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Transformers is the name of a line of toys produced largely by Takara and sold outside of Japan by Hasbro from 1984 onwards. There have also been a number of spin-offs based on the toys including a Marvel comic book series, an animated television series that began airing in 1984 (Transformers series) and a feature-length movie, Transformers: The Movie. The original series was followed by a number of spin-offs with varying levels of popularity. A Transformer is an intelligent robot (usually a large humanoid, though there are many exceptions such as animal forms) that is able to "transform", reconfiguring itself into a common and innocuous form, such as a car, airplane or animal. The taglines "More Than Meets the Eye" and "Robots in Disguise" reflect this ability. Transformers originally featured two main factions warring for control of their home planet, Cybertron. The heroic Autobots (Cybertrons in the Japanese version) were led by Optimus Prime, and their opponents, the Decepticons (Destrons in the Japanese version), were led by Megatron. The Autobots were mainly cars in warm colors while the Decepticons were planes in cool colors, with some exceptions. The Transformers toyline was developed by Hasbro after they met up with Takara representatives at the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show and proposed to combine and re-brand Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change toylines into the Transformers for release in the United States. Thus began a long and successful collaboration between Takara and Hasbro on toy development for the Transformers line, a collaboration which has grown increasingly close. Nevertheless, the actual manufacture of virtually all the transforming toys continues to be controlled by Takara, producing the toys for Hasbro to market and sell internationally, while Takara sells them in the Japanese market. The basic backstory of the toyline and subsequent comic books and cartoons was developed by the Marvel Comics writers Jim Shooter and Dennis O'Neil (O'Neil actually giving Optimus Prime his name). Most of the subsequent character names and profiles throughout the original run were done by the primary Transformers US comic book writer, Bob Budiansky. Floro Dery was primarily responsible for the look and feel of the Transformers cartoon series and was the visual creator of Transformers: The Movie. He refined some of the initial season one animated character models done in Japan, and subsequently interpreted the toy box art for further characters, creating the models that would become the visual guidelines both for the comic books and the animated cartoon. Most Transformers come with tech specs which detail the Transformer’s characteristics. Older Transformers come with Robot Points which could be redeemed for special Transformers which were not sold in stores, such as the Omnibots or the Decepticon triplets known as Reflector (which featured heavily in the early episodes of the television series, despite not being easily available as toys).
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IncarnationsThe following Transformers toys came out:
See also: Transformers Universes and Transformers series. [edit]
Transformers (Generation 1) (1984-1992)The first Transformers toys were brought together from the different transforming robot toylines from Takara, notably the Diaclone and Micro Change (Micro Man) series. Hasbro acquired the rights to sell them in the United States but instead of selling them as their original names, they were rebranded as "Transformers". The first two years consisted primarily of reusing the Diaclone/Micro Change molds. Some of the models from the Diaclone line still have the pilot's seat in their design. The tagline to the Transformers is "More than meets the eye!" It was in 1986, the third year, when Takara began designing new original models specifically for the Transformers brand, which Takara had also begun to market in Japan and Hasbro continued to market internationally. It was also the time when subgroup Transformers became more popular than simply labeling a character as Autobot or Decepticon. There were the Aerialbot group, Dinobot group, Predacons, Headmasters and so on. This trend continued on until the toyline's demise in 1990. In 1989, the entire line became limited to Pretenders and Micromasters. For the first time, Transformers received a new design for their title logo. But this was also regarded by many as a time of a dearth in creativity and regarded as the lowest point in the toyline's history. 1990 saw the last American burst with the release of more Micromaster characters and the introduction of the Action Masters, Transformers who can't transform. The Action Master line was criticized although it had a few defenders. This would be the last Transformers output in the US until 1992. While Transformers ended poorly for the US market, the same can not be said for the UK and Japan markets as they went on to produce their own continuing series between 1991 to 1993. Each country produced their own continuity. The UK continued with new Action Master figures and introduced the Turbo Masters and Predators. Japan continued with the Micromasters concept. The 1992 and 1993 European releases make up what is often called "Generation 1.5". These toys are similar in design to the Generation 2 Transformers, haveing lightpipe eyes, and pastel colors. The 1993 European figures used the G2 faction symbols which Hasbro UK designed becaues their licence on the G1 symbols had expired. The 1993 figures were repackaged for European G2 release in 1994, and three subgroup molds got used in the US G2 line. [edit]
Transformers: Generation 2 (1992-1995)In late 1992, Hasbro relaunched the Transformers franchise with the Generation 2 line, with production again, largely being done by Takara. The subgroups concept is done away with for the first year but there are no new molds or characters. Generation 2 re-used the molds for most of the characters from the 1984 and 1985 line but with mostly different color schemes and finishes as well as different weapons and accessories. Megatron's figure was released later on. Megatron's original alternate mode was a gun but in Generation 2 this is changed to a tank due to safety and security concerns. Most of the 1993 figures were releases or recolors of European G1 releases. This line was criticized for the poor material used and being easily breakable. Generation 2 sold poorly and was abandoned by Hasbro after two years. There were toys planned that never saw release. Most of these were G1 combiner team recolors or recolors of recent figures. Four unreleased molds were released in the Machine Wars line. [edit]
Beast Wars/Machines (1995-2001)With the failure of the Generation 2 series, Hasbro and Takara decided the franchise needed an overhaul. They went in a new direction, a new beginning. Instead of robots disguising themselves as cars and planes, the idea is now of robots transforming into animals. While there have been Transformers before that change into animals, the idea here is they all change into real-looking animals. Robots on the inside, flesh on the outside. The Beast Wars toyline is launched in the fall of 1995. A CGI animated series produced by Mainframe Entertainment was aired to tie-in with the new toyline. A fresh idea coupled with a TV series with strong stories assured this series the much needed success Hasbro and Takara needed, as this series was a giant hit in international markets as well as in Takara's home market, Japan. Hasbro's original plan for Beast Wars was to have Optimus Primal and Megatron be reformated versions of their Generation 1 selves. This was shown in the toys' Tech Specs, and in the comic packaged with the basic Primal/Megatron 2-pack. Hasbro also wanted the "Mutant Heads" found on all of the first year toys deluxe size and larger as battle helmets, but Mainframe scrapped the idea as it would require three animation models for each character instead of two, and the 1997 toys had no battle helmets. Another designed feature for the 1995/1996 toys was carried over from Generation_2, transparent 'light pipr" eyes. However, most toys had those parts cast in opaque plastic. The Beast Wars line was also the first apperence of "flip changer" Basics, where flipping a part of the animal mode (usually the head or tail) would transform the entire toy, and moving the part back would transform the toy back to beast mode. Like other features, this was only used in the 1995/1996 Basics, and their repaints. Beast Wars was renamed in some countries, particularly Canada, because of concern over the word "war" in the title. So, in some countries, it was released as Beasties. Long-time fans notice the prominence of the words "Beast Wars" over "Transformers", the latter appearing in small type under the former. Two fan groups formed with one enjoying Beast Wars for what it is and another who do not think it should not be part of the Transformers mythology. The success of Beast Wars and a change in storyline resulted in its second phase: Beast Machines. Like Beast Wars, the name Transformers is used only as a secondary title. While still a success, the storyline and direction borne by Beast Machines was questioned and criticized by the most ardent fans who knew the previous history of Transformers. Also, there was a clamor for a return to the original idea of vehicle-changing Transformers. [edit]
Robots in Disguise (2001-2002)While Beast Machines was still running in the United States, Japan’s Takara made a bid to return to the familiar vehicle-transforming robots concept. In 2000, Car Robots was released. This line was brought by Hasbro to America as the Robots in Disguise series. This series is usually regarded by most as filler while Hasbro contemplated the next direction for Transformers. Robots in Disguise was a modest success and not particularly memorable. Even so, Robots in Disguise was responsible for introducing some concepts that would be re-used often in the next incarnations of Transformers. On a side note, Transformers also inspired the development of this robot http://robot-fan.net/spot/spot067.html which shows a 4 wheel robot transform itself into a bi-pedal walking robot in humanoid form. [edit]
Backstory(Note: This only applies to original G1 cartoon continuity, and not to many of the later series.) Ravaged from the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, Cybertron was almost completely drained of its energy resources. Neither side had enough energy reserves to continue the battle, which led to a stalemate. The Autobots, with their leader Optimus Prime, left their home planet on a mission to avert the threat posed to it by an asteroid field. The Decepticons pursue them and board the Autobot starship (called the Ark in the comic). During the ensuing fight, they crash-land into a volcano on prehistoric Earth. Awakened in 1984 when the volcano erupts, the Decepticons were repaired by the ship's computer and fled, leaving the still-deactivated Autobots behind. Decepticon leader Megatron soon discovered that Earth has nearly limitless energy resources. Hoping to tip the war's balance in favor of the Decepticons, Megatron planned to transfer Earth's energy to Cybertron even if it meant ruining the Earth in the process. Unfortunately for them, the Decepticons made a fatal mistake. After the Decepticons were awakened, the Autobots remained deactivated on the Ark. Upon leaving, the Decepticon Starscream simply blasted the rocks around the ship to seal the entrance, rather than destroying the helpless Autobots altogether; the jolt from the explosions moved Optimus Prime within the Ark's repair beam. The remaining Autobots are subsequently revived and rise up to become the protectors of life on Earth and the Decepticons' nemeses. [edit]
Trivia
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The Transformers (2007)The live-action Transformers movie has been set to open in the U.S. on July 4, 2007 and is being produced by DreamWorks Pictures with collaboration from Hasbro and Takara. Paramount Pictures will distribute the movie. The feature will be directed by Michael Bay from a screenplay being written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Steven Spielberg is executive producing the film, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy serving as co-executive producers. It is expected that the release of a new movie will involve the production and release of associated toys from Takara and Hasbro. [edit]
External links
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