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Oh, well, I guess this is just going to be one of those lifetimes.


interests / alt.toys.transformers / Re: Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive Tonkanator

SubjectAuthor
* Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive TonkanatorZobovor
+- Re: Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive TonkanatorGustavo Wombat
`- Re: Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive TonkanatorGustavo Wombat

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Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive Tonkanator

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Subject: Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive Tonkanator
From: zmf...@aol.com (Zobovor)
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 by: Zobovor - Sun, 9 Oct 2022 20:46 UTC

I love the G1 toys so much that I will even buy wrong-colored versions of them that have had the wrong names assigned and which are working for the wrong faction.

I am convinced that the Transformers team at Hasbro was spitballing ideas for the Collaborative crossover toy line. They've managed to work out licensing deals for vehicles from Top Gun or Ghostbusters but have been less successful working things out in order to bring us Transformers versions of iconic media vehicles like the TMNT Turtle Van or K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. Some of the IP property holders just don't want to play ball. I'm absolutely certain that somebody suggested a Transformers/Tonka trucks crossover as a joke, and somebody probably came up with the name "Tonkanator," and everybody laughed for like three minutes, and then they realized why the hell not, because Hasbro owns the Tonka brand so there would be absolutely no legal kerfluffles in actually bringing such a thing to the market.

And I spent money on it (it's actually the first Collaborative toy I've bought), so evidently it really was a good idea on some level.

So the packaging is very similar to the Devastator gift set that Walmart was selling in 2018, with the biggest difference being the color of the trade dress (Autobot red this time instead of Decepticon purple) and the box art being modified to reflect the new yellow coloring on the toys. Tonkanator's box art includes a big, red Autobot symbol on his chest and visible Tonka logos on his steam shovel arm and payloader leg and cement truck leg. The photoshoppery was not entirely complete, as there is still evidence of green colors reflecting off the vac-metal chrome parts on his upper legs. The individual robot art was likewise changed to add Autobot badges and fiddle with the coloring, and tiny Tonka logos are visible on three of the robots (with the Tonka logo on the steam shovel fellow mirror-imaged). Everybody's eyes are red, though, which makes it hard for me to perceive these guys as Autobots.

Back of the box has the same 1985 battle scene we're all familiar with, including such oddities as the red Tracks (who has now been christened Road Rage) and the dark blue Whirl and many, many Deluxe Insecticons (who may become suddenly relevant in the coming year, if Mark Maher has anything to say about it). The Tonkanator tech specs are in the classic G1 style, but are written in five languages so there's only room for a quote ("Enemies don't stand a chance when you're built for the toughest jobs!") and a single line of text listing the characters who "combine to form the mighty Tonkanator!" His function is warrior, the same as Devastator, and his stats are STR 9, SPD 6, INT 8, FPW 8 (we only get four categories nowadays).

All labels (factory-applied and consumer-applied) are metal foil, with the old Decepticon badges swapped out for Autobot symbols. Seeing Autobot insignias on these toys is so weird and wrong. But, in my mind these could be hypothetical, pre-"Secret of Omega Supreme" versions of the Constructicons. (Yes, I know they still wore Decepticon badges in that episode. But, they were also Earth vehicles millions of years ago on Cybertron. Shut up.)

There is no Autobot symbol for the center of Tonkanator's chest, as seen in his box art, unless you misappropriate one meant for one of the little guys.
(Interestingly, there is no sub-group given for these guys. They're just Autobots. Not Constructibots, not Tonkabots, nothing like that.)

AUTOBOT MEGA DOZER

Bonecrusher has become Mega Dozer. (Some of these guys get the "Autobot" prefix in front of their names, and some don't.) As a bulldozer he's schoolbus yellow, similar to the G2 Constructicons released in 1993, but with a dark, charcoal grey as a secondary color instead of purple. Mine came misassembled, and the right robot arm was flopping around loose behind the bulldozer in the plastic tray. I've seen photos of the Tonka logo inside the bulldozer scoop being upside-down, but on the final product it's right side up.

There are some weird paint applications I wasn't expecting—the black combiner connector on his back is painted glossy yellow, and the connector parts that allow his arms to meet his body are spray-painted a gunmetal color. It seems unnecessary and weird, and smells like a case of "we had a paint budget, so we're going to spend it whether it makes sense or not."

There are some elements that are changed from G1 which were present in the Walmart version of Devastator, like the screws for the ankles being replaced with flat bolts (which no longer match the faux screws on the hips). These are the first G1 reissues from Walmart with no rub symbols on the toys..

POWER DIGGER

The Scavenger toy has been repurposed as Power Digger. Again, mine came in the box dismantled, with the left robot foot rattling around in the plastic tray underneath the toy. These molds are just falling apart, and I don't think any amount of tinkering is going to bring them back to their original Diaclone standards. The Diaclone Construction Robo set was first sold in Japan in 1983, and it's insane that these are still being sold in the year 2022.

Tonka has been making steam shovel toys since the 1950's, but there have been plenty that closely resemble Scavenger's shape and build, and most of them have even had working treads. It's arguable that the Construction Robo version was even loosely based on these popular toys, so in some ways we have truly come full circle.

In steam shovel mode, he's yellow with charcoal grey treads. There is a red Tonka logo on either side of the machine, on what will become the robot arms. The instructions show you equipping both Bonecrusher/Mega Dozer and Scavenger/Power Digger with a chrome drill, but the set only comes with one drill. So, to equip them both at the same time, you'd need to borrow a Mixmaster piece or something, but it doesn't fit well in the wrist launchers. I can't imagine reducing the parts count by one drill saved them an enormous amount of money. I think it might have been an oversight. (There's no description of what comes in the box, but it likely would have just been something like "six vehicles, labels, accessories").

The red eyes are just weird. They make him look evil. I assume this was left over from the previous color mapping, when the goal was to make the Constructicons a bit more cartoon-accurate.

MOTOR LOAD

Our friend Scrapper has become Motor Load. He's a very vibrant yellow and reminds me strongly of the G2 version. His twin Tonka logos are above each of his rear wheels. There have been Tonka toys of front loaders in the past, but they usually have a great, big handle near the front for kids to manipulate the shovel, and the ones I've seen have had hazard stripes on the sides (which has never been part of Scrapper's heritage deco).

In robot mode, Motor Load has yellow arms and legs but a charcoal grey torso. The sensor on his forehead is silver and his eyes are red, but his mask remains black, like the rest of his head. They managed to make him look even more sinister than the Decepticon versions we've gotten!

Scrapper originally came packaged with the Devastator chest armor, which was repurposed as a "power wing" that he could wear, ostensibly so he could fly in vehicle mode. This version has the same functionality.

AUTOBOT SKYHOOK

Hook is now Skyhook. The same division of mold parts is present here as with the Walmart reissue, where the windows on the front cab windows (purple on all versions of Hook, the same as his chest) are a different color than the windows on the rear cab that operates the boom arm (black on the Walmart toy). Now, since the secondary color is a dark charcoal, the difference is less noticeable. The Tonka logo is on the left side of his crane arm.

Most modern Tonka brand crane trucks have been of the more contemporary variety, with four large tires and looking more like Robots in Disguise Hightower; you have to go all the way back to vintage toys from the 1980's before they begin to resemble Hook in any shape or form.

Hook's original "attack mode" saw his handheld pistol mounted near the side of the front cab window, and the Devastator head module mounted to the center of the truck with the side-mounted gun poised to strike. This version is designed to achieve the same look. The Autobot symbol stickers are notably smaller than the traditional Decepticon badges, probably meant to better fit on his chest without covering too much of the factory-applied chest label.

Vestigial problems from Takara's reconstruction of these molds remain, with Skyhook having almost no visible lips.

MEGA HAULER

Long Haul is now known as Mega Hauler. When I think of Tonka trucks, a large, metal dump truck is usually the first thing that comes to mind for me. There have been plenty of these through the years, though generally the Tonka version has a black-colored cab and front section. On this edition, the Tonka logo is on the outside of the cab, just below the windows.

Again, we got some weird new paint applications, seemingly for no reason. There are new silver stripes on the robot arms, and the undercarriage rectangular block between the robot arms has been painted glossy yellow. I almost wonder if this was Hasbro's way of getting out of some exclusivity agreement with Walmart—by changing the paint operations slightly, they're technically different toys now.

His gun fits into his right hand very, very tightly, and the plastic is now so soft that I bent the gun a little trying to twist it into and out of his fist.


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Re: Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive Tonkanator

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From: gustavow...@yahoo.com (Gustavo Wombat)
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Subject: Re: Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive Tonkanator
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2022 07:02:28 -0000 (UTC)
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 by: Gustavo Wombat - Mon, 10 Oct 2022 07:02 UTC

Zobovor <zmfts@aol.com> wrote:
> I love the G1 toys so much that I will even buy wrong-colored versions of
> them that have had the wrong names assigned and which are working for the wrong faction.
>
>
> And I spent money on it (it's actually the first Collaborative toy I've
> bought), so evidently it really was a good idea on some level.
>

It also looks really nice. I’m not sure you would have picked it up in a
lesser color scheme.

I stayed away because I don’t love the molds the way you do, and hearing
there are stickers makes that a little clearer. But, I’ve been tempted
because of how good it looks. That’s why I have Urban Camo Ruination.

(Do I have Blistered Skin Ruination? I don’t *think* so)

If they used the Titan molds… I might have gone for it. Definitely would
fall for it if it was sold as six different toys, a monthly series to just
wear me down.

Re: Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive Tonkanator

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From: gustavow...@yahoo.com (Gustavo Wombat)
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Subject: Re: Zob's Thoughts on Target-Exclusive Tonkanator
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2022 07:28:39 -0000 (UTC)
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 by: Gustavo Wombat - Mon, 10 Oct 2022 07:28 UTC

Zobovor <zmfts@aol.com> wrote:

> I am convinced that the Transformers team at Hasbro was spitballing ideas
> for the Collaborative crossover toy line. They've managed to work out
> licensing deals for vehicles from Top Gun or Ghostbusters but have been
> less successful working things out in order to bring us Transformers
> versions of iconic media vehicles like the TMNT Turtle Van or K.I.T.T.
> from Knight Rider. Some of the IP property holders just don't want to
> play ball. I'm absolutely certain that somebody suggested a
> Transformers/Tonka trucks crossover as a joke, and somebody probably came
> up with the name "Tonkanator," and everybody laughed for like three
> minutes, and then they realized why the hell not, because Hasbro owns the
> Tonka brand so there would be absolutely no legal kerfluffles in actually
> bringing such a thing to the market.

I have some hope there are a bunch of lawyers looking at all properties,
major and minor, and will just give up on making sense and going with what
licenses are available for cheap.

Just a completely random collection.

Herbie the Love Bug, Gus The Fieldgoal Kicking Mule, Cujo, Space: 1999
Eagle, Jim Rockford’s Gold Cadillac, one of those weird non-show toys from
Battlestar Galactica, Mr. Ed (remold from Gus!), Bubu from Clash of the
Titans, a dolphin with a suicide bomb vest from Day Of The Dolphin, the
plane from Firefox that you control with thought if you’re thinking in
Russian, etc. Basically a late night viewing of a third rate cable station,
made into a toyline.

I mean, K-9 is just begging for a rabid remold and redeco as Decepticon
Cujo.

Do I love Day Of The Dolphin? No. Would I buy a transformer of the trained
suicide bomber dolphins? Yes, oh god, yes. I think they are trying too hard
for iconic when they could be going after novelty.

And it would give us a lot of random variety. They will stumble onto the
next big thing by accident if they are throwing a lot of random crap at the
wall.

Ok, no one is convinced, but what if you can get a toy from the Vincent
Price “The Fly” that can transform from the big Fly-Human hybrid to the
little one that gets crushed at the end?

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