The line of toys
"Transformers" was developed by Hasbro. After a meeting with with Takara representatives at the 1983
Toy Fair trade show in New York
they planed to combine and re-brand Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change toylines into the
Transformers for the US-release.
From this time a long and successful cooperation between Takara and Hasbro on toy development for the Transformers linestarted.
A collaboration which has grown increasingly close. Currently, Takara controls the manutacture of toys while Hasbro does the vast majority of the concept work and character creation.
As one of the biggest global players in toys
Hasbro markets and sells the toys internationally. Only in the Japanese market Takara sells the transformers.
The current director of design for the Transformers line is Aaron Archer.
The origin and basic back-story was created by Jim Shooter and Dennis O'Neil. The were writers of Mervel Comics. The Name
Optimus Prime as main charactor of this series was finally changed by O'Neil. Former Optimus Prime's name in the first script was Convoy.
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 program,
and he was the visual creator of The 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.
Generation 1' was originally a mix of Japanese toys, such as Diaclone and New Microman.
The Transformers were produced by Hasbro and first released on the US market in 1984.
The first line of Transformers changed into realistic looking trucks, cars, planes and household objects, including cassettes, a tape player and a Walther P-38.
As the toy line progressed, alternate modes began to vary, resembling anything from futuristic-looking
vehicles to mechanical animals.
Gimmicks became much more prevalent, such as Transformers whose heads and weapons were Transformers themselves.
There were teams of Transformers that merged to form giants (known as gesalts) and there were also four toy cities, the largest being Fortress Maximus, who, at the time of writing, is the largest Transformer ever. The most controversial of these gimmicks were the Action Masters, Transformers who did not even transform. The Action Masters marked the end of Generation 1 in the US in 1990. However, the toy line did continue to do well in Europe and Japan. In 1992 Hasbro released Generation 2, a mix of original toys and repaints of Generation 1. Initially popular, the toy line quickly lost steam and ended in 1995.
In 1995, Hasbro handed the line over to Kenner, who stopped the Generation 2 line and soon released a new line: Beast Wars. Taking a departure from previous Transformer toys, Beast Wars Transformers changed into realistic-looking animals with fur and scales. The names of the factions also changed; the
Autobots becoming Maximals and the Decepticons becoming Predacons. Some older fans initially rejected Beast Wars, but the line proved to be popular and has since become loved by older and newer fans alike. As Beast Wars progressed, the line changed much like its Generation 1 predecessor did, and the robots began to have hybrid (fuzors) and mechanical animal (Transmetals) alternate modes.
In 1996, Hasbro released Machine Wars, consisting of repaints of toys never released before in the US, exclusively to Kay Bee Toys with little marketing. The line failed. Takara released two different lines in Japan: Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo. The lines consisted of repaints of the American Beast Wars toys, original moulds, and some repaints from Generation 1 and 2. In 2000, Hasbro released a new line known as Beast Machines. In Beast Machines, the Maximals are techno-organic with animal alternate modes, while the Predacons have been replaced with the completely mechanical Vehicons. The Beast Machine line combines some of the best of Generation 1 and
Beast Wars, and at the time of writing, the success of this toy line indicates that the Transformer toys will continue to be very popular.
While
Beast Machines was released in the US, Takara released Transformers 2000: Car Robots in Japan. In the Car Robots line, the good Cybertrons are completely mechanical with vehicle modes, and the Evil Destrons have cybernetic animal alternate modes; almost a complete contrast to that of Beast Machines. In general, the various new toys are marked by a higher degree of articulation and possibility than
Generation 1 toys, without sacrificing their alternate modes.
