E-Hobby Exclusive Silver Plated 08 "Streak"

E-HOBBY EXCLUSIVE SILVER PLATED 08 "STREAK"

The late 2002/early 2003 E-Hobby exclusive all silver chrome Streak (or Bluestreak in the US) was made available shortly after the TF Collection release of Smokescreen, so the TFC/E-Hobby Fairlady Z theme was carried across as is par for the course with the reissues. This exclusive is a tribute to the original 1983 Diaclone Fairlady 280Z campaign car which was a prize item for the Takara Diaclone line. The original version of this toy is in fact much rarer than the gold chromed prize Fairlady Z, so rare in fact that I do not believe there is any record of one being found by a collector as yet, and no pictures anywhere either. There have been at least a couple of gold Fairladies found though, one of which can be seen in the following scan along with the original prize gold Diaclone Porsche 935 (pre-Jazz):

And here are a couple of photographs of the stunning gold campaign prize Diaclone Fairlady Z Racing (pre-Smokescreen) that was never actually offered as a prize, and is basically a pre-Bluestreak mould with Smokescreen add-ons:

Looking at the packaging for the chrome Streak, it's typical E-Hobby style with the collector's card for the earlier Anime Streak exclusive recycled for this release. From the above scan you can see that the original gold Fairlady did not have a chromed windshield or chromed rear windows. It would make sense to believe that the original silver chrome Fairlady Z would also have non-chromed windows unlike the reissue which has chromed windshield and back windows. However, without ever seeing one I could never be sure. That makes a comparison with the reissue exclusive almost impossible unfortunately. Not a problem, the reissue can instead be judged on its own merits.

As far as chromed toys go, I have to say that I am a fan. I prefer clear toys but I do appreciate chromed ones and I did used to own a gold Jazz reissue exclusive. I feel that this silver chromed Streak is slightly more classy and a little less...uh...bling than the gold Jazz. It has a very eye-catching gleam in its packaging as it contrasts with its surroundings, and the accessories have a cool layout underneath the collector's card. Also included are the instruction sheet, stickersheet and a paper slip. The plastic contents tray is pretty much the same as for all E-Hobby G1 car exclusives.

The collector's card, always a highlight, was especially good for the Anime Streak. Seeing as how E-Hobby/Takara didn't recolour the gold Jazz collector's card it's not surprising that this chrome Streak's card has not been recoloured either from the earlier release. It's not a glaring issue and the card itself is nice, one of the only, if not THE the only place where you can find black-hooded Fairlady Z artwork in fact. The instructions show the Anime Streak on the left with reissue "STREAK" plates, but the actual transforming toy pictured is the blue Diaclone Fairlady Z seen in Transformers instruction booklets back in the 80s complete with "FairladyZ" plates in some shots but "STREAK" in others. Old stock photo usage is another typical Takara/Hasbro characteristic.

There are also a few interesting things to notice on the stickersheet. If you look at the stickers labelled as set 14, they say "2002 08", indicating the release date of the reissue and the Japanese Takara Cybertron designation of '08' for Streak back in 1985. Now, the original Fairlady Z and Bluestreak stickersheets had "2800 Z-T" which was more in tune with the Datsun car's designation and model.

Also, look at sticker number 1. It looks like a "N". Originally that hood sticker was the "Z" emblem for "Fairlady Z", but as they cannot use that licenced reference any more, they have made it look like the letter "N" so basically the owner of the toy can stick the sticker on perpendicular to the stickersheet orientation and reproduce the original "Z" on the hood of the toy. A nicely navigated copyright loophole there.

Thankfully the photographs do show how shiny the toy actually is. So far, everyone who has seen my chrome Streak in the flesh has been impressed, and to be honest it is an impressive sight. As I mentioned before, I think it's a little better-looking than the gold-chromed Jazz reissue, but I do think it would have looked nicer had the windows not been chromed. The original must be very nice indeed. The left door doesn't stay closed perfectly and from the head-on pictures you'll be able to see that the hood does not seem perfectly aligned with the rest of the body. The immediately-previous Anime Streak reissue was far from perfect too so it's not too much of a surprise that there were issues with this release.

In my opinion, a very attractive Transformer from most angles, apart from the lopsided front-end. You definitely get the feel that this is a prize version toy, not something to be played with or transformed all that much if you want it to keep its shine. Obviously it is very prone to fingerprints and flaking, so care is required when handling the toy as is directed in the paper slip accompanying this release. The robot mode is equally as impressive for me:

The Fairlady Z mould has always been one of the most delicate in G1, but it's also one of the most enjoyable figures to transform. The joints were nice and tight on this reissue, no inherent looseness. The right leg required quite a tug in order to spread properly. I didn't see anything flake off the first few times I transformed it, so that's a good sign. The doors were not as smooth as you might like and had a tendency to not stay in exactly the position you wanted them to. From the first picture above you can see how the slightly lopsided hood situation rears its head in robot mode as well. That's probably my biggest complaint with this release.

The accessories are of course chromed as well for this release, although the missiles and handgun for the Fairlady mould were always chromed, so only the launchers look significantly different to before. The sprue for the missiles is the later-mould sprue with the steps, instead of just having the missiles sprued directly to the frame at both ends. The later Japanese release G1 Transformers Streak missiles were like this, as well as the European Classic G1 gold-boxed Prowl. Here are a few pictures in robot mode with the accessories attached:

Now this is where this release really comes into its own for me, the fully armoured robot mode. I think the chrome Streak looks amazing with all his accessories attached in robot mode and all that chrome on show. The overall feel of this figure for me is one of a statue, a memorial, not quite a live functioning sentient Transformer. It could be something adorning an ancient Autobot hall or mausoleum. The accessories all attach snugly and the missiles fire extremely well. He holds his positions and poses in this mode, and this is probably how I would display him all the time out of the box. Of course you would always be eager to keep him as shiny and stainless as possible as blemishes would show up so much more on a chromed toy.

I have chosen not to apply anything off the stickersheet as I do not believe it would add anything to the overall look of the figure and personally I prefer the overwhelming shiny chrome look of the toy. It suits the statue-feel of the figure more than circuitry-style stickers would. I would be more keen to emphasise the Diaclone heritage of the toy, but of course this is a Transformer. So where's the rubsign?

The rub symbol for this Transformers release is hidden away under the right leg. That means that it is not visible in either mode. That could have been a decision made for the sake of variation, or it could have been done so that a collector could preserve the look of a Diaclone prize toy (the original root of the toy) and not have a rubsign intrude upon the overall chrome finish of the figure. Here's a closer look at the copyright and rubsign, notice how "JAPAN" is now blocked over as it is no longer the place of manufacture:

Here is a close-up of the robot head where the moulding is not as sharp as on the original Fairlady Z (see scan at start of article):

It's touch and go as to whether or not this release can be considered popular or even well-liked. The fact of the matter is, this is not a hard reissue to get ahold of and is not that expensive at all compared to some of the other exclusives from around the same time. The homage itself is particularly obscure as well, especially to those who do not have much knowledge or interest when it comes to pre-Transformers. I'm not sure how many collectors even know that this toy was in fact a second-prize Diaclone campaign item and not just another excuse for a chrome job. Seeing as how this coincided with the Smokescreen reissue, most collectors would probably have preferred a blue Diaclone Fairlady Z-inspired exclusive as that is a hugely popular and legendary piece among collectors.

I wasn't put off by the above though, and I felt that this was a vastly under-documented reissue so I couldn't wait to go over it with a fine tooth comb myself and photograph it aplenty. I am pleased with it on the whole and find it visually appealing, a little moreso than I intitally thought I would. I was of course attracted to it more because of the Diaclone roots the figure has, just as I was to the gold Electrum Jazz.

Quality issues aside, if you're curious enough about the figure and you're a fan of the mould, I would say that for a reissue exclusive that's a number of years old, you can't really go wrong when you consider the relatively low prices compared to something like Sunstorm, Megaplex or Roadrage. The truth is that this figure has as much of a significant place in Transformers and pre-Transformers history as any of those aformentioned exclusives, and as if that wasn't enough, we've never really seen an original either. This remains one of our only links to a very mysterious and elusive Diaclone past, so its importance should not be downplayed. Remember, even an original Black Tracks has been found, but not a prize silver-plated Fairlady Z...

Many thanks to Himawari for translations and pictures of the gold Diaclone Fairlady Z Racing, a very kind contribution indeed and one that is hugely appreciated.