Salt-Man X

Salt-Man X is an Autobot from the toyline portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Not pictured with his teammates Pepper-Guy Y and Vinegar-Dude Z in their Condimentron gestalt form.

Salt-Man X doesn't know the meaning of the word "impossible". He relentlessly searches the skies for enemies at supersonic speeds, catching them by surprise with his gamma-ray gun.

He also has an evil twin from Argentina.

Fiction

Transformers (Estrela)

Salt-Man X apparently fought in a skirmish also involving Topspin and Cliffjumper. Jogo dos Transformers packaging art

Toys

Transformers

Estrela

A true seasoned veteran. (Rifles not pictured, some stickers missing)

• Salt-Man X (Salt-Man, 1985)

• Accessories: "Gamma-ray gun"

Originally released only to the Brazilian market by Estrela, Transformers Salt-Man X is a redeco of the Jumpstarter Topspin, transforming into a Cybertronic spaceship. He features a pull-back motor in vehicle mode that propels him forward on smooth surfaces; after a short run the latch that locks his spring-loaded legs releases, causing him to flip forward and into upright robot mode. 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 red limbs/white torso (as seen on his box art) and green limbs/white torso, the latter seemingly being the more common variation of the two. Nonetheless, like the original Jumpstarters, both versions of Salt-Man X and his wave partner Salt-Man Z are relatively affordable on the secondary market, being commonly available in Brazilian sites like Mercado Livre.

Also like most South American Transformers, Salt-Man X 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.

The Transformers mold: Topspin
Hasbro: The Transformers Topspin IGA: Transformers Topspin Topspin (red face) Estrela: Transformers Salt-Man X (red) Salt-Man X (green) Antex: Transformers Salt-Man X (green, chrome gun) Salt-Man X (green, no chrome) Generation 2 Robot-Man X (red & yellow) Robot-Man X (green & white)
Takashi Matsuda

Antex

Immune to everything except long-term cardiovascular problems arising from high blood pressure. (Unchromed rifle variants)

• Salt-Man X (Salt-Man, 1985)

• Accessories: "Gamma-ray gun"

Argentinian company Antex would also later release Salt-Man X in the same year, decoed in both the original green limbs/bright-white torso combination and an all-new red limbs/yellow torso version, and once again, the latter seems to be the rarer combination. The box features art and images of the Estrela versions on the box (including the red/white combo 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

• 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.
• The promotional catalogue for the toyline featured box art of Salt-Man X in his original Topspin colors, rather than those of either of his two redecos. Eventually, this was changed by the time that the figures actually hit shelves.
• As with other figures in the first batch of Estrela and Antex Transformers releases, Salt-Man X 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 X reissue would feature the Decepticon logo on the packaging, thus making that specific version a Decepticon instead.