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.

Fiction

TransTech

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

Salt-Man Z was seen among the inhabitants of the multiversal hub city of Axiom Nexus. Transcendent: Part 4

Toys

Transformers

Someone get me some glue, I'm losing all my detailing.
(Antex blue/yellow version shown)

• Salt-Man Z (Salt-Man, 1985)

• Accessories: "Beta-ray gun"

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.

Like most South American Transformers of the era, he was available in several color schemes. Brazilian company Estrela released him 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. Antex released him in Argentina in both blue limbs/yellow torso and black limbs/white torso (the latter of which seems considerably rarer than the former)... despite showing the Estrela decos on the box.

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, one that would carry forward to the later Antex Robot-Man X and Robot-Man Z releases of these toys.

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.

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)

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.
• 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!