Without getting too knee-deep into the weeds on its already well-documented history, Roadbuster was introduced into the 1985 TF lineup as another licensed toy from Takatoku along with the Jetfire debacle, along with Whirl, before Takatoku went out business and their designs got acquired by Bandai. By 1984, Hasbro had used up most of Takara’s older toys for their debut, so they looked to other companies to license existing toys, hence the interesting and somewhat controversial partnership with Takara’s top rival and Machine Robo (Go Bots) creator, Bandai. Since Roadbuster, Whirl and Jetfire are from Takatoku Toys and not Takara, their designs are so entirely different from Diaclone and Microman toys that they hardly seem to fit into the Transformers line at all. But thankfully, we got Roadbuster legitimized into G1 and TF history in 1985, because this is just one sweet package overall of a figure. Behold…

Roadbuster was originally called “Dorvack VV-54AR Mugen Calibur”, a super futuristic military jeep robot sporting a groovy tan and orange color scheme that was featured along with Whirl, a helicopter robot named Ovelon Gazzette, in an anime called “Tokusou Kihei Dorvack”. There was also a third boat robot called Bonaparte Tulcas, completing the trio of land, air, and sea vehicles, but that one didn’t make the cut, perhaps because of budget or because it looked way too different from other Transformers to fit into the lineup, lacking a robot face. Mugen Calibur, however, looked like a classic battle mecha soldier. I found this set of mini versions of the three figures in an eBay auction, and later in this post I’ll show mine.

From what I can tell, I think these mecha were semi-autonomous robots operated by a pilot, much like most of the mecha until Transformers. Remember, Transformers was one of the first shows to feature fully sentient robots, let alone robots as alien lifeforms. Hence, Hasbro was able to ditch the Diaclone drivers from Takara, also because they posed a choking hazard to American kids, but more likley to save on costs.

The Dorvack line also did not include any drivers either. Instead, the Mugen Calibur figure included a plethora of accessories in the form of armor add-ons, more akin to what you’d expect from Macross, Gundam, and other Bandai-dominant lines. No chrome, no spring-loaded missiles, but a whole lot of power-ups and tiny parts for kids to easily lose. This wasn’t my original Roadbuster I had as a kid – it got thrown away by my parents when they moved houses after I left for college. Typical story, and I’ve finally gotten over it, but it really kickstarted my hardcore re-collecting, for better or worse.

Here’s a Diaclone driver for scale reference. The cockpit is super long and narrow so that no driver could really look right in the driver’s seat, but it’s still looks super cool. It also shows you how massively wide this jeep would be.

Roadie is fully kitted out, with loaded of pieces to easily lose, especially the radar / sight thing for his rifle. Some of the parts are compatible with various ports, so you can experiment with a few different combinations, but for the most part it’s an armor kit that you need to be nearly complete for the full effect. It is quite top heavy and the side angle shows that it’s a little wonky in terms of proportions, but it all works and comes together in an impressive, yet kinda goofy, way.

The details are well sculpted and pretty intricate at this price level, and there’s quite a bit of heft from the die cast legs, although they are painted brown over metal, lending to a lot of corner wear. Also, the legs are pulled out of the die cast shis, but are super stiff and prone to getting stuck as it relies mostly on friction to stay in place, with die cast rubbing on plastic. Plus he’s got fake knee joints molded into the plastic, so he looks like he would have a knee bend, but alas – no, this is essentially a stick figure with only a shoulder pivot. Fortunately, he makes up for it in firepower.

It’s the transformation process and parts of Roadbuster that shows how differently Takatoku designed from Takara or other transforming robot manufacturers. Using spring-loaded pulleys and weird sockets, the Mugen Calibur design is more like a marionette puppet that locks into place.

Dorvack Mugen Calibur 1:72 scale

Somehow during my early re-collecting phase I also acquired a mini transforming Mugen Calibur. I believe it’s 1:72 scale and part of the 3-figure set shown above. It obviously doesn’t have the same level detail as the original 1:55 scale, but for a tiny 4″ tall figure, I really love it for its faithful similarity to the original. Its transformation is nearly identical, some of the parts are just as detailed, and I just love that orange creamsicle color scheme. Too bad they didn’t keep the orange and tan, although Roadbuster’s army / duckhunter palette works pretty well also and seems to have stood the test of time, seeing that most iterations of Roadbuster have kept the military hunting colors intact.

Both the jeep and robot modes are pretty spot on as far as capturing all the essence of the main sized figure. There is a non-transforming version that has all the armor and accessories as the 1:55 scale, but as it doesn’t transform, I’m not too interested in getting a redundant action figure version. The mini Mugen comes with a rifle that really resembles a simpler version of the original, with muzzle, stock, and all.

The copyrights of the G1 Hasbro Roadbuster already show that Roadbuster had already been acquired by Bandai but produced by the same factory, Ashi Production. The mini Mugen’s reads “Dorvack ©Takatoku Toys”. Dorvack would go down in history as the final release of Takatoku – their valiant, but failed, attempt to stay in the game.

Even without all the weapons, the wheel covers, or the backpack, Roadbuster still looks like a really capable fighter. Side by side, the two iterations on this design both look equally formidable, well proportioned, and pretty badass IMO.

This level of attention to detail in terms of accuracy and transformation just shows how much care and thought went into designing these toys, in true Japanese fashion. Side by side, the 1:55 Roadbuster and 1:72 Mugen Calibur are like Leader Class vs. Core Class, in modern Hasbro terms. The mini Mugen is of course, less detailed overall than the 1:55th, but there’s a lot of additional lines on the mini bot that doesn’t exist on the original. You can see side by side that the faces are also a bit different, and the recolor by Hasbro to Roadbuster really made a big difference in looking way different from the original.

Roadie and Mugen are really cool looking examples of retro-futuristic military design from the 80’s. The shell armor, wheel covers, and armaments are very much in line with Macross Valkyrie VF1-S style of mecha, attributable to Shoji Kawamori’s influence on mecha design at the time. These armored military / police robots are always a core staple in anime, and besides the obvious frontrunners Macross and Gundam, the 80’s was chock full of them: VOTOMS, Mospeada, Patlabor, Orguss, Southern Cross, and Megazone 23 to name a few. Unlike Transformers, all of these anime robots were piloted by humans, not autonomous sentient lifeforms. Thanks to the efforts of Jim Shooter, Bud Budiansky, Simon Furman, and other TF contributors, the Transformers’ origin story is really a standout and divergence from the typical storytelling that focused on the plight of the human protagonists instead of the robots, and thankfully so – who cares about random humans when there are incredibly fascinating giant robots to feature?!

I’m super happy to have these guys in my collection. I’m sure that at some point the legs will stay stuck so I’ll probably keep Roadie in bot form, since that’s what I prioritize anyway, but thankfully having a mini Mugen as backup lets me see both alt and bot modes any time I want, without risking damage to my precious G1. My hope for the future is that we see a more articulated version, either in Masterpiece or at least as a Missing Link, even if Roadbuster isn’t a key character, he’s a great figure with loads of untapped storytelling potential and play value that stands the test of time.