Diablock
Diablock (ディアブロック Diaburokku, an abbreviation of "Diamond Block") is a line of Japanese construction toys manufactured by Kawada Co. Ltd. These are centered around interlocking bricks, with their most well-known foray into international markets being the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Nanoblock|{{#if:||Nanoblock}}]] series. They released a handful of Transformers sets in partnership with TakaraTomy over the years.
Notably, beyond the standard and Nanoblock releases, they actually had an entire planned subline of Transformers sets that unfortunately didn't make the cut.
Releases
[edit]Standard-sized sets
[edit]
Diablock's mainline releases are notable for their lack of partforming, with the transformation between robot and vehicle modes being fully achievable without the need to disassemble and reassemble any part of the sets (something not seen with Hasbro's first attempt at a construction toyline and neither with most releases in its follow-up). This results in some very distinctively compromised vehicle modes... But then again, most Built to Rule! sets also had both compromised robot and vehicle modes on top of extensively using pre-molded "cheat" pieces, so that's that.
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers
[edit]Animated
[edit]Nanoblock
[edit]
Nanoblock sets are, as their name suggests, built out of unique bricks that are significantly smaller than their larger Diablock counterparts. Kawada released a pair of Transformers sets in this scale, with both of them tying into Takara's Choro-Q toyline and featuring remote-controlled functions.
Notes
[edit]- Needless to say, Diablock sets are heavily based on the traditional LEGO construction block system. However, unlike most other "LEGO-inspired" construction block toylines (such as Hasbro's Built to Rule! and Kre-O), Diablock actually features an entirely unique interlocking mechanism that isn't compatible with their Danish counterparts.