We have today a special article on a Spanish Generation One Countdown from the Transformers line. This town was mass produced in Spain itself. The interview is with Releaser... from TFW2005.com. We have detailed pictures of the Spanish Countdown with its American counterpart. Thanks to Releaser... for the interview as well as the beautiful pictures of his toy. The Spanish is ont he left and the American is on the right. Enjoy!
1) What are the main differences from the American and Spanish Countdowns?
The most notable thing is that the box and the instructions are written in spanish. I didn't notice any differences on the base itself compared to the US release but there is a significant difference on the Micromaster itself; the spanish one has a grey, unpainted chest while the US one has a silver one. I noticed the difference when i tried to find an official stamp on the spanish one; when i couldn't, the thought of a KO crossed my mind so, i took out the US one i got to compare it. Both had no stamps and then i noticed the difference on the chests.
2) Where did you get this Spanish Countdown?
I got it from ebay, from a spanish seller. He said it was from the remains of an old toy shop.
3) Would you recommend this Countdown to other collectors?
Well, i personally don't think it would make much of a difference to buy either version. To tell you the truth, i like the one with the silver chest more. 4) There has been some fuss over whether this is a legit Countdown, what is your opinion on that?
At first, i thought that the Micromaster itself might have been a KO because the box had been opened before purchase, it had no stamps and the grey chest looked funny. Plus, the legs section is a little loose at its pelvis when put him to sit. I did an internet research and found no evidence that a Countdown KO ever existed but the silver one was in every pic i found. Also, i asked a friend that had been a collector for many years without mentioning anything about the color difference on purpose, and he said he thought he had the grey one but he couldn't sure because he sadly had sold his collection a few years ago. That made me thought it could be a variation or a factory paint error but legit nonetheless. There are variations on some G1 releases from different countries (such as the greek G1 Devastator that has a set of purple missiles instead of the silver drills and Mixmaster's forehead gun). But i don't recall personally ever seeing a variation in color such as the one on Countdown.
5) Would you consider this a permanent member of your collection and why. Even if didn't have the US version which i like more, its wouldn't have been much of a problem to own only the grey one. The condition of the toy itself is immaculate and i applied the stickers myself so, there is no point to let it go. Every G1 transformer that crosses my doorstep has minimal chances to cross it again so, i guess Countdown stays.