VINTAGE 1980 CLOVER TRIDER G7 BIRD ATTACK (MUTEKI ROBO TORAIDA G7)

I missed the chance to purchase this for a very good price on eBay many years ago. At that time, I was still new to collecting vintage robots. After realizing how cool the toy is, I hunted for this for many years. When I was in Hong Kong few years ago, one seller asking price was over HKD8000. And I was very tempted to buy because it was in good condition and complete. Luckily that seller didn't have a credit card machine and so I skipped. Lucky because I've finally managed to get one from a seller in Italy for much less! It arrived today!

Checking out the box - It has wear and tear but it seems that the toys is new.

The instructions are printed on both sides of the box, similar to Clover's Daitarn 3 (reviewed in earlier blog)

Another interesting note, it has it's name embossed on the styrofoam box.!

First let's look at the accessories. He comes with

1) a pair of fists

2) 6 missiles (2 in baggie, 2 hidden in the leg and 2 in the styrofoam box)

3) a wheel

4) a trident

5) a missile launcher

6) a mace missile

7) fire-bird with movable wings

8) stickers

My set looks pretty new as the chrome on these weapons are still so shiny!

The stickers are unused but some are starting to peel.

The robot has lots of diecast content! It has some cool gimmicks too.

The wings are moveable.

Gimmick 1 - He can hold his Trident.

Gimmick 2 - He has firing fists, missiles and mace weapons (must-have gimmick of vintage robot toys)

Gimmick 3 - His chest has a lenticular sticker. Tilting it will show his internal mechanics.

Gimmick 4 - The fire-bird attaches to his back for "Bird Attack Mode!"

Gimmick 5 - It transforms to 2 vehicles mode. The first vehicle mode is simply to lie the robot down on his back. Straighten his feet. His leg panels can be opened to reveal two hidden missiles.

These missiles are removable. The feet are straightened.

Next, the missile launcher is mounted on his legs via the 2 peg holes.

Checked all the firing mechanism and all still shoots very well!

The other vehicle mode is to lie the robot on his chest. There's a wheel provided that attach to the hole on his abdomen.

The red panels on the legs are closed and you'll see that there are two wheels on the panels.

And you lie him down on his chest and voila - vehicle mode 2 ! Yes it's very lame but remember, this toy design is from the 1980s! Clover did a pretty good job adding play value on this toy!

On his butt, there's the copyright thingi and Clover's logo.

This is one of my favorite vintage robot. It displays very nice especially with the Fire-bird attached. And this to me is super rare find. You don't see it often in eBay. Saw one selling loose and incomplete for over USD300 recently. There's another version of this by Ceppi Ratti (Italy) which is smaller in size and it doesn't come with the lenticular chest sticker. If you're buying this in the secondary market, be aware of this.