Yet another article about a recoloured Brazilian minicar! This time we've got the orange "Pick-Up", which is the Brazilian release of the Transformers "Gears". In its first Takara Microman incarnation, this mold was mainly blue in vehicle mode and red in robot mode, and the same for The Transformers, although the blue was slightly lighter for the Transformers version. As you can see, this orange colour scheme is pretty far removed from the original colours.

This particular version of "Pick-Up" is from the earlier Brazilian Robocar line of minis where there was also a regular blue/red coloured Pick-Up. The Robocar releases came on cards very similar to TF cards, except the text and distributor logo were altered accordingly. The text being Portuguese and the company logo being Estrela, the manufacturer of these funky recoloured minis in Brazil. Strangely though, the card front has a picture in the top right hand corner of the orange Pick-up, but the character art is of the blue one, no doubt just re-using the Hasbro art for Gears. The later Optimus vs Malignus Pick-Ups were a fetching wine/pink and Green/purple. Those have to be seen to be believed...

This Brazilian take on Gears has a few odd features besides its cool colour scheme. You might be able to see that the chrome grill on the front of the vehicle is fitted differently to the previous Microman and TF versions, it is rotated 90 degrees so that the grill runs horizontal as opposed to vertical.

The robot's head (seen below) also appears to have a slightly simpler colour scheme than the previous releases, with the silver paint only being on the central head section as opposed to the central section AND the sections on either side.

The sticker on his chest is pretty similar to the Microman and TF sticker that was placed on the previous Gears. That's typical of the Robocar line, but the later Optimus vs Malignus Pick-Ups would have faction symbols. This Orange Pick-Up is not particularly rare as far as Brazilian minicars are concerned, and a few carded examples have shown up too. But not just on Brazilian cards! In Argentina, this same toy was released on a card with the title "Invasion Galactica". The toy in the bubble was located in the bottom right of the card, with a pic of a flying saucer/UFO zapping it! Apparently figures from other toylines were also placed on such cards and distributed in Argentina.

The Pick-Up has Estrela stampings instead of Hasbro/Takara markings, and the stampings are located beneath the front wheel-arches on either side of the toy. You might just be able to make it out in the above pic. Now, having never owned a Gears previous to this Brazilian one, I had absolutely no idea he was so small in robot mode! Seriously, I was amazed. He's pretty much the same size as the other minibots in vehicle mode, but in robot mode he's even shorter than Cliffjumper. In the next picture I have placed him next to the tan/cream Brawn in robot mode to give you some idea of the size difference.

Overall, this is one of the better recolours in my opinion. The Optimus vs Malignus recoloured minis are usually pretty wild and eye-catching, but it's the simple recolours like the tan/cream Brawn and this orange Gears that appeal to me the most and seem the smartest.

Apart from the misplaced grill and the arms not closing snugly, the quality isn't too bad either. The legs are very tight and the wheels roll very well. It's a pretty inexpensive and smart variation on a nice mould, and the small size and simplistic transformation don't manage to take anything away from the whole package. Worth a look for sure, so go on, give an exotic mini a home :)

All the best
Maz