I always notice that Italian TFs get rough press. The pre-Tf releases are often not thought of by many as true Diaclones, the giftsets (minus a couple) are usually worth less than their US and Japanese counterparts, the sealed cars always fetch less than other versions, everyone hates the bopper missiles apparently, the gunrobos had unsightly guncaps on them, and the lines generally aren't thought of very highly by a large number of collectors.

I think there are many redeeming factors concerning the GiG releases. I'm going to try and sum them all up in this article if I can.

Firstly, they got a lot of things other European countries never did, especially the UK. The Italians in the Transformers line received Swoop, Predacons, Omega Supreme (in slightly different packaging), widespread Sixshot release and Shockwave.

Now how about the stuff that neither the UK, most of Europe nor the US got? We're talking Pre-TFs amongst other gems! Microman Blaster with working radio, Pre-Soundwave with all the funky add-ons like headphones and mic etc, Red Tracks, Red Skids, Blue Bluestreak, Yellow Sideswipe, Police Sideswipe, Blue Slag, Black Snarl, Blue-waist Grimlock, possibly a Diaclone Swoop, Powered Convoy in all its glory, Black Microman Megatron, Galaxy Shuttle, an Abominus giftset, a Bruticus Giftset, rumours of Marlboor Wheeljack, the Diaclone jets, Diaclone Blitzwing...the list goes on. During its run, the PreTFs/TFs in Italy covered some of the most awesome aspects of TFs pretty faithfully.

Being a kid in Italy in the 80s probably meant having the pick of an awful lot of killer TF-related stuff toy-wise. They had it good I reckon. They had a second chance to pick up some toys as well seeing as they got Classic-era TF releases too.

Yeah they had boppers, but at least their missiles FIRE! Like I said before, the launchers on my old GiG Diaclone Thundercracker were better than the Japanese Diaclone ones.

Of course, Italy got the Japanese-style packaging for the Scramble City bots too! Now for me personally I love the way the smaller bots come in box + styro packaging. I think they look great. Have you seen 4 boxed Aerialbots or 6 boxed Constructicons all lined up together? It's a killer sight! And the best part for me? The text on the box (main flap) says "Transformers". The Japanese packaging doesn't have the nostalgic value for me personally, and a lot of that is due to the Japanese version of the main "Transformers" logo on the main flaps. The GiGs have the best of both worlds in my opinion, the box + styro, and the nostalgic aspect of the US/UK look packaging.

Even now if you lived in Italy, if you're seriously seriously lucky, imagine some of the awesome stuff you could come across at a flea market. Take your pick....a complete Powered Buggy, a loose Black bullet-firing Megatron, any variety of the aformentioned funky pre-TF colour variant cars, bits of Predaking....and not to mention all the other TF stuff they got. If you're lucky ;)

Of course it's not all roses, I think with the G1 series 1 jets they may have pulled the mother of all cost-cutters. If you've ever seen a GiG Starscream box you'll see on the name/function bar it contains not only Starscream's Italian name, but also Skywarp and Thundercracker's. "Astrum", "Corvo" and "Vampiro" respectively. Same on the instruction sheet. But only Starscream's boxart is used.

I saw an Italian auction for a Skywarp once and it included this multi-purpose series 1 jet instruction sheet. I have a feeling they printed one box for all 3 jets. All that was changed was the jet, its accessories and stickersheet, but the other paperwork and box were the same for all three. Hopefully one day I'll see a pic of a Skywarp sealed in a GiG Starscream box.

Oh also, in Italy, Skydive was called "Log" and Groove was called “Chips”. Beat that! ;)

All the best
Maz