Checklists

Beast Wars Neo followed on directly where the previous year’s series, Beast Wars II, left off. The series received primarily all new molds, several of which were extremely creative and have yet to see the light of day outside of Japan. Shifting from the previous nature VS technology focus, this series cast the Cybertrons as mammals and the Destrons as dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The series was very poorly received, though, a pity considering how well some of the toys were... [Read More]

Following on from the first 26 episodes of Beast Wars in Japan, Takara commissioned a fully cel-animated series to keep Transformers on the air while theywaited for more episodes of Beast Wars. The cast of the show utilised nearly all the toys from the first two years of Beast Wars that weren’t already in the show and hadn’t already been released in Japan (as Takara’s initial Beast Wars waves had a few extra toys like Insecticon). And this was just for the Cybertron side! The ranks of the evil... [Read More]

Following on from the end of Transformers Cybertron, Hasbro introduced a line of Transformers to act as a filler to keep Transformers in the public eye until the toys for the Live Action Movie hit the shelves. The line itself delves right back into the earliest days of Transformers history, picking major characters from the original line and updating them with modern engineering and designs. Seemingly a hit with fans and kids alike, the line gave us our first new toys of Bumblebee and... [Read More]

Following the end of Beast Machines in 2001, Hasbro needed a filler line until the next series which they were co-producing with Takara was ready for release. Enter - Car Robots. The Japanese toy line had been a flop in Japan, but there were enough new toys in it for Hasbro to bring over to maintain a market pressence for the Transformers brand until the next series was ready for launch. Fortunately, the line was a massive hit, and Hasbro found themselves utilising unused toys from past lines... [Read More]

Transformers Generation 2 began in 1993 and ran through until 1995. It represented a major push on Hasbro's part to reclaim some of the popularity that Transformers had enjoyed in their heyday in the 1980's. The line began with repainted Generation 1 toys, but soon introduced many new designs, including colour-changing gimmicks and even light up engines and weapons. Toward the end of the line, though, the best gimmick of all was introduced - articulation. Finally, Transformers became poseable... [Read More]

In the final year of Generation 1, Europe, Canada and Australia saw a handful of all-new toys in the form of the Turbomasters and Predators, as well as more rereleases, including imports of four of the six toys from the Breastforce and all six Constructicons. The latter lacked their combiner parts, for reasons known only to Hasbro. Common theory is that Hasbro decided to exclude them, feeling that combiners would not sell as well as individual toys.
Meanwhile in Japan Transformers went out in a... [Read More]

While they may have been dead in the US in 1991, in Europe, Canada and Australia Transformers were alive and kicking with more Action Masters, imported Japanese toys, and even rereleases of old Generation 1 toys in new packaging!
In Japan, meanwhile, Takara increasingly sidelined Transformers in favour of their other brands, and hence even the Return of Convoy could not raise sales.


Action Masters

[ ] Powerflash w/ Road Rocket
[ ] Sideswipe w/ Vanguard
[ ] Tracks w/ Basher
... [Read More]

In 1990, Hasbro upped their production of Micromasters, aiming to further capitalise on the popularity of "toys in your pocket". They also made a bold move in releasing Action Masters - Transformers who did not transform, which defeats the object a little, right? Kids thought so, and so this would be the last year that Transformers were produced in the US until 1993.
Meanwhile in Japan, Takara imported all the Micromasters, repainting the majority of the Decepticons as Autobots. They also prod... [Read More]

1989 saw the Transformers line become divided into two main sub groups - Pretenders stuck about, in various forms, while Hasbro also introduced Micromasters to cash in on the "toy in your pocket" trend that was popular at the time.
Meanwhile Takara produced a completely different line in Japan to accompany their "Transformers Victory" series. Among the other toys produced were Brainmasters, as well as the extremely sought after Breastforce and Victory Saber.


Pretenders

[ ] Doublehe... [Read More]

In 1988 the line diversified further. Popular concepts from 1987 like Headmasters and Targetmasters stuck about, with other new ideas introduced. These included Pretenders (Transformers who fit inside an "outer shell" to "pretend" to be humans or monsters) and the Powermasters (Transformers with little partners who became engines that unlocked the larger Transformers' transformation). The latter concept was not very popular, as it made it very hard to transform the Transformers with the gimmick... [Read More]

1987 was the year of change for Transformers. It was the year that the animated cartoon series finished, with the three part "Rebirth" story. It was also the year that simply transforming was no longer a selling point for the line, hence new gimmicks such as Headmasters and Targetmasters were introduced. With Headmasters, the robot's head was formed by a small sidekick figure, while the Targetmasters' guns were also sidekicks.
Meanwhile, Transformers continued to thrive in Japan, and a handful... [Read More]

In 1986, Transformers the Movie opened at theatres and shook the Transformers brand to the core by killing off many of the popular central characters such as Optimus Prime and Starscream. The toyline, meanwhile, began to move away from the die-cast Takara designs with the bulk of the line now being toys developed jointly by Hasbro and Takara. These new toys were mostly plastic, and generally a bit "chunkier" than their forebears.
1986 also saw the mass introduction of the Combiners. Devastator... [Read More]

Transformers proved to be a huge hit in 1984, topping sales charts for the Christmas period, so in 1985 Hasbro released a great deal more Diaclone and Microchange toys not released at first, in addition to licensing many other non-Takara produced robots from Japan, such as the Veritech Valkyrie from Macross, produced by Bandai. While only a selection of these new characters would be seen in the cartoon series, others such as Roadbuster, Whirl and the Jumpstarters would see a lot of use in the... [Read More]

The year where it all began. In 1984, Hasbro imported two popular Japanese robot lines by Takara - Microman's Microchange and Diaclone's Real Robo - and rebranded them as a single line, with a backstory created by Marvel Comics. The line was a smash hit, and the rest, as they say, is history!



Leaders

[ ] Optimus Prime

[ ] Megatron




Autobot Cars, Decepticon Jets

[ ] Bluestreak (remold of Prowl)
[ ] Hound
[ ] Ironhide (remold of Ratchet)
[ ] Jazz
[ ] Mirage
... [Read More]

The sequel to Beast Wars was Beast Machines, produced in 2000. Arguably the most controversial Transformers series ever, the TV show presented a new interpretation of many aspects of the Transformers mythos which did not go down well with some groups in the fandom, leading shamefully to death threats being sent to the writer.
The toys themselves were a mixed bag. While most celebrated the return of vehicle Transformers in the form of the new villains, the Vehicons, fans did not take to the Maxi... [Read More]