The Energon Pub

Fri Sep 17, 2010 6:49 am

I recently have a aquired a set of Stunticons, MOSC. On the back of the card they say they were "Made in Macau and printed in Hong Kong." What's the difference between that and "Made and printed in Japan"?

News Credits: 5 · Fri Sep 17, 2010 7:30 am

Very few toys are made in Japan. They outsource manufacturing just like the US does.

News Credits: 129 · Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:02 am

Fred's Variquest Info wrote:Well, here's the short version. It has to do with the original pre-tf line of toys that the transformers are made from. Toys such as Microman, Diaclone, etc were recycled from the Takara corporation, and phased into the Hasbro transformers line. At several points, old molds/overstock from those lines were used in America before these molds were fully retooled/replaced and the parts changed to accomodate Hasbro's use of them. That's why you have a Hound with a Takara-only stamping, versus a later Hound with a Hasbro-Takara stamping. In addition to WHEN a toy was produced, you have changes made to the stamping based on WHERE the toys were produced...Japan, China, Macau...even Brazil Many, many changes have occurred to the manufacturer-stampings over the decades...and we should be thankful for it Because if they hadn't, we wouldn't be able to tell which version our Sideswipe was(Diaclone, G1, G2, euroClassic, or Reissue).

Read more: http://www.oocities.com/futuristgroup/v ... z0znMD1HLN

TLDR: The Macau stamping is noting the production location. It means nothing essenetially and is no need for concern over authenticity.

Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:05 am

Someone has been trying to tell me that the Made in Macau printing on the card is also going to mean that the chestplates on the Stunticons won't be metal, it will be plastic. I find that hard to believe since it was just outsourcing, why would they change up the materials?

News Credits: 2 · Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:25 am

I can't say for sure, the only things Fred mentions about Macau stamped 'cons is that the sword may not be chromed, the eyes in Menasor's head may not be painted, and the kibble is a lighter purple.
That said, the '85 and '86 toys started to transition away from die cast, so if the production was moved to Macau later in the run, there's a better chance they won't have metal parts.

Fri Sep 17, 2010 12:49 pm

Does that make the figures any less valuable or desirable? Also, I noticed that the sticker packets inside under the figure looked like they were taped to the card, inside the bubble. Was that a common practice to keep them in place?

Maybe I should mention I only have the four cars, not motormaster.....yet.

News Credits: 5 · Fri Sep 17, 2010 6:38 pm

As a quick rule of thumb, Made in Japan tend to have die cast metal while the latter release such as Made in Macau tend to have all plastic e.g. Bruticus Giftset, Protectobots (except Groove & Streetwise), etc.

Usually this subject Macau vs. Japan come up when the collector wants to verify whether the figure has die cast metal or not. In term of authenticate, both Macau and Japan are legit/official.

For me, I tend to want figure made in Japan. But if the figure never comes with die cast metal like most season 3 characters, then I get either Japan or Macau.