Triple Changeur: Ceji Astrotrain

It does not happen that often these days that an unknown vintage Transformer is discovered. So it’s very exciting to share this find about the long-lost and final French Transformers G1 release, Ceji Astrotrain.

As some Transformers G1 collectors may know, especially the variant collectors. There were Transformers made in parts of the world other than Japan. For example, in Mexico made by Plasticos IGA, and in Europe, specifically in France, made by the company Ceji.

Around 1986, Hasbro Bradley (Hasbro just merged with Milton Bradley) re-released a bunch of Transformers in Europe, most likely due to high demand in mainland Europe. To meet this demand, they not only re-released Japanese-made Takara Transformers but also outsourced production to a company named Ceji in France. As part of a deal that was made before between Ceji (Joustra) and Milton Bradley. This resulted in the creation of unique and different-looking Transformers variants that are highly sought after by collectors. Like the yellow Constructicons (not to be confused with the G2 releases), the infamous Red Feet Optimus Prime, or the blue Huffer released as Pipes. I won't go into detail about all those Ceji Transformers releases, but I want to focus on one particular release that was once thought to be non-existent.

Let's go back to the beginning. While researching all possible Ceji Transformers releases, I came across Blitzwing. Thanks to a great article by my good friend Martin Lund of TF Vault on Facebook, I discovered that Blitzwing was also part of that line. Up to this point I had never seen it before. This variant made by Ceji was different, using a lighter grey color on the metal parts. I asked a lot of long-time collectors about this Blitzwing variant, but many were unaware of its existence. It just showed how rare it is.

With this discovery, I started to wonder if there could be a potential Ceji-made Astrotrain as well. First of all, Astrotrain and Blitzwing both belong to the same assortment group within the US and Europe releases (assortment #5735 for the US and #9105 for Europe). Secondly, if you look at the release pattern of other releases made by Ceji. They did all three coneheads, all three Insecticons, and of course all six Constructicons. Why would they leave out one of the Triple Changers? It does not make sense. With that in the back of my mind, the next step was to find one. Of course easier said than done.

I know without the proper provenance or documentation it’s hard to prove a hunch or thought. Well here comes the nice part. At the Dutch online marketplace “Marktplaats”, some time ago, I came across an Astrotrain with a booklet that I immediately recognized as unique or not seen before. It had all the characteristics of a Ceji booklet. What are Ceji instructions known for? That they are quad-lingual. But then again more European releases are like that. What differentiates a Ceji booklet from an MB or other European booklet for instance? Well, what I’ve learned from collecting Transformers is that there are always exceptions. Luckily I own multiple Ceji instructions booklets to validate this, but 9 times out of 10 the Ceji booklets will have a particular order of the word “Instruction booklet” in four different languages.

The particular order starts with French (LIVRET D’INSTRUCTIONS), followed by English (INSTRUCTIONS), Dutch (INSTRUKTIES), and Spanish (FOLLETO DE INSTRUCCIONES). MB releases have very similar instruction booklets. They are also quad-lingual, but they have one big difference. They do not contain the English language but instead, start with the German language. The MB order is: German (ANLEITUNG), French (LIVRET D’INSTRUCTIONS), Dutch (INSTRUKTIES), and Spanish (FOLLETO DE INSTRUCCIONES).

Now back to this booklet and ad. It exactly matched the Ceji pattern of French, English, Dutch, and Spanish. For me, this was enough to know for sure that this had to be a made-in-France Ceji version. I made sure that this potentially unique Astrotrain with booklet came into my possession. When I received it, I was thrilled, to say the least. I could finally check the copyright line on the inside of the booklet to get that definitive proof. And lo and behold, my gut feeling did not let me down! It was a true Ceji release made in France. Crazy to think that this purchase was in my own country, the Netherlands of all places. It all comes full circle in a way that I never thought would have been possible.

As a comparison, I have a US booklet, the quad-lingual MB release, the Mexican IGA, and a UK Gold Classic to show all the differences.

Now let’s look at the piece the resistance in all its glory. What are the characteristics of this Ceji Astrotrain?

The stamp

So let's start here. I have been doing a lot of research about the Transformers stamps for a while, I am pretty sure I know all the existing stamps for Astrotrain. So which different releases do we have? Unlike Blitzwing, there was no Diaclone original for Astrotrain ever released commercially, only a prototype has been found. Entirely hand made in resin and painted in the cartoon-accurate dark grey color. Thanks to the amazing collector Taka Ras who owns it, you can read all about it here. He confirmed to me that it does not have a production stamp, like most handmade prototypes.

Of course, there is the obvious standard Hasbro US release. And the similar Japanese Takara release, but Takara also released a rare white and black version. Then there is the Mexican release done by Plasticos IGA, and last but not least the Gold Classics release at the end of the G1 line. None of the stamps exactly match the French-made one.

I own a lot of different Astrotrains myself, so let’s compare the stamps in more detail. Astrotrain’s stamp can be divided into two parts. The Hasbro wing (1) and the Takara wing (2). All the stamps are placed on these two different wings.

Let’s look at the standard US version (default release) first. 
Wing 1: ©HASBRO ‘85
Wing 2: 創作   著作物 ©TAKARA CO., LTD. ‘85, JAPAN.

Secondly, the Mexican release. I only own the non-toxic “European” red-eye variant, which is at its core the same as the original Mexican release. The stamps are the same as with the US version, so no blocked words. Which is an exception for Mexican releases.
Wing 1: ©HASBRO ‘85
Wing 2: 創作   著作物 ©TAKARA CO., LTD. ‘85, JAPAN.

The Gold Classic release came at the end of the Generation One line. Some even call them the first reissues. It is made in China and has the most outspokenly different stamp of the bunch.
Wing 1: ©HASBRO ‘85
Wing 2: BLOCK BLOCK BLOCK

And then last but certainly not least, the Ceji made in France release.
Wing 1: ©HASBRO ‘85
Wing 2: 創作   著作物 ©TAKARA CO., LTD. ‘85, BLOCK

The Hasbro wing is every release the same. It’s the Takara wing that mostly differs within most releases. Unfortunately, I do not own a white/black Japanese Astrotrain. But I know it has the same stamp as the standard US release. The Ceji version has the word “JAPAN” blocked on the stamp. This is done because it was made in France and not in Japan. Similarly, the Gold Classics has it blocked too, because it was manufactured in China. Like I said before, normally Mexican releases also block the manufacturing country on their stamps, but for whatever reason they did not do it with the two Triple Changers.

The tabs

One detail that stands out on the Ceji release, is the missing tabs on its torso. At first, I thought it was just my specimen. But then I kept noticing it in other found examples as well. My initial thought was that they tend to break easily on these French Astrotrains. But the cut seems too nice and straight, that I am leaning more towards a factory cut. Hopefully one day a sealed version will be found, so we can be certain what the story is behind the missing tabs.

The look

The off-white color is more of a cream look on the Ceji one compared to the standard US release. The purple is also a little different, I would say a bit lighter, although not that obvious. The stickers are not the same, the red is brighter on my US release. It has a rub-sign sticker, like the US release. Even though the Ceji one is upside down. The mold numbers are #4. Same as with the European MB release and the Canadian Astrotrain. Big chance that Ceji got the mold MB used for their release. Besides all those minor details, it does not look a whole lot different from any regular Astrotrain. It would not be easy to spot one if you come across it in the wild.

Let's sum things up, these are all the characteristics of a Ceji Astrotrain:

• The blocked and unique stamp, similar to Ceji Blitzwing
• The usage of a more creme color white
• The easily broken or missing torso tabs
• A quad-lingual booklet containing French, English, Dutch, and Spanish language.
• Mold number #4 on the wings and gun.

Now that it’s official, Ceji Astrotrain is part of the line. I made a complete assortment list of all the Made in France Ceji Transformers re-releases done by Hasbro Bradley.

Ceji Astrotrain is certainly not the most exciting variant. But it completes the line and that alone makes it very relevant. Until we find another unknown variant, maybe a Ceji Outback in Brawn mold? Who knows.

I want to thank Martin Lund, Taka Ras, and Killbison for their help and contributions to this article.

Thanks for reading,

Kees