The discovery of this Ceji Joustra "Diaclone" Fairlady Police in France was equally as groundbreaking as that of the Joustra Diaclone Jeep, however by this time the existence of second-wave Joustra cars was known about and stories of a Joustra Police seen at a French flea market had circulated. The highly limited production run of second series Joustra toys were available throughout mainland Europe in 1985 and featured slightly altered packaging to the first series. You can read a more detailed history of the first and second series of Joustra releases in the recent Joustra Jeep article here. Just as with the Joustra Jeep, there is a huge difference in knowing that a Joustra release exists and then seeing it for real. Joustra Police was no different from any other Joustra release, the first viewing drew a gasp and stunned completely.

The unique, radiantly colourful and exclusive Diaclone-badged presentation houses a pre-rub Transformers-mould "Prowl" in packaging that depicts the Takara Japanese Diaclone Police Car Fairlady Z. The box front advertises the inclusion of the famous Joustra comic, but no second series release has actually been found with the comic included as of yet.

This is where the huge difference lies between series 1 and 2 larger Joustra releases, the box back. Whereas before there was standard stock photography, the series 2 releases have a cellophane window which showcases the toy itself, Diaclone-style. There is also a Transformers-esque grid pattern, but the overall flavour is still massively Joustra. The "Diaclone" logo, "Joustra" logo, red and grey stripes see to that nicely. The stock photography used on the packaging is exclusive to the Joustra releases as well. One of the reasons I love Joustra pre-TFs so much is that they are not a copy of anything else, there's so much unique content in the presentation.

The box top and bottom are again very similar to the series 1 Joustra releases, and yet not the same. The barcode, product code (9659) and copyright information are now on the bottom of the box since the box back is reserved for the cellophane window and grid pattern. The box top shows the transformation procedure using a Japanese Diaclone Fairlady Police, not the actual toy within the Joustra box, but that is consistent across all Joustra releases. Strangely, the Joustra Jeep is still the only Joustra release I know of that has the barcode blanked out, whereas the series 2 Powered Convoy and this Police Fairlady both still have the full barcode.

Ah, the sides of Joustra packaging, there's ALWAYS something! The second picture shows yet another mistransformed Diaclone toy used for stock photography. In this case it's the Police Fairlady's waist piece not being locked into the rest of the waist, instead it's just pointing forward. Ahem. Also just like Joustra Jeep, the order of the robot mode/vehicle mode flaps has been switched from the 1st series.

You can tell the toy on the box is the Japanese Diaclone Fairlady Police because of the factory stickers on the doors and hood. The blue police shield and yellow star have a red mark in them. The ones on the shoulders do as well, but they're off the stickersheet and are not unique to the Japanese Diaclone. The GiG Italian Diaclone and even this Joustra have those shoulder stickers, it's the factory door and hood stickers that hold the key.

Here you will see a scan of the then-upcoming Joustra Fairlady Police from 1985 Ceji Revell trade catalog showing the same product code (009659) as the toy's packaging:

Speaking of the original Japanese Diaclone...

This is where it started for the figure that would eventually become the Transformers "Prowl", with the Japanese Takara Diaclone No.13 Police Car Fairlady Z. It was the second mass-production release of the Fairlady mould in the Japanese Diaclone line after the No.7 Fairlady Z (there were prize versions as well). The Japanese Diaclone saw release in Japan in June 1983. You might notice the artwork from the TF release was taken straight from the original Diaclone packaging, which is actually very nice indeed. The cityscape motif is very fitting and quite attractive. I have included two box front pictures as the second one features a Diaclone Police Fairlady (Takara Japan stamped) without the red marks on the factory labels. Now the European Classics gold-box TF Prowl released in the 1990s had "Diaclone" on the labels too but no red marks on the labels. However the toy in this Diaclone package seems to be different to both of those, maybe it's a later Diaclone variant release? The copyright stops it being a GiG Italian release too...possibly a cannibalisation, who knows. The stickersheet is very interesting as well because it features a number of Japanese city names allowing the owner to customise the toy, and this was something that was left out for the Transformers release of Prowl. Notice also the preTF-exclusive red marks in the blue sheild/yellow star stickers for the shoulders (sticker set "1").

Here are some close-ups of a Japanese Diaclone Fairlady Police highlighting the red mark on the factory labels:

Italy also received this toy, but it was closer to the Transformers pre-rub Prowl mould and distibuted by GiG:

Even the slightly more simplistic design of the GiG Italian packaging for Art. N.6 Fairlady Z Police Car does not fail to impress, such is the strength of the presentation on the Diaclone Fairlady Police's packaging. All the usual differences exist here. The Diaclone logos are replaced by "TRASFORMER" and "AUTO ROBOT", the picture of the Diaclone driver is removed since the majority of GiG releases did not feature Diaclone drivers. Instead of the silver sprued missiled, there are plastic safety bopper missiles tucked underneath the vehicle in the styrofoam insert with a manually-removed chunk of the styro missing to accomodate the larger weapons. As usual, the space for the diaclone driver remains but is empty. You can see that the factory stickers are not only missing the red mark in the yellow star, but they don't even say "DIACLONE". The stickersheet would be exactly the same as the Japanese Diaclone release though, so it would include the aforementioned features.

While Joustra Police Fairlady's unique non-Brizzi artwork is not quite as breathtaking as previous Joustra releases, just considering how unique and exclusive the artwork is, you cannot help but be impressed at the effort expended by Ceji Joustra in their release of these toys. It is absolutely criminal and heartbreaking that the robot's face has been obscured by the price label damage on this particular sample, and goodness knows how long we have to wait for another Joustra Police to surface. It's the whole package that makes Joustra releases special, and the artwork in conjunction with the overall design scheme is a success. The large "POLICE" text on the hood is of course not present on the toy, but since the angles chosen for Joustra Police's artwork do not show the doors clearly, that was the only place left for the artist(s) to place the "POLICE" text apparently. Eitherway, it's awesome to have more official never-seen-before artwork for such a loved and famous character.

The inner packaging of the Joustra Fairlady Police provides a very interesting mystery. All the other Joustra releases I have seen that are derived directly from a Japanese Diaclone release have space for the Diaclone driver. Now this space was always left empty because Joustra releases never came with the driver. This Joustra Police does not even have the space for the driver though! The ONLY other place where styro like this has been seen, altered to remove the unnecessary driver space, is in Takara Japanese Transformers releases beginning in 1985.

My initial reaction was to think this piece was missing the styro and the seller just used whatever else was available. Now, the Japanese 09 Transformers Prowl is more available than either the Japanese or Italian Diaclone Police Fairlady, which are in fact quite rare. He could easily though have used the GiG or Japanese Diaclone Bluestreak or Smokescreen styro inserts and they have the driver space. Then there's the fact that the seller actually knew very little about Transformers or Joustra or Diaclones, so it is unlikely he had replaced the styrofoam himself. That left the quite real possibility that the Joustra Police was the first ever release of this mould to have the altered styro. Perhaps this insert was already well into production in Japan for the Transformers 08 Streak, 09 Prowl and 45 Smokescreen and was made available to Ceji Joustra for their distribution of this toy. The fact that the styro is correct this way has been verified since by the discovery of Milton Bradley Transformers Prowls having the same insert, and since they are repackaged Joustra Diaclones, the styro variation was cemented.

The accessories for this release appear pretty standard, but if the inner packaging is the same style as the Japanese TF Prowl's, then maybe the sprue for the weapons is the later Fairlady mould type which means the missiles are not directly attached to the sprue, they'd have little mini-steps, as with the MB Prowl.

Despite the slightly overzealous sticker application, this vehicle remains highly distinctive and striking. You can see the pre-TF exclusive stickers on the doors which indicate what city the patrol car belongs to. As with almost all stickers-applied pre-TF Fairlady Police cars, multiple city names have been stuck onto the doors instead of just the one which is how Takara intended it to be. Also, you see many Fairlady toys which have the shin stickers applied to the rear windows, and that does taint the overall look of the piece a little. I find the lack of an Autobot sticker very noticeable on this particular mould, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are few more succesful contrasts of colour than black and white, therefore this is an impressive and noticeable piece among others.

You might be able to see that the black crescent on the hood is slightly misaligned and lacks symmetry. There is other minor evidence of quality control issues elsewhere as well, but it's pretty much the same build quality as a Transformer and a Diaclone. Compared to some of the other Diaclone cars, there isn't ever a great deal of chrome on show with this toy. This vehicle not only has a timeless look to it which ensures it wouldn't look out of place on the roads today, but it's also very reminiscent of its era and has always been a great choice for a preTF/TF vehicle.

Here are some close-ups of a few of the vehicle mode features:

Again, the most distinguishing feature of this Joustra Police car is the stickersheet-applied city names on the doors. A Japanese Diaclone Fairlady Police would have had more distinctive door labels so it is a slight shame that they were not carried over to the Italian and this Joustra release.

A robot mode that is tremendously familiar for obvious reasons, and a transformation process that is as unforgettable and enjoyable as it was the very first time I transformed my childhood Transformers Smokescreen. The misplaced shin stickers on the back windows and the array of city names on the doors give this particular Joustra Police a very busy appearance. However, the full effect requires the weapons:

The weapon attachments give this figure a much more complete look, and unlike on a Bluestreak they don't stand out as much thanks to the dull grey colour of the launchers. Even with the chrome handgun and missiles, there is still not a great deal of overall shine to the figure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It does however mean that worn stickers and slight paint discolouration will have a much greater effect on the overall displayability, and that won't ever be significantly offset by minty chrome weapons. All of that aside, it is a beautiful robot with a mightily effective overall colour scheme.

This close-up of the robot head highlights a few spots of low-quality paint application. The asymmetrical paint on the red horns as well as the under-applied silver paint on the face are slightly disappointing, but not completely unique among Joustra toys. The aforementioned red horns provide yet another tool for distinguishing between various releases of this toy since the 1990s European Classics release of "Prowl" had "Diaclone" on the stickers but the red robot horns had a very matte appearance, not glossy.

This close-up picture of the shoulder stickers on the Joustra Police (straight off the stickersheet) shows the unique features of a pre-TF Prowl stickersheet very clearly. The "Diaclone" and red mark within the yellow star are very clear. It would be a real shame for these particular stickers to become more worn than they already are, as a lot of the pre-TF character of this release is defined by stickers such as these.

The copyright for the Joustra release, as is standard for these Euro pre-TFs, is the same as the pre-rub Transformers Prowl copyright. It is not the same as the "TAKARA JAPAN"-in-circle stamping of the Japanese Diaclone, another good way of distinguishing between releases.

Here now are some pictures of the Joustra Fairlady Police alongside a number of other Joustra releases:

This fabulously colourful picture of the series 2 Joustra Jeep and Fairlady Police highlights one of the many reasons why these releases are so special and sought-after. You would struggle to find two rarer pre-TFs to place next to one another even though they almost undoubtedly shared a store shelf over 20 years ago.

The reverse of the two boxes highlights the immense contrast in display options afforded the series 2 Joustra releases thanks to the redesigned boxes. From dynamic to static in the twist of a box.

Here are the above series 2 cars alongside a few of the slightly less rare series 1 cars:

An absolutely breathtaking sight, simply beautiful. The side-by-side comparison of the series 1 art (right) and series 2 art (left) indicates the small shift in artistic philosophy between the two series. The artwork for Joustra Jeep and Police is slightly less detailed and refined, but they both portray action and movement vividly. The inclusion of the vehicle-mode artwork is nice but at the same time, the series 1 art is not at all diminished by the lack of vehicle art.

An extremely common group of figures to have next to each other, but in this packaging, it's a real treat to behold. There are pretty much no giveaway signs on the side of the packaging to indicate a series 2 Joustra unlike the other parts of the box. Absolutely all of the toys pictured on the above boxes are Japanese Diaclones.

The main differences between the top and bottom of the series 1 and series 2 Joustra packaging can again be found in the Joustra Jeep article here, but they are very similar. Subtle differences.

This last group shot will give you some miniscule idea of how utterly spectacular it would be to see a complete collection of Joustra Pre-Transformers all together...if only...

Just to finish up, here are some screen grabs from MTMTE and The Movie of the venerable Prowl himself:

And patent images for the first Fairlady Z mould:

Here is Paul Vromen's spectacular full-size artwork for this article:

Here are the combined efforts of Mojo8 and Paul Hitchens (unceremoniously slapped together by myself) of reproducing the Joustra Fairlady Police's artwork were it not ripped:

This Joustra Fairlady Police is yet another in a slowly growing list of Pre-Transformers which are only just beginning to surface after years of anonimity and unrivalled rarity among mass-released toys. For a toy that was available in a number of countries, it has been so well-hidden that it caused quite a stir when it finally did show up. There will be more of them because a number of series 2 Joustra cars and other items have yet to surface and be seen by a majority of the fandom. For completists, these later Joustra releases will present a phenomenal challenge when it comes to both patience and finances (if it comes to buying off another collector). It is very hard to place a market value on a toy such as this Joustra Fairlady Police, it all depends on who is selling it.

With a unique blend of presentation and features, the best thing about the eventual and conclusive discovery of an item like this is not only that it confirms facts about possible releases or that it fills gaps in pre-TF history, but that when they do finally make an appearance there's just so much more to be excited about than its simple existence...and just one look at the box front was all I needed to realise that.

Absolutely immense thanks must go to Jeff Stein who was generous enough to send this gem from his collection all the way across the Atlantic to me for TF-1 review purposes. His patience and willingness to help and be a part of this should be hugely commended, thank you so much for eventually selling it to me too, Jeff! Many kind thanks must also go to George "Weeter" Hubert for pictures of the GiG Diaclone Police Fairlady, to Anglo for pictures of the Japanese Diaclone Police Fairlady, to Luluberlu for the catalog scan and to Paul Hitchens for the screen grabs and patent images. This time I really can say that without these contributions, there would be nothing whatsoever to see on this page.

All the best
Maz@tf-1.com