Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Diaclone Countach LP500S Yellow Sideswipe

Hot on the heels of Bluey, I present Diaclone Yellow Sideswipe or as some call it, Tigertracks (for ehobby reissue)
Well actually, i got the Yellow swipe before Bluestreak, just that was i really excited that i talked about Bluestreak first...
Here's Sideswipe in his yellow outfit...a pretty nice version of the Countach mold, lots of Diecast (which is similar to the regular TF & reissues mold as well, i love diecast, so the extra mention)
This is a nice used piece with used sticker sheet and the Diaclone catalog and instruction sheet. Missiles are off-sprue...a really pretty version i must say.


Nope, i do not have multiples of this moderately rare item...the one which is in the bot mode is the Ehobby Tigertracks (or reissue yellow sideswipe).

 As per all diaclone boxes, there will be a pictorial cross-section of the car....

 Side of the box

Hobby vs Diaclone....

Wit her good'o yellow diaclone driver....

Since there are 2 versions of the yellow swipe, thought i'd show some differences...these differences may have been highlighted in other webbies or forum, but no harm showing again right?

First up, the headlights....diaclone on the right shows the Mis-spelled "Rallye" the reissue shows "Rally" 

Insides of the feet (or behind the feet) Single ridge on the Diaclone (right) and 3 ridges for the reissue (Left)

Under the bonnet: No stamping on the diaclone (right) Hasbro/Takara stamping for the reissue

 Black triangle on the door: Stickered on the diaclone (top) painted on the reissue (bottom)

Rear of the bot: Takara stamping for Diaclone (right) and nothing on the reissue (left)

Chest pegs: Well-rounded on the diaclone (right) Curvature instead of rounded on the reissue (left)

These are the few tell-tale signs to check out for in case someones dumps a reissue into a diaclone box for sale...

Personally i do not see the Diaclone Yellow Sideswipe available for sales that often BUT at the same time, do not see it as one of the highly sort after Diaclones. Perhaps it does not appeal that much to collectors compared to Bluestreak and Marlboor Wheeljack. In addition, there is a reissue by ehobby and the reissue is not exactly too far off. It is actually quite a nice toy to play with and enjoy.
I go the ehobby reissue first and this was sort of an incidental finding....got it off a good friend who feels that i love this more than him...well, i do and this is now sitting proudly in my cabinet...

The Elusive Diaclone Bluestreak.....FINALLY!!!!

July 2015, i managed to snag a loose Diaclone Blue Bluestreak....that temporary satisfied my "thirst" for Bluestreak for abit....it was not long that i started to look for a MIB piece....for the next 6 - 7 months, i have probably seen only 2 pieces up for sales...but the prices ended at ridiculous prices...disappointed, i continued to wait and wait till a nice, reasonably priced piece comes my way...For collecting, most of the time, i would go by: Patience will pay off, there will be a piece that comes along just nice. (okay, sometimes it's hard not to grab that pricey piece but...)
Come March 2016. I FINALLY GOT MY BLUESTREAK.
okay, i'm a Starscream slut and am still looking for a Diaclone Screamer but Bluestreak comes in at a close second if not on par....let's not divert the attention from this piece, one of the highly sought after version of the Fairlady mold.

Nice minty box with no visible scuffles, tears, dents whatsoever....the left flap has a corner sticking out but hey, this is more than 30 years old!

Here's the loose Bluey (Heroic Decepticon my friend, hope you didn't trademark the nic!) with his newly arrived twin brother, trying to show him who's da boss.

Bottom of the box

Top of the box

Back of the box

Side of the box, both sides are similar.

Insert is nice, well-kept totally.

Blue with her Diaclone Driver....

Group shot

The Box Art.

Nice pictorial cross-section 

The un-KO-able blue chrome and the blue translucent roof.

Round (Diaclone or early TF) Takara stamp

and the un-mistakeable 2-tone blue of the diaclone fairlady.

This one didn't come with any papers but really...i'm really satisfied already, like a dream come true.
Missiles are the normal TF version instead of the diaclone missiles.
But everything else is Diaclone. Box, inserts and the toy is minty though used.

oh yes...almost at the same time...i managed to get a Diaclone Clampdown as well...but now let's leave the stage to Bluey!!!

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Favourite Buys in 2015...yes...its late but better than never...

Late, but better late than never right?
These are my 5, or rather 6 favourite acquisitions in year 2015....been wanting to post this but seriously, schedules are tight such that posting here has less priority.
1. Joustra Starscream - Got a piece with a much nicer box and styrofoam. Though its missing some parts.
2. Takara C-108 Targetmaster Artfire MIB unused- broke the bank to get it...sick of waiting and hoping.
3. Takara D-309 Black Shadow MIB unused - Not as costly as Artfire but still had to break the bank...
4. Diaclone Bluestreak - Loose. Got this off Yahoo Japan...1 Bluestreak is never enough...i need more! MIB please!
5. Diaclone Yellow Sideswipe. MIB unused. It's a COuntach what else can i say. Will probably do a comparison with the e-hobby Tigertracks some time soon..
6. Probably my favourite here: Lucky Draw Secret Starscream. Complete MIB unused. This was released in 2001 as you can see that the box is the exact same box for the Takara 22 Reissue starscream. Fully clear body with red metal body. So glad that i was able to get this. According to www.luckydrawtransformers.com, there are only 5 pieces of the secret starscream in the world!