Review – Convertors Maladroid Volcan

“The Maladroids newest weapon, small, swift, and able to travel on the Earths surface. Cute appearance belies their vicious nature.”
— from the front of the card

December, 1985. I had no idea what Robotech was, or the fact that there was a ton of stuff for it, but I knew what Jetfire looked like and the instant I saw a tiny, white version of the Autobot space fighter I knew I had to have it. Christmas was coming, though, so all of my allowance was scheduled for my family. I left the store we were at — some bargain shop in East Grand Forks — without my tiny, white Jetfire.

Christmas, 1985. I remember getting some board games (including the Zaxxon Board Game, which isn’t very good), a few different toys, some clothes, and even the tiny, white Jetfire. I guess my mom had seen me looking at it in the store and, without me noticing, she had grabbed it for me. I happily shredded the package the instant I knew what it was and the transforming spaceship — which I’ve now identified as a Convertors Mooriah (thanks to this page at www.toyarchive.com) — joined my collection of transforming robot toys.

(Those of you who have been following the site since the beginning already know that I had an assortment of transforming robot toys at that time, including the still-loved today Marchon Roadbots. I’m sure you’re not at all surprised that my army included such a bizarre selection of toys from completely different manufacturers. Hey, we played with what we had.)

Spaceship Mode

Roughly 2.5-inches long in spaceship mode, Volcan can not only fly around the living room (when you hold him, of course), but — thanks to the motor in his wheels — he can also race across the kitchen floor whenever you pull him back and let him go. (Though unlike a Transformers Jumpstarter, this little guy doesn’t have an auto-transform feature.)

Robot Mode

Articulation? What’s that? Just like the Autobot mini-cars from 1984-1986, Volcan’s only real “articulation” is at his transformation points. His wings swivel back, his legs pivot at the hip, and his arms raise and lower. That’s it, kids. For poseability choices we have arms up, arms down, one arm up and one arm down, and you can place his gun in either his right or left hand. (Though as I told Gina this morning, when she was playing with Volcan, the right hand is the proper placement.)

Oh yeah, his feet also move, but that’s just so that he can have thrusters or feet, depending on which mode he’s in. It really doesn’t expand his poseability options.

Closing Thoughts

Volcan, just like the old Mooriah that I was given in 1985, feels pretty cheap. His plastic feels thin, the wings feel like they’re gonna snap off at any moment, and overall you can tell that he was designed as a cheap alternative to Transformers. It doesn’t make him a bad toy — in fact, he’s a great fit with the Autobot mini-cars from that time — it just makes him an inexpensive toy that was a fantastic buy in 1984/1985.

If you’re anything like me — namely, someone who remembers owning old, inexpensive knockoff Transformer-like toys — then pretty much any Convertors Maladroid will make a great addition to your toy collection. I paid $5 for a MOC Volcan — and that was with shipping — and if you can find one of your own at that price I say grab him. He is, as the card itself says, cute. And he looks great when he’s mixed in with a wide variety of toys.

Philip Reed is constantly amazed at how poking around the internet continues to trigger childhood memories. Toy site after toy site slowly reveals some old, cheap, unwanted toy from his childhood that only he wants today. Hey, that’s a good thing because it means that he can collect old toys and not pay a lot for them. And for those of you following along, you can get tips on junk toys and point and laugh as Philip’s collection of misfit toys expands.