I just picked one up from a forum member on a different board. Man, this guy is cool. He's very Laser Rod Optimus Prime. His bot mode is very solid and fun. I wish the missiles would lock into place in his launcher. they just rattle while hanging out in the launch tubes.

 

And can we talk about how he has a sticker on his sticker sheet that says Texas on it?!? For a toy that would never see the USA, how funny is it that a state from the USA would be on the sticker sheet?!

 

Very cool toy. He will join Skyquake in my G2 Decepticon case.

I'm not familiar with this toy. Is this the same figure as Car Robots/R.I.D. Black Convoy/Scourge, with a different trailer? If it is, the figure is definitelybonenof my favorite molds.

No he doesn't use the G2 Laser Prime mold. Clench is from the European exclusive Turbomasters line. He is hte leader of the Predators.

 

Here is a link to his bio at TF Wiki

Clench is from the European exclusive Turbomasters line.

 

incorrect,Both Pyro & Clench are from the "Obliterators" sub group.

 

Back in the 1990's I owned Both G-2 UK Pyro & Clench. Pyro/spark had two names on his box. Clench/collossus as had two names on his box. the two names for each character was probably some weird multi language thing on the boxes. originally tthese figures came out in the late G-1 UK Exclusive toy line. then both figures were re-released for the UK G-2 toy line.

 

I owned both of them. I never cared for spark/pyro because he had less poseabilty. I liked Clench/Collossus better because he had more poseabilty & had a cooler sculpt.

 

I sold both Pyro & clench because they weren't poseable enough. this is when I purged my TF toy collection of all brick formers. in favor of only decently poseable TF toys.

 

during 1997 when Kaybee stores got some exclusive UK molds for machine wars. like Skyquake who got recolored into starscream. thunderclash who got recolored into optimus prime. that UK tank/bot that got recolored into soundwave. that uk helicopter that got recolored into sandstorm. cancelled g-2 basics that became MW Basics. That huge diamonds previews book thats sold in comic books stores,had a listing for wave 2 machine wars which was Rodimus Prime & Shockwave,. most TF fans guessed that rodimus was going to use the pyro toy mold while shockwave was going to use the collossus toy mold. machine wars didn't sell that well at Kaybee so wave 2 was cancelled.

Cool!!!! Thanks guys!!

Cool!!!! Thanks guys!!

 

Not a proble, I still need to pick him up, but Skyquake is first, as I already have Starscream and King Atlas. So I kind of need the original.

I got Clench/Colossus back in 1993... didn't bother with Pyro though. At the time I only wanted one Obliterator and I chose Clench. Glad I did though considering Pyro's infamous GPS. To this day Clench remains in great condition - a very well constructed toy. :)

 

Seriously. he's rad for a 90's Transformer.

Seriously. he's rad for a 90's Transformer.

 

Just as long as he's not carlos for a 90's TF. That would be too much.

Seriously. he's rad for a 90's Transformer.

The early to mid 1990s actually produced some pretty neat Transformers that got overlooked because Transformers was a dwindling franchise at the time. And the way G2 started with odd repaints of G1 figures served to further repel people away from the franchise; but we did get some interesting G2 toys afterwards - but unfortunately it was too little too late to save the franchise (thankfully Beast Wars came along and saved the day ;)). Some other memorable figures include:

+ The Scopemaster gimmick on the Predator jets. Skyquake's carpet bombing gimmick was neat too - too bad they neutered it in MW Starscream (and probably King Atlas too).

+ Thunder Clash's Mega Missile gimmick. Yes, that toy suffers from awful pastel colours, but it's a FUN gimmick! :D

+ 1994/95 saw the dawn of Transformers as articulated action figures - with toys like the Cyberjets, Laser Rods, Laser Bikes, Combat Heroes, Laser Optimus Prime etc. Beast Wars may have standardised/expanded and improved on this concept, but it had its beginnings in mid to late G2.

+ Go-Bots. No, not the Aquaspeeder, the sub group! Simple and cheap little figures with free-spinning axles that allowed for the conservation of momentum. Okay, that's fancy talk for "these toys could free roll and were compatible with Hot Wheels play sets." ;) The fact that HasTak revisited these moulds in 2000-03 as the SpyChangers shows how enduring the concept was. :)

 

Mind you, we did get some awful concepts in this period too, such as:

+ Action Masters. Transformers that don't transform... <double.facepalm> And they're not even terribly articulated action figures either, even by 1990 standards. And those legs pop off so easily when you're trying to make them bust crazy kicks and stuff. If we could point at the one thing that sent G1 hurtling towards its demise, it would have to be this. I'm not saying it's the sole reason why G1 died, but this would have to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Shortly after Action Masters were introduced in the Marvel Comics, the series got cancelled. And 3 years after Action Masters came out, G1 ended.

+ Action Master Elites. Transformers that fold over and claim to transform. That's just insulting. And they're f'ugly. And illiterate (what's a Spreem?!).

+ Let's make everything really bright and day-glo! (even other toy franchises suffered from this, like GI Joe and TMNT... I guess it was all the rage to make everything bright... remember Hypercolour Tee Shirts? ;))

+ Rescue Force -- let's take something as epically awesome as Breast Force, and release them in the Hasbro market... without Lio Kaiser's head. Or breast partners. Oh, and no Hellbat or Gaihawk - so no chance of forming Autobot LioKaiser! DAMN YOU!

+ New Constructicons -- ooh, Constructicons now in yellow and purple... but they can't combine?!? Wut?? Okay okay, enough with these gestalts that can't combine... surely there can't be any more...

+ Motorvators -- Brainmasters but without the parts to form Road Caesar! FFFFFUUUUUUUUUU---!!

+ G2 Power Masters... epic fail. Never bought any of them. I kinda want Ironhide now, just cos he's Ironhide. But otherwise... I'm not regretting passing them up when I saw them pegwarming at TRU.

 

So yeah... we had a real mixed bag at that time of some good toys, lots of crap toys (the worst thing about Action Masters was that they dominated the toy line -- it's not like say Robot Replicas which were just a small sub-line; the majority of movieverse toys _do_ transform); and largely just mediocre toys. Like the Axelerators, Skyscorchers, Turbomasters/Cannonmasters, Lightformers, Trakkons etc.; they're nice enough toys, but they weren't spectacular. And considering that the TF franchise was on the downturn, it really needed more captivating toys. But perhaps kids just weren't interested in buying vehicular Transformers anymore. Hasbro's research showed that kids were more into animals at the time, which is why they went with Beast Wars -- and hey... can't argue with the results there! :D

 

Seriously. he's rad for a 90's Transformer.

 

Just as long as he's not carlos for a 90's TF. That would be too much.

Jackpot! :P