Editing Estrela

[[Image:Estrela logo.jpg|right|thumb|Making children happy, and parents broke!]]

'''Estrela''' is a popular [[Brazil|Brazilian]] toy manufacturer, being first founded in São Paulo in 1937 and remaining active until today.

They are best known internationally for holding the license to produce and market multiple [[Hasbro]] toylines during the 1980s like [[GI Joe]] (under the localized name of ''Comandos em Ação'', i.e., "Commandos in Action"), [[My Little Pony]] (under the localized name of ''Meu Querido Pônei'', i.e., "My Dear Pony") and, of course, [[The Transformers (toyline)|''The Transformers'']] (under the localized name of, uh, "Transformers"). Although much of the ''Transformers'' mainline was ignored by Estrela, their aforementioned freedom to manufacture their own toys during this time resulted in multiple variants of existing molds - and even some entirely unique ones! - that remained exclusive to the Brazilian market.

Estrela also distributed most ''Transformers'' toylines in the country up until ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)|Cybertron]]'', being later replaced by Hasbro's own Brazilian subsidiary.

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==Overview==
[[File:Estrela_Catalogue.jpg|left|thumb|Being a kid in 1980s Brazil was a masterclass in [[repurposing]]. Red and blue robot? That's gonna be your Optimus Prime! Red sports car? Get used to calling it Sideswipe! Red and white vaguely jet-looking thing? Buy five and you have your Aerialbots!]]
Estrela's approach to localizing ''The Transformers'' was somewhat unusual. The cartoon would only premiere on Brazilian airwaves in 1986, however; Estrela decided to preemptively release their ''Transformers'' line in 1985, a year before domestic audiences had been introduced to the characters. This line was mainly made up of a small handful of [[Mini Vehicle]] and [[Jumpstarter]] molds from the Hasbro toyline, renamed into Robocars and Salt-Man (the ''Salt'' here being a contraction of "salto", the Portuguese word for "jump"), and it was further bulked up by giving most toys two different decos. The fact that there was no known fiction for these figures within the Brazilian market left Estrela to name them after their alternate molds instead - and thus, the [[Bumblebee (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Bumblebee]] mold became known as [[Volks]], the [[Cliffjumper (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Cliffjumper]] mold as [[Carrera]], and so on. The [[Topspin (G1)#Toys|Topspin]] and [[Twin Twist (G1)#Toys|Twin Twist]] molds were also renamed into, respectively; Salt-Man [[Salt-Man X|X]] and [[Salt-Man Z|Z]]. The lack of a pre-established mythology also meant that this first batch of toys did not have faction insignia, instead featuring stickers identical to the original [[Microchange]] and [[Diaclone]] versions of their respective molds. Notably, this line made repeated use of the "[[Bumper (G1)#Toys|Bumper]]" mold (perhaps because of his shared engineering with Bumblebee and Cliffjumper) that was extremely rare in the US, and not released as a Transformer at all in Japan.

Estrela's second batch of ''Transformers'' toys, generally known as "[[Optimus (faction)|Optimus]] vs. [[Malignus (G1)|Malignus]]", are their most well-known outside of Brazil. The six "Robocar" molds were trotted out again, each one getting two new color schemes, but this time they were split into proper good-vs-evil factions. These releases are particularly rare, and even loose samples are expensive, especially the (generally more gorgeous) Malignus.

The line-up was also supplemented by larger toys licensed from other companies which were not featured in any other of the many international Transformers toylines. These included the auto-transforming [[Bat-Robô]] figures with pullback motors (three years before [[Throttlebot|the American line did the same]]) which were sourced from Asahi Tsusho KK's ''Attack Change Machine Powertron'' toyline, the also auto-transforming [[Eletrix]] figures that doubled as rudimentary remote-controlled vehicles (thirty five years before [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#Robosen Collector.27s Edition|Robosen kind of did the same]] with uh, a ''marginal'' difference in quality) which were sourced from Yonezawa Toys' ''Remote Change Robo Series'' toyline, and... This was it, these are all the figures released under Estrela's ''Transformers'' toyline, and also the only ones available on domestic toy aisles throughout the following years as the show premiered. Noticeably absent from this line-up is nearly every single major ''Transformers'' character, therefore depriving Brazilian fans during the 1980s of some of the most important figures like [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Optimus Prime]], [[Megatron (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Megatron]], the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]], the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]], the [[Diaclone]] ''Car Robots''-derived characters like [[Jazz (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Jazz]], [[Prowl (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Prowl]], [[Sideswipe (G1)/toys#The Transformers|Sideswipe]] et al., and many, many, many more. A common part of the experience of being a young ''Transformers'' fan in Brazil, in fact, often involved filling in the ranks of missing characters with [[GoBots]] (which were actually localized twice in the country, first by toy company Glasslite as ''Mutante'' and then by Mimo as ''Convert''), using toys like [[GBWiki:Road Ranger|Road Ranger]] as a stand-in for Optimus or [[GBWiki:Leader-1|Leader-1]] as a stand-in for Starscream!

The fiction of the toyline is... fuzzy. The cardback [[bio]]s for the Robocars are direct Portuguese translations of their base molds' Hasbro bios (with the obvious exception of Bumper-mold [[Sedan (Robocar)|Sedan]]), thus this wiki places those toys as those already-established characters. However, the Salt-Men have unique bios, placing them as all-new characters. Every other toy lacks a bio. While this is not so big a deal when it comes to the Bat-Robo and Eletrix (who have no ''Transformers'' analogues whatsoever), things get hinky when it comes to the Optimus and Malignus, who use the same names as their Robocar forebears; for simplicity (or as close as this can generally get), this wiki treats all of the Optimus and Malignus as new characters. Odder still, since none of the pre-Optimus/Malignus toys or packaging featured any [[insignia|faction symbol]]s, their allegiance is mostly conjecture, but between the re-use of "Autobot" character bios on "Autobot" molds and all of them using the "Autobot" style packaging, plus the lack of any indication in what bios exist that any of the toys are villains, the general fandom assumption (and wiki default placement) is "Autobot".

==Toys==
===''Transformers''===
{| style="margin-left:1em;" width="100%"
|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[Mini Vehicle|Robocars]]'''</u>
<ul class="iconlist">
{{bp-a1|[[Windcharger (G1)#Estrela|Camaro]] (Windcharger)}}
{{bp-a1|[[Cliffjumper (G1)/toys#Estrela|Carrera]] (Cliffjumper)}}
{{bp-a1|[[Brawn (G1)/toys#Estrela|Jipe]] (Brawn)}}
{{bp-a1|[[Gears (G1)#Estrela|Pick-Up]] (Gears)}}
{{bp-multi|[[Sedan (Robocar)|Sedan]]}}
{{bp-a1|[[Bumblebee (G1)/toys#Estrela|Volks]] (Bumblebee)}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''Salt-Man'''</u>
<ul class="iconlist">
{{bp-multi|[[Salt-Man X]]}}
{{bp-multi|[[Salt-Man Z]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[Bat-Robô]]'''</u>
<ul class="iconlist">
{{bp-multi|[[Pick-Up (Bat-Robô)|Pick-Up]]}}
{{bp-multi|[[Turbo (G1)|Turbo]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[Eletrix]]'''</u>
<ul class="iconlist">
{{bp-multi|[[Esporte]]}}
{{bp-multi|[[Jipe (Eletrix)|Jipe]]}}
{{bp-multi|[[Porsche (Eletrix)|Porsche]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top" rowspan=2|[[File:G1-toy Esporte.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Eletrix [[Esporte]]]][[File:Camaro-Purple.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Malignus [[Camaro]]]]
|-
|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[Optimus (faction)|Optimus]]'''</u>
<ul class="iconlist">
{{bp-op|[[Carrera (G1)|Carrera]]}}
{{bp-op|[[Sedan (Optimus)|Sedan]]}}
{{bp-op|[[Volks (G1)|Volks]]}}
|
|width="20%" valign="top"|<u>'''[[Malignus (G1)|Malignus]]'''</u>
<ul class="iconlist">
{{bp-mal|[[Camaro#Toys|Camaro]]}}
{{bp-mal|[[Jipe (Malignus)#Toys|Jipe]]}}
{{bp-mal|[[Pick-Up (Malignus)#Toys|Pick-Up]]}}
|}

==Notes==
[[File:InvasionGalacticaCamaro.jpg|right|thumb|Robots in disguise in disguise.]]
* Estrela's Sedan, Camaro, and Pick-Up were also sold in [[Argentina]] in 1985 under unusual circumstances.  The toys and their bubbles were manually cut off the Transformers branded cards and then attached to new cards featuring the logo "Invasion Galactica" and art of a flying saucer. The original design of the Transformers cards was still plainly visible beneath the bubble, with the distinct red background elements now depicted as part of a newly-drawn fireball.  Collectors from South America have long maintained that these packaging swaps were done by legitimate retailers and toy stores in Argentina, who were attempting to find a way to move their Transformers merchandise during a time when protectionist laws forbade selling products that had been manufactured in foreign countries.  
* In other odd news, reportedly toy company [[Antex]] got the license to release Transformers in Argentina from Estrela, ''not'' from Hasbro directly. Whether or not Estrela actually had the legal right to do so is... questionable. But regardless, they didn't seem to suffer for it.
* Surprisingly, the [[Bat-Robô]] molds were also simultaneously released in Brazil by rival toy company Glasslite as the ''Crash Tron'' figures '''Blocker''' and '''Turborg''', under the GoBots-localized ''Mutante'' toyline.
* Despite still owning the distribution rights to Transformers in the early 2000s, Estrela would also release a small self-branded line of transforming toy robots under the ''Mutantes'' toyline (which, somehow, seems to bear no relation to the previously mentioned Glasslite ''Mutante'' toys) during this time. These were simple bulky figures that'd transform into either die cast vehicles or plastic dinosaurs,  with the molds consisting of basic budget toys repackaged from other non-Transformers toylines that you'd commonly find in budget toy shops during the 2000s.
**Estrela brought back the ''Mutantes'' line again in 2014, eight after their relationship with Hasbro had ended, with the introduction of the dinosaur-based ''Mutantes Dinossauros'' figures. Among these were a Velociraptor and a Deinonychus which, despite being heavily simplified, are nonetheless very clearly molded after the engineering of the original ''Beast Wars'' [[Dinobot (BW)/toys#Beast Wars|Dinobot]] toy <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqaPbruw8Nw</ref> - meaning that yes, Estrela technically became a [[Knockoff|bootleg]] distributor, albeit only briefly! The extent to which they were even aware of the similarities between these figures and the Hasbro originals is debatable since again, as with their first batch of ''Mutantes'', these were simple repackages of common budget toys licensed from other companies, but it is nonetheless interesting that a company would have both a relationship with Hasbro and yet also distribute Transformers knockoffs throughout their history. Even crazier that they were [[GiG|not the first to do so]], and [[Simba Dickie Group|neither would they be the last]].

== See also ==
* [[Antex]]
* [[Multibrink]]
* [[:Category:South American-original characters|Category:South American-original characters]]

==External links==
* [https://www.estrela.com.br/ Estrela (official site)]
* [http://www.toyarchive.com/Transformers/Brazilian/Transformers.html Brazilian Transformers] at the Super Toy Archive

==References==
{{reflist|1}}

[[Category:Companies]]