Transformers: Generation 1
Parts of this article (those related to Legacy) need to be updated. The reason given is: Goes up to 2011, not contemporary legacy.(August 2023) |
Type | Action figure |
---|---|
Inventor(s) | Shōji Kawamori Kazutaka Miyatake |
Company | Hasbro / Takara |
Country | United States / Japan |
Availability | 1984–1992 |
Slogan | "More than meets the eye" "Robots in disguise" |
Official website |
Transformers: Generation 1 (also known as Generation One or G1) is a toy line from 1984 to 1990, produced by
The Transformers (also now known as "Generation 1" or "G1" for short, though the line was never branded as such) started as a joint venture between
Development
In 1983, Hasbro representatives were sent to Tokyo Toy Show, a toy expo in Japan, in search of prospective toys that they could import to the North American market. At the time, Japanese toy manufacturer
Prior to the Hasbro deal, Takara briefly sold Diaclone toys in specialty toy shops in the U.S. under the "Diakron" moniker, while in some parts of Europe, Diaclone enjoyed a small following with a comic book series for that market.
Hasbro had a business relationship with Marvel Comics, which had successfully produced the Hasbro tie-in comic book G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figure G.I. Joe. Marvel was approached once again to provide a backstory for the new toy line. Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter created an overall story, and editor Bob Budiansky created names, short descriptions and profiles for the characters.
The designs for the original 28 figures were made by renown anime character and mecha designers Shōji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake.[4][5]
When the toy line was released, it was supported by the Marvel Comics series, an animated television series, and a gamut of other merchandising tie-ins. The 1986 feature film The Transformers: The Movie generated $5,706,456 at the United States box office.[6]
Premise
The premise behind the Transformers toy line is that an individual toy's parts can be shifted about to change it from a vehicle, a device, or an animal, to a robot action figure and back again. The franchise's taglines, "More Than Meets the Eye" and "Robots in Disguise", reflect this ability.[7]
The Transformers plot has two factions of sentient alien robots: the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons. (These factions are known as "Cybertrons" and "Destrons" in Japan, respectively, although the English terms are better known world-wide.)
Both sides are from a race called Transformers – robots that can change into vehicles, mechanical devices and even animal forms. They have waged civil war for eons on their home planet of Cybertron, a war that had started several million years B.C., before humans even existed on Earth. Their planet of Cybertron had become decimated and both factions have been reduced to scavenging for needed supplies, primarily energy. The Autobots leave their planet on a space ship, and the Decepticons follow them in their own vessel. When the Decepticons board the Autobot ship, a battle breaks out, and with nobody controlling the ship, it crashes onto prehistoric Earth and knocks the Transformers unconscious. Millions of years later, in 1984, the dormant volcano the Autobot ship had crashed on becomes active. The eruption re-sets the ship's computer, which deploys a probe to study the planet. The computer learns that the planet is inhabited, and in order to survive first contact the computer both repairs the disabled Transformers and re-configures them with physical forms based on vehicles and machines of human origin. The Transformers are now able to hide by changing into vehicles or devices in case humans turn out to be hostile.
This initial premise, in all three media of toys, TV series, and comics, became more cosmic in scale. More stories began to be set in outer space and on alien worlds, especially after The Transformers: The Movie.
Additional story elements are also added to the series, such as establishing the origins of the Transformers race. A cruel and coldly logical race of alien squid-like creatures with five faces and tentacles known as
Two characters – each the greatest leader of his side, became the most iconic representatives of the series:
History
The toys of Generation 1 have seven series by year.[8]: 4
Series 1
The first series features twenty-eight characters in all; eighteen Autobots and ten Decepticons.[8]: 11–32
Optimus Prime is the Autobot Commander and transforms into a tractor trailer truck – specifically a
The eleven Autobot cars consist of Bluestreak, Hound, Ironhide, Jazz, Mirage, Prowl, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Trailbreaker, and Wheeljack.
Almost all of the first year Autobot cars were nearly identical in appearance to their Diaclone counterparts with the exception of Bluestreak and Ironhide. All box art as well as catalog and instructions for Bluestreak show a blue Fairlady Z with a silver hood. The toy itself was only sold in solid silver. There has been rumors of a "blue" Bluestreak being released in the US market but no boxed examples have been identified. Ironhide is a red Nissan Onebox Cherry Vannette and the Diaclone version was black.
The six Autobot minicars consist of Brawn, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Gears, Huffer, and Windcharger.
A yellow Familia 1500XG minicar dubbed "Bumblejumper" and later known as Bumper was released on Cliffjumper backer cards. No carded examples have been found with the minicar on a Bumblebee backer card.
Megatron is the Decepticon Leader and can transform into three different types of guns; a
Soundwave is the Decepticon Communicator and transforms into a microcassette recorder modeled after a 1980s
The three Decepticon planes are Skywarp, Starscream, and Thundercracker. All three of them transform into
To save production costs in developing separate chassis for multiple toys, many of the G1 Transformers are simply re-painted or re-accessorized clones of one another. The physical actions to transform one or the other between modes was identical. For example:
- Ironhide and Ratchet are functionally identical to one another.
- Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Hubcap and Bumblejumper aka Bumper are all functionally identical to one another.
- Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen are functionally identical to one another.
- Trailbreaker and Hoist are functionally identical to one another.
- Grapple and Inferno are functionally identical to one another.
- Rumble and Frenzy are functionally identical to one another.
- Laserbeak and Buzzsaw are functionally identical to one another.
- Sideswipe and Red Alert are functionally identical to one another.
- Optimus Prime's and Ultra Magnus' cab section are functionally identical to one another.
- Pipes and Huffer are functionally identical to one another.
Finally, Thundercracker, Starscream, and Skywarp are functionally identical to one another. The Series 2 Decepticon jets (Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet) all share the same robot centerline of the Series 1 jets with different attachable wing accessories (Thrust's have molded (non-functional) vertical turbofans in them, Dirge's are elongated like a hyper-performance flyer, and Ramjet's have ramjets).
As the series moved farther along beyond the first two series and new characters were introduced, this replication became fewer and farther between. The newer toys tended to share thematic processes (such as the Headmaster and Targetmaster lines) but the physical manipulation of the toy to transform it between modes was generally unique to that character.
-
Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and Ironhide
-
Jazz
-
Prowl
-
Ratchet
-
Sideswipe
-
Wheeljack
Series 2
Series 2 features reissued versions of all of the toys from Series 1 and also introduced seventy-six new toys.[10]: 12–16 [9]: 49–100 Although in a broad sense, forty-three of these new toys are Autobots, and thirty-one of them are Decepticons, the branding for the toy line became much more specific during this series, as various subgroups began to be introduced. As such, only thirty-five of these new toys are standard Autobots and only eighteen of them are standard Decepticons. Of the other new toys, five are branded as "Dinobots", three are branded as "Omnibots", six are branded as "Constructicons", and seven are branded as "Insecticons"; the Dinobots and the Omnibots are both subgroups of the Autobots, while the Constructicons and the Insecticons are both subgroups of the Decepticons. Each following series of Generation 1 introduced more subgroups to the toy line, and continued the practice established by Series 2 of aligning those with names ending in the suffix "-bot" with the Autobots, and those with names ending in the suffix "-con" with the Decepticons. Rounding out the seventy-six new toys of the series, are the first two accessories of the toy line to be individually sold.[9]: 49–100
Can you find the black square label on your Transformer? Rub the label-Watch the robot face appear! It is your evidence that this robot is a "true" Transformer! was operating explanation for the heat sensitive rub signs, as found in the instruction booklets for toys that were new to Series 2, and in brochures that were included with the reissued Series 1 toys.[9]: 49
All of the toys released during Series 2, both those that were new to the series, as well as the reissued versions of Series 1 toys, featured heat sensitive rub signs. These would reveal either the Autobot logo or the Decepticon logo upon being rubbed. Intended as a means of authentication, they were introduced in response to similar, though inferior, bootleg toys that were being released at the time.[10]: 12 [9]: 49
Series 2 features seven new Autobot Cars. They consist of Grapple, Hoist, Inferno, Red Alert, Skids, Smokescreen, and Tracks.
Series 2 features five new Autobot minicars. They consist of Beachcomber, Cosmos, Powerglide, Seaspray, and Warpath.
Series 2 features two Autobot Jumpstarters; Topspin and Twin Twist.[9]: 55–56 Both of them transform into spaceships. Topspin serves in land and sea assault,[9]: 55 and Twin Twist serves in demolitions.[9]: 55–56
Series 2 features two Autobot Deluxe Vehicles; Roadbuster and Whirl.
1984 and 1985
The 1984-85 lines became the foundation of the Generation 1 series, with all of the classic characters introduced here. The two years were actually one single run, story-wise and thematically. This is most evident in the first and second seasons of the animated series.[citation needed]
The toys made use of molds and designs primarily from the Micro Change and Diaclone lines. The 1985 toyline introduced the idea of special subgroup teams like the Dinobots,
Other characters were taken from different toy lines of other companies.[citation needed]
1986
The year of 1986 saw Hasbro start using original designs for many characters as fewer Microman and Diaclone molds were recycled. This was a banner year for the toy line as the tie-in animated feature, The Transformers: The Movie, was finally released. While the movie was not the blockbuster Hasbro hoped for, it marked a change in the direction the series in general was taking.
The last use of a non-Takara toy for the Hasbro line was also in 1986: Sky Lynx, originally manufactured by ToyBox. Cheap construction and disappointing features were its most notable problems.[11]
New characters
Optimus Prime and Megatron were both offered as a Movie Mail Away. Both figures were identical to their original release with the exception of a more reinforced fist design for Optimus Prime. Both figures came in their standard styrofoam insert but the box was a plain brown mailer box. Each figure was accompanied with a "Movie Edition" certificate and sticker.
1987
As Transformers went on, new characters needed new gimmicks to stand out. As the number of Combiner teams had been reduced, the
One of the more unusual toys introduced in the year was Sixshot, a Decepticon billed as a "Solo Transformer Assault Group" ("S.T.A.G."), having as many as six modes. This number of modes was unprecedented at the time - Sixshot's instruction leaflet was even sealed shut with a sticker, challenging buyers to figure out all six modes without aid. Twenty limited edition all black versions of the Sixshot toy were produced, which can easily fetch over a thousand dollars from collectors.[12]
The animated series had one more season but only three episodes were produced in America due to Sunbow losing its contract and its subsequent inability of renewal (coinciding with the G.I. Joe cartoon meeting their demise), leaving only the comics to support the toy line.
1988
Transformers continued on, despite less support and still managed to introduce a plethora of new characters. New Headmaster and Targetmaster characters were introduced, but the new driving forces for the line were the Pretenders and Powermasters (which featured the return of Optimus Prime).
1989
The toy line received a new logo design for its sixth year. The subgrouping idea was changed as characters were now limited to Pretender and
1990
In its final year in the US market, Transformers' last burst was with a more expanded Micromaster line and the introduction of the Action Masters – non-transforming figures of classic characters with transformable vehicles and weapons.
International market
Of the countries Transformers was exported to, Japan and the UK were the only ones to innovate upon the toy line in the interim between 1990 and 1993, before the launch of the next series, Transformers: Generation 2.
The UK releases, while in general following the American releases and storylines, omitted a fairly large selection of the original toys from the US line. The UK line first started branching away from the US line in 1990 with the re-releases of several early toys under the "Classics" banner. However, it was 1991 when the UK line went in its own unique direction. Though there were only a few characters introduced, they were toys that none of the US audience had ever seen. The 1991 and 1992 toys also found their way to Asian and Australian stores. The 1991 line did away with the Micromasters but had additional Action Master characters, in addition to re-uses of some of Takara's previously Japanese-exclusive molds.
1992 saw the release of the Autobot Turbomasters, the Decepticon Predators, yellow unnamed versions of the
The Japanese toy company Takara, from which Transformers had originated, had the rights to distribute the toys in Japan. Unlike Hasbro UK, Takara had more autonomy for releases and storyline that were running concurrent with the American line. For example, several characters appeared that were only exclusive to the Japanese market and Toei Animation continued the animated series with their own storylines.
In 1989, Takara departed from the lineup of characters that Hasbro released that year, choosing instead to use a different set of characters. In 1990, the Micromaster concept was embraced wholeheartedly as the majority of the toys that year and the next were of that nature. 1991 would see more Micromasters released, including the first Micromaster combiner, alongside three larger Battlestars. One of which was Star Convoy, a reborn version of Optimus Prime. Uniquely, the 1991 range in Japan consisted of only Autobot characters. The 1992 range in Japan was the final year of Generation 1, and featured several more Micromaster combiners, recolored versions of Defensor and Bruticus, and the smaller Turbomasters and Predators which were concurrently released in Europe.
Animated series
The animated series was produced by
).In March 2009,
In addition, On October 20, 2009,
Comics
Three publishers had or have the license to produce comic books based on the Transformers. Marvel Comics held the license during the original run of the toy line. Marvel's UK branch also published their own Transformers stories. Dreamwave Productions revived Transformers comics in 2002 but went bankrupt in 2005, forcing a cessation. IDW Publishing picked up the rights soon after.
Each publisher to pick up the comics rights all chose to go with their own continuity than continue the hanging storylines from the previous publisher. As the comics regularly features characters dying, thus far, this is the only way to get around regarding use of characters and issues regarding their place in continuity. Also, the series by Marvel UK used the stories from the US but as the series run weekly, additional stories had to be made to act as supplement. These UK only stories often worked in and around the US stories, offering a different experience.
So far, there are four comic book continuities based on the Generation 1 characters:
No. | Title | Issues | Publication date | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First published | Last published | ||||
Marvel Comics continuity | |||||
1 | The Transformers | 80 | September, 1984 | July, 1991 | |
2 | The Transformers UK | 332 | September, 1984 | July, 1991 | |
3 | The Transformers: The Movie | 3 | August, 1986 | October, 1986 | |
4 | G.I. Joe and the Transformers | 4 | January, 1987 | April, 1987 | |
5 | The Transformers: Headmasters
|
4 | July, 1987 | January, 1988 | |
6 | Transformers: Generation 2 | 12 | November, 1993 | October, 1994 | |
7 | Transformers: Generation 2 UK | 5 | September, 1994 | February, 1995 | |
8 | Transformers: Regeneration One | 20 | July, 2012 | March, 2014 | |
9 | Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies | 4 | August, 2019 | October, 2020 | |
Dreamwave comics continuity | |||||
10 | Transformers: Generation One | 26 | April, 2002 | December, 2004 | |
11 | Transformers: The War Within | 15 | October, 2002 | December, 2004 | |
12 | Transformers: Micromasters | 4 | June, 2004 | September, 2004 | |
IDW 2005 comics continuity | |||||
13 | IDW 2005 comics continuity | 427 | October, 2005 | November, 2018 | |
IDW 2019 comics continuity | |||||
14 | Transformers | 43 | March, 2019 | June, 2022 | |
15 | Transformers: Galaxies | 12 | September, 2019 | December, 2020 | |
16 | Transformers: Escape | 5 | December, 2020 | July, 2021 | |
17 | Wreckers: Tread & Circuits | 4 | October, 2021 | January, 2022 | |
18 | Transformers: War's End | 4 | February, 2022 | May, 2022 | |
Total | 1004 | September, 1984 | present |
Reception
In 1986, film critic Richard Martin called the first generation toy series a more fun counterpart to Rubik's Cube in "[helping] children develop their hand-eye coordination and their spatial reasoning skills, but Hasbro kept quiet about this, believing no self-respecting 10-year-old boy would bug his parents half to death to buy him an educational toy". He said "[kids mastered] its difficulties in no time [but it makes] grown-ups feel like klutzes". He said the resulting TV show "has topped the ratings every week since its debut in 1985, thus setting the stage for The Transformers: The Movie (1986) [which is] designed to sell more toys to more kids. [...] Transformers don't really die, they just become new products."[14]
Legacy
Ralston produced breakfast cereals based on 1980s cartoons, including Transformers Chocolate Flavored Cereal, similar to Cocoa Puffs.[15]
The official international Transformers convention is BotCon, but other fan events include Auto Assembly and TransForce in the UK and past Transformers-only events have included BotCon Japan, BotCon Europe and "The Official Transformers Collectors' Convention" (OTFCC). The first large Transformers convention in the Nordic countries was called "The NTFA Mini-Con", with official support from Hasbro Nordic, and was held by members of The Nordic TransFans Association (NTFA) for the first time on November 3–4, 2007. The second NTFA convention with official support from Hasbro Nordic was renamed "NordCon" (to avoid copyright problems with the name "Mini-Con") and held in Aalborg, Denmark, from June 19–20, 2010. It featured Simon Furman as a guest of honour. In 2011, NordCon and Auto Assembly joined forces to create a new convention called Auto Assembly Europe, which first took place in Uppsala, Sweden, in November 2011.[16][17]
A
Video games
References
- ^ "A brief history of the Transformers". Malaysia Star. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
- ^ Transformers (toyline) at TFWiki
- ^ "The History of Transformers on TV". IGN. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ Barder, Ollie (December 10, 2015). "Shoji Kawamori, The Creator Hollywood Copies But Never Credits". Forbes. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ Knott, Kylie (27 February 2019). "He created Macross and designed Transformers toys: Japanese anime legend Shoji Kawamori". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "The Transformers: The Movie". IMDb.
- ^ "Document Moved". thestar.com.my. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ ]
- ^ ISBN 9780896894457.
- ^ ]
- ^ TFArchive – Sky Lynx
- ^ Cobra Island Toys - Transformer Archive
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-30. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Newspapers.com.
- ^ Transformers Cereal Box Wanted Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine CerealBits
- ^ "nordcon.net". Nordcon.net. Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ "NORD STAR". Simonfurman.wordpress.com. 16 June 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ "The Allspark: Transformers News Movie Comics Animated - HASBRO "ROLLS OUT" TRANSFORMERS HALL OF FAME". 27 September 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "TRANSFORMERS FAN BUILT BOT POLL 2012". 19 June 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)