I just purchased a g1 whirl "complete". It came with 4 weapons but also a little blue male pilot - is this original? This is my second whirl and he looks just like my other one but made by ashi production 1984. Thanks for any help. Questions in summary 1. Ashi whirl is legitimate? 2. Who is the little pilot? Is it original to the toy? Thanks
I'd need to do a lot more research, but Whirl and Roadbuster were originally a part of a series called Dorvack, where they were piloted mecha, and they were licensed by Hasbro for use in the Transformers toyline. While the Transformers versions did not include the pilots, I'd imagine the originals did. Ashi Productions was the company that made Dorvack, it aired in Japan 1983-1984. Here's some pics of the original Ovelon Gazette toy Whirl was recolored from - sounds like the little pilot might have come from a different set though. Ovelon Gazzette | Robot Japan
I used to have a pretty nice KO of the original one (with pilot). For example... Kingdam knockoff of Transformers Generation 1 Whirl | Flickr - Photo Sharing!