1982 Diaclone Dasher Newspaper Advertisement

November 30, 1982. Pre-dating the release of Hasbro’s Transformers in 1984, this Honolulu Advertiser newspaper ad for the Diaclone Dasher shows us Takara’s toy before it became the Transformers Powerdasher (reviewed here). What I find most shocking about this particular newspaper advertisement is that the toy was priced at $3.99, which is only $1 less than Hasbro charged for the toy in the Reinforcements from Cybertron brochure. An awesome find, because Diaclone ads aren’t all that common and this 1982 ad is the earliest one we’ve seen yet!