Electric Train and Battle Set
The Electric Train and Battle Set is an HO-scale model train set, manufactured by Tyco in 1985. The set includes a diesel switcher/radar station, a gondola with coal/laser canon, a box car/base, and a caboose/robot condor, all in a matching silver paint scheme with a red stripe. The set additionally includes a number of static Autobot and Decepticon figurines, the buildings for a power plant, track, a cardboard layout mat, and a power pack.
The main focus of the set was the engine and cars. The engine was a slightly modified, working switch engine. It "transformed" into a radar station by lifting a hinged panel on the front-left side of the diesel engine and raising a ball-and-socket mounted concave plank on top; the transformation did not hinder the operation of the engine in any way.
The gondola car came with a plank that represented a pile of coal on one side and a non-firing "laser canon" on the other. The canon was mounted on to the underside of the coal by a small peg which allowed it to swivel horizontally with another hinge allowing it to raise vertically. Swiveling the canon too far to one side or the other without weighing down the gondola car somehow resulted in the car tipping.
The box car unfolded into a decent-sized base in which the included figures could fit. Both sides were identical, except for the spot on top where a box with a concave dish mount could be affixed. The base consisted of two overhangs and two boxes with window slats attached by hinges that allowed for the configuration shown, the windowed boxes to be held flush against the base body, or for the entire thing to fold out into one long box. The couplings for the boxcar mode folded down to accommodate the base mode.
The caboose transforms into a robotic bird. The wheels at the front of the caboose fold down to allow the robot mode to continue rolling on the tracks while giving it a perched appearance.
Interestingly, the cut of the stickers for the caboose only allow for them to be applied with the broad red stripe flanked by the two narrow black stripes on bottom, while the the stickers for the engine bearing the G1 "The Trans Formers More Than Meets The Eye" slogan is only right-side up if positioned with the broad red stripe on the top.
The non-transforming "Transformer" figures consist of five distinct molds in metallic blue and silver, repeated multiple times in apparently semi-random quantities. Which ones are supposed to be Autobots and which Decepticons is in no way indicated, leaving it up for the player to decide how to divvy up the robots.
The play mat depicted a small dam in a wooded area with a road and parking lot. The card-stock power station, plant, and two power line towers were meant to be placed around this, though a convincing layout that also left room for the standard oval-track layout was difficult to achieve.
