Pictorial Review of G1 Region Exclusive Double Punch

Very nice! I love being able to see good solid pics of rare Transformers like this. Good find!

Wow, these look cool! This is so cool that you got these, I wonder how hard the search was

How did you go about getting these guys, Will? Do you just search EBay for “Rarest Transformers Ever” and seek out the lowest price?

But seriously do you?

Nice!

I just got a Botcon Double Punch the other day from eBay for a really good price (just about ultra class retail price + tax). It popped up for auction with a buy it now option as I had already been outbid on another Double Punch. It ended up selling for over double what I paid for mine lol. So it's really nice to see some pictures of the figure it was based on.

Are you sure you don't mean neon pink stingers, Wil?


BlackZarak's scorpion head looks alright with the cover plate on, but the eyes on Double Punch are better executed.

Who'd you get these from? Bill Gates? o.O

Oh nice! European-exclusive TFs are a fascinating area- we got some really crazy stuff. Double Punch might be my favourite out of the Action Master Elites, I feel like he "works" the best, and even the kinda lazy "two tailed scorpion" thing works. I wouldn't mind a new-mold update to him actually.

The most outrageous thing about Double Punch isn't that he and his comrades are rare or (most likely) super expensive. No, no. It is the fact they are Transformers who can't transform, but can transform. WHAT MADNESS SPAWNED THIS???

I kid, though. From what I have seen these are pretty cute little figures, with a neon 90's palate to boot.

These comments are fantastic.

Ok so to answer some questions of how i came to own them:
A friend of mine found them in his local geek store. It has both new and old action figures. In that store were those 4 action master elites. My friend got a good deal for them so when it came time to sell them to raise funds I bought them off him for a a bit more than what he paid but still better than any price I have ever seen these at. It was still the most money I ever spent at once on TFs.

I recently acquired a complete set of the rarest Transformers fouresome of all time, the Europe and Australasia exclusive Action Master Elites. These were four new molds made in an Action Master subline that actually Transformed, and since they were never released in North America and never redecoed into anything else, they are today the rarest Transformers molds out there released by Hasbro, especially in a complete states since some of them come with several accessories which are made to be removed as part of the transformation.



With so little in terms of images out there, especially of the vehicle modes, I thought it would be a good idea to show you these toys, one at a time, and go over each of their modes along with their gimmicks, and finally have a review out there for each.



Today we will look at Windmill. Three of the four Action Master Elites are shrunk down versions of towering robots that had already come out but Windmill is the only fully original design.





The robot mode has a nice asymmetry going on in the limbs, with only one foot and one hand, which you don't see on Action Masters. He is also not as neon as the others, with a more traditional blue, reminds me a bit of Slugslinger's G1 toy, with the visor. While he is more original than all the others, that means I don't really have anything to compare him to. He comes with two rotor blades which combine to form one rotor for his alt mode.















While he has the most complex transformation than any of the four Action Master Elites, since it deals with changing his axis of orientation, the result isn't better. It might be worse. He becomes a very gappy helicopter. It can look good at some angles, but you will see the illusion fade below.









His gimmick is that the rotor rotates when you press the yellow button. While the kibble he had instead of a right foot in robot mode works now in vehicle mode, that big laser canon he has for a hand makes no sense here. It looks like the helicopter has a giant zit.





While he has the most interesting transformation of all four, this is my least favourite. It's like they were being too ambitious with the transforming Action master concept that they tried too much and it just didn't land.

Wow, that helicopter, it's certainly, well, I mean, it's really just...

...it certainly is there, isn't it

Also, congrats on acquiring these, you should have Seibertron over so he can make full galleries for these guys

You know, done right with some modern tech I think Windmill's transformation could be done well. I like the asymmetric look and think it's a design worth a revisit. I also really like the giant laser canon in copter mode, it's its best feature.

Emerje

It just hit me now that Double Punch's deco seems like a mixture of those of both Scorponok and BlackZarak, with the torso, legs, and face being black and gold like BlackZarak, while the arms, toes, and helmet have Scorponok's pinkish purple and green. The blue scorpion legs, meanwhile, could arguably be attributed to Scorponok as well, since his gray was colored blue in some of the old Marvel G1 comics.


As for Windmill, I get what they were trying to do for his helicopter mode, but design seems like it was too ambitious for what the toy's budget would allow, resulting in, well, that (and which GoBots Coptur did better with less ambition).

Y'know which TF his copter mode reminds me of, from just 2 years prior?

Crossblades https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... es/2360/1/

And 3 years prior, there was a G.I.Joe named Windmill. Could Hasbro have actually been concerned about maintaining the trademark? Pretty sure his second and third figures were from Funskool and the Collector's Club, well over a decade later.

And while I normally hate asymmetry (many basic and deluxe Transmetal 2s I never have and never will bother with), this guy really makes it work in bot mode! And the rotor weapon is reminiscent of Autobot Pretender Sky High. https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... gh/2294/1/

It's funny how if something is rare we ignore how terrible it might be. Windmill's alt mode is hideous. Bot mode isn't much better. But it is cool to have things that most other people in the world don't. Congrats on that.

Hellscream9999 wrote:Wow, that helicopter, it's certainly, well, I mean, it's really just...

...it certainly is there, isn't it

But it's soooo ridiculous that it's like-able in a way. Kinda like an ugly dog.

Is it safe to assume that Double Punch may have been the inspiration for the McDonald's Transmetal Scorponok figure? Because I'm definitely getting that vibe, here.

I recently acquired a complete set of the rarest Transformers fouresome of all time, the Europe and Australasia exclusive Action Master Elites. These were four new molds made in an Action Master subline that actually Transformed, and since they were never released in North America and never redecoed into anything else, they are today the rarest Transformers molds out there released by Hasbro, especially in a complete states since some of them come with several accessories which are made to be removed as part of the transformation.



With so little in terms of images out there, especially of the vehicle modes, I thought it would be a good idea to show you these toys, one at a time, and go over each of their modes along with their gimmicks, and finally have a review out there for each.



Today we will look at Turbo Master. Yes, that is his actual name. And while a Turbomaster also reffers to a different Transformers subline, he is not part of that line. Instead he is an Action Master which transforms. Three of the four Action Master Elites are shrunk down versions of towering robots that had already come out and this is an homage to Bruticus. It is a pretty faithful one when it comes to the main body and face, with the limbs streamlined and symmetrical to one another to make it more like an action figure.





His colours are more flamboyant than even G2 Bruticus with lilac and pink all across the toy. He has the most accessories out there and thus is the hardest to get complete. Not only does he have double blade weapon (which become wings in alt mode), he also has two rotors which clip to his shoulders in robot mode. He also has two rotating tail fins at his feet which are removable pieces.







Each of his fists have 3 small holes, one above, one below and one front and centre (to be used in alt mode). This allows you to either give him a sword in each hand or make a double blade weapon. There are two gimmicks associated to his wrists and they work in both modes. Simply by moving one arm up or down, both wrists will turn. Also, by pressing the yellow button in his back, cleverly disguised as one of Bruticus' two back cannons, both wrists will rotate furiously. Any enemy near him would be cut to bits in seconds, like the henchman Indy fights by the plane in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Of course, the four accessories are interchangeable so you could give him rotor fists if you wanted to.







For any IDW fans out there, he had a tiny appearance in MTMTE 12 where he fights against Ultra Magnus (he is in the background on the right):



Turbo Master transforms into a vertical take-off, Osrpey type, vehicle with wings. The transformation for all Action master Elites is nothing to write home about. In this case you just need to rotate the tail fins, turn his head, bend his knees and point his arms up. Then you attach the wings and rotors where they should be. Below you will see images of him with and without the wings attached, since the Osprey alt mode works better without the wings. Personally though, I much preffer with wings since it just makes it look so much more bonkers. The part of the transformation I find particularly clever is the head turning around since the window details in back of the head line up perfectly with the alt mode details already present in the vehicle mode chest so that the front looks uninterrupted. Pushing the yellow button in alt mode will make the rotors spin.















The robot mode is clearly the star this time, especially with all the display and equipment options, while we have had some non combining Bruticus components in the past, it is really unique to see what looks like a combiner design (Bruticus in this case) Transforming from a full combined robot mode into one alt mode.

Cool for collectors even if this was the era of scraping the very bottom of the barrel. I remember seeing a couple of these in stores and a friend did buy the Scorponok-esque one mainly cos he'd missed out on G1 Scorponok which I owned even though by that point I'd put most of my Transformers away cos I was in secondary school and thought I had to try be grown up and NEVER PLAY WITH TOYS AGAIN. I guess these have some kitsch appeal with their funky colours and such. But europe getting these certainly didn't make up for missing out on Omega Supreme or Swoop or Shockwave or the Predacons or Fortress Maximus or any of the other far more important characters we missed out on for some reason or other.

Excellent acquisitions Will ...I've actually seen these for sale at conventions before. Not sure if they are the *rarest* Transformers ever, but I'm not going to steal your thunder with debate, because I know I'll never have these. The seller was from the UK and was asking an outrageous price, said he was "happy to go home not selling them"...I wondered though why offer them at all then? Just keep them in your collection and dont offer to sell them.

I mean I've sold things before I didn't want to part with out of necessity, and sold them for nno more than what the market demanded. But if I don't want to sell something (whether it has collector value or not...) I simply dont sell it. After all, it probably wont happen, but you never know when some crazy rich guy will come and actually give you what you ask. Sure it's nice to have all that money, but knowing the item you had was so rare, you cant simply buy it again, is kind of foolish IMHO

As a neat tidbit, one of the discarded ideas for a Fun Pub exclusive that never got passed the idea stage was an Action Master Elite version of Bruticus redecoed from Turbo Master:

Also, Turbomaster was revived as a concept for BotCon, plus had a mockup displayed at Pete's Robot Convention 2017:



The source figures are:
- TR Highbrow (body)
- TR Blowpipe (head)

Unbelievable how well he works.

Soo, a Transforming version of a Non Transfrming figure that doesnt Transform and is in fact made up of smaller figures that Transform. That about right?

I heard about the other Action Master Elites except for Double Punch. He looks really cool. Thanks for sharing.

The rotating blades totally look like Dinobot's rotating weapon. Except Dinobot is way cooler.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Also, Turbomaster was revived as a concept for BotCon, plus had a mockup displayed at Pete's Robot Convention 2017:



The source figures are:
- TR Highbrow (body)
- TR Blowpipe (head)

Unbelievable how well he works.

And his Titan Master was named "Take-Off" on the mockup's nameplate.

EunuchRon wrote:The rotating blades totally look like Dinobot's rotating weapon. Except Dinobot is way cooler.

Eh, they're the wrong shape and too flat for that in my book.

But somebody else does have twin blades shaped like Turbomaster's: Cybertron Sideways.

Sabrblade wrote:As a neat tidbit, one of the discarded ideas for a Fun Pub exclusive that never got passed the idea stage was an Action Master Elite version of Bruticus redecoed from Turbo Master:

Thats intetesting for several reasons. First it means these molds are accessible. Second, i dont know if this is before or after images surfaced showing that Hasbro had plans for a Bruticus action master (seen below). It would have been cooler if fun pub would have done the limbs to be coloured differently rather than symetrically.



And O Supreme, there are rarer TF toys out there, for sure, especially if you get into exclusive redecos from Takara and the like. Thats why I made sure to only reffer to the molds being rare. As far as i know, these complete is as rare as it gets for molds from Hasbro. I might be wrong but for the sake of my own pride I will keep thinking that till shown otherwise
I think the reason they are not as expensive as some other less rare TFs is because they are so unknown by a bulk of the fandom, and thus there isnt as much demand. How much was that british chap selling them for? 200$ a piece.

Alsi, i am sure you will like tomorrow's gallery

william-james88 wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:As a neat tidbit, one of the discarded ideas for a Fun Pub exclusive that never got passed the idea stage was an Action Master Elite version of Bruticus redecoed from Turbo Master:

Thats intetesting for several reasons. First it means these molds are accessible. Second, i dont know if this is before or after images surfaced showing that Hasbro had plans for a Bruticus action master (seen below). It would have been cooler if fun pub would have done the limbs to be coloured differently rather than symetrically.

Looking at the mockup, it looks like what they were going for was Blast Off-colored lower arms and Vortex-colored upper arms, what with both arms having rotors on them. I can only imagine that the legs were each a similar mix of Swindle and Brawl based colors (we can see a hint of yellow on one of the legs at the very bottom of the image, there).

Though, I can also imagine the concept not going forward because of the mold's probable lack of availability. The mockup above is likely a digibash rather than a hand-painted sample, as the Maccadam/Alchemist Prime mockup in the same image is. The digital-painted mockup was very probably done as a proof-of-concept for Hasbro to see if it could work, but would have turned down if the mold wasn't available. I can't say for sure without just going over to The Allspark and asking Jesse Wittenrich about it directly, but that's just my guesses.

Thanks!
Anyone ready for a final pictorial review?

I recently acquired a complete set of the rarest Transformers fouresome of all time, the Europe and Australasia exclusive Action Master Elites. These were four new molds made in an Action Master subline that actually Transformed, and since they were never released in North America and never redecoed into anything else, they are today the rarest Transformers molds out there released by Hasbro, especially in a complete states since some of them come with several accessories which are made to be removed as part of the transformation.



With so little in terms of images out there, especially of the vehicle modes, I thought it would be a good idea to show you these toys, one at a time, and go over each of their modes along with their gimmicks, and finally have a review out there for each.



Today we will look at Omega Spreem. Three of the four Action Master Elites are shrunk down versions of towering robots that had already come out and this is an homage to Omega Supreme. He only has one accessory, a gun, so of the four this one is the easiest to get complete. Oddly enough, this specific toy has been homaged in the past, with the headmaster component of Energon Omega Surpeme being based on this toy's robot mode. And his name (being Spreem rather than Supreme) was homaged in Transformers Animated with Omega S.P.R.E.E.M. being the name given to a small scale prototype of Omega Supreme's conterpart in that universe.









The robot mode is sleek like all Action Masters, with an even better level of articulation and the height perfectly nestled between that of a contemporary deluxe and legends class figure. The colours are super bright with a very neon yellow and hot pink for the chest and face.









Omega Spreem transforms into an excavation vehicle on treads. The transformation for all Action Master Elites is nothing to write home about. In this case you just need to flip his hands so that they become long narrow drill bits, lower the tank treads to the ground and bend him at the waist. While the result is not the greatest, the gimmick really gives the alt mode some credence. By pushing the yellow button in his back, the waist turns rapidly, turning those arm blades into a deadly mixer.













Overall, a very nice robot mode, as expected, but a fun alt mode thanks to the gimmick.

Been waitin' for dis one. So's zat I can be postin' dis vidyo t' share as a complement to yo' review o' Omega Spreem!

Sabrblade wrote:Been waitin' for dis one. So's zat I can be postin' dis vidyo t' share as a complement to yo' review o' Omega Spreem!

Haha, thats hilarious, I didn't know that was a thing. And yeah, I kept him for last because unlike the others, he is rather well known and has been reviewed before.

Sabrblade wrote:Been waitin' for dis one. So's zat I can be postin' dis vidyo t' share as a complement to yo' review o' Omega Spreem!

Omega Spreem! and his womens!. Cue Isaac Haye's Shaft theme!.

Vange1us is still pure awesomesauce.


Never had the AM Elites. But they look kind of fun.

Isn't the head supposed to flip up?

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Isn't the head supposed to flip up?

You cant make his head cannon point forward, there isnt enough clearance. He either slightly looks up or down.

Glad you're enjoying them! Fun reads.

There's just something charming about a Transformers toy that is part of line where the main gimmick is they don't transform, but then they decided that for these four figures, the extra gimmick is that they can transform ... kind of.

ScottyP wrote:Glad you're enjoying them! Fun reads.

Thanks man, and thanks fo the advice!

o.supreme wrote:The seller was from the UK and was asking an outrageous price, said he was "happy to go home not selling them"...I wondered though why offer them at all then? Just keep them in your collection and dont offer to sell them.

It's old adage "everything is for sale if the price is right!" None of my collection is for sale, unless I see an opportunity to sell high and buy low again at a later date. I just did it with G1 C-311 Grand Maximus! Since that seller was international, it seems silly to pay to have items ship from the UK to North America and then back to the UK, but I guess that's how international dealers must work (but that's also part of why their prices are so high). I don't even want to deal with that hassle as a dealer here in the States ... but to each their own and I'm thankful for dealers that like to deal with the hassle of doing an in-person show. I'd rather just sell online! As for your original statement, if the dealer hadn't brought those items, and offered them for high prices, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to sell them and/or negotiate with a customer who was really interested in those items. I absolutely get what the seller did, though that's not what I would've done travelling internationally as a dealer. However, like I said, sometimes you put absurd prices on things just to generate interest in your store (or what you're selling) and that's the price that you're willing to part with something that you really don't want to let go. I have about 10,000 Transformers that I feel that way about. I don't want to sell them, but my entire collection is for sale at the right price. If someone offered me enough money to pay off my mortgage and put me in a good situation to buy a new house that I've always wanted, I'd probably happily ship off my entire collection. But that's unrealistic and non-negotiable and wouldn't happen, so I keep my collection.

Perhaps at one time that might have been an idea. But I personally have had my eBay account for 23 years now. I rarely sell anymore because fees are ridiculous. In the case of a toy show, as you said the cost of shipping all your wares just to tote them back seems illogical, especially now that photo and video online can accomplish a similar purpose. Of course seeing an item in person is always better, just not always practical.

Also after 20+ years of online auctions, I think the people with money to burn has run it's course. Most collectors aren't super wealthy, and those that are, still wouldn't be willing to pay an unreasonable price for something.

Sure everything may have a price for some. But I look at my ever shortening list of wants. I see them.occasionally at astronomical prices, and I just know, if I had unlimited funds, I still wouldn't pay that price, it's just not logical.

o.supreme wrote:Perhaps at one time that might have been an idea. But I personally have had my eBay account for 23 years now. I rarely sell anymore because fees are ridiculous. In the case of a toy show, as you said the cost of shipping all your wares just to tote them back seems illogical, especially now that photo and video online can accomplish a similar purpose. Of course seeing an item in person is always better, just not always practical.

Also after 20+ years of online auctions, I think the people with money to burn has run it's course. Most collectors aren't super wealthy, and those that are, still wouldn't be willing to pay an unreasonable price for something.

Sure everything may have a price for some. But I look at my ever shortening list of wants. I see them.occasionally at astronomical prices, and I just know, if I had unlimited funds, I still wouldn't pay that price, it's just not logical.

As I said above, to each their own. I make the primary bulk of my living selling comic books and Transformers toys online. The Seibertron Store is located at https://shop.seibertron.com . The Seibertron Store currently has just shy of 6,000 items currently listed. I ship out about 600 to 1,000+ packages per month (big range, just depends on what's going on and what's hot and the time of year). People are spending a ton of money online. it's 1000% still an idea. eBay's fees are not ridiculous (after everything is said and done with, my fees per year are 12% which I consider a fair price ... and of course I'd love the fees to be less, but I pay 0% for marketing so it sounds like a fair trade off). That's the cost of doing business. Nothing is free (not saying that you said that, but ebay is a business that provides a platform on which people sell products and they're here to make money). I am well aware of what ebay fees are and a lot of those fees are worked into the prices and/or shipping costs which is just the nature of online sales. I love selling online, not so much a fan of selling in person. It seems like way too much work for me and not on my schedule, which is why I prefer online sales. But I'll staunchly defend online sales and I'll even stick up for my frenemy eBay.

Didn't even know about this thread. I found this thread on my own website on Google oddly, after Googling about Action Master Turbo Master. I thought mine was complete. I had a sun-damaged sealed one a few years back, sold it, but picked up a loose one incomplete that was in essentially brand-new condition yet it was unfortunately incomplete. I forgot about its incomplete status until this morning, when I went to pull out my Action Masters for comparison galleries for the brand-new Super7 Ultimates Transformers figures that just came out. I had completely forgotten about the incomplete status of my Turbo Master. Urgh. A quick search on ebay reminded me why or how I had forgotten about it since it seems like complete samples rarely show up.

I'm impressed that you got a complete one, William-James88. Any tips on where you got yours that I can check out? I'd really like to complete Turbo Master so I can knock out official Seibertron.com galleries of all of the Action Masters.

Thanks again for posting these articles. It's fun to read this stuff and here your thoughts about these figures. I'm not sure I agree about their rarity, but they are rare enough (or at least desired enough) that their prices have always been crazy and the accessories that come with these figures make them challenging to find complete. You've got one complete that I don't have in my 10,000+ Transformers collection.

Well I'm glad to hear it only costs you about 12%. I'd imagine it would make sense also for eBay to incentivize power sellers that sold hundreds of not thousands of items per month. The sad thing is, it didn't used to be that way. Anyone could sell and make a decent profit. Last year I sold a few items, ( less than 10) and it was closer to 30% in fees eBay was charging.

I've actually just thrown away DVDs because it was not worth it to sell them online, or locally. I know vintage toys is a complete different scenario. But yeah it's something that takes years to build to be able to sell

Seibertron wrote:Didn't even know about this thread. I found this thread on my own website on Google oddly, after Googling about Action Master Turbo Master. I thought mine was complete. I had a sun-damaged sealed one a few years back, sold it, but picked up a loose one incomplete that was in essentially brand-new condition yet it was unfortunately incomplete. I forgot about its incomplete status until this morning, when I went to pull out my Action Masters for comparison galleries for the brand-new Super7 Ultimates Transformers figures that just came out. I had completely forgotten about the incomplete status of my Turbo Master. Urgh. A quick search on ebay reminded me why or how I had forgotten about it since it seems like complete samples rarely show up.

I'm impressed that you got a complete one, William-James88. Any tips on where you got yours that I can check out? I'd really like to complete Turbo Master so I can knock out official Seibertron.com galleries of all of the Action Masters.

Thanks again for posting these articles. It's fun to read this stuff and here your thoughts about these figures. I'm not sure I agree about their rarity, but they are rare enough (or at least desired enough) that their prices have always been crazy and the accessories that come with these figures make them challenging to find complete. You've got one complete that I don't have in my 10,000+ Transformers collection.

Thanks! No tips though, it's all just luck and happenstance. My friend Kanrabat found the 4 complete at a local store. He liked them but the novelty wore off and he preferred having the funds for other toys so he sold them to me for 25% more than he had found them.

As for my statements on rarity, I'm not sure. Maybe there are rarer molds out there, which other Hasbro exclusive mold is rarer to have complete in one's collection? Are there other region specific toys like these that never got redeco'd? There are rarer toys of course, but those typically are redecos of more easy to find molds. What's kinda nuts about these is these are the only versions that exist and they come with lots of easy to lose accessories.