The Transformers franchise has as much to do with Japan as is does with Hollywood. It started out in 1984 as a co-production between toy makers Takara Tomy and Hasbro. The American company initially sold rebadged versions of Takara's Diaclone and Microman toys. Not surprisingly, Japan still has that spark of creativity from three decades ago, as we found out when we discovered these Transformers pens.
That's right, these writing toosl are more than meets the eye and can shape-shift into retro versions of the robots some of us grew up loving. The pens are made by a Japanese figure manufacturer called Sentinel Toys, who offer three flavors: Convoy, which is the Japanese name for Optimus Prime, Black Convoy (Nemesis Prime) and Ultra Magnus, which is going to be a limited edition only available for a short while.
Basically, all three look the same with the exception of the color scheme. But considering how hard it probably was to design a pen that transforms into a robot, we can't blame them for this. Our favorite is old red and blue, and we suspect it's the same for you guys.
All three Transformers pens will be available this October. They measure 105mm in robot mode and 143mm in pen mode. Retailing from 3,980 yen, not including taxes, these robot pens aren't what you'd call cheap. Nobody offers them on Amazon yet, but if they did, we expect they'd ask at least $40 given the novelty value.
Let's be honest here: nobody writes with a pen any more. This think is just going to sit on your desk, striking an awesome pose. But who cares? It's a great conversation piece and a good gift idea if you know somebody into Transformers.
Basically, all three look the same with the exception of the color scheme. But considering how hard it probably was to design a pen that transforms into a robot, we can't blame them for this. Our favorite is old red and blue, and we suspect it's the same for you guys.
All three Transformers pens will be available this October. They measure 105mm in robot mode and 143mm in pen mode. Retailing from 3,980 yen, not including taxes, these robot pens aren't what you'd call cheap. Nobody offers them on Amazon yet, but if they did, we expect they'd ask at least $40 given the novelty value.
Let's be honest here: nobody writes with a pen any more. This think is just going to sit on your desk, striking an awesome pose. But who cares? It's a great conversation piece and a good gift idea if you know somebody into Transformers.