Henshin Cyborg, anyone?

So, my previous thread got me thinking about Cyborgs...And then I remembered that I have a sixth scale figure from Japan called 'Henshin Cyborg' (transformation cyborg).

The original HC from the 70's was based on GI Joe figures from back then, just with a clear exoskeleton and internal chromed parts.

I have one from 1998, but was thinking of buying an original from the 70's.

Does anyone know anything about the construction of the figures?

I.E. Could I use 70's joe parts to repair a broken 70's Henshin Cyborg?

I've looked on ebay, and googled them, but I can't find any info.

No one here has any idea what I'm talking about, do they?

1/6Novice wrote:No one here has any idea what I'm talking about, do they?

I certainly don't, but didn't want to be one of those annoying people who answer a question they cannot answer just to say "I don't know."

GubernatorFan wrote:

1/6Novice wrote:No one here has any idea what I'm talking about, do they?  

I certainly don't, but didn't want to be one of those annoying people who answer a question they cannot answer just to say "I don't know."

Henshin Cyborg is a pivotal series in the evolution of Toys.  Serious Business!  

In the early 1970's (in Japan):

Hasbro's 1/6 GI Joes were sold by/imported by the company Takara. Then they came out with their own version, more suited to the Japanese market: Henshin Cyborg. A 12 inch tall clear figure, with chromed internal parts.

In 1974, Takara came out with a much smaller version & called it Microman.

Later in the 70's, American toymaker Mego released their own version of Microman, and dubbed it Micronauts.

In the late 70's, Takara released a new subset of Microman, called Microchange, which featured the first self contained transforming vehicles and figures.

Later still, Takara created Diaclone*. Diaclone and some of the Microchange figures were later unleashed on the world as Transformers, by Hasbro & Takara concurrently.

In the early 80's Hasbro copied Mego's success with smaller & cheaper figures like Micronauts** (and Kenner's with Star Wars), and made the 3'' 3/4  GI Joes.

(*Actually, it was Mego's Chips like that inspired the smaller Joes)

And Hasbro reintroduced the 12'' GI JOE later. leading to competing products in the 90's.

In the late 90's Takara revives Henshin Cyborg, to great acclaim in Japan.

Later, in the early 2000's, Takara created their CY GIRLS/CY COM line (?)

And the rest you probably know. (Here's where it gets a bit foggy for me)...

You are giving me too much credit -- I'm completely clueless about these, though I did look them up. I vaguely remember some toys (probably smaller scale and wound-up) with some details along the same lines (with mechanical elements -- functional or not -- under a clear cover or fill), but that's about it.

The name sounded familiar to me because I watched one video made by Toy-Polloi on youtube about these.



My knowledge about this are basically what you've wrote and the video.

As to the question, I guess that if they are actual copies of the GI Joe molds (without modifications) then other gi joe parts from the same era should work. I hope this helps you somehow.

Thank you for the toy history lesson, 1/6Novice!

Apologies that I'm not able to help you out more. Boo-bomb's advice seems sound. Sometimes in this hobby you have to take a chance and purchase things without knowing for sure if they will work. You may have to buy a broken/damaged cyborg and have it in-hand next to a GI-Joe to check the sizes/dimensions/compatibility.

That said, if you do that and the GI Joe parts don't work, it still might not be a wasted purchase. As a final (?) resort, you could perhaps find a way to have the missing or damaged parts 3D printed to the correct size and shape, and then paint them to fit into the vintage figure.

Maybe there are some vintage toy-restorers out there who could offer further advice....

Thanks for the history lesson. Like many, I had never heard of this brand. I’m only vaguely familiar with Takara — mainly due to the one, or is it two, Cy Girl figures I own (and never actually opened).

I remember the Micronauts. My brother had a few of them, the little ones.

About all I recall is that they were semi-transparent, which was cool, and they weren't very sturdy and tended to break easily, which wasn't so cool.

I was asking about these because Good info is scarce on the web in English. I have a Henshin Cyborg from 1998, I was looking to buy some from the 70's. I've seen sixth scale GIJOES on ebay with clear limbs, I thought that maybe people on here collected Joes too and could give advice. Or even a Japanese
collector that might know more about the figures. I guess I was wrong?

GubernatorFan wrote:You are giving me too much credit -- I'm completely clueless about these, though I did look them up. I vaguely remember some toys (probably smaller scale and wound-up) with some details along the same lines (with mechanical elements -- functional or not -- under a clear cover or fill), but that's about it.

Thanks! But those sound like Tomy (another Japanese company), if they had wind-up motors...Then again,Could be MicroMan/Nauts?

Theboo-bomb wrote:The name sounded familiar to me because I watched one video made by Toy-Polloi on youtube about these.



My knowledge about this are basically what you've wrote and the video.

As to the question, I guess that if they are actual copies of the GI Joe molds (without modifications) then other gi joe parts from the same era should work. I hope this helps you somehow.

Thanks! The thing is, my sixth scale knowledge passes right over 12" GIJOES...And I'm also looking for gripping hands for my 1998 Cyborg (The one that's boxed in that video!). 'He' has these open palm hands that are removable, and I don't know if Takara ever made replacement hands. Or if JOE hands could be swapped?

skywalkersaga wrote:Thank you for the toy history lesson, 1/6Novice!

Apologies that I'm not able to help you out more. Boo-bomb's advice seems sound. Sometimes in this hobby you have to take a chance and purchase things without knowing for sure if they will work. You may have to buy a broken/damaged cyborg and have it in-hand next to a GI-Joe to check the sizes/dimensions/compatibility.

That said, if you do that and the GI Joe parts don't work, it still might not be a wasted purchase. As a final (?) resort, you could perhaps find a way to have the missing or damaged parts 3D printed to the correct size and shape, and then paint them to fit into the vintage figure.

Maybe there are some vintage toy-restorers out there who could offer further advice....

You and Stryker2011 are welcome! Another thing is, those from the 70's aren't cheap, and I'm not able financially to gamble like that. Not until the next stimulus check comes anyway! Isn't 3d printed plastic more brittle than 'regular' injection molded plastic?

Stryker2011 wrote:Thanks for the history lesson. Like many, I had never heard of this brand. I’m on,y vaguely familiar with Takara — mainly due to the one, or is it two, Cy Girl figures I own (and never actually opened).

Why is it that you haven't opened them? You should open them and compare them with TBL & JiaouDoll (if you have any) figures.

davidd wrote:I remember the Micronauts. My brother had a few of them, the little ones.

About all I recall is that they were semi-transparent, which was cool, and they weren't very sturdy and tended to break easily, which wasn't so cool.

I collect other action figures, in addition to my (small) sixth scale collection...Translucent plastic breaks more easily, and then there's the dreaded GPS...Gold Plastic Syndrome.

Gold, & some plastics with swirly patterns in them degrade faster than others...

Thanks for all your help!

1/6Novice -- That's fair enough regarding the expense, I completely understand. I remember even when I was attempting to collect a couple tiny Star Wars figures from the 70s, they were indeed very pricey.

Regarding the plastic from 3D printing being brittle... I guess that may be so, but it would depend what kind of part you're trying to find and/or create as to whether or not that would be a problem.

I still have some Micronauts that I bought in the 1970s

Older Gi Joe hands might be swappable it might take a bit of force and quite frankly you could end up breaking the joints, the best solution would be to dip the joint in hot water and keep an eye out for any deformation.

Later Gi Joes (that I know of) never had swapable hands unless it was part of some play feature such as those bodies produced for star wars figures, and even then there's only one hasbro body that I know of that had one hand that could be swapped and that was an anakin/darth vader set that shared the same 1980's kenner style body.

However much like older GI Joe you can pop out the hands by applying heat either really hot water or a hair dryer kept at a distance.

Your main complicating factor in any repair or alteration will be to worry not only about what swaps may theoretically be feasible to do with the design, but the severe risk of irreparable damage with the brittle old materials.

3A actually replicated these recently, under the name String Divers, but in 1/12 rather than 1/6. As someone said the nostalgic reference point for most of us in North America is the 3 3/4" Microman version as we didn't see the 1/6 Henshin at all. But I believe the construction is the same, so looking at the recent 3A's or an older smaller Microman will tell you how they are built -- which is indeed pretty close articulation to a vintage GI Joe. One of the main functions that the Henshin Cyborg had was as the Asian version of Captain Action, insofar as they made it to wear masks and outfits for many Manga Anime characters etc. So you can also compare it to a Vintage Captain Action body, but that's pretty close to a vintage 12" Joe anyway.

I really want one of these myself particularly because it would be so cool for a Henshin Cyborg to interact with a 1000Toys Synthetic Man. What kills me is, I actually do own one, but I have never seen it: it's underneath a Great Mazinger outfit which might theoretically have been removable in the day, but after its aging, I doubt that it could be removed without much permanent damage. For years I've been on the fence whether to destroy the Mazinger to get a Henshin Cyborg out of it.

I have a cyborg from the 70’s and the GI Joe hands and feet from that time fit. Mine still has a GI Joe foot on it.