Now pretty much none of this is really new, the various details have been unearthed years ago, but I don't think anyone has ever done the math and mapped it all out.

*cracks knuckles*

G1 Skids is commonly associated with the 1985 G1 lineup. He wasn't depicted in the 1984 catalog, he debuted in season 2 of the cartoon and was introduced among other new 1985 characters in issue 14 of the Marvel US comic. So of course he's a 1985 release, right?

And then he got the short end of the stick, only being packaged one per case whereas all the other new 1985 figures were packaged two per case. That must man he was super-rare, right?

Well... not quite.

See, there's been reports of Skids having been available as early as December 1984, shipping as part of the 1984 Autobot Cars assortment. Because I'm currently in the process of editing the relevant TFWiki pages, I won't quote TFWiki... instead, I would like to refer you to this blog post:
TF Scraps: Early G1 Timeline

So I went back to the Hartmans' old website and checked the case assortments.


It all makes sense now!

Here's the breakdown:

1984 case assortments

Original 1984 Autobot Cars assortment (#5750):
5751E 1 *Sunstreaker
5752E 1 *Sideswipe
5753E 1 *Hound
5754E 2 *Mirage
5755E 1 *Bluestreak
5756E 1 *Prowl
5757E 1 *Jazz
5758E 1 *Ironhide
5759E 1 *Ratchet
5760E 1 *Wheeljack
5761E 1 *Trailbreaker

Please note how a second Mirage is used to fill up a case of twelve with only eleven different figures.

Now the next part is my own assumption:

Revised 1984 Autobot Cars assortment (#5750):
5751E 1 Sunstreaker
5752E 1 Sideswipe
5753E 1 Hound
5754E 1 Mirage
5755E 1 Bluestreak
5756E 1 Prowl
5757E 1 Jazz
5758E 1 Ironhide
5759E 1 Ratchet
5760E 1 Wheeljack
5761E 1 Trailbreaker
5762E 1 *Skids

The second Mirage is replaced by Skids, bringing the lineup to a nice even twelve in a case of twelve. This makes perfect sense now considering Skids's product code number follows right in sequence with the other 1984 Autobot Cars! All the "real" 1985 Autobot Cars' product code numbers (see below) don't.

1985 case assortments

1985 Autobot Cars Assortment 1 (#5765):
5751E 1 Sunstreaker
5755E 1 Bluestreak
5757E 1 Jazz
5759E 1 Ratchet
5761E 1 Trailbreaker
5762E 1 Skids
5951F 2 *Red Alert
5952F 2 *Grapple
5955F 2 *Hoist

1985 Autobot Cars Assortment 2 (#5766):
5752E 1 Sideswipe
5753E 1 Hound
5754E 1 Mirage
5756E 1 Prowl
5758E 1 Ironhide
5760E 1 Wheeljack
5953F 2 *Smokescreen
5954F 2 *Inferno
5956F 2 *Tracks

Both 1985 Autobot Cars assortments contain six of the 1984 figures (packaged one per case) and three of the new 1985 figures (packaged two per case). The reason Skids was only packaged one per case was because Hasbro considered him a 1984 release!


Mystery solved?

 

This is all true. Good post!

The other “1985” toys that were released in 1984 were Shockwave and Jetfire.

I’ve seen claims the the Dinobots were also sighted in 84, but AFAIK there’s no corroborating evidence (though I’m willing to be corrected!).

I’ve also seen factory mock-ups of Insecticon packaging with the 84 art on the back, but they were never released as such.

 

Now what would really interest me is an exact case breakdown of the 1984 and 1985 Autobot Mini-Cars/Mini Vehicles assortment. Were red and yellow Bumblebee and Cliffjumper evenly packed? Were the alternate colors rarer than the "official" colors? How common was "Bumper" (only available in yellow, packaged on Cliffjumper cards)? Were those packaged at random, or was there a method to it?

In 1984, each figure was packaged four per case (in cases of 24), so any combination would have been possible.

 

I knew this years back, the dead give away is the 1984 box art on Skids

 

Nevermore, thanks for the heads up. Very interesting, and makes perfect sense.

Now all we need is a case find of those mini cars.........

 

That's cool. I love reading about this sort of thing.

 

Interesting. Although I never had any troubles finding a Skids. He was one of the Autobots none of the other kids wanted. Skids and Grapple were both bought on clearance at a grocery store.

 

And here I thought I was imagining it! As a kid I remember seeing Skids almost the other 84 guys but didn’t care because I had no idea who he was.

 

It would be bizarre to see a full color Skids instruction booklet. The earliest ones that I have seen are in black and white, have TM next to the Transformers logo on the front, and do NOT have the rub-sign notice on the back page of the booklet. (A little paper slip was included which discussed it.)

 

There should be someone out there who can document case assortments and their breakdown going all the way back to 1984.

 

Hey Karl, you want to jump on the crazy train?

How about the 1985 Mini-Cars assortment with included Mini-Spies? Was there any rhyme or reason to the possible combinations of Mini-Spy type (4), color (3) and faction (2) in relation to the Mini-Cars they were packaged with, or was it all completely random?

There are 24 possible combinations of Mini-Spies (4*3*2), and the Mini-Cars came in cases of 24. So it's quite possible that each of the six Mini-Cars only had four different Mini-Spy combinations they were available with.

Did anyone ever investigate this?

EDIT: Okay, looks like it was random after all.

These are just the Bumblebees I've found:

 

I remember Skids as my first Autobot, and I remember being confused as to why he wasn't on the checklist...or the cartoon...or in the first few issues of the Marvel comic.

This validates my childhood memory. (And now I wish I hadn't been so darned precise when cutting the tech specs off of the back of the boxes.)

 

Grimlock, Slag, Sludge and Snarl were released in TM boxes with the 84 box art.

 

Man i love this post so THANKS for the HARD WORK you put in to find the answer.

 

Nevermore,

The included picture is from the old TF source article. These are what we had in our collection, leading us to firmly believe that there were certain colors of mini spies available with certain mini cars.

Bumblebee and Cliffjumper (product number 5701 and 5702, I think) had white mini spies

Brawn and Gears (numbers 5703/5704 or 5705/5706, I don’t remember) had yellow minispies

Huffer and Windcharger (5703/5704 or 5705/5706) had blue minispies.

To this point, every confirmed carded example of mini cars with minispy that we had seen fit into this pattern. I wonder if the Bumblebee with blue minispy is an outlier, or perhaps a reseal. Who knows?

Interesting, nevertheless.

Karl

 

Also, looking at that source picture from TF source with the blue minispy with the red bumblebee card, it looks like that bubble was torn open. I don’t necessarily think that is necessarily a viable example.

Karl

PS Insomnia is a bitch, but apparently leads to stimulating conversation. Who knew?

 

Now if they were sorted based on their color, the logical assumption would be that the facton might have also depended on the figure they were packaged with...

Also also: I just noticed that the toy packaging does not identify them as "Mini-spies"! They're simply called "Motorized Transformers". The name comes from the TV commercial.

 

Going down that rabbit hole a bit further, those cards were available sign both TM and circled R next to the Transformers logo, with the TM being the earlier release. There was a variation on the “minispies” themselves: early versions had multiple thin spokes on the back wheels (which can be seen in packaging) and a rounded motor housing that encases the pull back and go motor (only visible when in robot mode, while later versions had a thick, 8 spoke design and a flat/angled motor housing. One could assume that the early version of the minispy could come with the TM cards.

The rabbit hole runs deep.

 

The Micromaster Off Road Patrol, Air Strike Patrol and Race Car Patrol were also late 1988 releases, right? They came in different packaging than the rest, being called "Micro Transformers" (with the name "Micromasters" only appearing on the bottom of the packaging) using the old logo whereas the other three patrols and all other Micromasters came in redesigned packaging using the new 1989-onwards logo.




I was able to find a specimen of a "Micromaster" version of the Air Strike Patrol courtesy of this Youtube video, but it appears this was a UK release... in English-only packaging (which actually existed in the UK back then) but with "registered trademark" ® markings? Odd.

 

I’m not sure if I’ve seen that before. Looks so strange, to see that team on that style of card. And, it’s English only? I wonder if there is any difference between an American card, and an English-only European card.

Was 1988 the first year that English only packaging was released over there, in addition to packaging with some other languages?

I distinctly remember that we got those first three micromaster sets during the summer of 1988, at the newly opened Toys R Us in Fort Wayne. We thought they were some test release, to see how they would sell.