Alongside the pink/blue Windcharger, this has got to be the most outrageously coloured minicars from the Brazilian company Estrela. The black/purple/yellow Jipe (Brawn) is a real eyeful! It is from the later Optimus vs Malignus line in Brazil, and you can't help but be fascinated by it.

That sticker you see on his crotch is the Malignus faction symbol. There were 2 Jipes released in the earlier Robocar line (regular TF coloured and tan/cream coloured) and in the later Optimus vs Malignus line there was this black Jipe and a blue/white Jipe also. For more detailed information and history on the two Brazilian minicar lines, check out any of my earlier articles on Brazilian minicars.

The particular Brawn featured in this review has a lot of damage to his left arm/door but it won't affect proceedings too much.

The colour schemes for the minis became pretty wild for the Optimus vs Malignus line in Brazil and this Jipe is no exception. The vehicle mode wouldn't be so loud if it wasn't for the yellow windows, hood section and spare tire on the roof. I'm not entirely sure if this recolour would be to everyone's liking or not. I personally love it because it's just so weird.

The toy has Estrela copyright markings as opposed to Takara/Hasbro, typical of Brazilian release minicars.

One possible explanation for the colour scheme could be his faction, Malignus. No doubt intended to represent the Decepticon side of the conflict, this particular recolour shows a typical Decepticon colour scheme of prominent black and purple, but I'm still lost on the yellow... I think the detailing on the robot's head is particularly nice. Now for some side-by-side shots with its Brazilian Tan/Cream brother from the earlier Robocar line:

Not being from the Optimus vs Malignus line where seperate factions were made clear, the earlier tan/cream Jipe has TF/Microman-like stickers on his torso compared to the unique faction symbol on the black Jipe.

They may look like they're not the same size, but that's because I didn't transform them both correctly :P
As nice as this black Jipe is, I think the cream/tan version has a lot more class to it. However the sheer wild look of the black Jipe is what makes it so attractive to me. The colour scheme makes no sense, is pretty unrealistic, and is totally characteristic of the Optimus vs Malignus line. And that's why you just gotta love Brazilian minicars. This black Jipe would also have had unique Optimus vs Malignus card art, which as you can probably guess, was equally wild!

All the best
Maz