Diaclone

File:Diaclone-GRB logo.jpg

Di...a...cloooooooone!!!

Diaclone (ダイアクロン Daiakuron) was one of two Takara toy lines (the other being Microchange) from which the earliest Generation 1 Transformers toys came.

The Diaclone toyline was first introduced in 1980, but it was not until March 1982 that toys with alt modes based on realistic, present-day vehicles began to appear as part of the "Car Robots" sub-line. The first one was the Diaclone predecessor of Sunstreaker, whom Hasbro now considers the first fully-fledged transforming car-to-robot toy ever designed.<ref name="hof2010">Hasbro press release for the 2010 Transformers Hall of Fame inductees</ref> Its vehicle form was based on an older Takara toy, the "Cosmo Countach" from the Microman "Micro Command" sub-line released in 1978, which transformed into a half-robot, half-car hybrid.<ref name="command">"Micro Command" toys, including the Cosmo Countach</ref>

Before the Transformers brand was introduced, Takara directly exported some Diaclone toys to North America under the brand names Diakron and Kronoform, but those lines met with very little success.

In 1983, Hasbro representatives discovered Diaclone and Microchange toys at the Tokyo Toy Show, and soon struck a deal to create the Transformers brand.

The 1984 and 1985 Autobot Cars, 1984 Decepticon Planes, 1985 Dinobots, 1985 Constructicons, Trainbots, Omnibots, Powerdashers, Jumpstarters, Blitzwing, 1984 Optimus Prime and 1986 Ultra Magnus toys all originated from Diaclone.

When Transformers proved an unqualified success, plans for a 1985 Diaclone line were scrapped, and Transformers was imported to Japan in its place. These aborted toys, which would have been part of a sub-line called Jizai Gattai ("Free Combination") were then incorporated into the Transformers toyline in 1986 as the Aerialbots, Stunticons, Combaticons, Protectobots and Metroplex.

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Toy range (incomplete)

The following list covers all Diaclone releases that were later rereleased as Transformers, Diaclone molds with no Transformer releases are generally not listed as they fall outside the purview of this site.

Baku-Ten Attack Robo

Released in the Transformers line as the Jumpstarters.

• Drill Tank Type — Available in two decos. Dark blue limbs with grey chest or dark blue limbs with red chest. (Transformers releases Twin Twist/Salt-Man Z/Robot-Man Z all utilized completely new decos)
• Jet Type - Available in two decos. Dark blue chest with red limbs or dark blue chest with grey limbs. (Transformers releases Topspin/Salt-Man X/Robot-Man X all utilized completely new decos)

Car Robots

Maybe they died when the Ark crashed?

• No. 1 Countach LP500S — The Diaclone red deco was changed to yellow for release as Sunstreaker.
  
• No. 2 Onebox Cherry Vanette — The Diaclone black deco was changed to red for release as Ironhide.
  
• No. 3 Countach Patrol Car Type — Not released as a Transformer.
  
• No. 4 Onebox Ambulance Type — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged for release as Ratchet.
  
• No. 5 4WD Hi-luxe — The Diaclone black deco was virtually unchanged for release as Trailbreaker. The Diaclone version was also available in blue and yellow decos.
  
• No. 6 Honda City R — The Diaclone silver deco was virtually unchanged for release as Crosscut. The Diaclone version was also available in red. This mold was later redecoed as Screech.
  
• No. 7 Fairlady Z — The Diaclone blue deco was changed to silver for release as Bluestreak. The Diaclone version was also available in silver with a black hood.
  
• No. 8 4WD Wrecker Type — The Diaclone red deco was changed to green for release as Hoist. The Diaclone version was also available in blue.
  

• No. 9 Honda City Turbo — The Diaclone blue deco was virtually unchanged for release as Skids. The Diaclone version was also available in black and red decos.
  
• No.10 Fire Engine — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged for release as Inferno. This mold was later redecoed as Artfire.
  
• No.11 Fairlady Z Racing Type — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged for release as Smokescreen.
  
• No.12 J59 Jeep — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged for release as Hound. This mold was later redecoed as Detritus.
  
• No.13 Police Car Fairlady Z — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged for release as Prowl.
  
• No.14 Porsche 935 Turbo — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged for release as Jazz. This mold was later redecoed as Ricochet.
  
• No.15 New Countach LP500S — The Diaclone red deco was virtually unchanged for release as Sideswipe. The Diaclone version was also available in black and yellow decos, which were later used for Deep Cover and Tigertrack .
  
• No.16 F-1 Ligier JS11 — The Diaclone blue deco was virtually unchanged for release as Mirage. A red version was also available as a Diaclone.
  
• No.17 Battle Convoy — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged, except for some decals on the trailer, for release as Optimus Prime.
  
• No.18 Lancia Stratos Turbo — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged for release as Wheeljack. A remolded version served as the inspiration for Marlboor Wheeljack.
  
• No.19 New Countach Police Car — The Diaclone police deco was changed to a fire chief deco for release as Red Alert. The original deco was later used for Clamp Down.
  

What, no TF love for Powered Buggy?

• No.20 Crane — The Diaclone deco was virtually unchanged for release as Grapple. This mold was later redecoed as Hauler.
  
• No.21 Corvette Stingray — The Diaclone red deco was changed to blue for release as Tracks. The Diaclone red deco was released as Tracks in Europe and later as Road Rage.
  
  
• Powered Convoy — The Diaclone deco was reversed for release as Ultra Magnus. The Diaclone version was also available in a chrome deco. The Powered Buggy accessory was excised from all Transformers releases.

Construction Vehicle Robo

There were two Diaclone releases available. There were many coloring differences between the two but only the most obvious are listed below. All six received new green and purple decos for release in the Transformers line. The same molds were also released during Generation 2 with the green changed to yellow and, later, orange.

• No. 1 Bulldozer - Orange in both versions. (Bonecrusher)
• No. 2 Power Shovel - Orange in both versions. (Scavenger)
• No. 3 Shovel-dozer - Orange in both versions. (Scrapper)
• No. 4 Truck Crane - Red in version one, blue in version two. (Hook)
• No. 5 Dump Truck - Red in both versions. (Long Haul)
• No. 6 Concrete Mixer - Red in version one, blue in version two. (Mixmaster)

The Combiner pieces were predominately blue in version one and red in version two.

Dashers

The Dashers were released in Transformers as the Powerdashers. They were only available via mail-order and Robot Points, and never even got individual names!

• Sky Dasher (Cromar)
• Drill Dasher (Zetar)
• F-1 Dasher (Aragon)

Dinosaur Robo

Ohh, so that's where his color scheme came from.

The Dinosaur Robo molds became the Dinobots in Transformers. Duh. All of the TF releases had softer plastic in certain places. There were also several differences in decos between the Diaclone and Transformers versions, mostly the replacement of blue paint with red.

• Tyrannosaurus (Grimlock)
• Triceratops (Slag)
• Brontosaurus (Sludge)
• Stegosaurus (Snarl)
• Pteranodon (Swoop)

Double Changers

The Double Changers were released as the Omnibots, and like the Powerdashers, were only available via mail-order and Robot Points.

• Ferrari BB (Overdrive)
• Savanna RX-7 (Camshaft)
• Celica XX (Downshift)

F-15 Robo

The F-15 Robo mold was the source for the Seekers. The black and purple deco used for Skywarp was created for the Transformers line, and was never available as a Diaclone. The decos and remolded wings for the Coneheads were also original to Transformers.

• Acrobat type (Starscream)
• Super-high-speed fighter type (Thundercracker)

Insecter Robo

In Diaclone, these were mechs used by the Waruder, the "bad guys" of that universe. In Transformers they were released as the Insecticons with new purple, black and yellow decos. Much later, the Diaclone decos were released as the e-HOBBY exclusive Insecticon Clones.

• Kabutoron (Bombshell/Salvo)
• Battas (Kickback/Shothole)
• Kuwagatler (Shrapnel/Zaptrap)

Train Robo

The Train Robo molds were only released as Transformers in Japan during the Headmasters franchise as Raiden and his individual components, the Trainbots. There were two color variations released for the Diaclone line, making 12 individual trains total. Numbers 7-12 are much rarer and were never released as a giftset.

• No. 1 Tōkaidō 0 Series Shinkansen (Shōki)
• No. 2 EF65-1000 Blue Train (Getsuei)
• No. 3 Tōhoku Jōetsu 200 Series Shinkansen (Yukikaze)
• No. 4 Tōkaidō Main Line 153 Express Train (Suiken)
• No. 5 L-Limited Express 485 (Seizan)
• No. 6 DE10 Diesel Locomotive (Kaen)
• No. 7 Tōkaidō 0 Series Shinkansen Metallic (Silver Liner)
• No. 8 Limited Express EF76 (Battle Liner)
• No. 9 Doctor Yellow 922 (Yellow Liner)
• No. 10 Yokosuka Line 113 (Miracle Liner)
• No. 11 Sleeper Express 583 (Thunder Liner)
• No. 12 DE10 Diesel Locomotive Transparent (Crystal Liner)

Triplechangers

Only the Jet Fighter Type Triple Changer was ever released in the Transformers line, but the Helicopter Type made a cameo in a Dreamwave comic. Astrotrain may have been in development when the change to the Transformers brand occurred.

• No. 1 Jet Fighter Type (Blitzwing, purple and beige deco/Overcharge, original Diaclone dark green and white deco)
• No. 2 Helicopter Type

Fiction

Animated cartoon

Wyatt Toys advertised Diaclone and Microman toys for sale in the Detroit Powell Press. The AllSpark Almanac

Notes

• Designs from Diaclone were plagiarized for the Korean animated movie Diatron 5 (다이아트론5), which is currently haunting Walmart dollar bins as Space Transformers.
• Like Transformers after it, Diaclone was also released in other countries, in some cases licensed to other companies:
  • Takara themselves had a short run on the US market under the name Diakron, featuring three toys that were later released as Transformers in different colors.
  • Italian company GiG initially released toys under the name Diaclone, but soon changed it to Trasformer [sic] in a blatant attempt of cashing in on Hasbro's success with Transformers without obtaining a second license, featuring a blend of Diaclone toys and elements original to Hasbro's Transformers line.
  • French company Joustra released the toys under the name Diaclone in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, featuring a blend of Micro Change and Diaclone toys with unique packaging designs and origin stories, but eventually sporting factory-applied Autobot or Decepticon stickers due to production reasons.
  • Takara themselves released toys in Finland under the name Diaclone, sharing elements of the packaging design with GiG's Trasformer line. This release is notable for a unique black version of the Corvette Stingray (pre-Tracks).

See also

• Pre-Transformers
• Diakron
• Kronoform
• Micro Change

External links

• Diaclone.Net
• Diaclone at the Pre-Transformers Page

Footnotes

<references/>

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