G1 Astrotrain

Astrotrain is one of the few G1 toys in my collection that isn't a reissue. I got him in a trade with a local collector. Other than a loose leg joint (which makes it difficult for him to stand), the toy is in really good shape, especially after adding some new stickers from Reprolabels. It really can't be stated enough how much their stickers bring old TFs back to life! I didn't get the gun, but that's OK because somehow I ended up with Astrotrain's gun in a loose bunch of G.I. Joe accessories a while back. And I actually remember looking at it and thinking "that looks like it could work for Astrotrain" (this was before I knew what the gun looked like; I had a beat-up toy earlier that I didn't pay much attention to). From what I understand, Astrotrain was going to be a Diaclone triple changer, but by the time he would've made it to production, the Transformers was already in full swing, so he just became a TF right away. The Japanese release makes more sense colour-wise, being mostly white and black...however, I prefer the Hasbro colours since they're what I remember from 1985. It still surprises me how small these toys actually are, especially compared to modern TFs. Astrotrain is not much taller than G1 Jazz. Of course, an in-scale Space Shuttle toy would be impractical (as well as screwing up the train mode's size), but if the toy was a little bigger, it would have helped emphasize Astrotrain's ability (shown in TF: The Movie) to have a bunch of the Decepticons transported in his shuttle-mode cargo bay. Anyway, the toy itself looks good; each mode is convincing (even the old-style steam locomotive), and the character was so cool in "The God Gambit" that I usually have him on display at all times on my TF shelf, in various modes at various times. Perhaps the fact I don't have a G1 box for him is part of that, however...