Yellow Giraffe

Yellow Giraffe is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

He did grow up, he's now a Toys"R"Us elder.

Yellow Giraffe (イエロージラフ Ierō Jirafu) is a beast a great many look up to. One of the older soldiers in White Leo's army, he has an encyclopedic wealth of knowledge and experience, and a kind and caring manner that many turn to for advice in times of trouble, be it military strategy or personal issues. Even hotheads like Rabbit Kid and Golder calm down and listen when he talks. He's very good at encouraging others to achieve better for themselves, to reach their potential for good, a skill that some feel is almost supernatural. He's earned an incredible amount of respect, to the point where many simply call him "Sir".

He's no slouch in battle, either. There's a lot of strength in him and he can do some real damage. His MVP Weapon, the Low-G Bar (ロージーバー Rōjī Bā),^[1] can produce a layer of fine metal powder that blinds opponents and jams radar, leaving them open to surprise attacks.

Following the Great War, he now rules the land of Gun Marino as its King, with Golder as his subordinate Emperor.

Fiction

Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

FIRE! FIRE BURNS WOOD!

The Headmasters cartoon

Voice actor: ? (Japanese)

The Yellow Giraffes were a species of Beastformer that joined White Leo's rebel forces against the Decepticons and their allies, the evil Beastformers led by Alligatron. One Yellow Giraffe joined in an attack on the Decepticon stronghold, and was attacked by a Snakebomb who leapt out of the nearby water. He was saved by a Golder. Eventually the barrage of firepower from the evil Beastformers became too much and the rebels were forced into retreat.

Thankfully for the rebels, the Autobot Transformers came to aid their efforts, and a few Yellow Giraffes were present to welcome them. One Yellow Giraffe joined White Leo's forces to rescue the Beastformers kept by the Decepticons as slaves. Regardless, they were already rescued and joined with White Leo's forces, just in time to see the Decepticon Transformers in retreat. Rebellion on Planet Beast

The Headmasters comic

Yellow Giraffe, among others, was menaced by Predaking and the Sharkticons, led by Alligatron. They were able to escape when Brainstorm and Highbrow distracted the giant combiner. Yellow Giraffe returned with White Leo and others; together, they were able to defeat the Decepticon Beastformers. The Decisive Battle of Planet Beast!

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

he's there in the back

Yellow Giraffe was in the forefront of battle, punching one of Megatron's invading Air Warriors in lieu of using his signature weapon. He's hardcore. Welcome to the Jungle

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

le bel animal du roi

• Yellow Giraffe (Beastformer, 1987)

• ID number: 18
• Pack: A, D
• Accessories: Blade-weapon (usually)

Part of the first series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Yellow Giraffe is an anthropomorphic giraffe in blue robotic armor. His left arm ends in a pair of claws. The Battle Emblem on his chest reveals one of three symbols when warmed up; Fire, Water or Wood.

He usually comes with a bronze multi-pronged blade-weapon marked with the same ID number as on his back. However, Beastformers is notorious for toys coming with someone else's weapon; it's unclear if this was just originally poor QC, but in the sequel series, this semi-random weaponry was actually turned into a "gimmick".

He was re-released in the second series; while the toy proper was not changed, the packaging and packed-in bio card was. The first-series release comes in a generic red-grid "Cybertron Beastformer" box, with a red-grid bio card with a painted character image on the front, though there was a random chance of his card being replaced by the rare "Holography Mirror" card. In series 2 he came in a green-grid generic "Cybertron Beastformer" box, with the bio card putting the painted image on a jungle backdrop. As he shipped in the "D Pack" case, there was a chance of his bio card being replaced with a rare "Bewitching Serpent Seal" card featuring Cobrander.

Beastformers

• Yellow Giraffe (Gahsapon Beastformer, 1988)

• ID number: 18
• Accessories: Randomized weapon

Many Beastformers were also sold in gashapon capsule machines for the same price as their boxed versions (200 yen) during the "RPG" line, Yellow Giraffe included. This version is identical to the regularly-released boxed version, including the randomized rubsign, except the gashapons appear to have randomized weapons (or just really crummy quality control).

According to their pack-in paperwork, fifteen rare all-white/cream Beasts were available in these capsules, though only four were shown, Yellow Giraffe among them; Yellow Giraffe is one of only twelve confirmed "rare types" found. These rare versions can vary in how white they actually are, and it's uncertain if that's how they started or if some have simply yellowed with age. These versions tend to be very expensive on the secondary market, going for $100+ even when missing their arms.

• Beast Planet's Greatest Confrontation Set (Box set, 1988)

• ID number: 18
• Accessories: "Low-G Bar" MVP Weapon

Yellow Giraffe was also available in the the post-Transformers "RPG"-themed Beastformers sequel series, but was only available as part of the "Beast Planet's Greatest Confrontation Set" (ビースト星最大の対決セット Bīsuto-sei Saidai no Taiketsu Setto), unchanged from his prior releases. He came with a new, more filled-out bio card using a recolored version of the "comic" art from the 1987 Beastformers cast poster. This new card also gave his weapon, now branded an "MVP Weapon", the name "Low-G Bar".

This set also came with Platinum Tiger, Golder, and the Tiger Hunter (same as their prior releases), and the set-exclusive Skullgrotes, Kingbuster, Salmomancer, and a chromed-gold Battle Drill.

This set is particularly expensive on the secondary market, given the entire Laser Beast half of the set is not available anywhere else.

Late in the run, the "mood ring" styled rubsigns were replaced with new rubsigns that revealed full-color Fire/Wood/Water images on black backdrops. (These rubsign variants also happened at the same time in the Hasbro Battle Beast version of the line.) It is uncertain if the Beastoformers in this set ever got this change.

Merchandise

Meiji candy toys

• Ramune Beastformers Battle Card (1988)
  • Meiji ID number: 32

A gold-foil "Battle Card" of Yellow Giraffe, featuring his original bio card's painted character art (seen at top), was available in randomly-packed sets of cards that came with ramune-flavored candy tablets. The back of the card features a severely truncated version of his post-Transformers "RPG" bio, with data for the game from the Meiji chocoball SD figures' packaging.

Though the cardback shows line-art of a super-deformed Yellow Giraffe toy, no such toy was actually produced.

Notes

• Yes, "Sir" (サー Sā) is in fact his "official" nickname, as given by his 1988 character bio. It also notes he was born on the Gun Marino Plateau.

Foreign names

• English: Rubberneck Giraffe

References