Spychangers

[Philip Ayres]

See Also

Phil's Spychanger Reviews tmukhub.proboards.com/post/30187/thread

G2 tmukhub.proboards.com/thread/6512/generation-2

Robots in Disguise/Car Robots tmukhub.proboards.com/thread/7696/robots-disguise-car

Spychanger Scourge tmukhub.proboards.com/thread/7974/spychanger-scourge

Cyberjets tmukhub.proboards.com/thread/9703/cyberjets

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As many of you know I'm busy revising my review website. One of the things on my list to revise is the Car Robots (CR) and Robots In Disguise (RID) toys. And that means Spychangers. I was aware that the Spychangers had had a few versions but wasn't sure how many. So I decided to find out using TFU.info as a guide. Presented here in table form is a list of molds across the top and a list of releases down the side.

Original	1995	Firecracker	Blowout	Highbeam	Double Clutch	Gearhead	Motormouth
G1 Repaint	1995	Sideswipe	Frenzy	Bumblebee	Mirage	Soundwave	Ironhide
2nd G1 Repaint	1995	Optimus Prime	Megatron	-	-	Gearhead (solid head)	Motomouth (solid)
Japanese Variant	1995	Optimus Prime	Megatron	-	-	Soundwave	-
Botcon	1995	-	-	Botcon Exclusive Nightracer	-	-	-
CR	2000	Eagle Killer	Artfire	X-Car	Counter Arrow	Wars	Ox
Clear CR	2000	Clear Eagle Killer	Clear Artfire	Clear X-Car	Clear Counter Arrow	Clear Wars	Clear Ox
RID	2001	Rev	Hotshot	Crosswise	Mirage	W.A.R.S.	Ironhide
Clear RID Recolour	2002	Clear Rev	Clear Hotshot	Clear Crosswise	Clear Mirage	Clear W.A.R.S.	Clear Ironhide
Tiny Tin RID	2002 ?	Rev	Hotshot	Crosswise	Mirage	W.A.R.S.	Ironhide
Super CR	2003	Super Eagle Killer	Super Artfire	Super X-Car	Super Counter Arrow	Super Wars	Super Ox
Clear Super CR	2003	Clear Super Eagle Killer	Clear Super Artfire	Clear Super X-Car	Clear Super Counter Arrow	Clear Super Wars	Clear Super Ox
Clear RID Recolour	2003	Clear Rev Recolour	Clear Hotshot Recolour	Clear Crosswise Recolour	Clear Mirage Recolour	Clear W.A.R.S. Recolour	Clear Ironhide Recolour
Universe	2004	-	-	-	-	-	Universe Ironhide

RID	2001	Daytonus	Sideburn	Prowl 2	Sideswipe	Scourge	X-Brawn	Optimus Prime	Ultra Magnus
Spychanger	2004	Wheeljack	Jazz	Prowl	Silverstreak	Optimus Prime	Hoist	-	-
Universe	2004	-	-	Prowl	-	-	-	Optimus Prime	Ultra Magnus
Movie	2007	-	-	-	-	Movie Optimus Prime	-	-	-

EDIT

Some tabled data on how these are gang moulded.....

Mold	Part	Colour	Part	Colour	Part	Colour
Firecracker (1)	Car Body & Gun	A	Lower Legs & Under Bonnet	B	Upper Legs & Body	E
Gearhead	Car Body	B	Lower Legs & Under Bonnet	A	Upper Legs & Body	C
Blowout	Car Body (2) & Gun	C	Lower Legs & Under Bonnet	F	Upper Legs & Body	D
Highbeam	Car Body	D	Lower Legs & Under Bonnet	D	Upper Legs & Body Gun (3)	B
Double Clutch	Car Body, Head & Lower Legs	E	-		Upper Legs & Body, Body Joint & Gun	F
Motormouth	Car Body	F	Lower Legs & Under Bonnet	C	Upper Legs & Body	A

So

Colour	G2 Gobots	G2 Gobots W2	Gobot Leaders	Car Robots	Jusco	Super	Super Clear	RID Spychangers	KB1	KB2
A	Clear Red	Blue	Red	Yellow	Clear Yellow	Dark Blue	Clear	Yellow	Clear Yellow	Clear Yellow
B	Yellow	Neon Yellow	Yellow	Red	Clear Red	Grey	Clear	Red	Clear Red	Clear Purple
C	Clear	Purple	Silver	Black	Clear Orange	White	Clear	Black	Clear Black	Clear
D	Black	Black	Black	Clear	Clear Cyan	Clear Green	Clear	Clear	Clear	Clear Orange
E	White	Black	White	Off White	Clear Blue	Red	Clear	Off White	Clear	Clear Green
F	Dark Blue	Silver	Dark Blue	White	Clear Greem	Black	Clear	White	Clear	Clear Blue

(1) There's some indication the Firecracker mold has been modified at some point: For all the G2 releases the piece in front of the neck holding the robot body and the car's front together is the same colour as the car's Lower Legs - C. When the CR/RID version is introduced this part becomes the same colour as the body of the car - A

(2) Blowout's Car Body appears to be painted on his first two G2 releases.

(3) Highbeam used pictured with the wrong gun on TFU.info - he's pictured with Gearhead's there, possibly because that was what the art showed.

The Gobots moulds have been used repeatedly: here's what each mould was called on each use.

Gobots W1	Firecracker	Gearhead	Blowout	High Beam	Double Clutch	Motormouth
Gobot W2	Sideswipe	Soundwave	Frenzy	Bumblebee	Mirage	Ironhide
Gobot Leader	Optimus Prime		Megatron	Nightracer		Ironhide
Car Robots	Eagle Killer	Wars	Artfire	X-Car	Counter Arrow	Ox
Robots in Disguise	Rev	W.A.R.S.	Hot Shot	Crosswise	Mirage	Ironhide

And here's what they looked like:

Columns:

Firecracker
Gearhead
Blowout
High Beam
Double Clutch
Motormouth

Rows:

Row 1: Gobots Wave 1
Row 2: Gobots Leaders Gobots Megatron, Optimus Prime and Variant Gearhead & Motormouth
Row 3: Gobot Wave 2
Row 4: Japanse Gobot Leaders + Oddities: Japanese Gobots Megatron, Optimus Prime & Soundwave, Botcon Nightracer, Universe Spychanger Ironhide (Trailbreaker)
Row 5: Car Robots Spychangers
Row 6: Jusco Car Robots Clear Spychangers
Row 7: Super Spychangers
Row 8: Super Clear Spychangers
Row 9: RiD Spychangers
Row 10: KB Clear Spychangers Series 1
Row 11: KB Clear Spychangers Series 2

If you drag your cursor over each image you should get a popup telling you what it is. Clicking on it will take you to it's TFWiki page

[Andy Turnbull]

Just a minor edit Phil as the @ seemed to screw up the link.

Andy

[Jaymz]

There was a Spychanger Scourge done in movie Prime colours that came with the Japanese version of the DVD too.

Pictures here

[Philip Ayres]

Ta Jaymz. I knew it existed but it slipped my mind when I got down the end !

[Philip Ayres]

BTW the answer is there's 87 different versions of the Spychangers !

[Hero]

Oh boy... I must catch em all.

I LOVE SPYCHANGERS!!!!

===KEN

[Stomski]

Spychanger Scourge is so awesome. He's so diddy and evil.

[The Doctor]

He is the diminutive Transformer toy of choice.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

He is indeed and is the toy responsible for getting me back into the pucrhasing of Transformers once again.

Andy

[Hero]

I like Spychanger Scourge (and I have him in G1 Prime colours too) although I found the head joint a little too loose and the head would not stay up.

[Philip Ayres]

Anybody ever looked at how the colours on the original 6 Spychangers/GoBots match up on every release ? Some parts match colour no matter what. I'll write it all up tomorrow.

[blueshift]

Nov 5, 2008 23:17:12 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Anybody ever looked at how the colours on the original 6 Spychangers/GoBots match up on every release ? Some parts match colour no matter what. I'll write it all up tomorrow.

That's because they're gang-molded in batches of 3 (or 2 for some of them, not sure)

[Philip Ayres]

Never heard the term before but it makes sense. Easier way of putting it than I could manage. Ta, If you don't mind I'll borrow that for the article I'm writing.

[Hero]

I liked the hidden rubsign gimmick on the Car Robots versions. I don't think its been used on any other toys since?

[Philip Ayres]

Anyone got the Gobots High Beam or Bumblebee ? Are the outer shells of the cars cast in that colour or is it painted on ?

[Hero]

I've got Highbeam and Bumble somewhere, if I remember right it was painted on. I'll try and dig them out and have a look.

[Philip Ayres]

Much appreciated. If you could tell me exactly what the colours underneath both are that'd be useful too !

[Philip Ayres]

While you're at it Ken - can you dig out one of Optimus Prime/Firecracker/Sideswipe and one of Gearhead/Soundwave as well as Eagle Killer/Rev and Wars/W.A.R.S.

Has the connector piece between the body and front of the car swapped from one mold to the other from gobots to CR/RID. On the gobots it's the same colour as the undersides of the car but on the CR/RID version it's the same colour as the body of the car.

[Philip Ayres]

While we're talking Spychangers I've got some images to share:

Carded G2 versions of Daytonus & Sideswipe and Sideburn & Prowl taken at a 1996 Japanese Toy show that appeared in Tomart #30



Prototypes of the two totally unreleased G2 Gobots that would have completed the second set of six:

Car Vehicle and robot

Jeep Vehicle and robot

I found these images on the harddrive of my PC tucked safely away. NO idea where they're from, credit where apropriate !

[grahamthomson]

Nov 11, 2008 13:35:14 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Prototypes of the two totally unreleased G2 Gobots that would have completed the second set of six:

Car Vehicle and robot

I found these images on the harddrive of my PC tucked safely away. NO idea where they're from, credit where apropriate !

Jeep Vehicle and robot

Ooh! Never, ever, ever seen those two before!

Damn, I love Spychangers.

[Philip Ayres]

Made your day then !

You'll like the forthcoming RID reviews then. I've not been looking at these just for fun .....

[Hero]

Nov 10, 2008 0:31:24 GMT Philip Ayres said:

While you're at it Ken - can you dig out one of Optimus Prime/Firecracker/Sideswipe and one of Gearhead/Soundwave as well as Eagle Killer/Rev and Wars/W.A.R.S.

Has the connector piece between the body and front of the car swapped from one mold to the other from gobots to CR/RID. On the gobots it's the same colour as the undersides of the car but on the CR/RID version it's the same colour as the body of the car.

Will do bud. Just need to get home and rest first (see Week 46 thread). Sorry I forgot.

[The Doctor]

I used to have a Spychanger addiction. I don't need to have one again!

-Ralph

[grahamthomson]

Nov 11, 2008 14:08:16 GMT Philip Ayres said:

Made your day then !

You'll like the forthcoming RID reviews then. I've not been looking at these just for fun .....

Yay! I like RiD!

[legios]

Nov 11, 2008 14:08:16 GMT Philip Ayres said:

You'll like the forthcoming RID reviews then. I've not been looking at these just for fun .....

I too shall look forward to these impending reviews in that case. I too have a real soft spot for Spychangers for some reason.

Karl

[grahamthomson]

Nov 11, 2008 20:24:54 GMT legios said:

Nov 11, 2008 14:08:16 GMT Philip Ayres said:

You'll like the forthcoming RID reviews then. I've not been looking at these just for fun .....

I too shall look forward to these impending reviews in that case. I too have a real soft spot for Spychangers for some reason.

Karl

Spychangers + Brave Maximus + Spychanger Scourge standing in BM's chest window = Awsome.

[legios]

Nov 11, 2008 20:27:25 GMT @grahamthomson said:

Spychangers + Brave Maximus + Spychanger Scourge standing in BM's chest window = Awsome.

Never had a Brave Maximus - had a Fortress Maximus for a while, and he got the Scourge-in-viewing-gallery. But Spychanger Scourge has outlived Maximus as far as being part of my collection. It is just a shame that their aren't more Decepticon Spychangers, so that Scourge can put together a posse of evildoers. He seems a little outnumbered against all the Autobot car ninjas.

Karl

[The Doctor]

Spychanger Scourge is evil enough to take on ALL Autobot Transformers. He needs no compatriots.

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

There's the 3 Gobot Decepticons plus the Botcon Decepticon Gobot

[grahamthomson]

Gotta love the colours of Go-Bot Soundwave!!

Actually, the Go-Bots Vs the Cyberjets (or Mini-Jets, as they were imaginatively called in this country) were some of my favourites of the 1995 range!