| 04.05.2019 – The Transformers brand has gone through so many incarnations from the vintage G1, Beast Wars, and other collaborations like Marvel and Star Wars.
But in Japan, Takara Tomy takes these collaborations way past the norms. Some are controversial while others are interestingly unique it’s only exclusive to this country. Then there’s Disney x Transformers dubbed “Disney Label” short stint collaboration between Japan’s Takara Tomy and Disney that produced only a few related tie-in even without the support of a Comic Book, Animation, or videogame it was popular for its time that puts Mickey Mouse & Optimus Prime in the mix. |
From 2009 to 2010 Takara Tomy and Disney struck collaboration that would put two brands together, which was slowly becoming the norm with these companies. The Transformers brand has made crossovers with its other licensing prior to Disney acquiring both Marvel and Star Wars.
Hasbro produced some oddly transforming robots from Marvel with its selected heroes while partnering with Lucas Films in making some of the iconic characters in Star Wars make their own imaginative mash-up featuring Darth Vader as a transforming Death Star or Boba Fett turning into his Slave-1 ship.
But with Hasbro’s counterpart in Japan namely Takara Tomy push the crossover collaboration to new heights that the American market could not imagine. With Disney Label even though it was short lived they produced only three characters that are two from Disney and one from Disney Pixar.
The start of this collaboration introduced Mickey Mouse x Optimus Prime that would be called unofficially as OptiMouse Prime, but as named only “Mickey Mouse Trailer” that would eventually follow-up with two more and in-between that releases also produced seasonal and exclusive releases.
With Mickey Mouse the same mold would four more repaint/retooled/recolored versions of the same figure beyond the one year collaboration. This was quite a concept that certainly an interesting move from Takara Tomy.
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OptiMouse Prime
Imagine if Mickey Mouse had his own transforming robot to pilot in his likeness with some design aesthetics that takes inspiration from Opimus Prime with regards to colors and design. It was one of the interesting ideas that Takara Tomy’s design team that cooked up to give birth to what would be everyone’s favorite.
The robot itself has its interesting features, which was packaged in this mode on a window box that you can immediately see. Based from the color palette of Optimus Prime you get this Mickey Mouse looking robots with a huge smile on its face. You see Mickey Mouse in his white jumpsuit with orange details pointing a direction what his robot should do when it goes to action.
The other features of this figures is too cute to ignore having a translucent visor that goes up and down. There’s a faction symbol a la Autobot but with mouse ears. With articulation the head has limited movement as the back piece that would turn into the back part of his truck is attached to the robot’s neck that is also the wing part. The arms have this spring loaded connecting piece to its shoulder, but does not have elbow joint as well as there’s not having a waist joint either. While the legs goes forwards and backwards there’s another articulation besides that. But the feet folds due to part of the transformation process in turning this cute Mouse Bot into its vehicle form.
This robot form is not taller or bigger if you can put it besides Siege Sideswipe its ears just barely make it past the shoulder. The tiny Mickey Mouse is permanently attached to this robot’s head and the ears are also articulated due to being part also of the transformation from moving forward to sweeping back.
From Robot Mouse to Truck
Transformation is fairly simple about level three in current standards when you turn it into the truck mode. The big piece that forms the wing of the backpack takes the space that covers the robot’s head revealing that it’s the trailer. The legs stretch and rotate both toes to align in forming the back part of the truck while the huge wing turns into the boxy storage that hides the head.
There’s a tab on both toes that connects the tip of what used to be the wings of the robot to locked and form the box part of the trailer. The arms are widely loose due to the spring loaded joint connecting the shoulder. There’s a peg on both palm of the robot hands that connects locks in on the robot’s hips.
Then finally the front part of the cab folds down and underneath there’s a tab that would attach to the middle part to lock it and as you secure it the front window reveals Mickey Mouse on the right side of the truck as its driver that makes this an interesting part of the change from robot to vehicle form.
Cartoonish Tractor Trailer
No doubt this would be adorable in Disney standards to see if Optimus Prime’s truck form would be Disney-fied vehicle in one piece. The feat of engineering to put this idea together must be challenging for the designers how the aesthetics of Disney’s animation style would fit in to Transformers engineering.
Both sides of the truck shows the aforementioned faction symbol similar to Optimus Prime’s trailer and the way its design where it took its inspiration. The colors certainly worked on this truck having being painted in metallic red and silver whiole the part where the wheels are located are in the trademark blue accents. The tires do roll but there’s a faux wheel part which was only part of this aesthetics.
What makes this an interesting version of Mickey Mouse is the last part of transformation revealing the driver when you locked the front grille. Since this was released in Japan and Australia the truck is a right-hand drive like on both of these countries that makes this toy even cooler than the other Transformers out there.
Overall design would make those want to look for this now, which was already discontinued several years ago. But you may be able to find these being sold in secondary market. The only concern on this robot is the wing/back part due to not locking like the way the Dinobot’s Grimlock has a way to keep it open this one was loose which would probably part of the flaw of its design. But the rest was impressive from robot, transformation, and vehicle mode this one cool Disney Label x Transformers collaboration.
Disney Label x Transformers: Mickey Mouse was acquired in Gaisano Mall back in January 2013 during a trip to Davao City, which was sold for PhP 395.00 pesos ($10.68 AUD | $7.58 USD) of all places in the Philippines that was never sold on retail in Metro Manila.
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