Review – Transformers Powerdasher (1984)

The 1984 Transformers Powerdasher toys were an inexpensive mail-away that Hasbro used to snatch $3 from kids after we had already bought a few Transformers toys. I’d like to be completely clear here: I mean snatch in only the most positive of terms; as a kid, I was always happy when toymakers offered us these fantastic mail-away toys. $3 plus some cash for shipping was a small price to pay to get a Transformers toy in the mail.

Reinforcements from Cybertron!

I posted the Reinforcements from Cybertron! marketing insert two years ago, and looking back at that flyer there’s a reason that the Powerdasher is the cheapest toy offered on the mail-away form: this is a small and cheap transforming robot toy that’s only a Transformers toy because Hasbro said that it is. If this had come from one of the smaller toymakers and didn’t have the Transformers branding these would be obscure and unwanted today, but that official designation makes the Powerdasher collectible . . . though it’s still a pretty cheap plastic toy.

Jet Mode

At over 3-inches long with almost a 4-inch wingspan, the Powerdasher is slightly larger than the Autobot Minicars and yet somehow feels cheaper than those cars. Maybe it’s the simplistic transformation design of the toy or the sticker face, but regardless of the exact reasons, the Powerdasher feels even cheaper than the Mini-Spies toys of 1985 (review here). But hey, it has an Autobot sticker and pull-back motor so I won’t complain at all; it’s a silly and fun little-wheeled jet.

Robot Mode

I’ve included the Powerdasher Instruction Booklet so that you can see the transformation design in action, and what strikes me as most fascinating about the instructions is that mode where the wings are extended into legs while the arms are closed over the head. Is that some sort of rocket car mode that I had forgotten about completely?

Anyway, it’s in robot mode where the cheapness of the Powerdasher stands out. The robot stands stiff and wooden, and the tiny jets for feet make balancing a bit of a challenge; the slightest movement or breeze and the Powerdasher topples over. But hey, what could we expect for a cheap mail-away toy? At least there’s more to this toy than the Kellogg’s Starbots toy that I reviewed last week.

Closing Thoughts

The 1984 Transformers Powerdasher is one of the cheapest Transformers designs that Hasbro sold kids in the eighties, but it’s an official Transformers toy and there’s an odd charm to the toy that makes it fun to play with. The pull-back motor still works great, and even though the chrome plastic is wearing the Powerdasher will stand (as well as it can) nicely alongside my other G1 Transformers toys. The Instruction Booklet may be the best part of the toy today — I love those old booklets and wish Hasbro would release a hardcover collecting all of the instructions — but the toy is just silly and fun enough that I have no trouble saying: You really should have one of these if you’re at all a fan of the original Transformers toys.