This is no ordinary Motorvator Flame toy. If you look closely at the figure you will notice that it is actually hand-painted. This is not a mistake or a custom, but it is actually the Hasbro Europe Motorvator Flame paint-sample.

A paint-sample the name given to a hand-painted toy that is mocked-up in the proposed colour scheme of the final toy. When a toy is first made, normally a resin is hand-painted so that the designers can see if the propsed colour scheme works for them. When toys are then re-coloured, as was the case for Motorvator Flame, the previous release of the figure is the base toy that is then painted over. As such, the base of this figure if the Japanese Victory Laster toy.

We bought this toy from the former head of Hasbro Europe who's job, over than designing many of the European exclusive figures such as Skyquake and Stalker, it was to bring all of the Japanese domestic toys over to Europe and present them, and their price points, to the heads of the individual Hasbro Europe territories. They members of that "committee" would then vote on the toys that they would like to have released in their countries. These scores were then totally up along with a fator to take into account the market size of that territory, and the figures that were then cost effective were chosen. Every figure from the Japanese market was available, but only some were selected. In the case of the Motorvators, it is likely that the combining parts wer dropped to lower the price-point of the toys, especially considering that they were going to be re-painted.

A Brainmaster Laster figure was then taken and painted using the colours chosen by the former Hasbro employee that I purchased these from, which is the origin of this figure. It is most likely the only paint sample of this figure left in the world. He kept the toy and then later sold it on to me.