This is the quite spectacular Charger/Gong model kit set by Takara and Seven, released in Japan around 1986. "12 Charger" and "15 Gong" were the Japanese Takara designations for Windcharger and Brawn. There are many stunning features to this set, not least of all the giftset-style packaging with both Windcharger and Brawn art on the front. Another amazing detail about this set is that the Brawn kit is in fact based on the Bumblebee mould, and he transforms as such! More on that later.

You can see in the top right corner of the box flap, there is a letter 'B'. That is the set designation. Set 'A' was a versus set of Gears vs Soundwave seen here:

These sets are most likely unused Microchange model kit moulds packaged to be part of the Japanese Transformers line. Many collectors mistake the "TF" symbol as meaning these are Juniors, but that isn't the case. Juniors have a "JR" designation on the box as well. These do not. The text in the blue box on the flap roughly translates as "Plastic model 2-piece set inside". Under the "TF" in the yellow box it says "pachi-pla kit" in katakana which would be on any plastic model. "Pachi" is a sound used for things that snap together, so in other words, "snap-together plastic kit". You can also see the orange Takara sticker in the bottom right-hand corner of the box above the Seven company logo.

The box back features the 1984 boxart and the top and bottom feature some of the same details and graphics as the front of the package. The sides of the box reveal the secrets inside. The most surprising is the Brawn/Bumblebee hybrid which even has a Bumblebee head!! Here's a look at the contents:

As you can see, the colour of the sets are black/red. This is actually one of two available colours for this particular Charger/Gong set. There is another set which is predominantly red with black highlights, and this is the reverse. You might also have noticed that the instruction sheets are mis-labelled. 12 Charger's sheet is labelled as "15" and Gong/Bumblebee's as "12". Just a little mix-up.

The baggies containing the trees for each kit are folded at the end and stapled:

Now moving on to the first of the two kits, the Black/Red Windcharger...and if this isn't the absolute closest an official Transformers product comes to being KITT from Knight Rider then I don't know what is!!

I couldn't believe how good this looked when I put it together even though I had some idea of what a mostly black Windcharger would like like from the keychains and even the unassembled trees from this kit. When you actually see it finished with the red highlights, it becomes something unique and very special indeed.

But let's not jump too far ahead, here is a closer look at the contents of the unassembled Windcharger baggie:

You can see the mis-labelled instruction sheet in more detail here. There is also a small tool on the tree for increasing the diameter of some of the holes just in case the fittings aren't sufficient. Instructions for its use can be found in the bottom-left panel of the front of the sheet. The tiny stickersheet is somewhat redundant because the colour of the window stickers was designed for the first release of this kit, and for that release the main chassis of the Windcharger kit was red. Since the chassis for this second release is black, there's not much point in applying the stickers. Notice however that Windcharger's chest sticker is a Microchange-style chest sticker with the Autobot symbol superimposed upon it.

As I mentioned before, the vehicle mode for this kit is really very striking and a real treat. One of the things that really attracted me to this set was the fact that I could get a very common minibot in colours never really seen before. These sets have been around for ages, but they don't appear very often. I had seen the red/black set assembled before online, but never the black/red. And I must say, this set is by far my favourite.

It's just impossible to look at this black/red Windcharger and not think immediately of Knight Rider. So much more interesting than the reverse kit that would pretty much have been standard TF Windcharger colours. Despite the outstanding looks, the kit itself doesn't fit together perfectly in vehicle mode as you can probably see from the pictures. There are some alignment issues, but then even TF Windchargers were never perfect in that regard. In the last thumbnail you can see that the front wheel is not actually touching the ground. Now this could all be a result of how I personally assembled the kit, because otherwise the quality is actually very good and the joints are tight and he transforms quite well.

While still impressive and sleek, the robot mode is not as visually stunning as the vehicle mode. Because of the predominantly black colour of the torso, some of the smaller moulding details can be obscured unless the light hits it at just the right angle in a photograph. He did have some trouble standing but again, that could be down to the way I assembled the kit. The colour of this Windcharger gives him a very Decepticon appearance, but of course that can be offset with the application of the Autobot chest sticker.

Here is a close-up of the robot head where you can see the detail is still all there, albeit less obviously than a TF Windcharger:

Now, how would one of these model kit Windchargers fit in with the rest of a minibot collection size-wise? The colour of this kit makes it stand out greatly from other Windchargers and he definitely has his own identity beyond that of a straight repaint, but would he fit in?

The answer is that in vehicle mode he is very comparable in terms of size with a regular Transformers or Microchange Windcharger, but as you can see, he is practically a whole head taller in robot mode. This can be traced back to the size of his feet/rear of the car. You might even be able to see in the vehicle mode comparison photo that the black Windcharger kit has a slightly elongated rear end compared to the TF. That difference doesn't really manifest itself too noticeably in vehicle mode, but it does in robot mode. I don't find this to be much of a problem really, just as I won't bemoan the lack of chrome on the kits because despite the above, it still looks great and as I have mentioned in other minibot articles recently; whatever makes a minibot stand out from the crowd of available variants besides a quick paint switch, the better it is for it.

Now, as if KITTCharger wasn't shocking enough, what about the black and red Brawn/Bumblebee hybrid minibot?!?!

Looking equally as sleek (but maybe not quite as sexy) in black as the Windcharger, it may not be immediately obvious that there's something tremendously different about this Brawn other than the fact that it's black/red and a model kit. Well there is, and we'll get to that in a second.

Just as with the Windcharger instructions, the Brawn instructions are mis-designated as '12' which should be on Charger's instructions. Another feature shared with the Charger kit is that the stickersheet colour was not altered from the mostly red first release of this kit set. This can be evidenced by the fact that the window stickers from Brawn are black despite the main chassis of the toy being black as well. The instructions will begin to reveal just how absolutely crazy this Brawn/Bumblebee hybrid looks in robot mode. Nothing beats seeing it in the flesh however...

Even in vehicle mode, some of the hybrid features start to stand out, and if you've never seen this thing before and are very used to TF Brawn and Bumblebee as separate entities, those details will be making themselves known to you. Details such as the front end of the jeep being split down the middle, the headplate at the back of the vehicle and the sideways-moving arm sections. All very very strange and very un-Brawn. One thing that isn't however is the overall appearance of the vehicle mode. It...looks...like...Brawn! And the designation of the set is "15 Gong" so it is marketed as such. You can also see the "M" on the hood, albeit split down the middle now.

It was an absolutely brilliant idea to do the Brawn from this set based on a Bumblebee template, and in crazy new colours as well. It adds so much more appeal and character to a release that could easily just have been interesting for the packaging and little else. Considering all the releases of minibots discovered throughout the world over the last few years though, a Brawn in black with bright-coloured highlights is not entirely unique. There was of course the black Brazilian Jipe with the yellow highlights which you can see here

So in actual fact, the reverse first release of this particular kit could be just as interesting, if not moreso, because Brawn has never been released predominatly in red as far as I know.

The copyright on the Windcharger is pretty much just "(c) TAKARA" but the copyright section on the Brawn hybrid (notice the Bumblebee-style copyright location) also says "MICRO BROWNING".

Well, I've delayed long enough. The robot mode for this Brawn/Bumblebee has got to be seen to be believed...

Absolutely crazy, stuck bang in the middle of being two very familiar characters and being a completely unrecogniseable new character. Not only does it transform exactly as Bumblebee/Cliffjumper/Bumblejumper do, but it's also got Bumblebee's head! So surely there's more of a case for this being Bumblebee than Brawn? The thing is, Bumblebee as a Transformer would have been completely synonimous with a VW Beetle, as he has been ever since. So making him a jeep would have probably seemed more of a stretch than just giving Brawn a new transformation and a different head. In reality, the truth probably lies in the Microchange heritage of this model kit, because if its roots are closer to that of an unused MC kit, then the whole Transformers character recognition thing would never even come into it, this would be just another MC minicar using the head and template of one mecha with the vehicle chassis of another. Whatever the reason for it, it is nothing short of spectacular and truly awesome to behold.

Close-ups reveal details in the moulding of the head and chest that might otherwise have been lost due to the black colour scheme. But there is absolutely no doubt here, this guy has Bumblebee's head, although as Brawn, he has a considerably larger gut than before!

Size comparisons of this Bumblebrawn/Brumblebee with a Transformers Brawn mould and a Transformers Bumblebee (keychain) mould show that he shares the same size characteristics as the Windcharger kit. In vehicle mode he is almost exactly the same size as a TF/MC Brawn, and in robot mode he is a head taller than a TF/MC Bumblebee. The added height appears to come as a result of the longer wheelbase of the Jeep compared to the VW. However, since Brawn is taller than Bumblebee in robot mode anyway, it makes this more displayable in robot mode than the Windcharger kit as far as consistency goes.

Here, then, are the two fully assembled members of this outstanding team together in both modes...

...and with their smaller Kabaya cousins:

Assembling kits such as these is a really enjoyable, if slightly fiddly, experience. The real deals snap together nicely and form secure fittings. They usually look different enough from the regular toys themselves to make the purchases worthwhile, and that is especially true in the case of the black and red Gong/Charger set shown here. This set can be extremely difficult to find, and there are probably more of the first release red/black sets floating about than this black/red set, and even then not that many. If these were widely available, more people would be aware of the existence of the hybrid minibot.

The temptation is, when you pay for something rare and delicate such as this, not to assemble it and keep it in as pristine condition as possible. However, once assembled, the results are so spectacular and satisfying that in my opinion it's absolutely worth the expenditure and subsequently, the assembly. The packaging is really attarctive in its giftset-style approach, the minibots themselves are in brand new colours and display beautifully, the Windcharger is basically KITT from Knight Rider as a TF, the Brawn is an immensely successful hybrid of two well-loved TF pillars character-wise and as a result has a personality all its own. In fact the two of them make a fantastic pair and they look brilliant together and with all other minibots. With so much going for it, this truly is a wonderful and standout set worthy of any collection.

Many thanks to Himawari for the translations, as always an absolute asset. Anonymous credit must go to the provider of the Gears vs Soundwave picture. If the pic is yours please feel free to claim credit or request its removal. Apologies in advance for any invonvenience!

All the best
Maz