When it comes to collecting timeless, popular and well-loved toys, especially toys not available in my country of youth but available in multiple European countries, I would use the term "rare" with caution. I would exercise even more care when handling words such as "fate" and "destiny". However, once in a while a series of events will unfold over a period of years that will leave you at a loss for any other explanation. I believe that the story of how I came across the 1985 Ceji Joustra "Diaclone" wave 2 Lancia Stratos qualifies as one of those occasions.

I had been collecting and documenting pre-Transformers Diaclones from various countries for some years when I finally dipped my toes into the niche category of Joustra Diaclones. These mainland European Takara-licensed items were famed for their unique and spectacular comic book-style packaging and exclusive backstory created by Joustra. They contained Diaclone and Micro Change-era toys, sometimes even pre-rub Transformers, all in that special packaging. Wave 1 Joustra were becoming more regular on auction sites, but the appearance of a Joustra Jeep (pre-Hound) rocked me to my core and eventually I came across a Ceji dealer's catalogue which showed pictures of a planned second wave of Joustra Diaclones, infinitely rarer than the wave 1 items like Joustra Ligier, Porsche, Robocolt, Caméra Robot and F15.

The items in this catalogue were so rare that 99.9% of collectors had never seen them in their packaging, and some like the Fairlady Racing (pre-Smokescreen) and Camion Grue (pre-Grapple) to this day have not been pictured anywhere in Joustra packaging. Items such as the Camion Porte-Voitures (Powered Convoy) and Corvette (Red Tracks) have turned up for the first time more recently in their Joustra boxes, following the Fairlady Police (pre-Prowl) in 2007. The catalogue also featured, amongst others, Camion Pompier (pre-Inferno), Countach (pre-Sunstreaker) and Lancia Stratos (pre-Wheeljack), all the toys pictured being Japanese Diaclones or Micro Change Series. The actual toys released would have been slightly different, but while Corvette was still red and Powered Convoy retained Diaclone colours, Countach ended up yellow.

Now at that time, to my knowledge only the Jeep, Camion Porte-Voitures and Fairlady Police had surfaced so I was not convinced that everything in that catalogue had seen release. Then, in early 2007, I found and bought this on eBay:

This was irrefutable evidence, in the form of its stickersheet, that the wave 2 Joustra Lancia Stratos (pre-Wheeljack) was released. How did I know this was a Joustra stickersheet? Well, if you look in the top left corner you'll see the stylised "DIACLONE" text that only Joustra stickersheets have, and the rear of the stickersheet shows the Joustra-specific sticker placement map. The auction didn't actually picture the rear, it was the "DIACLONE" logo alone that alerted me to its origins. Compare the above stickersheet to a regular Japanese or Italian Diaclone Lancia Stratos Turbo stickersheet and you'll see the different logo in the top-left corner:

So that was 2007. There was a distinct lack of any serious Joustra discoveries or wave 2 finds, and I became involved in other interests. After attending BotCon 2007, I met my future wife in New York and after a year and a half of flying back and forth between the UK, Iceland and the USA, we moved in together in London in 2009 and were married in 2010. I managed to very loosely keep an eye on the Transformers scene but not really looking for items or even writing for TF-1 any more, and I never heard of any more wave 2 Joustra items surfacing. That all changed in March 2011 when I received word that a UK-based French collector had scored a wave 2 Joustra Corvette (pre-Red Tracks):

This discovery re-awoke my passion and hunger for collecting and documenting Diaclones, specifically Joustra items. I contacted the new owner and discovered I had spoken to him many years before regarding Milton Bradley Transformers. Similarly, I started replying to all the messages I had received over the previous 3 or 4 years through TF-1 and eBay, successfully forging friendships and relationships with a small group of highly knowledgeable, generous and outstanding personalities who as it turned out, already knew each other in some capacity.

One of these people was a Dutch collector called Mijo, who runs the phenomenal 20th Century Toy Collector site, showcasing the finest Milton Bradley Transformers writing, research and photography seen anywhere in the world. Mijo told me that my original MB Transformers article here on TF-1 was an inspiration for him and was partially responsible for starting him off collecting and writing about these MB TFs, although the quality of Mijo's work today far surpasses my own and is a source of inspiration for me. Mijo also had a few fine articles on Joustra Diaclones, and while looking through the comments section of his Joustra piece I saw this visitor message:

This was an absolutely huge development, the first known appearance of a Joustra Lancia Stratos! Understanding that Mijo would of course have first crack at those items offered directly to him, I begged him for any pictures of the "loose Wheeljack" that the visitor would supply him with, having never actually seen the Joustra Lancia and only owning its stickersheet for the last 4 years. Mijo was interested in the MB Trailbreaker that the visitor had (as the gentleman preferred to sell all 3 Joustra Diaclones together), and since Mijo already owned a Joustra Porsche and Caméra Robot, he put me in touch with Peter (the visitor).

I began the process of purchasing all 3 items from Peter, including the loose Lancia Stratos which was in good shape, albeit loose. So at least I would have a genuine Joustra Lancia Stratos and its stickersheet. Wave 2 is wave 2, can't complain, mustn't grumble. Now, Peter's Joustra Porsche and Caméra Robot were in magnificent shape with the packaging intact and present, so naturally I urged him to recall what fate had befallen the never-before-seen Joustra Lancia Stratos packaging. Peter said that he would of course look for it, but may have lost it when he moved out from his parents' home years ago. He thought he may even have bought the toy loose in the first place, but having been so adamant it was Joustra, I was sure he had seen the box in the past. Paypal details were exchanged, I attempted to make payment.

Unfortunately, Peter had mistyped his Paypal address so I had to go through the process of cancelling payment, waiting for Paypal's temporary block to clear and then re-sending funds to the right place. That would all take about a week, slightly frustrating, but the Caméra Robot and my first ever loose Wheeljack (honest!) would be worth the wait.

Then I received the following email...

I screamed. Genuinely. Like a girl. I had actually played with the thought of how incredible it would be if Peter should miraculously uncover the previously-unseen (except by him) Joustra packaging for the Lancia, who wouldn't? This was a proper, mass-released item in multiple countries. Not a store exclusive, not a campaign prize, not a production sample or unreleased prototype, a real store shelf specimen. The fact that it had not been seen before in the wider community, and the fact that this is the first packaged sample to appear, makes this currently the rarest production mass-release pre-Transformers toy in existence that has been found to date. Of course there are other rarer items (Fairlady Racing and Camion Grue for example) that are yet to appear, but keep in mind that there are already at least 8 Finnish Black Corvettes, 8 PCDXs and multiple Marlboor Wheeljacks accounted for in the world, those so-called "super rare" items. This is the first and only boxed Joustra Lancia Stratos seen in nearly 26 years since release that I am aware of.

So were there any pictures? Oh yes, Peter had pictures...

And just like that, the Joustra Lancia Stratos became the most important, significant and exciting purchase I had ever made for my collection. The first packaged wave 2 Joustra I'd found in over 4 years, the culmination of that eBay stickersheet purchase made years earlier, and made possible by the great people found within this community who value knowledge and camraderie above the desire to have everything for themselves. The days between my funds clearing and receiving the item seemed to last forever, and I couldn't even bring myself to tell anyone what I'd found. This article will be the first time a number of my collecting friends will discover what I've been sitting on for 4 weeks now. It's time to reveal all and get this Joustra Lancia Stratos article properly underway.

In 12 years of collecting Transformers and pre-Transformers, I have not experienced any other sensation or feeling that compares with the discovery of a never-before-seen Joustra toy's artwork. Drink it in and pinch yourself, one day this feeling will be history as all wave 2 toys eventually surface, but for now you should enjoy every second of it! Wave 2 artwork was not done by the Brizzi twins, and seems to generally follow the same theme of completely over-the-top weapons fire from every accessory. Wave 2 boxart tends to display vehicle and robot mode artwork together whereas wave 1 cars tended to show just the robot mode.

The artwork for Joustra Lancia displays a simply beautiful depiction of the Lancia Stratos Turbo vehicle and a battle damaged pre-Wheeljack which looks immensely G1. This is the first and only time that this mould has been released in packaging that shows its gorgeous and iconic vehicle mode. As with most Joustra art, the figure is captured amidst a fierce battle scene. The advert for the exclusive Joustra comic is still evident on the packaging even though no wave 2 Joustra Diaclone has been found with the comic present, leading most to believe that it was just a leftover feature of wave 1 box design and packaging that was never implemented.

This is where the second wave of Ceji Joustra Diaclones really triumphs over all other pre-Transformers releases, even wave 1 Joustra. Not only have we been treated to an exclusive illustration of our beloved character mid-combat in both modes, but the rear of the box features a Transformers-esque grid pattern background and a cellophane window actually showing the toy within alongside stock photography, reminiscent of the original Japanese Takara Diaclone cars. This hybrid-style packaging reflects the fact that in 1985, The Transformers were now globally available and hugely popular, so it's entirely possible that the top brass at Ceji Joustra used every trick at their disposal to promote the link between these Takara-licensed "Diaclones" and their Transformers descendants. Truly, wave 2 Joustra packaging design affords the lucky owner the best of both worlds.

This part of the Lancia Stratos's packaging resembles wave 1 Joustra car boxes very closely, the top displaying the transformation process of the toy and the bottom showing what parts and accessories are present within the package. It should be noted that this has been reversed with respect to wave 1 where the top would have shown the accessories and the bottom the transformation. The Lancia stock photography shows only 3 missiles, while this mould has always had 4 missiles on its sprue. The barcode and assortment number (9660 - same as in catalogue) have also now been moved to the bottom of the box for wave 2, previously this information would have been seen on the rear of a wave 1 box, but for wave 2 Joustra that space was reserved for the cellophane window/grid pattern display. Notice also that the address of a German factory in Bünde is now included, a well documented Revell facility now owned by Ceji. The toy, as you'd expect, was manufactured by Takara in Japan.

The side flaps of the Joustra Lancia Stratos box show more Japanese Diaclone stock photography. You can tell the Lancia featured here is the original Japanese Diaclone because of the rectangular yellow factory stickers seen underneath the "539" on the doors and roof, and the fact that it actually has a "539" factory sticker on the roof! Only the Japanese Diaclone faithfully reproduced those yellow "Britax" decals from the real Lancia Stratos Turbo vehicle and had "539" on the roof. You may also have spotted that the stock Lancia on the Joustra box does not have all of its stickersheet labels applied, and those that are applied are not necessarily in the right place.

The above two photographs show that the format used for the side flaps remained much the same from wave 1 to wave 2 Joustra. Notice that the side flap background is gradiented from sky blue to a much lighter blue. The direction of the gradient is not the same across all the side flaps, some fade upwards, some fade downwards. For all the wave 1 cars (Porsche, Toyota, Ligier and Ambulance), if the actual lettering is on the dark blue section of the gradient, it is printed in white. For wave 2 (Police, Jeep, Lancia), regardless of where the lettering is placed on the gradient, it has been printed in white. Only the Porsche 935 had its lettering printed in black, presumably because it had the lettering placed on the lighter part of the gradient, but clearly for wave 2 that little system was abandoned, most probably because the lighter section of the gradient on wave 2 boxes is still darker than the almost-white section of the gradient on wave 1 boxes. You can also clearly see the larger box required for Joustra Ambulance's styro, and that absolutely all the cars featured on the side flaps are Japanese Diaclones.

This evocative image, once your breath has returned, allows us to compare wave 1 box fronts with wave 2 box fronts. With the exception of the still-unexplained presence of Pick-Up on the Joustra Ambulance's packaging, all the wave 1 cars show just the character's robot mode whereas the wave 2 Fairlady Police, Jeep and Lancia show the vehicle mode just as prominently. Notice also how the wave 2 boxes have a smaller "DIACLONE" logo in the top left corner, most probably because they have less empty space to fill on the box front due to the presence of the vehicle mode artwork. Both styles have genuine merit, and everyone will have a preference. Even if the Brizzi twins were no longer involved in wave 2 Joustra artwork, I genuinely do not believe the quality of presentation has suffered, even if the overall portrayal of the characters is somewhat more formulaic.

Having said that, notice how Jeep and Fairlady Police are shown full body, but Lancia is only shown in robot mode from the chest upwards. The recently discovered wave 2 Joustra Corvette is also shown from the chest upwards too. Their assortment numbers are 9658 (Jeep), 9659 (Police) 9660 (Lancia) 9661 (Corvette) respectively. If the latter two display the robot from the chest up only starting from assortment number 9660, it could represent the point at which a different direction (albeit small) started to be taken with the packaging artwork. Until 9656 (Countach), 9657 (Fairlady Racing), 9662 (Camion Grue) 9663 (Camion Pompier) show up in their boxes, we won't know for sure. Just to add a bit more weight to this theory, the Joustra Camion Porte-Voitures (Powered Convoy) is 9664, and again shows the vehicle mode fully but the robot mode from the chest upwards. I would, then, predict that Joustra Countach and Fairlady Racing show the full robot mode on the artwork and Joustra Camion Grue and Pompier show the full vehicle and chest-up robot mode on the box front only.

Seeing the three wave 2 cars and their artwork together does further consolidate their similarities. Weapons fire is shown emanating from handguns, launchers and in the case of Lancia, even from below the main rocket launching section. Jeep and Lancia can both be seen with bullet/laser holes, while Police seems to be stamping his right foot on the ground just as Lancia appears to be pounding his left fist on the ground. Tyre smoke is abundant for all 3 vehicle mode representations. There is still some room for artistic interpretation as in the Brizzi era, the Fairlady Police is shown with "POLICE" emblazoned across his bonnet and chest, yet no version of this toy ever had the "POLICE" text there.

While you can definitely see that effort has gone into making these Joustra wave 2 boxes as supremely beautiful and eye-grabbing as the first wave (sometimes even moreso), there are some more signs of a lack of imagination starting to creep in the more we get the chance to study wave 2 packaging thanks to new discoveries. While not precisely the same, the Joustra wave 2 Cassette Moto artwork background is very similar concept-wise to the canyon background used on the Joustra Lancia Stratos packaging, although clearly the two are different illustrations. In the case of the Cassette Moto, I guess they also felt a photograph of the cassette mode was more fitting than cassette mode artwork. This could be yet another sign of Ceji's impending financial collapse and cost-saving measures as the Cassette Moto is assortment number 9666 and undoubtedly one of the final Joustra releases.

This wave 2 Joustra Lancia Stratos is possibly the first Joustra toy in my opinion to have as attractive a box back as a box front, presenting a gloriously luxury displayability dilemma. And that is no reflection on the Lancia's artwork, which meets the epic standards set by previous Joustra releases. To demonstrate just what a big deal this new design direction for the box back was, here are the wave 1 and 2 cars again shown from the rear:

A very big difference and a marked improvement, I'm sure you will agree. Before, only the assortment number would have distinguished one Joustra car from the other when viewing the box back, the wave 2 packaging is a different story altogether.

The above two images show that the position of the vehicle mode side flap and robot mode side flap had been swapped over for wave 2 with respect to the box front. If the side with the artwork is considered to be the front, the right hand side flap features robot mode stock photography for wave 1 cars, but vehicle mode stock photography for wave 2. Also you will see that the wave 2 box front and box back are both aligned, but with wave 1 if you simply turn the box front around, the box back will appear upside down. Finally here, you can see that the wave 1 boxes show the accessories on the box top as well as a full image of the robot, wave 2 accessories are displayed on the bottom of the box and do not include that robot stock image because the space is used up by the barcode and assortment details. Another consequence of the window/grid design decision made for the wave 2 box back.

Here we have the wave 2 window/grid box backs displayed together. Even now that we have established clear patterns for what these boxes should look like, the format of the layouts and what car/mould we expect to see inside the box, and we can predict accurately what a Joustra Sunstreaker may look like in its packaging, to actually see one for the first time and have one more space in your imagination filled is a really exciting experience. I'm sure you have spotted the surprise that nobody expected on the Joustra Lancia Stratos's box back, even compared to its wave 2 brethren.

This is not the surprise, I'll come back to that, but it's just one more detail that all Joustra enthusiasts knew full well would be present on the box back, and yet still provides a thrill when finally confirmed and seen in the flesh. "Lancia Stratos". Found.

So, what is a Lancia Stratos?

Italian car manufacturer Lancia dominated the World Rally scene in the 1970s with the Lancia Stratos which sported a Ferrari Dino V6 engine. For the 1976 FIA Group 5 Silhouette Racer Championsip, Lancia produced the Stratos Turbo. In 1977 the livery had changed from Marlboro-sponsored cars to Alitalia-sponsored vehicles, Alitalia being the national Italian airline. The above picture is of the #539 Alitalia-sponsored Lancia Stratos Turbo originally driven by Sandro Munari and P. Sodano in the Giro D'Italia in 1977, being put through its paces at the 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is the only surviving model of the Stratos Turbo (excluding three comissioned replicas), not too different in rarity to the Joustra Lancia Stratos that it inspired. The licence plate reads "Hrabi", as the car was then-owned by London-based Stratos collector Christian Hrabalek.

Of course, the Joustra Lancia Stratos was not the first release of that mould based on the above iconic racer, that honour goes to the Japanese Takara Diaclone Car Robot No.18 Lancia Stratos Turbo:

Takara released the Lancia Stratos Turbo around October 1983, with only the Corvette Stingray, Police New Countach, Yellow New Countach, Marlboor Lancia, Truck Crane, Double Changers and Powered Convoy releases being later issues. The first release of the No.18 Lancia Stratos Turbo was in Alitalia (or licence-unfriendly "Alitalla") colours. Notice as mentioned before the Japanese Diaclone exclusive yellow factory stickers under the "539" and the green-limbed Diaclone driver. The original Diaclone's artwork was of course made globally famous by the 1984 Transformers Autobot Engineer "Wheeljack" packaging, minus the "539" on the chest that only the Japanese Diaclone featured.

In approximately December 1983, Takara released a recolour and retooling of the Lancia Stratos Turbo in the earlier Marlboro cigarette-sponsored #598 livery, but in order to circumvent the licensing issues, "Marlboro" was deliberately spelled "Marlboor". This now-unbelievably popular rarity has since become known as the "Marlboor Wheeljack" or "Marlboor Lancia". The product number of the original Alitalla #539 Lancia was 461323-5-1700, found on its outer box. The later "Marlboor" variant had the same packaging visually but with a different product number, 159704-8-1700. The last four digits would have been the original price in Japanese Yen. In addition to that, the window on the box front is cut differently for the Marlboor release, the original Alitalia version was a constant-gradient slope, the Marlboor window has something akin to a step which more closely follows the lines of the car's hood/canopy.

You can see that the Marlboor Lancia had a different stickersheet to the original Alitalla Lancia, reflecting the different sponsorship and livery of the #598 Stratos Turbo. An extra item of paperwork had to be included with the Marlboor variant showing the new sticker placement map as the old instructions would have had Alitalla #539 sticker placement.

Other than the incredibly historic red and white Marlboro livery made famous in motorsport by luminaries such as Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and the McLaren Formula 1 team in the late 80s, the Marlboor Lancia had a blue translucent canopy and wings, as well as a completely remoulded robot head. These spectacularly unusual features have made the Diaclone Marlboor Lancia hugely sought after and costly on the second-hand market, despite the fact that there are many rarer Diaclones (such as the Joustra Lancia Stratos) and a case find of unsold Marlboor Lancias in 2002. The unique colour scheme, moulding and hype will undoubtedly help this release in continuing to retain and inflate its value and prestige long into the future.

The Alitalla Lancia Stratos Turbo was also available in Italy as Auto Robot N.10 Lancia Stratos Turbo released by GiG. The GiG version looks much like the Joustra Lancia with no "539" factory stickers on the roof and no yellow "Britax" stickers anywhere either (although there seems to have been a handful of GiG Lancias found since with the "539" on the roof). Missiles would have been replaced with safety-conscious bopper missiles. A particularly interesting variant seen in Italy is the version of the release with a light-blue roof/chest section:

While the above are all considered pre-Transformers releases of the Lancia mould, 1984 saw the first actual Hasbro Transformers release of Wheeljack in the US, Canada and UK in much larger bubble insert packaging. The TF box artwork was pretty much the same as the Diaclone but adjusted accordingly to show Autobot faction symbols and a much lighter green "Alitalla" on Wheeljack's left foot as well as generally lighter green racing stripes on the whole robot's body.

Interestingly though, the Japanese 1985 Takara release of 03 Wheeljack in much smaller packaging with Diaclone-esque styro (no driver space though) once again used the more darker green racing stripes and "Alitalla" last seen on the Diaclone's box artwork. It also showed more of the missile and launcher to the right of Wheeljack's head:

With regards to this Joustra Lancia Stratos though, the most interesting release of the Transformers Wheeljack would have to be the 1985 mainland Europe Milton Bradley Transformers Wheeljack seen below:

Not only did this fascinating European packaging variant have the exact same styrofoam insert as the Joustra Stratos sold in the same countries and stores in the same year, but it also had the exact same copyright, moulding and firing launchers. Once Milton Bradley had the licence to sell Takara mould toys in mainland Europe, they didn't quite have the stock or manufacturing facilities needed to fill the huge demand for Transformers, and as Ceji Joustra were experiencing serious financial difficulties, it is believed that Milton Bradley acquired all of Joustra's Diaclone stock and repackaged them into MB Transformers boxes, complete with styrofoam inserts and firing missiles! The paperwork was replaced accordingly and cardboard insert supports were added to take up all the empty space inside TF boxes compared to the compact Diaclone/Joustra boxes.

The above scan of a picture used in a French Transformers promotional competition really seals the deal as far as this theory goes. The mis-transformation and incorrect sticker placement on many of the pictured items is very common in European Transformers literature and paperwork. A very early MB Shockwave is shown with a bunch of loose Transformers-like toys, but notice how neither the Wheeljack, Trailbreaker, Red Tracks, Mirage nor Sunstreaker have any Autobot markings or rubsigns. Add to that the fact that the yellow Countach, Lancia Stratos and red Corvette are all stupidly rare Joustra wave 2 items and the connection starts to crystallise. The toys you see in the above Transformers promotion are all Joustra Diaclones. All of those tremendously hard to find wave 2 Joustra cars that were due to be released throughout 1985 and into 1986 were redirected into the second wave of Milton Bradley Transformers packaging, regardless of incorrect colour or insert packaging.

In the 1990s, the G1 Wheeljack mould was once again released in Europe in gold "Classic" packaging. The Classics would have been Hasbro stamped with the "JAPAN" blocked out, some of them exhibiting variations to their G1 counterparts. These releases included amongst others, Jazz, Sideswipe, Prowl, Ironhide, Sunstreaker, blue Tracks and Inferno. Is it coincidence that only these Autobot cars were selected for European re-release when back in the 1985 Milton Bradley releases of Jazz, Prowl, Wheeljack and Sideswipe were (and still are) the rarest of that line, and that Inferno and Ironhide never saw release in MB? This could be further connected to the available stock of wave 1 and wave 2 Joustra Diaclones in 1985 that Milton Bradley acquired from Ceji for their second wave of MB TFs. It may also be worth considering that the gold box Classics Prowl is the only non-Japanese Diaclone version of that mould to say "Diaclone" on the factory stickers again. However, there is an opposing argument to this theory which states that the toys released in the Classic line were the only moulds available to Hasbro at the time for this purpose, and seeing as how the aforementioned G1 cars were abundant in the UK where this line was also released, maybe there is no connection. Something to think about though...

Returning now to the main focus of this article, the Joustra Lancia Stratos, let's take a closer look at the unique illustrations that adorn this precious gem's packaging:

Not only are these wave 2 Joustra illustrations incredibly toy accurate, but they are always very busy as well. As mentioned before, this is the first time that the Lancia mould has had its vehicle mode featured in its artwork and the first time that its windows have not been orange like the prototype Lancia, but clear like the toy itself. The battle damage on the robot, formidable firepower, ground-pounding fists and small robot eyes are all much clearer in the above picture.

And here is the surprise I spoke about earlier in all its glory. The stock photography of the Japanese Diaclone Stratos on the window side of the Joustra's box is the only one I have ever seen so far showing that illustration of the missle being fired. This one was a real shock as no Joustra Diaclone's packaging so far has demonstrated any sort of embellishment of stock toy photography, that kind of wild artistic abandon was always reserved for the artwork. In the case of the Joustra Lancia Stratos, that has spilled over onto the rear of the box too, giving this piece yet more unique flavour.

Despite continuing advertisements for a comic strip hidden inside the packaging, like all wave 2 Joustra Diaclones discovered so far, this Lancia Stratos does not come with a comic. It simply contains the toy, its accessories and a stickersheet. No Diaclone driver either. This styrofoam insert will of course be exactly the same as that used for the Japanese Diaclone Lancias, and just like those Japanese versions the Lancia figure sits very tightly in its styro space, requiring care when removing or replacing the toy in its packaging.

The photograph of the side flap above demonstrates that the image of the stock vehicle continues even onto the inner flap which is not visible when the outer box is displayed normally.

Even though the Joustra packaging advertises 3 missiles, the toy actually comes with 4 sprued missiles as well as two working launchers and two clear wings which are not exactly the same; one is clearly the left wing and one clearly the right. You can tell them apart by which side of the clear wing has the raised details and which side is flat.

After all of that background information on packaging variants, previous and subsequent releases and paperwork, I'm sure you'll agree that the Lancia Stratos vehicle itself was completely worth the wait. A beautiful rally car in its day which translated smoothly to a circuit racer silhouette with an extended rear section and huge front splitter, yet retaining all the characteristics of the unforgettable Stratos shape. Takara's mould does the original vehicle proud and is without a shadow of a doubt one of the strongest Car Robot/G1 car display items of the entire range in vehicle mode.

The stickers on this specimen have been slightly mis-applied, and looking at the two "Lancia" labels at the very front of the hood, it strikes me that the original owner probably applied the stickers according to the stock photography on the packaging which shows those two decals and others similarly misplaced. With so many small stickers all looking very similar, it is very common to have this toy's displayability negatively affected over time by incorrect sticker placement and general sticker wear. I feel that this Lancia has survived the test of time and use admirably, as you can see how majestic the toy still looks.

Even though this vehicle hails from a time when Italian sports cars were more angular than curvy, the charm and appeal of this Lancia Stratos remains undeniably timeless. There was no angle that cast this mould in a negative light, and I could have gone on photographing it for hours. My solitary complaint would be that the two rear spoiler halves are easily detachable and among the first accessories to go missing from this toy. As the mould evolved over the many Transformers releases, the pegs and spoiler halves changed too meaning that parts from different Lancias and Wheeljacks are not necessarily interchangeable. That aside, it's very difficult to find further fault with such an aggressively aerodynamic example of one of motorsport's hallowed machines brought to life by Diaclone and Transformers.

As you can see, there are various sections of the vehicle that are moveable, some for the purposes of transformation and others to fit in with the Diaclone mecha heritage of the mould. It is said that the original Lancia Stratos race car actually stored fuel in its door sills, which may in part explain the incorporation of opening flaps on the doors. The canopy opens to allow access to the non-existent Diaclone pilot.

You can see a close-up of the quite mean front splitter above as well as the front wheels. The real life Alitalia Stratos Turbo would have had red wheels. It's also interesting that this mould does not have branded tyres, especially as the Marlboor Diaclone toy has "Goodyear", "Agip" and "Britax" stickers.

The "539" seen on the doors are completely free of yellow "Britax" stickers underneath and the canopy has clear translucent windows, unlike the orange prototypes seen on Diaclone packaging or the blue windows from the Marlboor. The windows are of course still unmistakeably Stratos windows, for those familiar with the legendary rally cars.

While many characteristics of the actual vehicle and Stratos shape have been faithfully recreated on this toy, other iconic features such as the single circular taillights have had to be omitted for reasons of functionality and transformation, but that is far from detrimental to the overall appearance and feel of the vehicle as the inclusions far outweight the omissions.

Now for something rather familiar...

It's hard not to think of Wheeljack and his vocally-activated ear lights isn't it? The original robot mode design does pre-date the Transformers inventor of course. The mix of colours is so very unique to this toy and its factory stickers. Distinctly Italian with its red, white and green Alitalia livery, the overall design of the robot is very reminiscent of the Diaclone Countach Super Tuning, one of the few other Car Robots to use the front of the car as its feet instead of its chest. The arms on this mould are disproportionately long and ever-so-slightly ape like in appearance, but that is balanced to some degree by the lovely addition of the clear robot wings behind the Lancia's head.

The addition of the completely immodest and gigantic missile launchers and rockets shift much of the eye's focus upwards on the figure and remove the slight elegance afforded it by the clear robot wings. There is a nice degree of completeness to his overall look and shape though with the launchers attached. They are undoubtedly this heavy duty to make up for the lack of any hand-held weapons for the Lancia Stratos mould.

The last picture above shows the limits of poseability for this design. The neck articulation is quite interesting, but the arms suffer quite a lot as only the shoulders can rotate about a horizontal axis. The fists can also be pointed inwards. Looseness can be a big issue with this mould, especially with all the weight up top being balanced on those thin legs and the shinflaps not providing too much resistance for the legs. Once everything is attached, if you can get the robot to stand without leaning, he looks very chunky and filled out, not too shabby at all.

The original Diaclone instructions show the robot as having the spoiler halves still attached behind the arms and the side flaps/doors of the car also being folded outwards in robot mode. This certainly is not a bad way of displaying the robot, but the difference is really only noticeable from the rear. Depending on the nature of the looseness (if there's any at all) in your Wheeljack or Lancia, they can be used to distribute a little weight in order to assist stability in robot mode. They do also resemble a lower waist-level set of wings. One thing I do notice is that this Joustra Lancia being halfway between the Japanese Diaclone and Transformers toy, there is neither the "539" on the chest nor the Autobot symbol, leaving the chest section a little plain and empty.

Ignore the paint wear here, this is truly a unique and special head mould. So incredibly alien compared to the other Car Robot head sculpts that have been made famous by Transformers. Thankfully the animators of the G1 cartoon did not feel the need to give Wheeljack a totally humanoid face and instead added a couple of eyes and part of a nose. I think it was quite brave of the original toy designers of this Lancia Stratos to give him such inhuman robotic facial features, and it's a face that has become immensely recogniseable. Those ears of course became one of Wheeljack's most distinguishing features.

One of the nice features of this mould, as hinted at previously, are the clear robot wings which attach to two pegs behind the robot's head. I think these items in robot mode are a greater display priority than the launchers which the toy could easily do without. Having said that, the launchers themselves are nicely moulded and detailed in a way that makes them pleasantly distinguishable from other Car Robot accessories.

The copyright for the Joustra Lancia Stratos is a slightly later iteration of the original "TAKARA JAPAN" in circle that would have been found on the Japanese Diaclones and very first release Transformers. This stamping will also appear on some pre-rub Transformers, MB Wheeljack and the GiG Diaclone Lancia Stratos.

Below you will see pictures of the very first release TAKARA-JAPAN-in-circle 1984 early pre-rub Transformers Wheeljack, totally stickered up and looking resplendant:

This early pre-rub Wheeljack may well have come in one of those G1 boxes without the grey cardboard section between the main artwork and cellophane window, if indeed any such packaging variant existed for Wheeljack. These TAKARA JAPAN Wheeljacks would not have been on store shelves for long as updated moulds (similar to the Joustra) would have been produced and shipped shortly afterwards.

As we approach the final stretch, here now are a few black and white shots of this attractive toy, letting the features do the talking instead of the colours:

Paul Vromen's full-size uncropped artwork for TF-1 that I have been desperate to use in an article since I first saw it, before the website was even launched:

A close-up of the G1 Transformers Wheeljack artwork, showing off the orange canopy windows as well as originally-planned orange robot wings, carried over from Diaclone prototype concepts and mock-ups:

Below you will see the stunning BT-14 Takara Binaltech Wheeljack, using a Street-Tuning Ford Mustang GT vehicle, standing in front of the original Alternators Wheeljack artwork pencils drawn by Marcelo Matere:

A shot of the original wood-sculpted prototype for the Diaclone Lancia Stratos:

A picture specifically for RPChristophe..

And finally...

... this is why I collect Joustra Diaclones. No amount of Japanese or GiG Diaclone cars in variant colours stacked to the ceiling can match a set of Joustra Diaclones flashing their impressive colours and artwork. The explosion of colour and action, and the addition of one further long-lost piece to the puzzle, to the mural of beautiful images, just secures a place in everyone's heart for this sublime category of pre-Transformers.

I have said it many times within this article, but the rarity of this Joustra Lancia Stratos cannot be overestimated, simply by the measure of just how many years it has taken a packaged sample to surface and be revealed publicly despite knowledge of its existence and many enthusiastic and resourceful collectors actively hunting them for over a decade. The acquisition of Joustra's stock by Milton Bradley and the repackaging of all those Lancia Stratos toys originally intended for Joustra Diaclone into multilingual MB TF packaging means that there may be even fewer of these Joustra Lancias around than first imagined, a frightening revelation really.

For me this toy, specifically its stickersheet, also represented final confirmation that all the items advertised in the Ceji Revell 1985 retailer catalogue saw release, however limited that release may have been. Beauty, significance, exclusivity, heritage, history and gravity. I may never find another item that is as special in so many ways as this one and its journey into my collection and the public domain have been. Joustra Lancia Stratos... found.

I would like to dedicate this article to Peter Liehr for his kindness, his persistence and for strength and victory in his battle, may you show fight and determination on your road to victory and that lunch I promised! In addition I would like to offer my deepest gratitude to Mijo for his gracious help in acquiring this item, his research into MB TFs and Joustra Diaclones as well as MB Wheeljack pictures, to RPChristophe for Ceji catalogue scans and Joustra Cassette Moto pics, to JB Martin for his Joustra Corvette discovery, to Anthony "Tonyfitz" Brucale, Heroic_Decepticon and Ras for magnificent Marlboor Lancia images, to Alessandro Musconi for Diaclone Lancia Stratos photos, to Jeroen Blok for the use of his GiG Lancia pictures, to Marco Salerno for donating 03 Wheeljack pics, to Shakira for use of blue-roof GiG Lancia pics, to Ben Munn for MISB Wheeljack pics, to motorvation.cc for the Alitalia Lancia Stratos Turbo image and to Shigeo Nakashima (Snakas) for the wooden proto Lancia image. Special thanks go to Paul Hitchens and Paul Vromen for continuing support in providing artwork, Wheeljack accessories and paperwork scans. Thank you all, what would TF-1 be without you?

All the best
Maz@tf-1.com