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!!!

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!

Diaclone Blue Swoop

This is probably the first Swoop mold i ever owned.

One big reason why one should get this: This piece is anime accurate with the blue chest.

Which means if you are a G1 anime die hard, this is the one to get…(along with the canadian red face Slag. Came across this on ebay when i was browsing the diaclones.

Really beginning to fall deeply in love with diaclone molds and pre-rubs.

The molds are really of the highest quality.

There's some stain at the top right corner at the front, otherwise the box is in a very good condition.

Styrofoam insert is in very good condition as well…surprising thing is, there is a diaclone driver included. Checked with a friend and it seems that there should not be a driver for Swoop….so it's like a bonus to have one in there. No harm keeping it right?

Used piece, with applied stickers. Some of stickers actually fell off but figure is in good condition with a little little bit of wear…chromed wings are without chrome wear...

Another though going round in my head…what if this is a K.O?

As soon as i got this on hand, immediately verified all details with a friend who owns an unused piece. Also went to the internet to find out more about KO Swoop.

Fortunately, this is the real deal. I am relieved.

Here, you can see a close up on the wings…nice right?

The next anime accurate Dino would be the Canadian Slag…let's hope i can get lucky once more...

Some purchases over the past couple of months....

It's been awhile since my last blog entry. was busy with work big time.

finally had some time to take some photos, and write about transformer hauls.

Remember the ehobby clampdown and deep cover? the same buddy of mine managed to snag the following Vintage Takara boxed. 38: Blaster; 39: Perceptor and 47: Grapple.

The vintage Hot rod was bought locally at one of the days at CSC.

Nice pieces, really love the styro inserts.

Next up, is a nice European Boxed Headmaster Apeface. Complete with papers and bubble. This was off a friend who is not really into transformers but bought this years ago for some unknown reason…Sold me for cost price at prices probably 5 - 7 years ago. In very nice condition as well!

stuffs bought from ebay…ehobby Silver streak and Gold Jazz.

Still into the G1 1984 Autobot cars, i've been staring at these for quite awhile wasting efforts and missed opportunities, i put m foot down and finally managed to get them both.

Gold Jazz is MISB but for some reason, the Gold has somewhat lost it's shine, becoming a dull shiny gold, not to the extent of matt gold…yet.  Not really a fan of Jazz's mold actually. The title of the best mold til date still belongs to………...

Streak! This piece is MIB with sticker applied. Chrome is nice….and i really love the mold! you'll see later on...

Then comes the bigger prizes….got myself locally the MISB Pre-rub streak and MISB pre-rub Prowl.

For streak, the tape at the sides have dried up and dropped off naturally, the bubble has fell off too…For prowl, the tapes are still intact! a toy, MISB from 1984…coming to about 30 years old!! The bubble has dropped off as well…but i'm not ready to open up Prowl, yet. Streak on the other hand since the tapes has dropped off, i opened it. For more details, i'll share more on a separate post.

Then comes my addiction: Starscream, got this off ebay at a steal, (in fact, all these here are acquired at a steal!! a friend mentioned that i'm recently quite lucky in TF acquisitions! oh yeah!) Complete with complete papers. Pre-rubs are really the masterpiece of G1 TFs. I often refer them to poison, once you own one, you can't stop.

The last piece which i'm going to mention here would be the rarest in this round of acquisitions.

The Diaclone Blue Swoop. Comes in a nice box with a nice insert. Papers are complete as well as the complete toy. Toy is used with the used sticker sheet. Really really happy to lay my hands on one of these.

Really excited about the Diaclone Swoop, and of course the pre-rubs…gosh, i'm really poisoned now…there's a few people i need to blame but i'm not gonna mention names….you know who you are….hahahahahaha

Pre-transformers G1 Joustra Starscream

Pre-transformers Joustra Starscream.

Finally got one of these and at a very reasonable price....still aiming for a Diaclone piece.

Too bad the box is abit crappy, almost destroying the precious artwork.

Styrofoam and toys however, are pristine.

Being a starscream fan, i just gotta have one of these...so Diaclone would be my next target.

Missiles off the sprue, it's ok. But somehow, the seller managed to find a diaclone figure and put it in.

Joustra Starscream has no pilot, so this is like a bonus.

Back of the box is also damaged. Not exactly torn but defaced.

the sticker sheet wit 85% of the stickers applied.

And the sticker instructions are behind the sticker sheet.

A real pity that the comic does not come with this piece.

Took out the toy to play and transform but i guess i was too excited to remember to take some photos of the toy...that is why you do not see pics of the robot and alternate mode.

Next, i embark on my search for a Diaclone Starscream, along with secret starscream, Pre-rub starscream.....