Title:
Viewfinder Reflector
Description:
Reflector (Mail-away, 1986/1987; wide release in Japan, 1985)
Japanese ID number: 21
Accessories: "Lens Laser” rifle, telephoto lens
Known designers: Hideaki Yoke (TakaraTomy), Shinji Aramaki (concept artist)
Available only as part of the Reflector set, Viewfinder transforms into the central lens portion of a camera that most closely resembles a 1969 Ricoh 126C-Flex TLS, with Spectro and Spyglass forming the remaining 2/3rds of the camera. Viewfinder actually has a working, well, viewfinder: If one looks through it, one can see out the lens. Speaking of the lens, the telephoto attachment can slide onto Viewfinder’s blaster, reducing the loose kibble slightly (and turning it from a rifle into a honking big cannon).
Reflector was first sold in Japan in 1985 as an ordinary retail item. While Hasbro originally planned him for release in 1984 (thus him appearing in the cartoon), they delayed selling him in the US until 1986, and only then via mail-order from a direct-mail flyer promoting The Transformers: The Movie. (Amusingly, this came just as the character was being quietly and fully phased out of the fiction.) The toy would be a common offering in pack-in flyers from then on, at a cost of $10 and two Robot Points.
Japanese ID number: 21
Accessories: "Lens Laser” rifle, telephoto lens
Known designers: Hideaki Yoke (TakaraTomy), Shinji Aramaki (concept artist)
Available only as part of the Reflector set, Viewfinder transforms into the central lens portion of a camera that most closely resembles a 1969 Ricoh 126C-Flex TLS, with Spectro and Spyglass forming the remaining 2/3rds of the camera. Viewfinder actually has a working, well, viewfinder: If one looks through it, one can see out the lens. Speaking of the lens, the telephoto attachment can slide onto Viewfinder’s blaster, reducing the loose kibble slightly (and turning it from a rifle into a honking big cannon).
Reflector was first sold in Japan in 1985 as an ordinary retail item. While Hasbro originally planned him for release in 1984 (thus him appearing in the cartoon), they delayed selling him in the US until 1986, and only then via mail-order from a direct-mail flyer promoting The Transformers: The Movie. (Amusingly, this came just as the character was being quietly and fully phased out of the fiction.) The toy would be a common offering in pack-in flyers from then on, at a cost of $10 and two Robot Points.
Theme:
1984
Manufacturer:
Hasbro
Year:
1984
Country:
United States
Series:
G1
Date Added:
2023-02-01 13:58:04
