The blue Brazilian Cliffjumper hails from the second line of minibots released by Estrela, Optimus vs Malignus. The Cliffjumpers (or Carreras) of that second series were part of the Optimus faction which is the equivalent of the Autobots. There were also blue Cliffjumpers released by IGA in Mexico and by Lynsa in Peru (and possibly Chile) but they are easy enough to tell apart. This article will concentrate on the main features of the Brazilian Estrela release.

Unlike the sometimes gaudy and eye-catching schemes of the Malignus minibots, the Optimus repainted minibots are usually quite simple and aren't usually very spectacular. That's not to say that the colour schemes are not effective and pretty. Blue Cliffjumper is a nice repaint that is reasonably well known thanks to the Mexican version, but the Brazilian version is probably tougher to find. The other Optimus Minibots include Bumblebee (Volks) and Bumblejumper (Sedan).

The faction symbol for the Blue Carrera/Cliffjumper can be seen on his roof and that is probably the major distinguishing factor of these second series Brazilian minibots. It's always a nice bonus when they come with the stickers intact and not missing.

Another feature of these minibots, especially the Optimus ones, are the unique stickers behind the head. They are neither Transformers nor Microchange, they're altogether different. Unfortunately there has never been any photographic evidence of the unique and exclusive card art that the blue Carrera would have had as part of the Optimus vs Malignus line. Hopefully one will turn up, but it might take a very long time.

Something else you might have noticed, the tires do not say "Dunlop" on them as the Transformers and pre-Transformers of this toy would have done. The Argentinian Antex Cliffjumpers also have plain tires without the "Dunlop" text.

As with all Optimus vs Malignus minibots, this one is not an easy toy to find. It's not as hard as the green Bumblejumper but as I've said before, you could be waiting a while before a nice one comes along. Value-wise these are changing all the time. I have personally known carded blue MEXICAN Cliffjumpers to go for in excess of $600, but that's part of The Transformers and is a different story altogether.

The Estrela Optimus Carrera was also released in white and I believe the white version to be more difficult a piece to locate. In the earlier Brazilian Robocar line, Carrera was released in gold and also in red. The gold-coloured Cliffjumper is probably the wildest Brazilian colour scheme used for this particular mould, which is relatively calm by Brazilian minibot standards.

Here's the blue Carrera in robot mode:

As with the vehicle mode, the Optimus sigil is very prominent in robot mode. That's another difference between the Optimus minibots and the Malignus minibots; all the Optimus bots (Carrera/Cliffjumper, Volks/Bumblebee and Sedan/Bumblejumper) have the sigil on display in both modes but the Malignus bots (Jipe/Brawn, Pick-Up/Gears and Camaro/Windcharger) only display the Malignus sigil in robot mode. Also, the bots picked for the Optimus faction, with the exception of Volks, all have humanoid faces whereas all the Malignus bots have the faceplates. Here's a close up of this guy's faction symbol, followed by more robot mode pictures:

Blue Optimus Carrera to me looks nice, is easy on the eye and is more familiar as a minibot repaint. There's nothing outstandingly special about it as there is with the Constructicon-like green/purple Gears but Cliffjumper is a favourite among enthusiasts and has two very strong modes. Luckily, both modes work well in blue, and since the toy consists of just three colours: blue, black and silver, the Optimus faction suits this toy well. Here's a close-up of the robot head:

Now I've mentioned the lower quality on Brazilian figures before, and it's slightly evident on the Carrera as well. The paint on the head extends down to the eyes, but I'm not sure if that's a deliberate effect or not. If the heads on the Brazilian Bumblebee and Bumblejumper are anything to go by, it isn't deliberate and is just inaccurate painting, but I can't be certain. Also the black plastic hooks that hold the head in place are slightly shorter than on US Transformers. As a result it is not uncommon to find Brazilian Volks, Carrera or Sedan missing their heads.

Time for some comparison shots:

The above is a picture of the Blue Brazilian Optimus Carrera (left) and the blue Mexican Transformers Cliffjumper (right). You may or may not be able to tell that the Brazilian toy uses a lighter blue plastic than the Mexican toy. This is much more evident in person when the two are alongside each other. The Carrera is probably closer in colour to the Microchange Blue pre-Cliffjumper. You might also be able to make out the "Dunlop" on the Mexican TF's tires compared to the lack of it on the Brazilian toy. The build quality of the Mexican toy also feels a little better than that of the Brazilian toy. The arms on the Mex TF are slightly less inclined to slide out of their own accord.

Another way to tell the various Blue Cliffjumpers apart if they are missing the stickers is the copyright. This Brazilian one is Estrela stamped, the Microchange one would just be Takara stamped, the Peruvian one would be Hasbro/Takara stamped and the Mexican TF one is Hasbro/Takara stamped but with a rectangular block over the "JAPAN" on the stamping.

Here's the Brazilian blue Optimus Carrera next to the Brazilian blue Robocar Sedan (Bumblejumper):

The blue plastic used on these guys is practically identical. The Bumblejumper sports Microchange-like stickers which are characteristic of the first-release Brazilian Robocar minibots. The blue Bumblejumper from Brazil also has no text on the tires.

Now the blue Optimus Carrera with the gold Brazilian Robocar Carrera:

The earlier gold release of this mould in Brazil has stickers much closer to the original stickers used on Microchange MC-01 Porsche 924 Cliffjumpers. The quality of the materials used is pretty much identical and looseness in the neck joint usually comes as standard, but not always. There are nice ones out there. The gold colour is exclusive to Brazil and the Robocar line. Again, no "Dunlop" on the gold Carrera's tires. As I mentioned in the blue/yellow Windcharger article, the Optimus sigil gives the blue Carrera a lot more personality as you feel he actually has a character and a purpose instead of being a generic robot. In this case however the colour of the gold Carrera makes up a bit for the lack of faction etc

Overall, because the blue Cliffjumper is available in a number of countries, this particular release is not exclusive or as special and unique as some of the other weird minibots in the Optimus vs Malignus line. Having said that, in my opinion it's a very smart colour scheme and one that has accompanied the toy in many of its incarnations. Plus, no matter WHICH Blue Cliffjumper you are after, be it the Mexican blue, the Microchange blue, the Peruvian blue or this one, it's still a pretty damn hard toy to find. ANY packaged blue Cliffjumper is a really truly major score. The cool/annoying thing is though, almost every release of the blue Cliffjumper in different countries is a slightly different shade of blue, and the Peruvian one has no chrome and probably an unpainted face. It's a nice piece which probably won't be remembered as particularly representative of the Optimus vs Malignus line, but I've met collectors who go crazy for this particular repaint. To me, undoubtedly the coolest thing about this Brazilian blue Carrera is its allegiance to the Optimus line, a secret little world of good vs evil within the Transformers Universe :)

To finish up, from left to right we have this blue Brazilian Optimus Carrera, the gold Brazilian Robocar Carrera, the red TF Cliffjumper, the blue Mexican Cliffjumper and the yellow Mexican Cliffjumper. Notice, if you can, the difference in facial painting quality and the difference in the stickers on the back of the heads...

All the best
Maz