JP Masterpiece Road Rage to be released at ToysRUs Australia

[GoktimusPrime]

True. But a lot of the casual collectors would have no idea who Road Rage is. Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee are all well known characters even to casual collectors. Most people who know the character od Road Rage would've already found her online. It just seems strange that TRU would want to offer her (and Starsabre.)

Totally agree. If I could, I would attach images and texts on the box to try and give these toys a broader appeal to the Western/Anglophone market. Here's a quick mock up of what I might do for Road Rage's box -- replace the blurb about the Road Rage character (which most Hasbro market consumers wouldn't be familiar with) and replace it with an image of the 1985 diorama, a close up of Road Rage from it, as well as an image of the red Tracks toy from 1985 in Tracks' original G1 packaging.

I would also include a small blurb beneath the picture to explain it; something like:
Road Rage is based on Tracks’ original Diaclone red colour. The red Tracks appeared in the battle diorama artwork on the back of all 1985 packaging, and was also available in some parts of Europe.

But alas, I have no influence over the packaging, just the instructions. So it's in the instructions where I try to adapt these translations with a Western/Anglophone bias. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but as you've rightly pointed out, most hardcore fans who would be more familiar with these obscure characters would be more likely to have already pre-ordered them from Japan anyway. So IMO it makes more sense to make these translations appeal to a broader base of more casual collectors. This was something that I suggested to Hasbro when they first asked me to translate MP22 Ultra Magnus' instructions. When they showed me a print out of the Japanese instructions (as well as their hilariously horrible attempt at translating it themselves ), I immediately noticed that it made several references to Japanese continuity which wouldn't mean anything to casual Western fans (e.g. Scramble City, eHobby G2 Laser Magnus etc.); hence I removed those references altogether and focused the translation purely on Ultra Magnus' Anglophone character (as well as a little nod to IDW with the "Ambus Class Laser Gun" ). Hasbro thought it was a great idea and I've been 'Westernising' all my MP translations ever since. Obviously being able to modify the packaging would be great too, but I have no control over that.

[tron07]

I have explicitly mentioned this in the booklet.[/list]

I remember this pic but no idea its road rage until you mention it... I have always thought its Tracks but they colour it wrongly

[Demonac]

It was Tracks...until 2002 when eHobby released Road Rage (which was based on the red diaclone version of the mold).

[FruitBuyer]

I remember this pic but no idea its road rage until you mention it... I have always thought its Tracks but they colour it wrongly

Wow, I just noticed Grimlock is looking at her and the position of his sword looks like he's flashing her.