Cpt. Nemo

Converters were a line of small transforming robots in the 80s that got lost in the shuffle amongst Transformers, Go-Bots and Godaikin. These toys were re-packaged Japanese toys from cheap toy manufacturer Mark. It was a mix of items from known series such as Dorvack, Macross, Orguss and Sasuraiger, to original characters like Cassette Man and Tilt.

Amongst the Convertors toys there were various sub lines: Spies, Avarians, Maladroids, Insectors, and Defenders. Defenders tended to be transforming plastic toys not covered under the Macross or Orguss license.

Cpt. Nemo was one of four ships released under the Converters brand. There were actually only two molds, with two colors of each.

Released were:

• Cpt. Nemo (green battleship)
• Argonaut (blue speedboat)
• Atlantis (white speedboat
• Neptune (grey boat)

All four are original designs by Mark, and not associated with any series.

Each come on a beautiful blister card, which in my opinion is the best thing about this toy. The cards are bright and colorful, and feature fantastic illustrations that look much better than the toy itself.

In fact, I don’t ever recommend removing these from the cards, ever.

The big problem is that the plastic used in these are fragile as hell. Time has made them brittle, and the joints are too tight for their own good. Try to transform one and you will hear that plastic-on-plastic squeak that comes just before the snap of the toy falling apart in your hands. First one of the legs broke, so I glued it back on, but then the other leg broke and I just threw it in the trash.

In a perfect world, it would be a neat oddity in the annals of collecting. I like the concept of having a wind up motor in a transforming boat that actually floats. I liked the odd styling and chunky proportions. Alas, it was not meant to be, as once this one broke I quickly got rid of the rest.

Caveat emptor.