Transformers Robots in Disguise Spy Changers
Item No.: Asst. 26548 No. 26554 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Clear orange blaster Action Feature:Transforms from robot to car, rolls Retail:$3.99 Availability: 2003 Other: There are other clear versions, too
I got this R.E.V. (Clear) at Kay-Bee Toys about 20 years ago, it may have been on sale - I can't remember. I picked up a few odds and ends because they were small and amusing, and I was delighted that there were Hot Wheels-sized cars from Hasbro. (Hasbro would later do die-cast metal cars, which I still need to grab one or two of.) These toys from the '00s were recolors of recolors of toys from the '90s in an era where Hasbro and Takara were pumping out recolored exclusives like crazy, with tons of mini toys like Micromasters, Mini-Cons, and these Spy Changers for around $4 or even less at some value stores. You could also get 2 in a pack for $5 or $6, so this wasn't necessarily a bargain next to a $1 Matchbox or Hot Wheels car - but those couldn't transform.
The reason I bring this guy up for Wheels Week may not be obvious - it's a really good race car with great wheels. I got a cheap Hot Wheels launcher a few years ago with some cheap orange track a few weeks ago, and this toy went further than almost any real Hot Wheels car. A tiny rubber band-powered mechanism launched this guy beyond my 20ish feet of track across the house, which very few other cars in my collection could do. The top 4 were a 2012 Sharkcruiser, a 2016 Carships Millennium Falcon, and the winner, a Blue 2010 Faster than Ever '07 For Shelby GT500. I don't know if this has anything to do with speed, as I don't have the equipment to make such measurements yet.
This certainly pushed my buttons to wonder about 1:64 car toys as a sport - what's the best? Does Hasbro make a better Hot Wheels car than Mattel? And how can you tell? I still don't know, but I can tell you that this simple car is the kind of thing I wish Hasbro still manufactured for today's kids. It's a good toy and I wish I bought a few more of them.
As a robot, it's a pretty cute little toy - but nothing amazing. Pretty much the entire line of these GoBots and Spy Changers work the same, with jointed shoulders and nearly identical transformations complete with a 3mm peg accessory. This one is a US recolor of the toy in clear orange plastic for the car with slightly red shins, a clear colorless chest, and a painted red helmet. It's hard to see detail if front-lit, and if you hold it up to the light you see a ton of sculpted detail. It's almost like an x-ray - it looks really nice.
His chest has a bird painted on it with the letters TF, and they are difficult to see unless you hold it up in bright lighting conditions. He has no problems holding his blaster, and the only real articulation is those arms. It's G1-levels of articulation and a toy mold that has been recolored multiple times as several characters, even as Optimus Prime. It doesn't look like Optimus Prime, but it was the 1990s, and people did some wacky things.
Transformation is fairly simple, and if you can't do it I worry for you. The robot's arms push in, the hood folds back, and the legs slide up. There's no on-board accessory storage for it, and when it's all done you have a toy that looks like a Hot Wheels car.
The car looks great in clear, with the same orange taking on different brightnesses due to some darker orange pieces underneath. It has black windows, a classic Autobot symbol, and black wheels with 3 spokes on it. It looks a lot like the FC3 Fraser Campbell 3-spoke wheel, but is not identical. And those didn't come out until 2022.
Most of my Hot Wheels cars weigh in around 30 grams, this one is much lighter at 19 grams. The wheels spin an impressively long time compared to other toy cars, too. Of the other cars I have in this style, like Optimus Prime and Scourge and W.A.R.S. and Crosswide, this one tended to roll farther. I don't know if that means it would go faster too - but I'd love to find out.
If anyone out there collects Transformers and races Hot Wheels, I'd love to know how these things stack up. It's also worth noting that Mattel now makes actual Hot Wheels x Transformers toys, with a sold-out $80 Optimus Prime, a $6 non-transforming Transformers Hot Wheels Optimus Prime Truck 1:64 Scale Die-Cast Metal Vehicle, and a $1.25 Bumblebee. So far. We're all hoping for more. I'd nudge you to try the Spy Changers and GoBots since they're relatively cheap for transforming toys, even the ones that are 20 or 30 years old. Even if you don't get the Kay-Bee exclusive clear R.E.V., go get one of them just to play around with. It's worth it.
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