Salt-Man Z

Salt-Man Z is an Autobot from the Generation 1 continuity family.

¡El Salto, El Robot Con Cara De Plata!

Salt-Man Z hits hard and fast, using his drills and beta-ray gun to destroy anything he can't knock down. He has yet to meet the thing he couldn't break.

He has a distant Decepticon cousin from Argentina.

Fiction

There's where he's been hiding all along!

TransTech

Salt-Man Z was seen - alongside a handful of familiar faces, one very familiar in particular - among the inhabitants of the multiversal hub city of Axiom Nexus as Skyfall and Landquake wandered the streets discussing the events of the previous day. Transcendent: Part 4

Toys

Transformers

Estrela

He breaks everything as a coping mechanism for not knowing how to fix himself. (Blue/red version missing leg decals)

• Salt-Man Z (Salt-Man, 1985)

• Accessories: "Beta-ray gun"

Originally released only to the Brazilian market by Estrela, Transformers Salt-Man Z is a redeco of Jumpstarter Twin Twist, transforming into a Cybertronic twin-drill tank via a very simple, one-step process. His vehicle mode features a pull-back motor which propels him forward; after a short distance, a latch on his body releases his spring-loaded legs, and the weight and momentum flips Salt-Man Z up onto his robot-mode feet. A small lever on the back of his head adjusts the timing of when his head hits the floor, and thus his kickoff angle, hopefully making this gimmick work better.

Albeit not a frequent occurrence, it is also not totally uncommon for this latch to break, rendering copies of the toy untransformable: thus, prospective buyers looking for this figure on the secondary market (or any Jumpstarter-derived figures for the matter) should pay attention as to whether or not the small black pin on the right side of his chest is intact.

Like most South American Transformers of the era, he was available in a pair of color schemes: in black limbs/yellow torso (as seen on his box art) and blue limbs/orange-ish red torso, the latter being identical to one of his original Diaclone variants. Like the original Jumpstarters, both versions of Salt-Man Z and his wave partner Salt-Man X are relatively affordable on the secondary market, being commonly available in Brazilian sites like Mercado Livre.

Also like most of the South American Transformers, Salt-Man Z has poor-quality paper decals that are prone to losing their adhesiveness in short order. Thankfully, his sticker designs are identical to their original Hasbro counterparts, thus; they can be replaced either by original decal sheets or aftermarket repros like those of Toyhax.

This mold was also used to make Robot-Man Z.

• More information on Salt-Man Z at TFU.info

The Transformers mold: Twin Twist
Hasbro: The Transformers Twin Twist IGA: Transformers Twin Twist Twin Twist (red face) Estrela: Transformers Salt-Man Z (black & yellow) Salt-Man Z (blue & orange) Antex: Transformers Salt-Man Z (blue & yellow) Salt-Man Z (black & white) Generation 2 Robot-Man Z (black & white)

Antex

GaaAAaahHHhh, someone get me glue, I'm losing all my detailing!!! (Blue/yellow version missing multiple decals, note the later-run unchromed rifle on black/white version)

• Salt-Man Z (Salt-Man, 1985)

• Accessories: "Beta-ray gun"

Argentinian company Antex would also later release Salt-Man Z in the same year, decoed in two entirely new color combinations: with dark blue limbs/yellow torso and black limbs/white torso (the latter of which seems considerably rarer than the former). The box features art and images of the Estrela versions on the box that were not provided by Antex, a commonality across all Antex Transformers as it seems that their boxes were simply directly photocopied and translated from Portuguese to Spanish.

Some Argentine versions of the Salt-Men have unchromed silver-plastic rifles rather than the normal chromed version, presumably this was a late-run change

The two Argentinian Salt-Men would later be re-released by Antex without any changes as Robot-Man X and Robot-Man Z under the Generation 2 toyline, retaining the unchromed rifes from later runs.

Notes

Maybe the real Salt-Man Z was the friends we made along the way.

• Salt-Man X and Salt-Man Z's names are based on "jump" in Portuguese and Spanish, saltar being the verb and salto being the noun.
• As with other figures in the first batch of Estrela and Antex Transformers releases, Salt-Man Z does not feature any insignia in either his body or packaging, thus leaving it up in the air whether he's an Autobot or Decepticon - however; given that he shares his red packaging design with the other Generation 1 Autobots, the common fan interpretation (and this wiki's default placement) is that he is an Autobot. His later Antex Robot-Man Z reissue would feature the Decepticon logo on the packaging, thus making that specific version a Decepticon instead.
• Oddly, the commercial for the Salt-Men features kids playing with the original Twin Twist rather than Salt-Man Z, as well as Topspin rather than Salt-Man X. The same commercial then shows the Estrela Salt-Men with their unique Brazilian decos, presumably shot in the same studio set, so... It's up to your imagination as to why they used the American counterparts of these figures for the action shots.
• While there's never been a modern Hasbro figure directly based on any of the Estrela / Antex exclusive Transformers offerings during the 1980s, the Legacy "Diaclone Universe" version of Twin Twist just so happens to feature the blue and red paintjob that was also one of two color combinations available for Salt-Man Z in Brazil (and the only color scheme from any of the Salt-Man toys that directly matches their Diaclone predecessors). It is unknown whether this was a deliberate choice on part of Hasbro to double their Diaclone homage as also a small tribute to the South American market or merely just a fortunate coincidence, but regardless, it is up to you to repurpose him as Salt-Man Z if you wish!