Tomy's new Honda City Transformers is throwback to our childhood

Who said Transformers are just for kids?

If you felt like the Transformers series lacked Japanese rides, toymaker TakaraTomy has you covered. The brand behind the famous Tomica scale models recently introduced two new models as part of the Transformers Masterpiece lineup – Skids and Reboost. What’s more interesting, however, are the vehicles they “transform” into – a first-generation Honda City from the 1980s.

The blue Honda City Turbo is Skids. Those that followed the Michael Bay movies might remember Skids as the green Chevrolet Spark. But in the original series, he’s a blue City Turbo, as seen here. When in vehicle form, the toy accurately resembles the Honda hatchback. It even has functional doors, hood, and trunk that can be opened and closed. Skid features an arm cannon and a dual barreled gun. Both of the weapons are stored in the trunk.

Joining Skids is Reboost. While the former transforms into City Turbo, Reboost doesn’t. In the form of a car, he takes the shape of the standard City R finished in red. Like its twin, there are functional doors, hood, and trunk. Interestingly, there’s even a Motocompo motorcycle, just like the real thing. As a Transformer, Skid is fitted with three types of weapons – a laser gun, rocket pod, and a dual laser gauntlet.

As a Honda City, both models measure around 100mm x 70mm x 165mm. Though they’re not that big, they are quite expensive. Each model will retail for JPY 10,780 or roughly PHP 4,790 and will be available at stores all over Japan starting November 2021. For most of us not in The Land of The Rising Sun, there’s also a listing on Amazon Japan. For some reason, it's more affordable, priced at JPY 8,090 or PHP 3,600. Just remember that doesn’t include shipping yet.

These Honda hatchbacks from TakaraTomy may look docile, but like the famous phrase made famous by the Transformers series, they are 'more than meets the eye'.