicon Green and retroactively made into an ex-Constructicon. Bwah? When Hauler appeared in the cartoon he was coloured the same as Grapple. If you're not going to colour him the same as that at least make him bright yellow which is close in colour and acceptable on a construction vehicle. That green has connotations to it: it was only when I wrote this that I discovered that the E-Hobby Hauler isn't a Decepticon like I'd thought.
Road-Hauler is retroactively numbered 89 in the Japanese numbering system. He was released in 2003 as an E-Hobby exclusive to compliment the release of Transformers Collection 08 Inferno.
Jazz & Stepper: 0 votes, 0%
Bluestreak, Prowl & Smokescreen: 3 votes, 37.5%
Inferno, Grapple & Artfire: 4 votes, 50%
Grimlock: 0 votes, 0% Hot Rod: 0 votes, 0% Metroplex & Metrotitan: 1 vote, 12.5% Megatron: 0 votes, 0%
Starscream etc: 0 votes, 0%
Astrotrain: 0 votes, 0%
So ladies and gentlemen for you pleasure and enjoyment: Inferno, Grapple & Artfire.
Inferno
So which came first, Inferno or Grapple?
It's an interesting question. We think of some Transformers being "emergency service repaints" where they're painted in police car or similar colours and have a lightbar slapped on top. Examples include Prowl made from Bluestreak Red Alert made from Sideswipe and Ratchet made from Ironhide. So you might think that Inferno is a repaint & remould of Grapple. Ignoring the parts that are straight changed - the ladder and base for the crane arm and it's base - Inferno is the toy that gains something: in his case the fire hose on the side. A counter argument would be that both Inferno and Grapple have the emergency lights in their roofs so thus Inferno must have come first as he's the only one that needs them. Well I have seen cranes with flashing warning lights on them so this theory doesn't exactly hold water. You're not going to be able to work this one out from the Transformers line where they were released at the same time so it's necessary to go back to Diaclone. If you look here there's a selection of Diaclone catalogues for different years with the cars numbered. Inferno is car #10 in 1983, Grapple is car #20 in 1984. So I think that settles it!
Inferno is very similar to the Diaclone Fire Engine, in fact with the stickers removed you have to look hard to spot the differences. I'll point out the major one when we reach the relevant place. He's moulded mainly in bright red plastic with the rear of the deck being moulded in metal. Certain details, including the fire hose at the side of the vehicle and the three part extending ladder, are moulded in white plastic. There's lots of chrome too including supports for the fire engine, the sides of the ladder base and a pair of tabs at the front of the upper part of the sides. These tabs are usually pictured facing forward in vehicle mode, but they do move to point upwards and if you check the Instructions for Inferno at Cobra Island Toys they're pointing up at most stages of the transformation so I'd be inclined to raise them in vehicle mode. Inferno's cab - red plastic, with clear plastic windows & emergency lights on the top - folds forward to reveal a seat for a Diaclone driver to sit in. The ladder elevates and extends, but unfortunately the turntable at it's base does not turn. This is the one real failing of the toy's vehicle mode, but didn't stop my son from enjoying playing with it!
Transformation: Unpeel the upper sides of the vehicle from the ladder base and fold out to the sides and forward so that they remain parallel to the vehicle. Pull the ladder base away from the back of the vehicle, and fold the entire underside of the vehicle down 90 degrees so it's all reaching down under the cab. Fold the rear of the vehicle up 90 degrees to form the feet. Rotate the front of the ladder base forward 180 degrees and lock onto the back of the cab with the ladder down the robot's back. Fold the arms down to the sides, fold the tabs on the shoulder up. Plug the white wings (I've just peaked at the instructions where I see they're called Nozzles - really?) into the shoulder joints, the fists or missiles into the wrist and plug the gun into his hands.
During the transformation you'll have seen that Inferno's ladder base/head is connected to the rest of the toy by a black plastic strut with a hinge in the middle and at each end. On the Diaclone Fire Engine this is a chromed cylinder with the same articulation that to my mind seems to represent a drive shaft for the vehicle.
Inferno's robot mode is taller than all the standard sized Autobot cars sourced from the Diaclone line, but looks better proportioned than many other Transformers. He's still mostly red with the vehicle cab forming the chest in a way similar to Optimus Prime's. His articulation isn't bad for a G1 Autobot either. Yes, he's a rigid brick from the shoulders to the ankles but the ankles bend back as part of the transformation (pretty useless here without any hip or knee movement admittedly), his shoulders turn as well as being able to swing backwards, his elbows bend and his wrists turn. *If* the ladder based turned in vehicle mode then in theory the same joint would allow the robot head to turn here. The head, as with many other diaclone originated Autobots, is a beautifully sculpted affair with a silver face & yellow eyes with several slatted panels around the outside of the head. As we've already mentioned he comes with interchangeable attachments for the end of his arms. Each forearm contains a missile launcher with a spring loaded trigger found on the outer panel of the forearm. Press the launcher to propel either the fist or missile plugged into the wrist a considerable distance (if you have a full powered Japanese version) or no distance at all (if you have a wussy weakened western version).
Inferno is probably one of my favourite Diaclone originated Transformers. The fire engine mode is nicely done and I'm a sucker for big red robots.
Inferno was sold in the UK & the USA in 1985. He was released in the Transformers line in Japan the same year where he was Transformers toy number 10. He has led an extensive life as a re-issue toy first returning in 1990 in the European Classics range, in 1993 with his Generation 2 version - see bellow, in 2001 as part of Japanese Convention re-issue set F, sold at Wonder Festival 2001, where he was bundled with Grapple, in Takara's 2003 Transformers Collection where he was release 08 and had his eyes painted blue and finally in 2003 where the TRU Exclusive Commemorative Series V Inferno had his wrist launchers completely neutered by having the springs removed..
Inferno has also been an Action Master and a Universe Voyager. Inexplicably the name was also used for an original Universe Deluxe, which by all rights should have been called Red Alert, as well as a horde of more appropriate uses elsewhere.
Grapple
Grapple is an orange crane truck mostly formed from Inferno parts. Indeed in robot mode he looks like a straight Inferno repaint from the front. When you transform to vehicle mode the differences are more obvious. Gone are all the white plastic parts with the sides of the shoulders now being moulded in orange plastic. Also gone is the base of the ladder and the ladder itself replaced by a new base in orange plastic and a new 2 part extending crane arm with a silver hook on the end and a chromed support underneath with locks against the crane arm when it's flat against the vehicle. For all intents and purposes Grapple is identical to the Diaclone crane car
There's some indication that Hasbro intended to release Grapple in 1984: a character named Hauler with Grapple's vehicle design appear in More Than Meets The Eye. There's 11 Autobot cars released in 1984, one set of six and another of five plus one of the first six repeated then seven toys released in 1985. Three sets of six would sort of make more logical sense.
Grapple was sold in the UK & the USA in 1985. He was released in the Transformers line in Japan the same year where he was Transformers toy number 47. He was re-issued in 2001 as part of Japanese Convention reissue set F, sold at Wonder Festival 2001, where he was bundled with Inferno, and in 2004 where the TRU Exclusive Commemorative Series VI Grapple had his wrist launchers completely neutered.
Grapple's name has been reused much less often than Inferno's appearing in 2003 on the Japanese Micron Legend versions of the Armada Smokescreen Crane and the character's evolved form of Hoist. In the following year, 2004, he's used for the Japanese Superlink version of Energon Roadblock, who is itself the evolved form of Energon/Superlink Inferno. There's a forthcoming (2011) Generations Grapple toy based on Universe Inferno. The process of evolving an Inferno toy into Grapple is acquiring a history of it's own!
Artfire
Now the naming of this toy has always confused me. Surely Stepper, the name given to the Targetmaster repaint of Jazz, is a decent name for a toy with a ladder on it's back? Stepper's car mode features a Firebird detail so I've always thought the name Artfire works better there. I've also heard it alleged that the name "Artfire" is a Japanese mispronunciation of "Autofire".
Artfire swaps all of Inferno's white pieces for grey while repainting Inferno's cab & feet white while making the rear deck pieces that are made of metal black.
Artfire comes with Nightstick, Targetmaster originally called Fracas and supplied with Scourge in the west. Confusingly the Targetmaster supplied with the western Cyclonus is also called Nightstick but is called Nebulon when he was sold with Stepper, a repaint of Jazz, in Japan. Nightstick comes with a piece to allow him to be mounted on the ladder in vehicle mode (to act as a water cannon?). Since most Targetmaster have a 5mm peg as a handle I'm guessing the hands have been slightly remoulded to allow Artfire to hold Nightstick in robot mode.
I can live with the idea of a white fire engine repaint better than a a blue one!
Artfire was sold in Japan in 1987 as Transformers toy C-108. He's never been released in the west and has never been reissued so you can abandon all hope of owning him without taking out a second mortgage.
Generation 2 Inferno
Outwardly the Generation 2 Inferno looks quite similar to the original Inferno in both modes. The red is a slightly different shade of red, yes, but apart from the not a lot seems different. However when you start to look closely there's a few changes. For a start the launching mechanism has gone from the arms, the fists just plug straight in on pegs similar to those on Optimus Prime & the Special Team/Scramble City combiners. Gone too are the missiles that used to be plugged into the wrists.
The one new addition that Inferno has now is a syringe like water launcher that clips onto the ladder. The launcher works by placing the nozzle into the water and pulling back on the plunger with it then fired by pushing the plunger forward. All well and good, but the problem is that there's no way for Inferno to hold this weapon in robot mode, a simple 4mm peg would have done the trick!
Cosmetically similar but if you care about the missiles or the launching capability then buy the Generation One version or one of his reissues.
E-Hobby Road Hauler
The name of this toy is a little uncertain: Hauler, as in what was used in the Transformers Cartoon episode which is the inspiration behind this toy? Load Hauler, as in he carries a load? Or Road Hauler, as in he hauls on the roads (cf Road Haulage)?
As I've said this toy is inspired by the Autobot crane that appeared in the episode More Than Meets the eye. It uses the Grapple version of the toy, but recolours it in Constructicon Green and retroactively made into an ex-Constructicon. Bwah? When Hauler appeared in the cartoon he was coloured the same as Grapple. If you're not going to colour him the same as that at least make him bright yellow which is close in colour and acceptable on a construction vehicle. That green has connotations to it: it was only when I wrote this that I discovered that the E-Hobby Hauler isn't a Decepticon like I'd thought.
Road-Hauler is retroactively numbered 89 in the Japanese numbering system. He was released in 2003 as an E-Hobby exclusive to compliment the release of Transformers Collection 08 Inferno.
