This is a really old kitbash project I started working on over 15 years ago. This particular Bluestreak was my old childhood toy, one of the first Transformers I ever owned – a Diaclone mold stamped Takara Japan with no dates, from Hasbro’s first wave in 1984. The poor thing was in typical horrible shape – broken roof, broken rear windows, missing car door, missing wheel, and really dinged up overall. Over the years, I slowly picked up the missing pieces one by one, and experimented with different spray lacquers since I had painted the pieces at different times. Here is the final result for his alt mode – a jet black Nissan Fairlady Z (Datsun 280ZX) with custom spoilers, and retro-fabulous gold “plated” rims and fenders.

There’s not much involved in this custom other than a new paintjob and some part swapping. The roof and rear windows came from a Smokescreen, hence the spoilers and no T-bar sunroof. I added some 1st gen repro labels (the really thick kind). I like how the fresh colors of the repro stickers really pop against the dark, glossy background.

I wanted this character “Blackstreak” to fit in with the pre-Transformers lineage somewhere between Diaclone and G1, so I painted a Diaclone driver in gold to match. I think it adds a nice little touch for him to have a companion. Plus, I just feel all the G1 cars really should have their drivers to go into the otherwise empty cockpits. So, for the backstory on this fictional release – he’s a Diaclone that had a faction logo added on afterwards post 1984, I guess.

Now on to his bitchin’, boogie-down bot form. He’s D-Y-N-O-M-I-T-E!

In black and gold, he seems like a henchier version of his silver / silver-and-blue brother.

“BLACKSTREAK was a bit of a black sheep, the odd one in the bunch who didn’t take well to orders and kept to himself, unlike his chatty twin. But he always had the music. While he was more compatible with the likes of Jazz and Blaster than the other Autobots, their disparate musical tastes kept their conversations limited to debates on rock vs disco.”

Ok, admittedly I haven’t thought much in depth about the persona of this character, but to me, he’s one of a kind.

And finally, speaking of disco, here’s a gem from the boob tube for your viewing pleasure – a commercial on the real black and gold 10th Anniversary Datsun 280ZX release from 1980!