Ninja Grapplor

[Canadian Turtle]

Hey, a while ago I posted looking for the bottom half of the ninja grapplor vehicle. Recently I found the EXACT same toy but made for something else. It is the same mold and parts but gray, black, and red instead of green and orange.

I have no idea what toy it was for. I am just going to re-paint the parts but I thought it was interesting, and maybe someone has seen this toy copy.

[Archon_Turtle]

pics please?

[Canadian Turtle]

I am no good at posting pics on here... I hate these host pic servers. I just took it apart so i will try to get you some pics asap!

[Canadian Turtle]

So here is the pic.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...r/P9110196.jpg

One of the claws is missing but it doesn't matter because I only wanted the base.

[VaughnMichael]

Hmmm how odd, I'm going to go with Playmates must have used this in another one of their toy lines theory.

[Canadian Turtle]

Actually the only thing I can see that says anything other than the stickers is TOMY. Japan.

Tomy still makes toys now, but underwent a company shift in 2006 or something. So I can't find their older toy production lines. But I guess that means this is a rip off mold I guess. Because it is exactly the same.

[BigApple3AM]

Tomy is a legit company so I don't think it's a knock off. Tomy now owns Takara (that 2006 merger you spoke of) who made/released the Turtles figures in Japan. But I doubt this is the Japanese version of the Grapplor because at the time they were different companies. I don't own the Grapplor and the web filter here at work is blocking the pictures so I can't remember if it had anything distinctly turtles sculpted on it, but if it doesn't I wouldn't be surprised if Playmates bought the mold from Tomy to use here in the States as the turtles line, even though it belongs to something esle in Japan. I remember a Micro Turtle vehicle was originally created for use in Takara's Diaclone line in the early 80's which was the precursor to Transformers. The Transformers originally weren't sentient robots but mechs that carried little people that were dropped from the line when Hasbro brought them over to the states. That vehicle was one of the non robotic vehicles, so I guess Playmates got sloppy seconds and was able to throw in little turtles instead of people.

I wouldn't be surprised if something very similar happened here. Before you repaint it you might want to find out of it's valuable since it's most likely a Japanese toy.

[Canadian Turtle]

Ya, it does say 'Tomy Japan' on the bottom. I found it laying in a MASSIVE pile of toys in the bastment archive of my friends 80s toy store (the best toy store in the world I might add.. itwas in another post)

I often wondered about the grapplor toy itself because it has nothing specifically TMNT sculpted into it. It also is NOT made to fit the turtles as there is no place for them to sit. Instead some strange bar holds the back of their legs down.... I always thought it was sort of stupid.

So you are likely right, it is probably somethign Playmates bought for the TMNT line. I would be interested if anyone found out what toy line it was from, possibly if it is worth something??? Although it is broken, so not likely

I wont paint it yet.

[Snailman]

Originally Posted by Canadian Turtle

Ya, it does say 'Tomy Japan' on the bottom. I found it laying in a MASSIVE pile of toys in the bastment archive of my friends 80s toy store (the best toy store in the world I might add.. itwas in another post)

I often wondered about the grapplor toy itself because it has nothing specifically TMNT sculpted into it. It also is NOT made to fit the turtles as there is no place for them to sit. Instead some strange bar holds the back of their legs down.... I always thought it was sort of stupid.

So you are likely right, it is probably somethign Playmates bought for the TMNT line. I would be interested if anyone found out what toy line it was from, possibly if it is worth something??? Although it is broken, so not likely

I wont paint it yet.

Back in 1984-84 TOMY made a toyline called "Starriors" which consisted of several misc robot toys. The toyline was also marketed over-seas in Europe & the UK into a different toyline called "R.A.T.S." which stood for "Robot Anti-Terror Squad". Here's a picture of 2 different colored versions of the Grapplor:

Version A:


Version B:


I just recently bought Version B yesterday new in the box for $40 at a collectible store, as I plan on using it with my Starriors figures (as I didn't own any vehicles for the line yet), but something seemed odd to me. It came with a sticker-sheet...but..none of the stickers seemed to "belong" on this thing (the instructions even say to put them anywhere you want). A drawing of the Grapplor on the bottom of the instruction sheet shows some decals on it that aren't included with my version. Maybe your version (the silver, red & black one) is the original toy, with my version being the 2nd toy...and then the Ninja Grapplor being the last version of it.

Something else that's funny? In the R.A.T.S. line there is another vehicled called the "Starshooter" that is pretty much the TMNT Pizza Thrower but COMPLETELY different then the TMNT one:



So, maybe when Playmates borrowed the Starshooter's disc-shooting mechanisim, they also got the mold for the Grapplor?

I don't know if your version is more rare then my version, but the color scheme is a bit cooler then mine LoL.

-Snailman

(P.S.): Funny TOMY trvia bit? In the 80's, their Starriors toys are compatible with some other toys they made, namely ZOIDS & the lesser-known "Tri-Bots" toys that changed from 3 diferent designs. Very cool stuff though. 8-)