These Transformers seem to get lumped together in a lot of people's minds, even though there are differences. :-) It starts at the top with Brazil, who subcontract to Argentina, with Peru (and south america in-general) coming in somewhere under the radar. Though they share some colors and packaging styles, the minibots (and TF groupings choices) are uniquely different to each country. Read below, and you'll see what I mean. :-) |
 After Transformers conquered the US, they invaded Brazil via a company called Estrela...with some interesting results. Mainly recolored minibots (called, 'Robocars'), and Jumpstarters (called, 'Saltman'). Cliffjumper, Windcharger, Bumblebee, Bumblejumper & Brawn (they didn't lisence Huffer for some reason) were released in different color schemes (depending on series; originally their correct colors, then some pretty oddball ones when they divided them into Optimus and Malignas teams in series) while Topspin and Twintwist came in greens and oranges. :-) Yeek. The toys aren't Takara copyrighted, but instead read "Ind. Brasileira, Made in Brazil" and "Estrela S.A.". However, they are licensed from Hasbro/Takara. Devvi states that there are 4 versions for each car; presumably the original colors, and then the subsequent-release 'off' colors (which also had a package-change from the first series).
     There are mold variants; in-addition to copyright changes, a number of the minibots have mold-injection point changes. Of particular interest is the Windcharger mold, which in the later series has a filled-in chest cavity (compared to the gap on a regular windy):
 The initial-color listing is the original color for the minibot (in any release) :-). Subsequent color listings are the rainbow of colors available, and the approximate order they were available. Here's a listing breakdown of minibots from Brazil. Note the original release colors, followed by the later releases as Optimus vs Malignus factions:
Bumblebee (Volks):
Cliffjumper (Carrera):
Bumblejumper (Sedan):
Brawn (Jipe):
Gears (Pick-Up):
Windcharger (Camero): Twin Twist (Saltman-Z): Yellow Topspin (Saltman-X): Red)
Note that Estrela also released some non-transformer toys under the TF name, including Electrix and Batrobo. Note that TFs weren't exactly a priority for Estrela (hence the year gap between releases). Here's a breakdown of what was offered: Robocars (1985):
Volks (Bumblebee) - VW Beetle, yellow or silver. Salt-Man (Jumpstarters):
X (Topspin) - Red/white or green/silver. Electrix:
Esporte - Porsche 924 Turbo, red. (These were wire-controlled toys with two buttons, one to transform and the other to make it go in either mode). Bat-Robo:
Pick Up - Orange or green. (These were ridiculously stupid looking. Friction-powered cars that, when they hit an obstacle, would transform and roll back to you). Optimus x Malignus (1987):
Volks (Bumblebee) - Optimus - VW Beetle, orange or red. A final note: some of the toys listed up there saw release in the USA, in catagories that we might consider knockoffs. ;-) The radio-control cars, and especially Batrobo...which were called Powertrons in the USA. :-) (Pic)
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 Do NOT confuse Brazil Mini-cars with Argentina ones! :-) That's the first rule. There are fewer Argentina ones. Though they had a couple of similar ones, and the card backs certainly look the same, the key difference is that Antex was in Argentina, while Estrela took care of Brazil. Another interesting thing is that there appear to be more Argentina minis than Brazilain ones... I don't like to make a judgement call like that, but I do note that it's easier for folks to assemble a complete set of Argentina minis than it is the Brazilian ones (but again, that could change in the future).
Estrela (Brazil) licensed the minibot toys to Antex (an Argentinian company which sold minibots). Antex also brought in a number of other, non-Takara toys and sold them under the transformer banner (such as the argentina Radio Robot, and the Electrix cars to name a few). It's interesting to note that Antex Mini-cars are all marked "Antex" instead of Hasbro/Takara. And as we've stated before, the Antex packaging nearly duplicates that of the Brazilian Mini-cars. The theory is that a number of years ago Estrela had a huge slice of the toy market in Brazil, and some small pieces in other South America countries, especially Argentina. And that led to the mess we have today. :-) Brazil leads to Argentina leads to Mexico leads to Europe and the Netherlands, which leads to...well, you get the idea. ;-) It's all horribly, horribly connected. And we'll trace every last one of them. One brief mention on antex: the quality control was less-than awe-inspiring, so you have no real consistancy on the paintapps used on the toys, nor the stickers. One such example is the yellow camaro, which can have at least three different versions: white mask/yellow sticker, silver mask/yellow sticker, and white mask/blue sticker.
 And there were mold changes here, too. :-) Have a look at the backside of your standard Windcharger/Tailgate. There are screws that hold the leg/window assembly in-place. These are not present on the Antex Windy. :-) Gotta love more remolds. Note: Like Brazil, Argentina also released some non-Transformer toys under the tf name, including the Radio Robot (which saw release in the USA, in catagories that we might consider knockoffs. ;-) USA KO version: (Pic)
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Not much is known about the Peruvian Mini-cars. It is assumed a company called Lynsa was responsible for the Mini-cars in Peru, but I've also heard of companies called "Hude" or "Basa" being bandied about. The only picture we have of a carded sample is the orange Cliffjumper (pic below). The molds offered in the Peru line include Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Gears, Brawn, Windcharger and Huffer.
Bumblebee: Yellow, Red, Peach It is interesting to note that these were actually labelled "Transformers" and the toys themselves have Hasbro/Takara copyrights. It is further interesting to note that there is a distinct lack of chrome-paint on them, and no stickers to speak of. ;-) Bumblebee and Cliffjumper come with plastic (not rubber) tires. The molding of these is not up to the same level we associate with standard TFs. Rumor has it that there are 36 possible versions of the Peruvian minibots (we've not been able to confirm quite that many just yet).
A conversational blurb from Autocon members on South American minibots: "Speaking of minibots, reading some of the webpages about them, I've noticed that it's been more or less accepted that Lynsa was the distributor in Peru for the minibots. However, I've talked to a Peruvian collector in the past and he had never heard of Lynsa. He told me that two companies were responsible for Transformers in Peru, namely Hude and Basa. He had some more details, I'll see if I can dig up his e-mail..." Response from another autoconner: "I've heard from several places now that Lynsa was not a Peruvian company. The only firm named Lynsa that I've been able to find is an Argentinian company dealing with equipment for moulding plastic...I *really* want to see a card from a Lynsa toy..." So here we go again. :-)
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