G1 Optimus Prime - the No Stamp Puzzle

I am hooked into collecting 1980s g1 primes with all the various trailer stampings they had back then. When i was small all i ever saw was the dark blue rollered prime and i thought that was all that existed. With the help of the internet i learned that there so much much more than meets the eye even back then. Even the dark blue ones had various stampings on trailer. That curiosity started it for me.

And i thought i'd seen it all (well, almost all - and with the help of the internet).

A friend of mine offered me this rather interesting piece.



It's a g1 prime with a T2 stamping at the bottom of the trailer. Now what made this a puzzle for me is the blocked out stamping where the Takara or Japan stamping should be. No, this is not the fake g1 primes released by the latter part of the 2000s. This one is way much older. You can't easily get the old look and you would know old when you see one.

T2 Stamping at the bottom. Notice the block out on where the TAKARA JAPAN should be.


The cab has the number 3 stamp in between its legs.





The same number 3 stamp appears on the trailer sides and back door, the roller and the fists. So I'm pretty sure the cab and trailer were the original matches.





The cab also has a rub sign.

I also noticed that the styro itself is different from the typical american and japanese styros. Instead of a solid block it has dent spaces inbetween.








Now where in the g1 line does this fall? I've heard of the Chinese g1 releases during the 90s but my friend says that he bought it during the mid 80s.