I do. Back in Generation 1 through Beast Machines, every transformer had a bio (mini- biography) on the back of the box. Gradually, they started disappearing and during the beginning of the Unicron trilogy, disappeared altogether. Finally Cybertron began re- introducing the bios again, and it seemed like they are there to stay.

.....Until now. I've noticed the bios are slowly disappearing again. Robots in disguise and most of The Last Knight products no longer have any bios. While most Titans return still have the bios, they are usually limited to one sentence, and they usually only detail their Titan master power. Weirdly, the Titan Masters themselves have no bios on their individual release, which is even less helpful when you are buying only the titan master.

I am hoping they don't disappear completely, because I have always thought that was one of the coolest things about the toyline: you can just pick up the box and know who that character is. I understand Hasbro's logic : The fans already know who that character is, and most of the kids don't even read the box, so why pay someone to write up a bio? But I actually think they are pretty useful. While characters like Bumblebee and Optimus Prime are featured prominently in fiction, there are many transformers who have little to no screen time ( like Nitro Zeus or Twinferno). Bios are the only way to really know who they are. This helps when selling toys: someone could be like : "Hey, who was that transformer with the dreadlocks that was in that one scene?" You could read the bio and learn that he is Berserker, a crazy homicidal nutcase. Or you might go "Why is that Optimus prime painted blue and black?" Reading the bio will tell you Optimus prime donned a stealth paintjob to carry out a top- secret mission. Now you have a reason to buy these guys. This also keeps kids thinking creatively. Imagine this " Uggh, why did grandma get me this black jet guy?! I wanted Bumblebee!" but then they read the bio "Huh, his name is Overcast and he's an evil scientist? Maybe I could play that he captures the autobots and experiments on this guy..." Now that generic repaint just became hours of fun for some kid, all because of a bio. I know not many kids these days are that creative, but some still are.

I know they don't seem that important, but to me the bios make the line a lot more fun. Because of those, I bought about $200 worth of movie characters I would have probably not have bought otherwise.  What do you think? Do you miss the bios?

 

Yeah, I miss these. They were pretty neat explanation as to who the guy someone just purchased was, even fi they had no experience within the franchise.

 

I still have almost all of my tech specs from G1. I read those things like other kids read baseball cards.

During Combiner Wars, the characters had pretty well developed bios on the backs of the comics. And the Sunspot wave had some good copy on the package...I actually kept his because it was pretty fun (the poor guy just wants to fly and doesn't seem to understand he is on the side if thd bad guys in a war).

But the details on TR packaging are pretty skimpy.

 

The art on G1 boxes was amazing, it was part of the appeal of a TF toy.
It was a complete package.
We'll probably never see anything like that again, but it's certainly a loss to the fandom.

 

I miss the bios...

 

Oh yeah, I remember reading the bios to the figures from the allspark power subline. I loved how they would set up the stories in the battles I would have.

 

I was thinking the other day that quite a bit of modern box art is probably better and technically more advanced than the old G1 box art, but it just seems less iconic or memorable. I guess there was a novelty to G1 since nothing like that had really been before, and we didn't have so much other visual media bombarding us all of the time.

It would also be interesting to do a comparison on the use of perspective, posing, proportions, and angles for characters on package art.

 

I bought a G1 KO Optimus recently to use as a paint project. The box while a KO had the little bio behind it and they even KOed the tech spec pattern with the rectangular translucent thingie. Though I threw the boxes of my official G1s back in the day in the trash bin, I caught myself reading the techspec and playing with the little rectangular thingie like 5year old me... I very well understand your feelings, it was a small little thing that was fun.

 

Nope, box goes straight into the recycling. The character for me comes from the comics/games/movies/shows

 

I definitely miss them. They were an enthralling way to get to know the guys I just bought or saw very little of on screen, back in the day. I wouldn't be so fond of certain characters if it weren't for the, well, character given to them on the box. I can imagine that it would play out similarly for contemporary children.

I am not even sure why it's getting phased out. It seems like a good way for a potential buyer to know who they are getting, aside from yet another hunk of plastic.

 

I would pay a dollar or two more if full fledged bios and tech spec cards came back.

 

Ha, I miss alot of things on the boxes that got changed needlessly.

- The Transformers Font
- The Autobot and Decepticon symbols (now they are just outlines on the boxes, not the original version)
- No good techspecs
- No indepth bios
- No robot points (even if they were worthless, they were still fun to have on there)

No real need to change any of these, and they really wouldn't cost Hasbro any more money. But we "have to change things", so we replace the cool stuff with boring, "clean looking" packaging.

I truly think that a more "retro" looking package would draw more parents in, to buy toys for their kids, that remind them of their childhood. And kids won't mind, they are still going to like the G1 look.

Or maybe I'm just getting too old  

 

I rarely if ever read toy bios. When I did read them I noticed they weren't even accurate to their on screen appearances. Plus I mostly only got toys because I saw them in the cartoon. Rarely I would pick up a character just cause I like the design like Transmetal2 Cyber shark.

That being said I think toy bios actually limits creativity. I mean it's not even really creative if you're only imagining the character described in the toy bio. I think it's actually better not knowing who the character is because then they can be whatever you want them to be.

That Cyber shark I mentioned earlier, he's nothing more than a side kick for Depth Charge according to the toy bio which doesn't fit since we never see that. However you can take all those toy only characters from Beast Wars and Make up your own story for who they are and how they interact with each other.

 

I really miss the bios. The bios, I think, helped kids understand what the personality of the character they were purchasing was and really made them think either "waow dis gye is kewl" or "waow dis gye is shet butt bought lel". At least, that was for me anyways.

 

Dude, I miss all that shit. The catalogues, mini comics, decoders, mail orders...OK, especially the mail orders. I wish they would bring back the point system, maybe instead of having to cut the cardbacks they would have a sticker with a hologram that had the value. Offer exclusive stuff,...yea, would be great.

As far as the bios, I like that you "had" to use the decoder. I just hate anything the compels you to destroy the package. But that's a graphic design nerd talking

 

I miss the BIOs and tech specs through out the lines. Plus I could be in the minority but I also miss the rub signs.

 

Same i also miss the level range on intelligence , speed , strength , agility

 

I also wish they would bring back the G1 look of the tech specs with bios with them. Was just enough info to get you going on an adventure and add to it with your imagination.

 

Sunspot's bio made it seem like to me that he was the Dory of Transformers.

"Just keep flying, just keep flying, just keep flyyying."

 

Yeah, I think the two word or one sentence bios are stupid. Give me a little background. Also, it gives kids a seed of imagination. A bio gives the kid a starting point to use for their own stories. I mean, I know toys are on the decline, but simplifying things is not the answer. You need to give kids something that they can't get from a video game. But, that's more of a general culture thing than something Transformers specific.