C-370 Sixliner, the first Micromaster Combiner

Alright, time to get back to some Japanese G1 goodness. I've been holding on to this jewel for a little while because I honestly couldn't remember if I had already created a blog post for him. But apparently I was remembering the similar, yet different Sixtrain. It can get a bit confusing at times. Sixliner here is yet another figure in my ongoing quest to replace all my reissues with originals. I was first introduced to him when it was reissued in 2002 as part of Japan's Micromaster line. Of course all those figures were blind-packed and thus I was required to purchase an entire case (12 figures) to ensure I received a complete set. In fact, this plan lead me to receiving two complete sets, the other which I just recently sold.



Unfortunately by purchasing the reissue set I was denying myself the pleasure of Sixliner's original giftset box, which like most of the later Japanese boxes is beautiful. I really enjoy the character art on these and I feel like a lot of collectors tend to overlook them because they aren't as rare as some of the other figures.

Now I don't really know a lot about Sixliner as far as the fiction goes, except that he is related to Sixtrain though I'm not really sure how that works since they are both made up of six individual figures. Is each figure related to his counterpart? I can understand how Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are related to each other, but this is kinda mindboggling. Then again, it is Japan, so I'll just let it go and stop trying to make sense of it.

Sixliner and his "brother" Sixtrain

Upon comparing Sixliner to his reissue I was surprised to find a large number of differences which frankly I am grateful for, it continues to get harder and harder to differentiate reissues from the originals, especially where KO's are concerned.

Vintage on the left, modern on the right.

Namely the largest difference are the tampographs on the modern release vs. stickers on the vintage. Plus a couple more paint apps in the eyes and on the chest. The colors for the most part are very similar. One other thing I have to mention about this set are the names of the individual members, some of which are surprisingly pedestrian.

From left to right: Spark, Alan, Leaf, D-Go, Joe, and Night

Alan and Joe. Uhhhh...yeah. You know, if they were going that route they might as well have named them all in the same vein, perhaps throw a Henry or James in there as well. At least that would have been consistent. I shudder to think of the wackyness to come in the other "six" combiners. We shall see...

See Also:
TF-05 Sixtrain Giftset