Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 30, 2010 0:32:32 GMT
Transformers Astrotrain
Astrotrain is an interesting Transformers toy. He was released in 1985 as one of the first two Decepticon Triplechangers. Unlike his fellow Triplechanger Blitzwing he was not a Diaclone toy. Blitzwing starts out there with dark green tank and grey jet modes and was available with a blue helicopter and jet Transformer. So Astrotrain is either an unused Diaclone design or a new creation for Transformers. Since a prototype version with different colours (grey & a brighter purple) appears on the 1985 Transformers toy catalogues - see Maz's Astrotrain Article and Maz's Anime Astrotrain Article for pictures - the second would seem likely. Either way he's the first boxed Transformers toy not to be released in another line - he was released at a similar point in time to the 1985 Minibots which were also not available elsewhere first but were carded.
Astrotrain's name derives from his alternate modes so it isn't terribly original. It's like calling Optimus Prime TruckBaseRobot ! What's nice about the toy is that the two modes are one of the oldest and most modern forms of mechanical transport providing a nice contrast.
The Astro part of the name is derived from Astrotrain's Space Shuttle mode, in which virtually every version of the toy comes packaged. The toy gets the space shuttle shape, bar some blockiness in front of the cargo bay just before the nose starts to curve in. What the original version of the toy doesn't quite get right is the colour. The non-opening cargo doors and tail are white but the wing tops, sides of the shuttle and the majority of the nose are purple. The nose cone, wing edges and engines are black while much of the underside of the toy is purple. The front half of the toy, bar the nose and roof, is made from metal. Four wheels on the underside provide motion. It's not a bad Space Shuttle model, but could be improved by a more accurate paint job.
To transform Astrotrain into his second vehicle mode, start by folding the tail fin forward & down into the back of the shuttle. Fold the top of the front of the shuttle forward back,fold the nose back, then close the top of the shuttle again. Fold the wings up to the sides of the shuttle, then fold the wing tips over the top of the toy. Fold the panels along the sides of the front half of the vehicle up, then fold the rear part of these panels back. Stand the toy on it's top with the front facing forward.
The Train part of Astrotrain's name comes from his second vehicle mode as a steam engine. His 2-8-2 wheel configuration is an unusual one, not commonly used on UK railways which makes it lightly that he's modelled on the Mikado class used by Nippon Railways in Japan. Only the front & rear set of wheels actually turn. Like the shuttle, the engine mode is reasonably accurately shaped but again ruined by some odd colouring with most of the engine being purple while the front of the boiler, the metal piece on this mode, is black.
To transform into robot mode, fold each of the fifth pair of wheels forward, then fold the wheel panels up. Pull the front of the train forward and stand on the front of the train with the top facing forward. Fold the wings back from round the side of the top of the robot, the fold the engines down onto the robot's back revealing the head. Fold the arms up and out to the sides, then fold them down at the outer shoulder joint. Fold the tail fin out of the chest and slide it up the body until the tip of the tail is level with the face. Split the tail in two and fold each half out to the sides.
Astrotrain's robot mode isn't ruined by colour like the other two. We have a white robot, with black & purple legs and purple wings with black edging. The read has a yellow visor over it's face and a red stripe over the top of the head which partially hides some of the moulding detail on the top of the head. He comes with a very long purple gun which can be held by what looks like a 2mm peg. The holes are moulded through the top of his hands which are at the end of some disproportionately short arms. The prototype which mentioned earlier appeared to have extending arms, inside mounted fist holes and Blitzwing's weapons ! His shoulders have all the toy's articulation: they shrug up at the body and turn at the shoulder on, what I'm pretty sure is a first again for Transformers, a ball and socket joint which allows the arm to turn and movement to the sides. Unlike the majority of the early boxed Transformers he has no missile launcher.
As well as being the first new Transformer boxed toy, Astrotrain's also the first train mode toy, indeed the only train mode for all of the original western run of Transformers, and the first Space Shuttle alternate mode. Astrotrain's not bad forms in any of his three modes and there's no real problem that a recolour wouldn't fix. Could do with bigger arms though.
Astrotrain was released in the western toy markets in 1985. This version of Astrotrain was sold as the second version of Japanese Transformer 48 in 1985 - see bellow for details of the first version. This version of Astrotrain has been reissued once in 1992 as part of the gold boxed European Transformer Classics.
Astrotrain received an update in the Classics toy line, retaining his space shuttle mode, gaining a newer train mode as bullet train and getting a highly articulated body. Astrotrain is also the name of a Transformers Collectors Club repaint of Armada Jetfire. This toy was originally meant to be a Universe exclusive but got shelved for many years until it was picked up by the fan club.
Japanese Astrotrain
Astrotrain is one of the earliest Transformers to show a major difference in their Japanese releases - Soundwave is packed with a different cassette, Megatron can fire bullets, has a sword and no scope/stock. The shuttle mode is almost all white, with a black underside while the train mode is all black both of which are a huge improvement. The vehicle mode colour changes give the robot white wings, but additional changes are found on it's head loosing the stripe and swapping the visor colour from yellow to red. The gun, previously purple, now is black.
This much improved version of Astrotrain was sold as the first version Japanese Transformers toy #48 in 1985, being replaced at some point by a version identical to the western one above - Maz's Astrotrain Article has pictures of boxed versions of both.
Happily he was reissued in Japan in 2004 as Transformers Collection #11 and released in the USA as part of Transformers Commemorative Series IX alongside Ricochet, a western version of the Jazz repaint Targetmaster Stepper. These should have been a TRU exclusive but ended up being sold off to discount stores. So those wanting a more authentically coloured Astrotrain are now able to find one reasonably cheaply.
Anime Astrotrain
Anime Astrotrain is an interesting beast. Ostensibly it's based on the colours Astrotrain has in the Transformers cartoon. Those colours are in turn based on the colours used on the prototype version seen in Maz's Astrotrain Article - there's also Maz's Anime Astrotrain Article especially about this toy. Essentially this is a straight colour swap carried out on the Japanese version of the toy: white becomes grey and black becomes purple. There are a couple of slight tweaks: the shuttle engines are painted silver and the rear shuttle wheels are a bronze colour. The head reverts to the paint scheme used on the original western version.
I can see the desire to own an Astrotrain that looks like what you see on screen. But for my money the standard Transformers Collection release looks miles better.
This version of Astrotrain was an E-Hobby exclusive in 2004 as a companion piece to Transformers Collection #11 Transformers Collection #11 Astrotrain
The anime colours seen here are used on Henkei Astrotrain, the Japanese version of Classics Astrotrain. Since they're so different I have both in my collection. You can never have enough Decepticon Warriors.
