The Energon Pub

Hello all!

First post here. Long time reader, first time poster. ^_^ We'll glance over the introductions for a minute, as this topic has been eating me alive!

There's something that's been bugging me for many years now, and I hope that we can solve it together.

I'm talking about the toy of G1 Broadside. Now, we all know that the toy that was released didn't really resemble Broadside in the cartoon and comic.
But there exists a photograph of a completely different toy that precisely resembles Broadside in other media, specifically his appearances in the Marvel UK comic, right down to his colours.

The differences between the two are obvious, but I'll list the main ones for ease of reference:

- He has a "hood" on his back, as drawn in the UK comics.
- His arms are completely different
- His legs have long, plastic wings rather than small diecast ones.
- His torso is a different sculpt, it pinches at the waist.
- His cockpit seems to conceal inside the chest. Again, he was drawn with this torso design in the comics.
- His jet-mode wings are much bigger and more jet-like.
- His nosecone is a comepletely different shape
- He has a new gun
- His head is different, much more Transformer-like.
- His colours [natch!].

And those are just the ones I can see in the small image.

Now, what happened to this toy? Does anyone own it? Has a prototype been found?
And what is the toy that passes for the "real" Broadside? It seems vastly inferior.



Does anyone have any more information on this subject? Am I the only one who noticed or cared?

Peace,

Adam

From TFWIKI.NET:

"Broadside has the distinction of having two animated character models, one based on a prototype toy that apparently went just short of production for some reason, and one based on the actual toy. The prototype design—which could be seen in a European toy catalog, at right—was rendered in animated form only in "Carnage in C-Minor" and the commercial for the 1986 Triple Changer toys, where it featured a different color scheme that appeared to be derived from the actual finished toy (lacking the prototype toy's blue). The prototype design also appeared in the 1986 package art mural, and was consistently used for Broadside's Marvel Comics appearances, colored to resemble the prototype toy, blue and all. The second model, based on the finished toy, appears in "Grimlock's New Brain" and "The Burden Hardest to Bear".

Ah, thank you!

So it seems it's a fairly well-known thing. Although I can't help but wonder what happened to the prototype. I mean, there's unique G2 paint samples that have been found and documented... I would guess that to make it into the catalogue there would be several samples, hardcopies, possibly packaging samples and so on. It's a wonder one hasn't been found yet. ^_^

And the real question is why would Hasbro scrap such a good-looking toy for the grey lump that became the final version?

I would just like to point out that I am not a Broadside fanatic. It's just something I happened to notice.

- Adam

It was a prototype that never saw the light of day. If it still exists, it's in some warehouse in Rhode Island or some ex-employees basement. Sorry, Adam.

On a related note: Fansprojects was planning to do a not-Broadside but we don't know anything about it other then that they were planning it about 2 years ago.

Ah, yes! I remember. Thanks, Zodconvoy!

I guess I shall return to my Broadside Shrine, with only an Armada Tidal Wave and a pot of blue paint to placate me.

I always find the idea of prototypes and suchlike interesting. It's not like I want to buy them or anything, I just love discovering new information about what could have been... and it's funny how with any mystery, big or small, there's always somebody who knows the answer. They just don't know they do.