Oh look, it’s another figure from 1987, how shocking! Anyone would think it’s a year I’m focusing on A LOT in my collection or something, wouldn’t they?!
Today I’m going to present to you what seems to be a totally unmemorable character from the Targetmaster sub-line.
Point Blank.
What a shitty name.
Ahem, right. So I had this guy back in the days of yore and because of his what, two spoken lines in the cartoon, he was on my radar. He is no Slugslinger, but, you know what he has a pretty cool robot mode, I’ll give him that.
I’ve got to be honest, I don’t really have any strong memories of Point Blank from when I was a kid, he was just there in amongst the Autobot ranks, probably adding nothing to the cause. I know I had him, I know one of my friends had him. That’s pretty much all I could tell you about him, I don’t know where he came from, why I had him, who got him, or any of the other general nostalgia things I get for 1987 robots.
No, what got me this time was MakeToys. Contact Shot, to be more precise. They released a Masterpiece equivalent of this guy and he was fucking magnificent. I had wanted one for a while and always put it off, there was something else I needed / wanted / required for the actual house I live in that kept getting away. You know, stuff like buying food and clothes for your kid, all that boring bullshit that get’s in the way of fun money.
Earlier this year, when I first started back on my G1 kick and decided it was time to complete at least the UK / US lines, I decided I didn’t have enough Targetmasters and it was time to fix that. I only had a Slugslinger at this point thanks to ToyFu the previous year. I bought the Point Blank in these photos off a Facebook group for a pretty reasonable price, in fact, I think that was the starting point of this whole 1987 bullshittery I am involved in right now, it’s been pretty non-stop since..
Anywho, he arrived, and you know what, I look back at young me and despair at the non appreciation I had for him. Look at this car mode, sleek as fuckkkk. Very cool, futuristic vehicle that comes with massive great gun on the front, totally destroying any illusion of speed the slick lines gave you. He even has this weirdass spoiler thing that sits right in the middle of his roof, how is that aerodynamic?
Transformation is simple as always, what else could you expect from a G1 toy, flip open the legs, rotate the waste (after removing the gun and shield/spoiler), pull the arm.. shoulder.. big red bits slightly up then split them so he looks like he is in pain, and fold the arms down. Fold back the two waist flappy bits and then fold down his bonnet. Strap on his kit again and stand back, this is one badass robot.
Point Blank actually looks pretty imposing in robot mode. That honking great gun, a great combination of red and blue colouring that shouldn’t at all yet somehow does work. A surprisingly good head sculpt, not an instant classic like some of the more famous ‘bots, but definitely a grower. It’s a shame his legs are essentially one solid block, I think that could probably have been easily fixed with two hinges but hey ho, it was 1987!
Oh, did I mention, I like 1987 box art. So it just so happened I was browsing the old ebay a couple of weeks ago and came across a boxed one as well, loose in bubble. So I had that. You know how it is.
Bit of a weird perspective to the art on some of these 1987 Targetmasters, like they drew them slightly deformed or squashed around in weird ways. And yet, something about it has endured for me for over 30 years.
Right I think I’m done with this particular flood of consciousness, next time I think I’ll write about something different, or maybe something modern. That would be a significant change.
Here is the kitchen table, with some cool robot action.
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