Giader

Giader is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

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Giader (ギアダー Giadā) isn't much of a fighter. Not just in that he's not very physically strong, but that he just doesn't like to. He's a helper, and has put his considerable talents to improving the lives of his fellow Beastformers. A skilled psychologist and pharmacologist, he works to identify the source of a person's distress and cook up a solution. He has become the King of Sunatoria, where he can use his talents to help the entire nation. He also has a side gig making perfumes, which have become very popular across planet Beast.

When forced to fight, he uses his Lens Gear (レンズギア Renzu Gia) MVP Weapon's ability to collect and alter scents, tracking foes and releasing odors to throw opponents off-track and disorient them. In particular, he likes to use smells to lead targets into traps, where his subordinate Emperor Crabhit lies in wait.

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

• Giader (Beastformer, 1987)
  • Beast ID number: 24
  • Accessories: Axe

Part of the first series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Giader is pink-furred anthropomorphic weasel with blue robotic armor. His left arm ends in a machinegun barrel. The rubsign on his chest reveals one of three symbols; Fire, Water or Wood.

The Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the figure more commonly comes with orange fur, with pink as a much less common release. It appears that both colorations were sold by Takara, though it is currently uncertain if both versions were available in both Beastformers series, or if it was a clean divide of one color in the Transformers-branded line and the other in the later series, and if that's the case, which color was in which line.

He was re-released in the subsequent second and third series; while the toy proper was not changed, the packaging and packed-in bio card was. The Series 1 release comes in a generic red-grid "Cybertron Beastformer" box, with a red-grid bio card with a painted character image on the front, though there was a random chance of his card being replaced by the rare "Holography Mirror" card. Series 2 came in a green-grid generic "Cybertron Beastformer" box, with the bio card putting the painted image on a jungle backdrop. Series 3's box was unchanged, but the bio card replaced the painted image with a simpler line-art image, first used in Hasbro's Battle Beasts cast poster. In the green-box releases, depending on the "Pack" he came in, there was a chance of his bio card being replaced with a rare "Secret Photo", "Bewitching Serpent Seal", or "VS Holography Mirror" card.

Beastformers

• Giader (Beastformer, 1988)
  • Beast ID number: 24
  • Accessories: "Lens Gear" MVP Weapon

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Giader was given a straight re-release with new packaging and a new, more filled-out bio card with corrected coloring. This new card also gave his weapon, now branded an "MVP Weapon", the name "Lens Gear".

He was sold in two similar-but-different styles of boxes. One wholly-generic version, sold in large display boxes like the Transformers releases, advertised the chance for the included bio card to instead be a rare holofoil card of White Leo with a "Burstsun" rubsign in a baggie taped to the back, so you could apply it to the Beastformer of your choice. The more common version has a slightly different box with a peg-hole in the top flap, and has a sticker on the bottom with his name and role on it.

Late in the run, the "mood ring" styled rubsigns were replaced with new rubsigns that revealed full-color Fire/Wood/Water images on black backdrops. (These rubsign variants also happened at the same time in the Hasbro Battle Beast version of the line.)

• Giader (Gashapon/candy-toy Beastformer, 1988)
  • Meiji ID number: 8
  • Accessories: "Killer Anchor" weapon

A small, super-deformed, articulation-free version of Giader was sold both as a gashapon capsule prize by Takara, and as a candy toy with "chocoballs" through the candy/ snack company Meiji. The candy toy version came with a bio/data card with its own role-playing rules, using the old Transformers-era painted character art.

This stumpy lil fellow could be found in red, blue or green plastic, representing the Fire, Water and Wood elements (even though he still had a rubsign). All of the Meji Beastformers comes with a different Beastformer's weapon attached to their shoulder by a snippable sprue, common for inexpensive toys of that nature. Giader came with Killer Fish's "Killer Anchor" weapon, while Hedgehog came with Giader's "Lens Gear".

Notes

• His 1988 bio card gives him the nickname "Gear" (ギア Gia), and notes he was born on the shores of Lake Snarl.

Foreign names

• English: War Weasel