2004 was the 20th anniversary year of the Transformers and also a disastrous year for the brand. Toys were poorly distributed leading to a long period where very little new product made it to shelves, and two major licensors – Dreamwave Comics and 3H who ran the official convention – folded. On the positive side Hasbro and Takara pressed ahead with the Alternators / Binaltech line, a well-received collector-oriented line that reimagined classic Transformers are real cars with realistic detailing and interiors, and the 20th anniversary was marked with a special 20th anniversary Optimus Prime, whose production was aided by a fan poll hosted on this website! In Japan, the 20th anniversary Optimus Prime was released as Masterpiece MP-1 Convoy, kicking off the popular Masterpiece line.
Transformers Energon opening credits. Uploaded to Youtube by Shout! Factory[/size]
The cartoon series that was running throughout 2004 and into early 2005 was Transformers Energon. The show was a sequel to Transformers Armada, and was aired side-by-side with its Japanese counterpart Transformers Super Link. Set 10 years after Transformers Armada, it depicted the Autobots and Decepticons at peace and working side-by-side with humanity to build a better future for both Earth and Cybertron. However the peace did not last long as in the depths of the ruined body of Unicron an alien named Alpha Quintesson stirred and set about gathering Energon to revitalize the chaos bringer.
The series started off strongly, with the early episodes dealing with a fragile peace being plunged back into war by the initial Terrorcon incursions and the Decepticons one by one joining the aggressors. The first episodes carried on the frenetic pace of the ending of Transformers Armada – especially once Megatron was revived in a powerful new body. Quickly the villainous faction split into two groups – Alpha Quintesson on the one hand, and Megatron with his Decepticons on the other. Demolishor received a strong character arc dealing with his conflicted loyalties, which culminated in his death as the story moved from Earth into space. A second team of Autobots, led by Rodimus, turned up working with Alpha Quintesson, who turned out to be seeking Unicron’s revival to restore planets destroyed by the Chaos Bringer, as Unicron evidently was able to create, as well as destroyed. A pitched battle at Cybertron led to a rift in space being torn open and Unicron, the Decepticons, and several Autobots falling in. Optimus Prime and the others followed after their comrades, and the battle shifted to a new-born solar system with an Energon sun.
That marked the halfway point of the series. The next arc of the series rehashed the basic “Decepticons plunder Energon to repair Unicron” premise of the earlier episodes, ending in the death of Alpha Quintesson when the Decepticons reclaimed the head of Unicron (which had been the heart of an Energon sun as well as Alpha Quintesson’s base) to complete Unicron – only for Optimus Prime, merged with the ancient Autobot Omega Supreme, to grow to gigantic size and defeat Unicron in a fistfight – but Megatron escaped. A key episode in this arc was never dubbed from Transformers Super Link, and dealt with the conflicted loyalties of Scorponok (who had started as Alpha Quintesson’s servant, before being reprogrammed by Megatron), as well as explaining Scorponok’s and Alpha Quintesson’s origins.
The final 13 episodes of the series (yes, after two good finales the show was still going!) dealt with Megatron and his Decepticons successfully overrunning Cybertron and obtaining “Super Energon” from the planet’s depths. The Autobots fought back to reclaim their world, and on several occasions Optimus and Megatron (now Galvatron again) grew to gigantic size as both began to be corrupted by Unicron’s destructive leftover energies, culminating in a final battle where Galvatron was wholly corrupted and possessed by Unicron. Optimus Prime united the sparks of all his allies to find a power to stop him – but Galvatron, coming to his senses at the end, sacrificed himself and became a new Energon sun for Alpha Quintesson’s revived planets.
As the above description perhaps suggests, Transformers Energon as a show was notorious for how it blazed through a good story arc in 26 episodes, then rehashed bits of it for another 13, then lumbered on for a final 13 episodes. It was also a show known for its poor CGI animation where characters lacked any sort of facial expressions or dynamic movement, and especially early on characters seemed to have little or no weight behind their motions. Moreover the US version was extremely poorly dubbed and used incomplete animation which is frequently attributed to the show being a rush-job because it was being simultaneously screened in the US and in Japan.
Possibly the worst aspect of Transformers Energon though was its missed potential. Characters were introduced then forgotten or relegated to the background, plot threads were set up then ignored for the rest of the series, and characterization was wiped away as characters were reformatted into new forms – most notably Demolishor who had a strong character arc early on became little more than a robot who occasionally acted like an ape later in the series, his previous personality forgotten. Transformers Energon as a cartoon series is often regarded as the worst of the Transformers cartoons in fan circles, and while it did do some good things during its run (such as Distribution, a special dream-match episode which was the 500th episode to air in Japan), Transformers Energon’s bad points heavily outweighed the good. The show was also treated very poorly by Cartoon Network, who buried it in an inaccessible early morning timeslot before most kids were even awake to watch the show.
A selection of Transformers Energon toys – the Megatron shown here is based on the smaller sized version released in Japan and later made available as a part of a Toys R Us two-pack. Hot Shot and Inferno here also demonstrate the core “Powerlink” play pattern that all of the Deluxe and Mega class Autobots possessed[/size]
Transformers Energon was accompanied by a toyline which debuted in late 2003. With the release of the new line, the size classes were once again renamed. Basic sized toys returned, sharing pegs with a couple of new Mini-Con three packs. The Basic size class became known as Energon class. Deluxes, formerly Super-Cons, now became Combat class, while Megas / Max-Cons were initially called Mega Combat class before dropping the Combat from the name in the later catalogs. Ultras / Giga-Cons were referred to as Commanders initially, and later again underwent a mid-line name change to Command class. Lastly the Super class also got a name change – to Leaders class, a name which has stuck ever since (though the “s” was dropped for Transformers Cybertron).
The Energon line, like Transformers Armada, featured line-wide gimmicks. In Energon, the basic-sized Energon class figures each featured weapons made from translucent plastic and translucent “Energon Stars” which could attach over the “Spark Crystals” of the toys. The translucent plastic weapon parts could also be combined into larger weapons and attached to the bigger toys.
In the larger size classes, the two factions got individual gimmicks. The Autobots could “power link”, where their whole gimmick was the ability to combine to power up. The Combat and Mega classes were at the heart of this gimmick – each Combat or Mega class Autobot could transform into either an upper or a lower torso which could then attach to any other Autobot in the line. It was a gimmick originally showcased with the Multiforce in the 1989 Transformers Victory toyline, but the design here was more involved and particularly in the larger Mega size class led to some satisfyingly huge combinations. Command (Ultra) and Leaders class Autobots were handled differently – these releases were made up of a core robot who then also came with parts to form a powered up battlemode.
On the Autobot side there was Optimus Prime in the Leaders class. Optimus could combine with the included Grand Force drones to form his initial supermode. A later Mega class release, Wing Saber, split up to form a new set of limbs for Optimus Prime and gave him two distinct new super modes, depending on how the limbs were attached. A new Supreme class release, Omega Supreme, could also combine with Optimus Prime to form Optimus Supreme.
The Decepticon side had a much more straightforward gimmick by comparison. All the Decepticons featured “hyper power”, concealed weaponry that could be unfolded or deployed to provide more firepower. For some releases, like the line’s Megatron, this meant simply having some wing panels unfold slightly, for others like the reformatted Demolishor it meant transforming the whole upper torso to expose four missile launchers.
Transformers Energon combiner Transformers, made up of a Deluxe class core robot and Basic class limbs. Shown here are the Japanese Transformers Super Link versions, who were sold as giftsets, in the US, the Energon combiners were sold individually in late 2004 / early 2005.[/size]
The last waves of the line introduced another new concept, a much-requested return of the “classic” style combiner Transformers. There were three in total – Superion Maximus, Bruticus Maximus, and Constructicon Maximus. The combiners consisted of a Combat class robot who formed the torso of the combiner, and four Energon class toys who made up the arms and legs. In order to make the concept work, Hasbro made two of the Energon class limbs redecos, which attracted criticism from those hoping for five unique toys in each robot. The individual components were nicely detailed and had a good amount of poseability, though the combined forms were less poseable, lacking elbows in their “official” transformations. Even so, the trio of combiners was a real achievement for the line and stand out as some of the best toys in the line. In Japan, the three combiners were offered as giftsets, with slightly altered decos.
The toyline as a whole was an improvement compared to the Transformers Armada line. Some toys were still fairly limited or basic due to their gimmicks (particularly on the Autobot side) but others were excellent and boasted good levels of articulation. Notably, this line was the first time that Arcee was released as a mass-retail toy – and also of note is that this was the first and only time that the Transformers toy line did a “timed exclusive”. The Leaders class Megatron, whose design was based on the original Galvatron, was initially only available in Wal-Mart stores. He was later made more widely available, but Wal-Mart got a head start on the new form of the Decepticon leader.
For Transformers Energon, Hasbro and Takara both released a series of toys which were unique to their individual markets. Takara released the four Energon class Terrorcons with new decos, the first two of which were featured in the cartoon series. Takara also released a scaled-down version of Megatron, closer to Mega or Ultra scale than his Leaders class US release, as well as a figure of Kicker using the 2003 style Microman body. A version of this Kicker was included in a two-pack with a Combat class scaled Optimus Prime, called Grand Convoy in Japan, as a special edition commemorating 20 years of Transformers and also 30 years of Microman.
Hasbro meanwhile released a series of non-show toys, including the Combat class Decepticons Slugslinger and Sharkticon, and the Autobot Tow-Line, whose transformation was a homage to the Generation 1 Ironhide and Ratchet toys. Hasbro also released a Mega class two pack of Grimlock and Swoop, based on the Generation 1 characters, which while an admirable effort feature awkward proportions and a silly combined mode. Hasbro also made their own Kicker, based on a G.I. Joe body and a toy (non-transforming) of the Alpha Quintesson, and a slew of redecos, some of which were featured in the cartoon but nonetheless were not released in Japan.
A selection of the initial Transformers Alternators series releases[/size]
While the Transformers toyline was still aimed mostly at kids, a new third Transformers line launched in late 2003 aimed squarely at older collectors. The Transformers Alternators line consisted of 1/24 scale licensed cars complete with authentic detailing and realistic interiors, which transformed into updated versions of the classic Autobot cars. Bearing in mind that they were released at a time when outright remakes of the classic cast were a very rare thing, they were very well received – there was a lot of excitement when the first Alternator, Smokescreen, based on the Subaru WRX rally car, was first unveiled.
In Japan, the Alternators line was released under the name Binaltech. The Binaltech releases featured die-cast metal as opposed to the all-plastic Alternators, but notoriously the paint was prone to chipping. The Binaltech line came with pack-in stories, which started out explaining how the Autobots had been affected by a new strain of Cosmic Rust and transferred into new, Earth-built forms. As the line – and the story – progressed, the storyline unfolded to reveal that Beast Wars Ravage – revived in the present day – was trying to alter the future to ensure a Decepticon victory in the Great War. The storyline was notable for how it wove in references to dozens of cartoon and comic events.
The Binaltech line eventually included over 20 releases in its run until it ceased in 2006, and underwent a brief revival in 2008. The Alternators line included a similar number of releases, but both lines had their own distinct redecos, and the Alternators line lasted through to 2007 with a few molds which never saw a Binaltech release. The line initially was planned to only feature Autobots, but bowing to fan demand, Hasbro incorporated some Decepticons into the line. The initial Decepticons, Dead End and Swindle, were actually repurposed from their planned retools as Autobots Sunstreaker and Trailbreaker, respectively. The Takara Binaltech fiction explained this as the Decepticons stealing the bodies which were meant for the Autobots. The Dead End mold would eventually be released in its intended Sunstreaker deco, though the planned Alternators Trailbreaker never came to pass.
In hindsight, the Alternators line proved a number of things. It proved that there was indeed a market for more collector-oriented Transformers releases – though the sluggish movement of some of the releases in the line mitigated against that fact. It also showed that Hasbro was fully capable and willing to make Transformers based on licensed vehicles rather than sci-fi space cars.
Transformers Masterpiece MP-1 Convoy, who was also released in the US with some slight differences as the 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime. Photo by Hook[/size]
Fans had another release targeted squarely at them as a part of the 20th anniversary celebrations. The 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime, released in Japan as Masterpiece Convoy, was a large, foot tall, die-cast metal version of the original Optimus Prime, modeled closely after his design in the original cartoon series. The figure did not include a trailer (though the Japanese release included a papercraft one) but he did come with a complement of weapons including Optimus’ signature ion blaster, an energy ax, a version of Megatron in gun mode and the Matrix. The figure also featured some nice design touches such as a moving faceplate and a light-up Matrix chamber. The figure was warmly received by fans who saw it as the zenith of Transformers engineering at that time. It proved to be the first of an ongoing series of “Masterpiece” updates to classic Transformers characters – a line still going strong ten years later!
On a lesser note, 2004 also saw Takara finally import Beast Machines to Japan as “Beast Wars Returns”, with a selection of the Beast Machines toys released to support the show. The toys that were released were recolored to better match their in-series appearances, and had a limited release in Japan, which makes the toys hard to find and very sought after by fans wanting the most show-accurate Beast Machines toys available. The dub of the show was handled by Yoshikazu Iwanami who had previously handled the Beast Wars dub for Japanese audiences, and he brought to it his signature jokey style and preference for adlibbing. For a somber and dark series like Beast Machines, this really ruined the mood especially since many dramatic scenes were reworked for comedy, and the suspense about the identities of the Vehicon generals Thrust and Jetstorm was completely dropped. Notably, the character of Nightscream was also reworked as a gay stereotype, and was handled in extremely poor taste.
A selection of releases from the Transformers Robot Masters series. The series re-released Generation 2, Beast Wars and Machine Wars toys alongside new molds of classic characters.[/size]
Takara also brought out another subline in Japan starting in July 2004. The line, Transformers Robot Masters, was in a way a forerunner to the Classics line. The line re-released Basic or basic-equivalent sized toys with new decos and new accessories, as well as releasing a small number of new molds in a slightly larger size class. The new molds earned the line its nickname of “Convoy Jamboree” since the line was a little biased to getting new versions of earlier Convoys out on to the market. Among the new molds, there was a new version of Generation 1 Convoy / Optimus Prime, based on the Masterpiece toy, a new version Generation 1 Starscream and new takes on Beast Wars Optimus Primal and Megatron, who were very closely modeled on their appearances in the Beast Wars show and were excellent versions of the characters. Later releases included Star Saber and Victory Leo, who could combine to form Victory Saber, and Beast Wars Second Lio Convoy. A DVD animation was produced and included with some of the toys. It was a short and fully CGI’ed animation which showed off some of the new characters, complete with stock footage transformations. The quality was pretty good for what was effectively a five to ten minute CGI commercial, although the plot was largely an excuse for all of these characters to show up and team up.
Atari’s Transformers Armada game was great fun from beginning to end – with one of the stand-out set pieces being this, the battle with the gigantic Decepticon Tidal Wave[/size]
Atari released an excellent game based on Transformers Armada in April 2004. The game featured three playable Autobots – Optimus Prime, Red Alert and Hot Shot, each of whom played slightly differently. The gameplay consisted of exploring expansive levels to find and retrieve Mini-Cons, who unlocked new weapons and abilities for the Autobots. Mass-produced Decepticlones provided the basic enemies, while the Decepticons themselves provided the boss fights. A major highlight of the game was a boss fight with a gigantic Tidal Wave. Other boss fights included a showdown with Megatron over a volcano and a battle with Unicron himself flying around Cybertron.
Dreamwave’s Transformers ongoing issue #0 cover[/size]
On the comics front, 2004 saw Dreamwave comics launch an ongoing Transformers comic series. The initial arc of the series dealt with Starscream making his move following the apparent demise of Megatron in the War and Peace series and the arrival of the mad clone of Starscream, Sunstorm. Sunstorm was ultimately defeated after a struggle that lasted for six issues collectively known as “Ascension”. The next arc dealt with the Autobots teaming up with the Earth Defense Command and Marissa Fairbourne to fight an Insecticon infestation. A zero issue released before the main series set up some overarching plotlines, involving the coming of Unicron and the Quintessons plotting their revenge, which would play into the third War Within miniseries, Age of Wrath. The actual overarching plotlines, though, never reached fruition.
Dreamwave’s Transformers War Within: Age of Wrath issue #1 cover, featuring the first in-print appearance of the Generation 1 Turbomaster Autobots[/size]
War Within: The Age of Wrath was the third of the War Within miniseries, and chronicled how following the events of The Dark Ages, Cybertron was almost at peace. But then, Megatron returned, and brought with him an army of new aerodrones. Grimlock was slain and the remaining Autobots were enslaved and put to work on a project for the Quintessons via Megatron. The series continued with an underground Autobot resistance opposing Megatron and trying to find the lost Optimus Prime to turn the tables once more.
Dreamwave also launched a new Micromasters miniseries in 2004 which chronicled the story of how, in Cybertron’s past, a new race of Transformers who used less Energon were created, and their struggles to find their place within the now almost depleted world of Cybertron. The miniseries was hard to follow and had little impact on the wider continuity – although perhaps there might have been more payoff had the comics continued.
Following on from the Generation 1 themed More than Meets the Eye series, Dreamwave released a second profile book series for Transformers Armada. The series lasted three issues and characterized every Autobot, Decepticon and Mini-Con from the toyline in the tried-and-tested style of the old Marvel Comics profile books. A further profile series for the Transformers Energon line was planned, but never came to be.
Dreamwave’s Transformers Energon issue #19. Transformers Energon continued the numbering from the Transformers Armada series, so this is actually issue #1 of their Transformers Energon comics[/size]
Transformers Energon also got a new comic series, and notably while it took the same basic concept as the cartoon series – being set ten years after Transformers Armada and dealing with the Decepticons gathering Energon to revive Unicron – the execution of the series was very different. As in the cartoon, Megatron starts off the series near-dead and imprisoned within Unicron, with Scorponok as leader of the Decepticons, serving Alpha Quintesson. In the comics, the Terrorcons started out as individuals, as did the Omnicons – there were only one of each character, rather than armies of them. Unicron got more servants in the forms of the four horsemen, who were the four Beast Wars toys released in the Armada line and were based on a popular fan concept that they would be Unicron’s four horsemen.
As the series progressed, deeper layers of the plot emerged, including shady political dealings between the leaders of Cybertron’s senate and Alpha Quintesson, adding an extra dimension to the plot which would have paid off with more Quintessons turning up in the later (unpublished) issues. A late-series story arc was Multiplicity, which featured the four Terrorcons being cloned into whole armies of copies and unleashed upon the Earth. The Autobots were only able to drive the Terrorcons back because Optimus Prime journeyed into the depths of Unicron and freed Megatron – though Megatron betrayed Optimus and left him trapped within Unicron. The last published issue had Megatron hunt down and kill Scorponok, retaking his position as leader of the Decepticons.
The latter part of the 2004 Dreamwave comics, as you might have gathered, was a “Megatron month” where all the issues released focused on the return of Megatron as a villain in the respective series.
So ends the good of what Dreamwave did for Transformers comics in 2004. What began to emerge as the year went on though was that there were problems behind the scenes at Dreamwave. Artists and writers started to be paid late, with some of the creators including Adam Patyk and James McDonough leaving the company, around July of 2004. Dreamwave tried to make fan websites hush up the fact that they had left under less than good terms and indeed that they had left at all – and also to remove comments from the creators that they were owed a large amount of money. Dreamwave’s comics began to miss their shipping dates and the company folded, formally announcing its bankruptcy on January 4, 2005.
The collapse of Dreamwave did a lot of damage, both to comic stores who lost the money they had paid for books that were never received and also to the creators who never saw a cent of the money they were owed, leaving many of them burned and a bad taste in the mouths of many more. Artist Nick Roche summed up the situation very well when he once said “Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t do any work for Dreamwave… at the time, I’d have worked for free but it turns out everyone else at Dreamwave was doing that anyway.”
Unfortunately the collapse of Dreamwave was not the only thing to blight the 20th anniversary year of Transformers. 3H Productions, who had run the Transformers convention Botcon (renamed to the Official Transformers Collectors Convention in 2003 following the departure of the Hartmans from 3H) also folded in 2004. 3H was having financial troubles, and advertised items planned for the show never turning up, including one of the two toy exclusives, Sentinel Maximus – instead of the toy being at the show, attendees were assured that the toy would be sent out to them after the show.
On the back of the financial troubles and mounting complaints, Hasbro pulled the convention license from 3H, and made good on sending out the Sentinel Maximus exclusive themselves. 3H filed for bankruptcy soon after.
Both 3H and Dreamwave cast a shadow over what should have been a year of great celebration for the Transformers franchise. The year was also blighted by the poor distribution of the toys – the Energon line suffered from an overabundance of Ironhides clogging shelves. That being said, there were some great moments – the debut of Alternators and the Masterpiece series being one of the most significant. The Transformers brand would recover from these setbacks, and move on to bigger and better things.
After all, Hasbro had awarded the rights to Dreamworks to produce a Transformers live-action movie this year. And Steven Spielberg was signed up as executive producer. The groundwork was in place for the ultimate transformation of the Transformers brand…
Superquad7
Agreed! Maybe @Sol Fury can give another one soon!
Back in
Need a update but that ok
Phantformer5533
Thank you for all these links! I definitely needed this in order to make my own list. Glory to transformers!
Vik
Awesome, such a dense history!
Metro Prime
Thanks. I have been doing that since that post. TF Wiki has been answering a lot of questions.
batfan007
You can always read some pages over at TFWIKI to catch up on those years, covers pretty much everthing.
John Does
Awsome looking forward,…
Metro Prime
It took me days to read all of this!
Excellent and informative write up. I'm impressed and it filled in a few blanks for me. I've been collecting since G1 with a few years of breaks until I started a major effort into collecting through the Energon era, the beginning of the Classics line, and intermittently through the years til I saw Titans Return and have been heavily collecting since. This write up has shown me where some of my more eclectic figures have originated.
Is there an update from 2015 to current in the works? I'd love to see what else I've missed.
Excaliberprime
good info here
Abishai100
Gen 1 – Gen 2
I think a good way to think about the immense shift in style and content between TG1 (Transformers Generation 1) and TG2 is to think about how the toys, cartoons, and comics focused more on variability of character significance for various storylines. TG1 offered stories relevant to particular characters, but TG2 offered a more liberal attitude towards who could be a randomized figurehead in a given storyline!
That's why TG2 was the 'gateway' to the modern Transformers era which focuses much more on general concepts and character randomization than did TG1.
That's also why TG1 is the ideal intro for anyone looking to become a Transformers fan. Hey, isn't that why we all love Transformers: The Movie (1986), the real art-piece that began showing us conceptual bridges between TG1 and TG2?
ChromedomeMaster
35 years of transformers, and i have only been apart of it for 10 years
3 Wheeler
I like the Long Haul Pic!!!
Djin
Great read
Blam320
That's really too bad. You're missing out on a lot, and I mean a lot of really good Transformers stuff by only caring about G1.
Rodimus Prime BetterPrime
For years I've wanted the G1 series in a blu-ray release. With this year marking its 35th anniversary, hopefully we'll finally get it. I don't care about anything but G1.