IGA

Using lead paint long before China started to make it a trend.

Plasticos IGA, S.A. (often referred to as simply IGA) is a Mexican company that held the license to manufacture and market Transformers toys in Mexico and Central America during Generation 1.

History

Lead paint makes Devastator's eyes bleed.

Beginning in 1985, IGA introduced a wide variety of Mexican-made Transformers toys, including such unique variants as a silver Cliffjumper and a Hoist with the same head sculpt as Trailbreaker. However, the Mexican Transformers toyline sold well below expectations (although some sources indicate that they initially sold well but the hype quickly died down), and in 1986 IGA introduced only Metroplex and a handful of repainted Mini Vehicles before giving up on Transformers altogether.

Around 1989, significant quantities of IGA Transformers were quasi-legally exported to Europe, and these created some concern by not meeting European safety standards; for instance, the Mexican Seekers' nosecones were made of hard plastic as opposed to rubber, and some Mexican toys had lead paint applications. As a result, the toys were opened, the lead-heavy paint (which was apparently primarily limited to yellow eyes) removed and hastily painted over in red, resulting in many specimens with nasty "bleeding eyes", then put back into packaging and rushed to store shelves.

Today, IGA Transformers are prized by many collectors due to the presence of unusual variants.

Known IGA released toys

Please be advised that the "red eyes" should only appear on imported specimens sold at European retail. Toys purchased at Mexican retail most likely wouldn't have them.

Mini Vehicles Brawn (simplified face) Bumblebee (red, yellow, blue, white, silver) Cliffjumper (red, yellow, blue, white, silver) Gears Huffer Windcharger (no paint on face)		Outback (non-modified Brawn mold) Pipes (all-blue, blue/white; non-modified Huffer mold) Swerve (non-modified Gears mold) Tailgate (white, yellow; non-modified Windcharger mold)		Autobot Cars Bluestreak (no red paint on face, flat grey windows) Hound Ironhide (unpainted diecast shoulder connectors) Prowl (3 variants of "black" Prowl) Ratchet (no hand stickers but red cross on roof; unpainted diecast shoulder connectors) Sideswipe Trailbreaker Wheeljack (different factory stickers)		Grapple (with red feet or corrected orange feet) Hoist (Trailbreaker head) Inferno (reversed arms, then corrected) Red Alert (no red paint on doors) Smokescreen (regular and re-colored unmodified Bluestreak mold)		Los Cylons de México prefieren ser más coloridos.
Jumpstarters Twin Twist (with and without red face) Top Spin (with and without red face)		Dinobots Grimlock Snarl (red eyes, no paint on diecast backpiece connector)		Autobot Commander Optimus Prime (w/ red eyes and w/o, w/ and w/o factory stickers on diecast cab section)		Autobot City Metroplex
Constructicons Bonecrusher Hook (w/ red eyes & w/o on Devastator head) Long Haul Mixmaster		Scavenger Scrapper Devastator (giftset, w/ red eyes and w/o on Devastator head)		Triple Changers Astrotrain (w/ and w/o red eyes) Blitzwing		Decepticon Jets Skywarp (plastic purple nose & landing gear) Starscream (silver, plastic nose & landing gear) Thundercracker (plastic nose & landing gear, dull blue) Ramjet (sparkly red plastic) Thrust (sparkly red plastic)
Decepticon Communicator Soundwave (black painted feet)		Decepticon Leader Megatron (made in France!)

External links

• Mexican Transformers
• Mexican Transformers!
• The Mexican Invasion