1985 Japanese Transformers Catalog

I love some interesting paperwork, especially when I've never seen it before. So when I got Astrotrain the other day an unexpected bonus was the 1985 Japanese catalog packaged with him! Since almost all of the 1985 Japanese transformers are identical to their American counterparts I don't own any of them and thus have never had any opportunity to own this particular piece of paperwork.

Front

Back

It is actually quite stunning, and I'm surprised to see that they started the 'vs.' concept so early (the whole booklet is based around it). Other things of interest: Red Alert and Trailbreaker are 'switched' with Red Alert being with the '84 Autobots and Trailbreaker appearing with the '85 ones on the back. Gears and the entire cast of '85 minibots are missing from the catalog (I presume this is because they weren't available in Japan at the time). Soundwave appears to be using the Soundblaster mold (the cassette compartment looks like it has room for two tapes) although this is mind-boggling as Soundblaster wouldn't even be released until 1987. Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet are missing for some reason that I can't explain. And of course Omega Supreme, Jetfire, the Deluxe Autobots, Deluxe Insecticons, Shockwave and Jumpstarters are completely absent as these figures couldn't be sold in Japan under the Transformers brand since they belonged to competing companies with a large presence in Japan. Fortunately that wasn't the case for America.

Also of interest is the fact that the catalog shows both Cybertrons and Destrons on each side, not just one like the American versions. As far as I know this was changed in all subsequent years so that it was just Cybertrons on one side and Destrons on the other.