About this transcript: This is a full AI-generated transcript of Complete History of the Transformers - 1980s — G1 — Vintage Toy Documentary 1984 ~ 1989 Generation 1 from Toy Kennections, published June 7, 2026. The transcript contains 26,538 words with timestamps and was generated using Whisper AI.
"Ah, the Transformers, a name that was once known as an exemplary fixture of the 1980s that has now transcended the generations to become an ageless toy and pop culture franchise. Of course, the very heart of what makes the Transformers a unique A-list brand is the form-changing feature of each..."
[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Ah, the Transformers, a name that was once known as an exemplary fixture of the 1980s that has now transcended the generations to become an ageless toy and pop culture franchise. Of course, the very heart of what makes the Transformers a unique A-list brand is the form-changing feature of each character. In fact, you can probably distinguish the heroic Autobots from the evil Decepticons at first glance, and even the most casual of followers for the series will know the iconic catchphrases that come after the main title. Phrases like more than meets the eye, robots in disguise, or transform, and roll out. Since 1984, the Transformers have seen their share of toys, comic runs through various publishers, cartoons evolving through the ages, a number of video games, and an animated movie with controversial choices where the shock factor is still felt by fans right through to this day. And that's not even considering the whole slew of live-action films that began in the 2000s and have continued to perpetuate all over the years. But to truly learn about the Transformers, we need to go back to where it all began, to that all-important Inception year of 1984. We'll uncover the facts and the story that led up to the founding of the line through various Japanese-branded toys which served as predecessors to the Transformers, and how the original Generation 1 franchise established its footing to remain ever-present in the core consciousness of people one year after the next. Over my years here on Toy Connections, I've taken the time to assemble a back catalogue of year-by-year specific videos that the Transformers were present on store shelves during the 1980s. And this extended upload serves to bring those past episodes into a single, accessible form. Since each individual video was produced independently there will be some overlapping information that gets repeated, but I've done my best to organize and present the discussion to take you all on this journey that led up to the 1984 opening year and have selected a reasonable stopping point in 1989 to encompass the first decade that the Transformers made their mark on this world. While obviously the line would continue well beyond the 1980s, it is important to bookend the discussion here at 1989 as this is when we would see some changes to both the American and Japanese businesses that collectively share the Transformers branding. At the US-based Hasbro company, the heartbreaking passing of CEO Stephen Hasenfeld would result in his brother Alan Hasenfeld heading up the company as of 1989 and internal changes would occur at Hasbro thereafter including the buyout of rival companies which would result in the company shifting directions with the Transformers being one of the brands to end in the early part of the 90s and see some level of reboot and refresh sometime later. In Japan, 1989 would see the last full season of the original Generation 1 Transformers cartoon airing on television though select one-shot episodes and other forms of media would continue throughout the 90s as well which is a story for another day. But the plan here is ultimately to tell the tale of the initial years that put the Transformers on the map, where they'd fill toy aisles next to other brands targeted at the same young male demographic audience, and also how they ended up on the same Saturday morning cartoon lineup with other timeless characters that began in this same era. All of this of course would result in the Transformers making its initial mark in history, thus becoming a multi-dimensional form of entertainment and a legacy brand we can turn to time and time again. And now that we've set the stage, let's go back in time and blast over to the planet of Cybertron where our story first takes place. So, enjoy the show! If one could transport themselves back in time to experience a rocketing boom period in pop culture entertainment, the year 1984 has to be a leading candidate in the eligibility for re-experiencing a key 12-month cycle. At the box office, Columbia Pictures' Ghostbusters topped the charts, though other popular transcendent films such as Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom as well as the first Karate Kid movie were released in this same calendar year. Conversely, on the small screen we would see the debut of what would become classic hits such as the action crime drama known as Miami Vice and the timeless sitcom The Cosby Show. Tuning into your radio stations, Princess When Dove's Cry from his Purple Rain album was that year's Billboard Hot 100 leading chart topper, with Tina Turner's What's Love Got To Do With It undergoing comparable success. Though for me personally, I'd go with Van Halen's Jump as my hand-picked favorite song of that year, even if it was released just a few days before 1984 officially began. As for what was happening in the toy industry, Kenner's Star Wars was still experiencing some residual popularity from the previous year's Return of the Jedi movie, and Kenner also did debut the action feature-heavy DC Superpowers toy line, which would last for a few years thereafter. Of particular note though, Hasbro's military-based G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and Mattel's barbarian-themed Masters of the Universe were simultaneously experiencing peak popularity in both TV and toy form, as well as other forms of complementary media in the young male-targeted demographic. Hasbro would of course double down on this demographic, first by licensing and eventually co-releasing a brand of sentient transforming robots with Japanese company Takara, which led to the development of a franchise that is still going to this day, namely, the Transformers. This is the story of that first year of this historic, iconic cast of robots, and the Autobots and Decepticons we've come to know and love. Let's begin. Hasbro had already adopted a trifecta approach with their production of G.I. Joe action figures, then having the same characters appear both in the Sunbo animated cartoon and on the pages of Marvel Comics. Of course, this formula would see itself play out again, with what would become G.I. Joe's simultaneous running mate in toy aisles from coast to coast: the original Generation 1 Transformers. Of course, the nomenclature of Generation 1, or G1, is a bit of a retroactive descriptor as it was simply called the Transformers until relaunched incarnations with differing sub-branding came out years later. With Hasbro and Marvel already having something of a business relationship, senior Hasbro executive Bob Proupas found himself in the office of Marvel's editor-in-chief, Jim Shooter, about the idea of adapting Takara's diaclone and microchanged toylines into an American robot toyline. After some backstory writing of his own, Jim Shooter would scour the halls of Marvel's offices in search of a writer capable of further developing the individual Transformers characters. While famed writer Dennis O'Neill did develop some character names, the vast majority of the task of Bob Budiansky. Budiansky would go on to write the bulk of Marvel's Transformers ongoing run, later transitioning the task to another well-known writer in Simon Furman. Of note though, Budiansky would be the man responsible for the individual bios or tech specs as they'd become to be known on the flip side of the original Transformers boxes and card backs. Such character information on the tech specs was vital to the success of the line. The original toys themselves already had existing figures from the aforementioned diaclone and microchanged toylines, capitalizing on the brilliant long-standing work of designer Yoki-san, as well as utilizing existing figure tooling from Takara in prior years. However, these pre-Transformers were non-Santient robots, many of whom came with pilots in something of a Gundam-type concept scheme. As such, to make these characters relatable beings to a western demographic, the Transformers were developed as the sentient robots we'd become familiar with later on. As a side note, I personally treat Diaclone and Microchanged as collectible predecessors to the toys I knew, much in the same way that the original 12" G.I. Joe that began in 1964 served as a precursor to the smaller 3 3/4" G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero that would launch in 1982. Thus, even if there is a disconnect in the marketing and branding between the 4Runner toylines and the ones that I grew up with, the developmental backstory was important to cover here, as I find myself fascinated by these earlier figures due to what they represent in toy history and the popular toylines that they would spawn after the fact. Okay, so regarding where this all leads, our opening cast of 1984 Autobots consisted of 18 characters that could transform into various automobiles. The leader Optimus Prime and 11 of the cars were adapted from the Diaclone Car Robots line of 1982, with the remaining 6 smaller, more affordable at the time, minibots having been developed from Microchanged's Mini Car Robo subset. In similar fashion, the 1984 Decepticons were also drawn from the same two toylines. Megatron was taken from the uncle version of Microchanged's Gun Robo, Soundwave was a slightly modified Microchanged cassette man, and Soundwave's various cassettes were also brought over from the Microchanged line to serve as Decepticons. Our three original Seekers, namely the F-15s of Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp, were taken from the Diaclone Jet Robo subset. And with that, we had the basis for the Decepticon Nemesis crew and the previously mentioned Autobots who would comprise of the Ark shuttle crew. And with everything set for a 1984 release, Hasbro ended up being beaten to market by Tonka and their GoBots line of transforming robots. Tonka had licensed the GoBots from Bandai overseas, much in the way that Hasbro had done with Takara to secure the Transformers as an intellectual property. Now, while GoBots did see a 1983 release and did get a high degree of success in 1984, as we all know, Transformers would win the overall battle and outlast GoBots as the years would go by, but this is a video on just the first year of Transformers, so I realize I digressed here a little, but I thought that this was pretty important to talk about. So let's get back to the topic of hand, the Transformers, and the opening year on store shelves. Regarding my own G1 collection, for the most part the figures I have are of originally released Transformers from the 1980s, though a few reissues have made their way into the collection. I'm not saying at all that that's a bad thing, as reissues do allow us to more readily recreate the feeling of opening up a sealed box, pulling the figure out of the insert, and putting on the various stickers to relive that childhood nostalgia of getting a fresh new toy. Of course, there's nothing really to stop us from doing that with vintage figure boxes if the opportunity arises, but I find that those opportunities are just few and far between by comparison to reissues. I'll just note so that I've said it that my Bumblebee figure is a reissue, hence the more cartoon accurate face design, but I do have an original of the red variant of Bumblebee that has the traditional faceplate style look. My Blue Streak figure is also a 2000s era Hasbro reissue with the unchromed missiles and unchromed weapon, which over the years I've grown less fond of, as I don't think anybody would really argue with the fact that chrome versions simply look better. Nevertheless, he's my Blue Streak figure. My Sideswipe is also a 2000s Takara reissue, but with owning a vintage 1993 generation 2 figure and the vintage Takara Diaclone Car Robots version in the yellow scheme, it's cool to own a variation of each of these regardless of the release date. In looking at the first year of 18 Autobots, Optimus Prime was clearly designed as the standout character. After all, he's the leader. Now while I do have the more common released version with the black missiles and unbloated accessories, there are versions out there with the leftover Diaclone accessories that include a bloated weapon and a fist of more bloated proportions as well, a grey roller, and grey missiles. While Optimus's voice in the Sundo animated cartoon is iconic and immortalized in our minds, the history actually runs a little bit deeper. A 2018 Toys That Made Us episode documents the tale of how voice actor Peter Cullen based Optimus's voice and overall vibe from his brother Larry, a real-life war veteran who Cullen openly admits that his brother's voice came out during the audition for this role, and that voice has stuck ever since. For people like myself, that adds a more profound meaning to a character I had already accepted as a welcome fixture to my past growing up. A hero based on a real-life hero. Another aspect of this cast overall is that what helps them flourish more and adds to the overall dynamic are the unique abilities or character traits that each of them has. What I'm saying here is that each Autobot stands out for specific reasons, some of which I'll go through here, and while they do gel as a team, their individual qualities stand out for various factors. For example, Ironhide is a battle-hardened soldier, a veteran of sorts, who often acts as a bodyguard that doesn't back away from standing up for a teammate. His loyal nature makes him easily likable as an on-screen character, and that's something that, as you'll see with other characters as well, deviates heavily from their originally intended diaclone and microchange counterparts. Also, while Ratchet has the same figure mold as Ironhide, he's used as more of a repair medic with an ambulance transformation mode and is always ready to apply his doctoral skills when his comrades are injured in battle. I've added some third-party heads to both of my figures to give them some added personality compared to the standard releases and to also give them some level of aesthetic accuracy in line with the cartoon series. Bluestreak, who I talked a little bit about earlier, was a warrior and a gunner of sorts, someone who wasn't afraid to assist teammates in need, such as when he went after Ironhide when the temperamental grunt flew off to chase the Decepticons on his own during the opening three-part More Than Meets the Eye episodes that kicked off the original cartoon. Of note, Bluestreak appeared in a blue color in the original 1984 catalog, and he also appeared in that color on the G1 box art, but his original figure in 1984 was actually a silvery-gray figure, a color correction that would appear in the 1985 figure catalog. Now, he did appear in blue during his Diaclone days in the Car Robots line, which makes this Diaclone figure all the more enigmatic and sought after as a holy grail piece of sorts. While I don't own that particular Diaclone figure, I did pick up a custom, and for some reason I do prefer him more in the color blue, but that's just me. The Autobot scout known as Hound had a soft, friendly personality, and his combat green Jeep color scheme made him relatable as it's a similar color to that of some of the early GI Joe vehicles. His gentle nature made him feel like a bit of an underdog at times, but he had a great relationship with the human Spike Witwicky, and could also generate holograms that would come into play to help cause confusion among the Decepticons in battle, thus helping the Autobots win the day on some occasions. A cool, stylish character with a sleek Porsche alternate mode, Jazz was voiced by the famous Scatman Crothers, and thus very much had a DJ radio type of voice. He was in some ways a right-hand man, or right-hand bot I should say to Optimus Prime, sometimes conveying command duties on his behalf. He seemed to be a somewhat cool, all-in-one, get-it-done sort of bot. He could fight, he was fast, he had a sense of humor, and just had a charismatic feel overall, such that when I do think about the original Autobots, he's among the standout icons of this year, along with Optimus and Bumblebee. Mirage added another interesting dynamic, being a spy of sorts. His Formula One race car mode meant he could keep up with the fastest of them, but his best trait was his special ability to disappear, then reappear elsewhere. Hence the name, Mirage. This of course played itself out in the opening episodes as well when he boarded the Decepticon shuttle, busted up the controls, and caused them to crash into the ocean, all while parachuting to victory while his fellow Autobots cheered on. Prowl was known as a combat strategist, a role that played out only sparingly in the cartoon, but his respect as a high-level commander in the Autobots ranks was something that was important throughout the comic runs. His alt mode as a police car gives him some level of authority amongst his fellow heroes. The Lamborghini brothers Sideswipe and Sunstreaker often came as a pair. Sideswipe, the more timid of the two, though he did carry a rocket pack that allowed him some level of aerial support to the Autobots when called upon, while Sunstreaker was always highly confident about his abilities on the battlefield and the speed he could travel when in car mode. Wheeljack was always a lovable, healthful mechanic, who even had his own workshop of sorts on Cybertron, and was always involved in the development of various Autobot gadgetry on Earth. And among Wheeljack's greatest creations were the formidable Dinobots. Though their toys did not appear until 1985, the Dinobots themselves would appear in the cartoon in the initial 1984 year. We also had Trailbreaker, who like Ironhide was known as the muscle on the battlefield. While he admittedly wasn't the fastest Autobot by any stretch, his force field played a vital role in protecting his fellow comrades and its powers and abilities such as bees that would set each Autobot apart, like I said earlier, be it this guy's force field or the aforementioned holograms by Hound, or Mirage's disappearing act. All in all, the various personalities made each Autobot relatable, and you could find a piece of yourself in one or more of them when watching the show. Regarding the Minibots, Bumblebee is often the first to come to mind. Like Hound, he's also an underdog of sorts, and he was also great for tasks such as espionage, and much like Hound as well, he was possibly the most compassionate Autobot always forming a bond with the various human characters in the animated series. One of my favorites for sure. We also had Brawn, who was known for his gruff voice and was surprisingly strong and a grunt of sorts, able to take down Decepticons twice his size and do so with ease. Windcharger, on the other hand, didn't have many lines in the cartoon, but his magnetic field of sorts gave him a special ability, much like some of the other Autobots that I talked about earlier. Huffer carried a pessimistic attitude in many episodes, but like Bumblebee he was compassionate as well, such as the time when he offered to pull Prime's trailer for him back to headquarters in the Season 1 episode finale after Prime's showdown and fight with Megatron. And like Huffer, the 4x4 pickup known as Gears was also a bit of a grump, though he did have some cool infrared sensors to help his friends on various missions. Rounding out the core cast of the initial 18 Autobots, we have Cliffjumper, a minibot with a big heart and was brave despite his smaller stature. Who could ever forget the opening episode of the cartoon when he took a blast at Megatron, missed, and resulted in him and Hound having to retreat hastily back to the arc. Hey, win or lose, I guess it's the thought that counts, even if he did have Megatron dead center in his viewfinder, but failed to end the war on that day. I know I've spent a fair bit of time talking about the Autobots here, and it's largely due to the fact that their cast just has a larger number of figures and characters, especially during that opening year. Though this does make sense given that some episodes describe the Autobots as being originally consumer goods robots that would battle the military hardware robots that became the Decepticons. Of course, all this was during the ancient days of Cybertron. What I'm saying is, I understand that the Decepticons had a smaller crew as they seemed to be larger bots anyway, who were a bit more formidable in terms of their fighting prowess and war experience, so it's not like they needed the numbers advantage. Now along that same topic, I figured now would be a good time to summarize the canon storyline as we transition the conversation from the good guys to the bad guys. So as it's told, 4 million years in the distant past, with Cybertron's energy resources depleted due to the perpetual battle between the two sides, the Autobots would blast off in search of new energy sources out in space. Not to be outdone, the Decepticons followed them with the battle ensuing in space, resulting in the Decepticons boarding the Autobot shuttle and crash landing on planet Earth. Several million years passed, and following the explosion of the volcano for which the Autobot arc had landed, both sides had awakened, with Teletraan 1 adapting Earth modes for our new iconic cast of transforming robots, and thus the battle continued on Earth during the 1980s. As leader of the Decepticons, Megatron was voiced by the talented Frank Welker. Megatron was a ruthless tyrant of a leader who rarely if ever showed mercy, and his gun mode is quite an important aspect of this character, as the toy was able to transform into a legit looking, more or less regularly scaled Walter P38 handgun. The aforementioned toys that made us documentary details the story of how a salesperson attempted to board a plane with this in their hand carry, and had to transform this figure through security to show that it was actually a toy and not harmful. We don't get stories like that these days. Of note, the gun alternate mode has made this particular figure something of a difficult thing to reissue, and while we have seen some reissues in Japan before of this Megatron gun in the United States and other parts of the world, the figure ended up utilizing a tank mode as its alternate mode in post-G1 releases. Now, I'm not sure if the "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" concept applies here, but Starscream served as a high-level commander of sorts, being the one to command the seeker jets in disguise for the Decepticons. While he's known for being voiced by Chris Lara, who also famously voiced Cobra Commander, Starscream's most prolific trait is how he often threatened to usurp Megatron for command of the Decepticons. It just always seemed like when they weren't fighting with the Autobots, they were fighting with one another instead. But that is something that keeps the Decepticons rather interesting, and I've always accepted as just part of the warrior nature of the Decepticons as a whole. Thundercracker and Skywarp rounded out the first year's seeker jets. You'd often see them together much in the same way that you'd see Sunstreaker and Sideswipe together on the Autobot side, and both were always battle-ready just like Starscream. Of note, Skywarp had this awesome ability much like Mirage, where he could disappear and teleport in the skies to get the jump on some unsuspecting Autobots. I've covered Soundwave before in my Evolution of Toys Soundwave 3 Ages video, but I feel it's important to tread over some familiar territory here. As a communications officer, he's always seemed to be loyal to Megatron first and foremost. While his toy came with the Buzzsaw cassette tape, he was seen more often in the cartoon with Laserbeak by his side. This of course wasn't the only semi-mix up that would occur, as somehow Rumble was purple and blue in the cartoon and Frenzy was a red and black color scheme, which is the way that I tend to think of them in my mind's eye and my memory as a kid. However, in the toys and comics, this was the other way around, so it could be a little bit confusing, but their personalities are so similar that it almost didn't matter. Rounding out the cassettes, Ravage was pretty much as fierce as anyone in terms of being a fighter, but I liked him a lot as he was the only one who didn't have an immediate repainted counterpart like Laserbeak and Buzzsaw having one another, or how Frenzy and Rumble were repaints of one another. So for me, Ravage was the most unique of the first-year Decepticon cassettes. So that covers the cast of the Decepticons that were in the original toyline in 1984, though I'll admit that the Nemesis shuttle crew also included Reflector in the cartoon series even if his figures weren't released until later on. I'll also note that while their toys didn't appear until 1985, Shockwave and the Insecticons would appear in Season 1 of the cartoon, and Jetfire on the Autobot side would also appear in the cartoon, but had a toy in 1985. So with that, I'll go on and say that the toys of this initial 1984 Transformers year, and this era of toys as a whole, have always brought a rush of nostalgia to old school fans. But I've also noticed that even those who did grow up after this era can still appreciate the concept of transforming robots, and the concept of two warring factions between good and evil. No matter your age, you can still appreciate the dynamic cast and various personalities, such that most fans I've met have multiple favourites among this toyline. And the toys are indeed timeless. In fact, you do see boxed versions of these hunted for and previewed on such related TV series such as Action Figure Adventure, written and produced by fellow social media personality Rob McCallum, and hosted by toy hunting extraordinaire Jay Bartlett. Overall, there's just something magical and indescribable about this magnetic group of Autobots and Decepticons during this initial year of the Transformers franchise. As I watch the series time and again, I find pieces of myself in some of those characters. And if you're watching this, you probably do as well. Perhaps in life you have that noble, heroic personality that you look up to and aspire to be like. Perhaps you've always been regarded as an underdog with an enormous heart and a tremendous will. Maybe you've stood up for others or can name that other person in your life that stood up for you once upon a time. Perhaps you have that friend you keep around but can't seem to explain why. Or perhaps you have that friend you keep around and can totally explain why. Or maybe you can name the smartest person in your life that you respect. Either way, certain attributes in these Autobots or Decepticons really represent something in all of us. And before I conclude this video, tell me the name of the Transformers that you had as a kid or tell me your favorite Autobot or Decepticon. Please put it down in the comments below. For the most successful toy franchises, a strong follow-up to an epic opening year is an absolute must. In the case of these Transformable Robots in disguise, a commercially positive first year meant that the inevitable sophomore campaign had high standards to live up to. The most dominant toy lines of the 1980s also spanned multiple forms of media, giving fans across the globe various options to enjoy their favorite characters. The approach of having toys hanging on pegs at stores, a comic book featuring great writing and illustration, as well as a television series paving the way for an eventual movie, all led to a trifecta approach that companies adopted to ensure that the young male demographic could enjoy seeing their heroes and villains of choice time and time again. As we head into the year of 1985, it's no secret that Optimus Prime and Megatron would benefit from having an expanded cast to fill the Autobot and Decepticon ranks in addition to the already existing broad selection of characters. The previous cast of cars, jets and mass shifting handheld items would be flanked by more of the same cars, more of the same jets and also more of the same handheld items while also increasing the range to include Dinobots, Triple Changers, Insecticons, a combiner and a very special last line of defense among other offerings, giving children a seemingly infinite set of options to fill their ongoing wish lists. But for a 12-month annual cycle that found itself sandwiched between an iconic 1984 opening year and an ageless wonder of an animated film in 1986, it's a good idea to revisit this 1985 year and tell the tale of how it's as epic as the rest. With that, let's have a look at this expanded lineup of Autobots and Decepticons and how it continued the legacy of being more than meets the eye for a franchise that's as popular today as it was back then. So strap in for this Toy Connections Toy History because this is the history of the Transformers in the year of 1985.
[00:28:10] Speaker 2: It's undeniable. In 1984, the Transformers were a runaway hit on TV and in the toy aisles, which put a lot of pressure on Hasbro to keep delivering new and exciting robots to keep the battle for Cybertron fresh. And by the second year, Hasbro knew they were on to something. So having learned a lesson from Mattel, they made sure that characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron were still available well into 1985.
[00:28:37] Speaker 1: With an increasing popularity, the cartoon received a mega-sized second season, spanning 49 episodes, up from 16 episodes in the prior year. And with regards to the toys, the 1984 cast were originally released without the now iconic heat-sensitive rub sign. But as other companies began to latch on to its success by releasing bootlegs and capitalizing on the transforming robot concept, owner company Hasbro transitioned to selling its 1984 figures with these faction-revealing rub signs and also made sure their entire cast of 1985 toys would feature this rub sign as well. All of this would serve to distinguish the the Hasbro and Takara-owned Transformers line from other would-be similar toys.
[00:29:23] Speaker 2: But long-time fans know a G1 Transformer when they see one. And in 1985, Hasbro delivered some of the most iconic Autobot and Decepticon toys of all time. And the legacy of those toys is still seen today by the ongoing and continual reinterpretation of these beloved characters. Between Hasbro, Takara, and the myriad of third-party companies, virtually every G1 Transformer has had multiple modern releases.
[00:29:54] Speaker 1: We can start by looking at the cast of cars since they were the primary focus among the good guy ranks in the opening year. A few were simple recolors of the popular first-year good guys, such as smoke screen, decoed up like a championship grand touring car and utilizing the famous Nissan Datsun model like Prowl and Bluestreak in the previous year. Smoke Green was known for emitting a thick, dark smoke from his tailpipe to live up to his namesake and cause confusion for the Decepticons on the battlefield. Red Alert continued the theme of emergency-style vehicles like Prowl and Ratchet in year 1, though utilized the same tooling as Sideswipe instead. Something of a pessimist in the original Sunwell animated cartoon, Red Alert was often paired with this other bot due to their matching alt-mode style and personalities. Namely, Inferno, a firetruck whose mold was introduced into the Transformers in this year, filling a much-needed gap and function amongst the Autobot ranks. Of course, Hasbro doubled down on this figure mold by also releasing Grapple, the well-known Autobot architect in Cybertronian Mythos, whose vehicular mold was that of a crane truck with an extendable
[00:31:03] Speaker 2: hook on the end. In the animated series, Grapple would often find himself paired up with Hoist, an Autobot that shared the same basic design as his mold mate, Trailbreaker. Both characters were based on the fourth-generation Toyota Hilux, but where Trailbreaker was a defensive specialist known for using a force field, Hoist was a maintenance specialist. So logically, his alt-mode was a tow truck.
[00:31:26] Speaker 1: And since we are pointing out some parallels and similarities between the first and second year of Autobots, this gorgeous Corvette-changing character known as Trax displayed equal, if not more, vanity about his appearance than even Sunstreaker did. His sleek vehicular mode and cool-looking pair of rocket launchers in robot mode meant that he could back up both his looks and fighting prowess. And then there's Skids, the often forgotten Honda City Turbo, who got less screen time than his fellow Carbots. He does err on the intellectual side though, being a data collector and researcher of sorts. Careful with his fragile weapons though, if you either have him or plan to get him into your collection.
[00:32:10] Speaker 2: And with five all-new pocket portable characters to love, the Minibots came back in 1985 too.
[00:32:20] Speaker 1: There was Beachcomber, the geologist who prefers brains over brawn, and was featured heavily in the memorable Season 2 episode titled The Golden Lagoon. Cosmos, an unidentified flying object responsible for reconnaissance and communications missions, and was quite colorful in terms of sporting yellow, red and green to boot. Warpath, whose wham-bam-pow-verbal-nature speech pattern made him stand out in the cartoon, not to mention his durable tank mode. Sea spray with the underwater bubbly sounding voice that turned into a small hovercraft and also being an endearing character
[00:32:57] Speaker 2: in the cartoon series. And who could forget Powerglide, with his color commentary and larger than life personality, all delivered in a Bostonian accent that would make Mark Wahlberg swoon. Based on the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt 2, Powerglide was one of just two airplanes to join the ranks of
[00:33:15] Speaker 1: the Autobots that year. You could also find a group of mini-spies packed in with the Minibots, and that includes the first year of Minibots that continued to be re-released in 1985. These spies featured Autobot or Decepticon rub signs, much like their larger counterparts, and came in several vehicle styles that could be received in yellow, white, or blue color schemes. This particular 1985 year was also largely known for characters who transcended multiple years and continued to show up in the franchise for decades to come, such as Perceptor. A scientist who was another to prefer knowledge over brutality, Perceptor was among the household mode, Transformers to be adopted from the new Microman, Micro Change Line, seeing as he could transform into an actual working microscope in his alternate mode. And similarly, to counter the ever-iconic Decepticon communications officer in Soundwave, the Autobots had their own similarly-themed character in Blaster, who was also adopted from the Micro Change Line and turned into a boombox. He was another with a natural radio DJ sounding voice, and his toy was taller than that of his Soundwave counterpart. Of note though, his Blaster's cassettes would not be released in either toy form nor shown in animated form until 1986.
[00:34:34] Speaker 2: Consistent with the feature-laden traits of Transformers toys of the 1980s, Moldmate's Twin Twist and Top Spin were an interesting pair of Autobots collectively known as the Jump Starters. These bots used a variation of the 1950s era pullback motor to literally kick their feet over their heads and jump up into a standing position. Despite having never appeared in the animated series, both Top Spin, the Assault Specialist, and Twin Twist, the Demolitions Expert, would become prominent members of the Wreckers, a danger-loving Autobots sub-team that first appeared in the UK run of the Transformers from Marvel Comics.
[00:35:11] Speaker 1: And joining Top Spin and Twin Twist in the ever-so-toughest-nails Wreckers sub-faction were WRL, known for Aerial Assault, and Roadbuster, his counterpart for Ground Assault missions. Unfortunately, we wouldn't see either in cartoon form during the original animated run, seeing as these toys were rebranded from Takatoku toys rather than the Takara-owned Diaclone and Microman toy lines. Once Takatoku was obtained by Takara competitor Bandai, it made it virtually impossible to feature these two in a Transformers cartoon, seeing as that would provide free advertising for a competing toy company. However, that didn't quite put a stop from getting this gorgeous bot, known as Jetfire, into American toy markets. Yes, the original Takatoku design, adopted by Bandai, was a staple in Macross and Robotech franchise lore, but a redesign in comic form as well as a redesign and renaming into Skyfire for television form allowed this fantastic character to still enter the hearts and minds of young children for media purposes. He is quite fragile and still has a ton of accessories, but you can learn more about Jetfire, Skyfire, and the corresponding transition from Macross to Transformers in my History of Jetfire video that I filmed back in 2022. Now, while your mileage may vary as a collector, many will be quick to point out that the Dinobots were a fantastic standout and a timeless addition to the Autobot ranks. Adopted from the Diaclone Dinosaur Robo line, the cartoon introduced us to Grimlock, the leader, as well as Slag, the Triceratops, and Sludged the Brontosaurus, before adding the Stegosaurus, Snarl, and the
[00:36:54] Speaker 2: Pteranodon Swoop shortly thereafter. And what kid doesn't like dinosaurs? With the addition of the Dinobots, the Autobots now had a sub-team of their own based around brute strength and muscle, traits that up until that point were primarily associated with the Decepticons. And while all five
[00:37:12] Speaker 1: Dinobots would continue to sell well into current times in both modern style and masterpiece-type releases, it's easily arguable that Grimlock is every bit a pop culture icon in the same manner as others such as Bumblebee, Starscream, or Soundwave. Another icon known for his brute strength and firepower was the Autobots' last line of defense: Omega Supreme. In terms of his function when he was back on Cybertron, Omega Supreme was one of the Guardian robots, thus being among those designed to protect Cybertronian resources and assets. And as such, Omega was in charge of protecting Crystal City in the original Sunbow animated cartoon. Unlike the other Guardian robots though, Omega Supreme was sentient and had a spark of his own, thus being a unique Transformer much like the rest of his fellow Autobots. His train track and space station mode, complete with a rocket mode and motorized battery-powered tank, make for a fun setup that could function as part of Autobot headquarters. In the cartoon, Omega spoke with a booming voice and was very stern as well as stoic in his demeanor. Another neat fact about Omega Supreme is that the original toy was a reuse of a previous non-Transformers branded robot called
[00:38:27] Speaker 2: Mechabots 1 from the company Toybox. In the 1980s, Mail Away figures were some of the most desirable exclusives of any toy brand, and the Transformers were no exception. And even though the Power Dashers were technically available in 1984, they are almost always associated with the mail-away craze of 1985. Like their jump-starter cousins, the Power Dashers also utilize a pullback motor, which is probably the most exciting thing about them, considering their overly basic design and
[00:39:00] Speaker 1: simplistic transformation sequence. Then there were the three Omnibots, namely Camshaft, Downshift, and Overdrive, who took on car modes representing the same era as the rest of the Autobot cars, and could fit in well with the rest of the Autobot ranks. Like the Power Dashers, you would cut out robot points on the backs of the boxes or file cards and mail them in with a few dollars worth of cash, then wait around until a box came in the mail with your figure inside. Other Autobot-based mail-aways of this year was the Time Warrior digital watch as well as the cardboard-based Starz Command Center. And while that covers the discussion regarding the Autobots, what good is a band of heroes without some villains to go up against them? That's right, the Decepticons were well represented in this year as well. While he was among those to appear in the first year, and in fact the first episode of the 1984 cartoon series, Shockwave didn't make his way into toy form until 1985. Serving as a high-ranking officer of Megatron's, Shockwave's character was one who calculated literally everything and based all those decisions on logic rather than emotion, a rare trait among Decepticons. Like Omega Supreme and others, this toy wasn't based on reusing Takara-owned Diaclone or Microman molds but came from the company Toyko, originally branded as a robot called Astro Magnum, though gone was Astro Magnum's more neutral gray color and replaced with the Decepticon theme of purple to make him more representative of our villains. Now joining the ranks of the more well-known Seekers of Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp were the trio of Conehead Jets, Durge, Ramjet, and Thrust. While their main jet bodies were largely based on the F-15 Jets used the prior year, they did see some modifications, particularly in their wings, which were unique when compared to one another. This trio of Seeker Jets did do a lot to flesh out the Decepticon ranks, and while I did say that they're not as well known as the three that came before them, Durge, Ramjet, and Thrust did manage to at least survive and stay intact past the 1986 movie, which is more than I can say for the first year of Seekers. And assisting the Seeker Jets in the skies were two other unique villains, the triple
[00:41:20] Speaker 2: changers known as Astro Train and Blitzwing. With the ability to transform from a steam locomotive to a space shuttle, Astro Train was often used as a battle wagon, transporting the Decepticons both onto and off the battlefield. Blitzwing, on the other hand, with his tank and jet modes, had a more direct role in the fight against the Autobots, giving them a run for their money both on land and in the air.
[00:41:44] Speaker 1: The Insecticons made their way into toy form this year as well. You had the Cerebro Shell, Psychological Warfare, Wielding Specialist in Bombshell, as well as the Electronic Warmongering Shrapnel, and the Spy/Espionage Expert in Kickback. I know some people like the Army Builder Insecticons, but I like keeping them simply as a trio. And joining the Insecticons were their more flashy, colored, deluxe Insecticons, namely Venom, as well as Ransack, Chop Shop, and Barrage. Like Whirl and Roadbuster, they never made it into animated form due to being Takatoku-owned products that eventually were acquired by Bandai. Nevertheless, they are an option if you want to add to your Insecticon ranks. Now, I can't say we've saved the best for last, or maybe we can. Takara and Hasbro stepped it up a notch by releasing its first of many combiners. Six Constructicons, namely Scavenger, Mixmaster, Long Haul, Hook, Bone Crusher, and the Leader Scrapper. A mortal enemy of both Omega Supreme and the Dinobots, these six could merge to form the mighty Devastator. And while he'd see multiple recolorings, including the 1993 Generation 2 yellow and orange variants, this iconic assembly of construction-based equipment, robots has stood the test of time and is the first combiner many think of in terms of Transformers history and lore. Well, there you have it. That is your epic cast of
[00:43:09] Speaker 2: Transformers for 1985. I know for some of you it's been a nice walk down memory lane, but if you're just discovering the Transformers today, hopefully you're inspired to build out your own collection of vintage,
[00:43:21] Speaker 1: or even vintage inspired bots. Every toy line including the Transformers was filled with loads of color, a broad selection of characters as shown here, plus you had comics for your reading pleasure and cartoons to enjoy once you got home from school or woke up to on a Saturday morning to rush over to the television. It was a magical time to be alive and this colossal year played a big part in making all of this possible. We'll point out briefly as well that there were some characters such as various combiners that appeared in the 1985 cartoon, though their toys wouldn't make it into stores until the following year. That and some characters like Alpha Trion, Elita One and several others would only see releases much later during more modern times. Now, if you have memories about your favorite Transformers in this year, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below. And even if you didn't get into Transformers until after this, we'd still like to hear your thoughts on what stood out for you here. You've seen this image, you know what it means. You know what happens right before, and you know what happens right after. It's a warm summer back in 1986 and children across the globe have filed into movie theaters with their friends and family to witness what is potentially the biggest robot spectacle to date at that time. After 90 minutes, they'll leave feeling a mixture of shock, awe, potentially some anger, and definitely some sadness. You see, the Transformers movie was promised as something beyond our wildest imagination, but what fans didn't expect was all the questions and mental system overload coming out of it. Who is this crazy planet eating monster? Why is the Matrix so important? Who are all these new characters? And most importantly, did you have to kill off all of our favorites? But before we even get to the movie theater, we need to rewind the clock back a little and see how we got to the this point in the first place. So strap yourselves in for the complete history of the Transformers, the movie. While it's easy to look back at the 1986 Transformers animated film with fond memories and think of it as a high watermark for the franchise during its initial run, this was not always the case. The film made a meager amount by Hollywood standards reported to be under $6 million, barely breaking even compared to its budget. That said, it would see a bit of a boost in later sales via videotape, DVD, and Blu-ray as it moved into the realm of becoming a cult classic. Either way, it's a far cry from the multi-billions that the later live-action franchise series would make, even if many followers of the franchise consider it the absolute best Transformers film ever made. Now, why is this? One has to wonder how the movie went from being a borderline box office bomb, at least relative to expectations, to being heralded as must-watch viewing that some of us have actually lost count of the number of times that we've seen it. To understand this, we need to wind the clock back to 1984, when Hasbro would import the Takara-based Diaclone and Microchange toy lines into western markets. Naturally, an ongoing animated cartoon was to follow. Beginning in September of 1984, the Transformers would see two full-length seasons on television aimed at selling toys to the young male demographic in parallel with Hasbro's already popular G.I. Joe military-based franchise. It is noteworthy that the animated cartoon was light-hearted while teaching good morals to children. The portrayal of each character was creatively executed and everyone had their favorites, underdogs to root for, cool tough guys to be impressed by, and even some characters that you'd have a love-hate relationship with. It's safe to say that we had an attachment to not just the brand itself, but to the ensemble cast of characters presented in the cartoon, toyline, and also the ongoing comic series published by Marvel. Simply put, the death of a significant character wasn't even considered, and when death was even hinted at, there'd be a return of that character in some form or another, such that they still continued to play a part in the show. As such, children were attached to characters such as Ironhide, Prowl, Starscream, and of course, Optimus Prime. And as we follow the time lapse from 1984 to 1985 and then from 1985 through to 1986, you can probably tell where this is headed. Flash forward to the summer of 86. Perhaps you're there sitting in the theater, or if you didn't get a chance, perhaps you watched it on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray sometime later. In storyline, we jump from the mid-1980s where the animated series left off previously, to what was then considered a distant future in the year of 2005. The film does a good job to build up some intrigue by introducing us to Unicron, who is in the midst of devouring a planet to begin the story, and we race through a rocketing opening theme song before we find out that the Decepticons have conquered the Transformers' home planet of Cybertron, and that the Autobots are stationed on two-moon bases orbiting the planet. At this point, you're still largely in the presence of the original cast of characters, so other than the intensity of the prior opening scene with Unicron, not too much seems to be out of place. I will point out though, that the tone and dialogue seem to be darker than what we had become used to previously. One thing you'll notice is that, with few exceptions, the old cast primarily consists of characters who were released in the 1984 toyline, and also characters who appeared in the 1984 TV series, who would receive a toyline released in 1985. A lot of characters who were solely released in 1985 in both toy and animated form are absent from the screen. The reason for this is that the development of the film actually began as far back as late 1984, and the script was finalized in the early part of 1985. Hence why, despite the large cast that you did see on screen, there's still a lot of omissions. Credits of the film are to Nelson Shin as director, Ron Friedman as writer, and Flint Dilley as a story consultant. It's been mentioned in the past that the script originally presented by Friedman varied significantly from the final product that we got on screen, and that the end goal was a wholesale change of the Transformers cast so that Hasbro could sell new toys on store shelves. And by extension, Sunbook could produce an animated third season centered around this revised cast. The all-star voice cast includes leading Hollywood names such as Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, and of course Orson Welles, joining the existing cast that included Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Scatman Crothers, and others. Production and development does take a few twists and turns, such as the decision to change Ultra Magnus' color pattern from one depicting his original Diaclone colors to the more familiar colors we've come to know him for. And on the topic of Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime in storyline had sent the shuttle to Earth, containing some of his trusted inner circle. Namely, Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, and Brawn are sent to Autobot City where Ultra Magnus is in command, except these Autobots never make it there, at least not alive. Megatron and the Decepticons ambush the shuttle, kill the four Autobots in brutal fashion onboard, and slip by the city's early warning system so that Ultra Magnus and the Earth-based Autobots are unable to prepare in advance for the surprise attack. It's an all-out onslaught as Hot Rod, with Spike's young son Daniel, race back to Autobot City to join in the fight to help Magnus, Cup, Blur, RC, Springer, and the others. However, it's clear that the Autobots are completely outmatched, and it takes a last-minute call for help from Blaster to the Autobot Moon bases to request reinforcements to give the Autobots some semblance of hope in this fight. The darker tone sees both sides taking levels of damage unseen before in the cartoon series. Right away, you'll note that the intensity of the fighting is ramped up beyond what we are used to. The Constructicons merge for the kill, forming Devastator completely unchallenged for a period of time, and wreaking havoc on Autobot City. And while Springer clearly states that he has better things to do at night than die, Autobot City is left largely in ruins during this battle. And remember what I said about the portion of the 1985 Transformers cast that was left off of the movie script? Well, watching this film, one can't help but wonder why the other combiners and larger Autobots are not there to challenge Devastator. While not explained in the film, a much later 2000s-era IDW publishing comic based off the film shows that these characters are entangled in a battle back at the Autobot arc, so it's a retcon that works on some levels, I suppose. That said, Optimus Prime and the Dinobots do receive Blaster's distress signal, and the Dinobots dispatch from Prime's shuttle before it can even land, and they fight Devastator to a standoff. It's at this point that Optimus Prime utters his famous line, and Peter Cullen says
[00:53:01] Speaker 2: it best. Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost. The leader of the Autobots makes his courageous
[00:53:09] Speaker 1: charge through the Decepticon ranks straight from Megatron as Stan Bush's now iconic "The Touch Song" plays in the background. And while Optimus makes it clear that one shall stand, one shall fall, it turns out that both leaders fell in this battle. But Prime has turned the tide and the Decepticons were forced into a retreat, and it's at this point that we come back to the controversial moment that is still talked about to this day. Megatron is mortally wounded after the battle, left for dead by Starscream even if Soundwave, loyal as ever, carries his fallen leader as Astro Train transports the Decepticons out of Autobot City. The Autobots mourn in a climactic scene where Optimus Prime passes the matrix of leadership to Ultra Magnus. Before Optimus's body turns dark, and he dies in a manner leaving children stunned and their hearts broken. It's known that writer Ron Friedman protested the death of Optimus. Also, in a 2018 Toys That Made Us episode centering on the Transformers, voice actor Peter Cullen was just as stunned as audiences when he flipped through the script and learned of the death, though the intent was to give Optimus a hero's death the same way as John Wayne had in the Alamo back in 1960. Nevertheless, before we can even begin to process the death of Optimus, it turns out that the Matrix, which contains the wisdom of the ages for the Autobots and serves as its most precious artifact is being pursued by Unicron. After Starscream dispatches Megatron and other badly damaged Decepticons into deep space, Unicron summons Megatron and after some one-sided negotiations, reformats the former Decepticon leader into Galvatron. Skywarp and the Insecticon bombshell are formatted into Cyclonus and his armada, though who becomes who varies depending on who you ask. Thundercracker and the other Insecticons become Scourge and Desweeps and here completes the initial Decepticon refresh and overhaul for the 1986 toy lineup. Megatron exacts revenge on Starscream by blasting him and crumbling him to dust in morbid execution literally just minutes after Optimus Prime's death. The Autobots, back on Earth, blast off into space, pursued by Galvatron, who has now rallied the Decepticons to his cause. Cup, Hotrod and the Dinobots find themselves crash-landed on the planet of Quintessa, where they meet with Wheelie. It's a vicious battle with the Sharkticons, with some great humor by the Dinobots, before these Autobots escape Quintessa to rally with the other Autobots. Meanwhile, the rest of our good guys, led by Ultramagnus, find themselves on the planet of Junk, where Ultramagnus himself is unable to unleash the power of the Matrix when Galvatron confronts him. Whether or not Magnus can't open it because he simply isn't the chosen one, or whether this moment just doesn't qualify as the Autobots' darkest hour, as per the prophecy told by Optimus, is up for debate. Galvatron snatches the Matrix while having Ultramagnus terminated in the process, though the Junkions revive Ultramagnus and the Autobots meet with Hotrod and the others, taking the Junkions with them for a final showdown with Unicron. Throughout this set of sequences, we do get some feel-good moments, as well as some music by Weird Al Yankovic, as well as some great catchphrases that are still iconic to this day. Galvatron takes the Matrix over to Unicron and plans to betray him. Of course, Galvatron can't open the Matrix either because he's a Decepticon, and in an act of anger, Unicron begins his complex transformation sequence, and we see him in robot mode for the first time as he attempts to ravage the Transformers' homeworld of Cybertron. The Autobots in two shuttles race to stop Unicron, and Hotrod pilots one shuttle through Unicron's eye, eventually finding himself within and inside Unicron, and it's at this point the movie reaches its climax with Hotrod's now epic one-on-one showdown with Galvatron. Before Unicron can destroy Cybertron, Galvatron attempts to choke the life out of Hotrod, who places his hands on the Matrix, opening it for the first time that we've seen on screen, finally lighting the Autobots' darkest hour. Stan Bush's epic music plays again in the background, Unicron is destroyed, and Spike and some surviving Autobots rally with his son Daniel, and others. Then, the Autobots find themselves back on Cybertron with their new leader, the power of the Matrix at their side, and the defeat of both Unicron and the Decepticons. On top of all that, the Autobots have now taken back their homeworld. The movie draws to a close with Unicron's head orbiting space, setting up the next season as the band Lions, the Transformers theme song plays over the end credits. There's a lot to unpack at the movie's conclusion. Over the decades, the movie has become known for several things. An epic music score by Vince DiCola, a rock-filled soundtrack that completely shifts the tone of the franchise for the length of this film, including two great songs by Stan Bush. Character deaths, deaths, and more deaths happen. There's the introduction of new characters, and even some cursing which was edited out for some home releases. Ultimately though, it's clear that upon its initial release, the Transformers wouldn't get the same repeat viewing in theaters that other similarly branded films would get. It's obvious in many ways that it was just a lot for a young viewer to digest. Imagine being a small child and attempting to process the intense battles, dark overtones, multiple character deaths, and the new direction of the toy line all in one sitting. It's notable as well that 1986 would be a year in which Hasbro would largely use its own tooling and relied on Takara's previously existing tooling a lot less. To add to this, Optimus Prime's death was so poorly received that an earlier script for the G.I. Joe movie was to feature the death of G.I. Joe field leader Duke. This was changed later, hopefully to thwart the same backlash that the Transformers film received. The film's lackluster performance at the box office was also a large reason for the G.I. Joe animated film going straight to home video, rather than being shown in theaters. On the subject of Optimus though, he wouldn't stay dead for that long. Yes, it may have seemed like an eternity for children at that age, but just months later, he would tease a return in the episode titled Dark Awakening which occurred partway through Season 3, before he returned permanently in the two-parter episode titled The Return of Optimus Prime in early 1987. It's clear that the voices of the masses were heard here, and that it was an obvious choice to bring him back. To this day, the loss of Optimus Prime probably made him more precious to us as fans of the franchise. Losing the father figure and role model was, on some level, traumatizing for children. Yes, the movie has its flaws. Namely, the blink and you'll miss it inclusion of the Dinobot Snarl, who was absent for most of the Dinobot scenes. The lack of explanation for the Decepticons conquering the Autobots' home planet of Cybertron after Season 2 was another issue, and also how some Autobots seemed to be in two places at once. There's also how the Junkions were able to bring Ultra Magnus back to life out of nowhere, and also why Optimus Prime chose Ultra Magnus to be the Matrix Bearer, though it has been suggested that Ultra Magnus was previously the dock worker known as Dion prior to reconstruction, just as Optimus Prime had been previously called Orion Pax. For all its imperfections, the 1986 Transformers animated film has become the repeat viewing experience that it was always meant to be, and hopefully you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane. Fans have become appreciative of this movie for its more mature storytelling, which is fitting for those of us who aren't getting any younger and are aging along with this franchise and this epic movie. If you're watching this video you probably have your own favorite memories of the Transformers movie, and if so be sure to state it in the comments below. Till all are one.
[01:01:21] Speaker 2: Till all are one.
[01:01:26] Speaker ?: Till all are one. Till all are one. Till all are one. Till all are one.
[01:01:35] Speaker 1: Till all are one. Till all are one. Till all are one. shift in direction that occurred between its sophomore year in 1985 and its third year of existence in 1986. As a child at the time, you're used to seeing a core group of characters for sale in stores and on your television screen. All of a sudden, you witness a near wholesale change of the cast along with a shift in timeline as the franchise you've come to know now feels different. And while the characters from all these different years can now cohesively blend together on your collector display shelves many years later, the truth is, this wasn't always the case. Some will consider the introduction of the 1986 Transformers lineup as a downturn in the brand's existence, while others deem it as essential and vital to its legacy as the two years that preceded it. In any case, it's time once again for another revisitation of toy history as we look at the story of the Transformers toy line in the year of 1986. Let's begin.
[01:02:40] Speaker 3: While the Transformers were given an entirely different look during this year, it seemed unique in that regard compared to other toy lines being sold concurrently. GI Joe, a real American hero, seemed to be releasing at least similar product compared to prior years, and Masters of the Universe was also largely following its existing tried-and-true formula. Still, other new toy lines were springing up during this period of time. Attempting to capitalize on the same successes as the big three boys toy lines of the 1980's. The rest of the entertainment industry at large also had a
[01:03:16] Speaker 1: lot to offer. Great movies with great soundtracks, great movies overall, great music overall, lots of new television options, and well, you get the idea. By extension, the Transformers would air what would become a timeless movie worthy of repeat viewing ahead of its third season of television, and to usher in a new lineup of toys as well. Up until this point, the Transformers toy line had been using a lot of existing tooling, particularly from the previous Takara-based Diaclone and Micro Change lineup of toys. But in this third year, they would introduce a lot of their own unique tooling, albeit still reusing some existing figure molds for certain characters. The idea of this 1986 year was simple: out with the old, and in with the new. An expression that has been used time and time again, and with that mindset of revamping your existing cast of characters, the Autobots would see a new leader, and then another new leader almost simultaneously. With the death of Optimus Prime in the aforementioned Transformers movie, he'd be temporarily replaced atop the chain of command by his old friend, Ultra Magnus. One of the carryovers from Takara's Diaclone car robots line, Magnus was originally featured in that previous Japanese-only line with a different color scheme, and was simply known as Powered Convoy in the same way that Optimus Prime was called Battle Convoy. Now refreshed for the Transformers audiences in US markets, he'd hold the Autobot matrix of leadership for a short period of time before losing it to Galvatron during the events of the Transformers movie. However, Magnus would remain as a second-in-command to the Autobots and be dubbed as the Autobot City Commander on his tech specs bio. His car carrier mode was impressive and could hold Autobot cars across multiple levels. Like many action figures of this time period, he did have several variants including ones with rubber tires as well as plastic tires as well as a painted head and non-painted head version. It's worth noting that as a toy, his core bot mode is a white colored Optimus Prime cab with his trailer seemingly being slid on as a powered armor of sorts, even if this wasn't specified in the cartoon. He'd also be the key character players could control in the Japanese video game released later this year, titled Mystery of Convoy. Now, while Ultra Magnus would unwillingly cede the Matrix to Galvatron, the bot who would take it back from Galvatron and thus lighting the Autobots' darkest hour to end the Transformers movie and kick off season 3 was Rodimus Prime.
[01:05:46] Speaker 3: With a bit of a shoot first, ask questions later approach, Rodimus was more impulsive than the prime that preceded him. Nevertheless, he's a very important part of Transformers lore. Being the primary antagonist to Galvatron in the Transformers movie and serving as the chosen one in terms of the the Autobot lineage of leaders. His trailer does convert to a defense mode of sorts with a double-barreled cannon on top. His alternate mode represents a futuristic truck, which made sense at the time, seeing as the Transformers storyline had jumped 20 years between years 2 and 3 of the toys and cartoon.
[01:06:23] Speaker 1: Rodimus' non-Matrix bearing form is the far more brash, young member of the Autobots known as Hot Rod. Without the guidance of the Matrix of leadership, Hot Rod was even more quick to pull the trigger than his more mature Rodimus Prime counterpart. Having said that, his dual blasters, which are actually differently molded from one another, look great and make him seem dangerous to incoming Decepticons. He's listed as a cavalier in terms of his tech specs function and has a pretty sleek vehicle mode that was faster than most other cars at the time. And speaking of speed, the fastest car and fastest talker amongst the Autobot ranks was indeed the data courier known as Blur. The tips of his shield are fragile though, so be sure to take good care of them if you happen to get one in tact. Also, among Hot Rod's other close friends was the aging warrior known as Cup. Something of a crusty old veteran, or old-timer as he would sometimes be called, Cup was still pretty fast for his age but was also a seasoned warrior, often telling great tales and war stories to his younger comrades as something of a pastime. Additionally, the Autobots got a further jolt of personality with the bot known as Rekgar. Leader of the Junkions, he specifically says that he speaks in TV language, talking with a lot of cliches. His alternate mode was that of a motorcycle and it was always interesting that the Autobots would have a sub-faction within their own faction, given Rekgar's ties to the Junkions. Note that his proportions are a bit odd looking compared to his animated form, even if the colors are correct. The Triple Changers would also be a theme that would make its way into the good guy ranks this year. In particular, Springer, who was heavily featured in both the movie and the cartoon, as well as Sandstorm and Broadside. Springer does have quite a gorgeous color scheme with a great blend of green, yellow and gray and was shown at times to have leadership ability in the cartoon. His helicopter and car modes made for tons of playful fun for children and it was neat to see his blades transform into a sword that he would wield in robot mode. Note that Springer's girlfriend, Arcee, was prototyped as a toy and heavily featured in the cartoon, but it was clear that the Transformers as a toy line did not want to sell a girl's figure at the time, figuring it would lack the popularity if put into production. Representations of her in toy form wouldn't come until years later. Sandstorm was the reconnaissance bot, with a copter and car modes similar to that of Springer. He did have some feature episodes in the cartoon and his animated form would show a non-faceplate look while his toy form would take on a faceplate look. This was the case for a few different Transformers over the years. Then there was Broadside, who was also a cool Transformer to own if you had him, assuming that you could overlook the fact that his aircraft carrier mode was nowhere near the size and also underwhelming compared to the one that G.I. Joe would put into production the previous year. Given that he had both a naval form as well as a jet mode, Broadside was used for both air and sea assault. An effective warrior, Broadside's scale is something of debate, seeing as different forms of continuity show him being anywhere from the same size as a regular Autobot to being as large as a Combiner. We will get to the Combiners momentarily, but we
[01:09:38] Speaker 3: should also point out the Minibots this year. Here's where there was some reuse of tooling. And for the purposes of the cartoon, these Minibots were featured a bit less compared to their counterparts from prior seasons. Having said that, the characters of Pipes, Hubcap, Outback, Swerve, and Tailgate were as much fun to play with as any of the older Minibots. Their functions on the battlefield would vary. Their tech specs list them as being anything from a communications bot to that of being a scout or warrior. Now in terms of Outback, be sure not to lose the small gun that goes on the
[01:10:14] Speaker 1: top of his car mode. The one Minibot who would get a lot of attention though was Wheelie. Found by the Dinobots while stranded on the planet of Quintessa during the Transformers 1986 movie, this survivalist of an Autobot spoke in rhymes, adding to the quirkiness of this season what with Blur's speed talk and Rekgar's TV talk. Not known for being a great warrior, he did have the advantage of stealth, cunningness, and quickness. As with Outback, don't lose the gray faceplate cover if you happen to find one complete. Small robots were a charm of this 1986 lineup and the Boombox Blaster finally got his own cassettes added to the toy lineup this year. Sold as two packs on card, when available back in the day, here's Eject, who was originally packed with the Rhinoceros, Ramhorn, as well as Rewind, who was packed in with Steeljaw. One fun fact about these cassettes is that their weapons could show up in variations of either gold or silver. Furthermore, these cassettes were good for evening the odds against the Decepticon ranks of cassettes, though like the Minibots of this year, they didn't get many speaking lines, and that's especially true when compared to Soundwaves bots. That said, Rewind was heavily featured in the much later Transformers comics by IDW. Now, the Decepticons may have gotten the franchise's combiner craze started the year prior, but the Autobots had an answer for this 1986 year. As such, we got two significant combiners in Superion, as well as Defensor, comprised of sub-teams known as the Aerialbots and Protectobots, respectively. We'll start with the Aerialbots. Led by Silverbolt, who was ironically scared of heights as listed on both his tech specs bio as well as in the cartoon, the Aerialbots were also comprised of Air Raid, Skydive, Fireflight, and of course Slingshot, who was the brash foil to Silverbolt's cool-headedness. Note Silverbolt would conquer his fear of heights eventually in the cartoon to be an effective leader for this team. The combined form of Superion had a menacing look as can be expected when five bots merged into one. In the cartoon, he did have a significant battle with the reprogrammed Guardian robot in the episode titled War Dawn during Season 2.
[01:12:23] Speaker 3: Being more rescue and emergency themed, we also had the Protectobots. Namely, Hotspot, their leader who turned into a fire engine, First Aid, the ambulance, Streetwise, the police car, and other rescue vehicles in the helicopter called Blades and motorcycle known as Groove. Combining to form Defensor, this combiner along with Superion are often the first two that many Transformers fans think of when Autobot combiners are mentioned. This was a particularly interesting group, especially First Aid, who largely replaced Ratchet as the Autobot Medic. First Aid even briefly quit the Autobot ranks during the third season when he felt his pacifist nature made him a liability to the team. That being said, he'd rejoin them shortly after.
[01:13:10] Speaker 1: And while something of a combiner, but arguably also not really a combiner, are the two bots known as Sky Lynx. Comprised of a dino-bird mode as well as a lynx or feline-based robot, these two could separate independently, form up into a shuttle mode, or also into a combined attack mode, which is the one you often see him displayed as on collector shelves. Note that whether they function independently or if they are combined, he or they are simply known as Sky Lynx. Sky Lynx was shown to be confident and at times even overconfident in the cartoon, sometimes even butting heads with Rodimus Prime. When transformed into shuttle mode, Sky Lynx is quite versatile as this means he can also serve as an intergalactic transport. He was actually also powerful enough to take on a combiner, going toe to toe with Predaking during the cartoon. And we can cap off the Autobot ranks of 1986 with the sentient, transformable part of Autobot City, Metroplex. As a battle station, one can say he is similar to the previous year's Omega Supreme, what with being a last line of defense of sorts. While not particularly fast due to his size and the fact he's often referred to as the largest of the Autobots, he is naturally known for his amazing strength. He more often than not gets the better of his Decepticon equivalent, Trypticon, whenever they engage in battle. Like other Transformers this year, he's also a triple changer, what with having a city mode that can serve as a playset as well as a more mobile, heavily armed battle station mode. All of this of course is in addition to his robot mode, What gives Metroplex a ton of play value is that some of his accessories and weapons can be assembled to form the Autobot known as Six-Gun. And Metroplex was also accompanied by two smaller bots, namely the small car known as Scamper, as well as the tank known as Slammer. His accessory loadout is quite substantial, so be sure not to lose any pieces and keep a lookout for Scamper's small gun as the most easily lost of all the accessories that this set comes with. Metroplex is also featured quite heavily in the single episode titled Scramble City, which was originally released in Japan and serves as a bridge between seasons 2 and 3 of the cartoon series. It even actually takes place prior to the events of Transformers the movie. For the toys this year, one thing of note is, depending on the version you bought, some may have more metal parts than others, while some will have those same parts cast in plastic. Also, like Ultra Magnus mentioned earlier, you may end up with either a rubber-tired or plastic-tired version of the same toy. Now, we've talked at length about the heroes of this pivotal 1986 Transformers year, but what of the villains? We can start with the leader, Galvatron. Actually, in most forms of Transformers fiction, he's a reformatted version of the previous leader, Megatron, though this isn't always the case, seeing as some comic stories, particularly the ones by IDW Publishing, acknowledge Megatron and Galvatron as entirely separate beings. Specifically as a toy, he is a far larger robot than Megatron is and transforms into a standalone, futuristic laser cannon. This mode can also be slightly altered to replicate a pistol, should you choose to play with it as a 1:1 scale toy when blasting away at your friends. Decked out with battery-operated electronics, do take note that Galvatron dons a primarily grey scheme in toy form, though its animated appearance is mostly that of a purple color scheme. And while we haven't really discussed the voice actors in this video, Galvatron was a standout given that he was voiced by the iconic Leonard Nimoy in the 86 movie. And this was followed up by a return to form for voice acting by Frank Welker, who had previously voiced Megatron and would take over voice acting duties for Galvatron in the third season of the cartoon. Interestingly, Galvatron was listed as a city commander on his tech specs bio that was located on the back of his vintage box, but he was also the overall Decepticon commander. Galvatron wasn't as level-headed as Megatron, with the key difference being that Galvatron would take his frustration out on his troops more often than Megatron ever did. Starscream of course notwithstanding, who Megatron used as an on-again off-again punching bag in the previous two seasons.
[01:17:19] Speaker 3: Key among Galvatron troops were of course Scourge the tracker and his huntsman the sweeps. That said, the toy was only ever called Scourge, even if the sweeps looked the same as he did. Naturally, you could always buy several, an army bill to your heart's desire. Scourge was shown to be relatively powerful, being featured heavily in the cartoon side-by-side with Cyclonus. His aircraft mode was similar to that of a flying hovercraft, and it's obvious he is a pretty high-ranking member of the Decepticon army. As for Cyclonus, he was functionally listed as a saboteur on his bio, but was clearly also Galvatron's second-in-command. The deep voice he spoke with gave an ominous feeling when he was on-screen, and he was the calm foil to Galvatron's temperamental persona. Cyclonus had a pretty neat jet mode, and he did prove himself to be the combat equal to Ultra Magnus when they would fight each other one-on-one in the cartoon.
[01:18:17] Speaker 1: Now, because Galvatron, Scourge, and Cyclonus are upgraded versions of Decepticons from prior years, another concept that made its way from year to year was the idea of the Decepticon cassette. Sure, the Autobots may have received their first official release of transforming cassettes this year, but the Decepticons were no stranger to this theme. Though, the Decepticons would only have one to add to the ranks this year, and that was Ratbat. Ratbat would serve the purpose of being an aerial scout, much in the way that Laserbeak was in the years prior to him. Don't lose the easily detachable ears on him, though, as they are hard to find again if you do. We were also introduced to a pair of wind-up, motorized pullback toys this year in the Decepticon Battle Chargers, namely the Shock Troopers known as Runabout as well as Runamuck. Simple recolors of one another with an identical bot mode and car mode, you'd often find these two together, and in some ways, you really can't have one without the other. The Decepticons also got an additional triple changer this year. Joining the ranks of Astro Train and Blitzwing of the prior year, Octane came along and sported both a tanker truck mode as well as a passenger airplane mode. Octane did feature into a bunch of episodes for the third cartoon season, showing a lot of personality and even going as far as to betray Galvatron at times. Interestingly, neither of his alt modes seemed to have any offensive capabilities and looked more like vehicles meant for practical use. Now, quite formidable among the Decepticon ranks were their own combiners, namely Bruticus and Menasaur, who were shown to be in the 1985 cartoon series, much like the Autobot combiner team shown in this video, even if they entered the toy line only as of 1986. Predaking, the largest combiner of the bunch, debuted in both animated and toy form as of 1986. The team of the Combaticons would be the group that would form into Bruticus. Largely comprised of old war vehicles repurposed into evil robots, you had the leader Onslaught, as well as Brawl, Vortex, Blastoff, and the flamboyant hustler himself, Swindle. The combined mode of Bruticus is certainly a popular one amongst collectors, though the same can be said for pretty much all of the combiners during the mid-1980s. Note that in the cartoon, Bruticus was shown to be quite powerful, such that he could even defeat Devastator in one-on-one combat.
[01:20:35] Speaker 3: Similarly, the Stunticons were introduced to the line to give the Autobots some competition on the roads. As such, Motormaster, Dragstrip, Breakdown, Dead End, and Wild Rider were a significant departure from the usual aerial-based Decepticons. For that matter, it's clear Motormaster's truck mode was meant to mimic Optimus Prime himself, to some degree. When combined, it's interesting that Menasaur as a toy is a bit shorter than that of other combiners. That being said, this wasn't the case in the cartoon, as he was the same size as other combiners there. As a side note, don't lose the nice chrome sword, nor the small guns, that go with the individual cars. For that matter, most of these combiners sets had easily lost small weapons that go with their individual box.
[01:21:25] Speaker 1: One other thing to keep in mind, notably, both Motormaster Onslaught as well as the Autobot Silverbolt do have Japanese released variations that were engineered slightly differently. What I mean by that is that they include a launching mechanism when in alt mode, such that they can launch smaller bots as projectiles. As for the most sizable combiner, with the largest individual bots as well, Predaking is quite the piece to have in your collection. Comprised of the Predacons, namely, Dive Bomb, Tantrum, Rampage, Headstrong, and the leader Razorclaw, these beasts have pretty ferocious-looking individual bot modes. Of note is the limbs on most combiners are interchangeable and swappable with different combiner teams, should you choose to get creative. That simply isn't the case though with Predaking, who's meant more as a standalone combiner in this regard by comparison to the others that were released this year. And because it was the year 1986, it's no surprise that Mail-A-Way figures were still a thing. Except, in this case, it's not the Mail-A-Way item that you might expect. I'm talking about Reflector, a trio of Decepticons that could individually form a part of a camera to merge into a single camera mode. The reason this is a bit unexpected is that he appeared in the cartoon back in 1984, though only got a toy release in North American markets two years later. Note that the three individual bots look different from one another and are identified as Spectro, Spyglass, and Viewfinder. That being said, in the cartoon, Reflector was shown to be three identical robots rather than three unique-looking ones that were in toy form. Now, this varies depending on the canon that you follow, and the comics over the years have transitioned from unique bots to being clones of one another time and again. The same could be said for modern toy versions of Reflector over the years, be it official or third-party releases. Note that as a mail-away, Reflector was actually just sent in a plain white box with the words Transformers Camera on its front side. That being said, he did get released in a standard-looking box when he was at retail in Japan, which over there was done prior to 1986. The Sharkticon known as Gnaw would also enter the lineup. Well, okay, he does have a Decepticon logo, but by and large, fans would consider the Sharkticons as their own faction serving the Quintessons, as was the case in the 1986 Transformers movie and the third season of the cartoon that would follow thereafter. If you are looking to army build something Transformers-related, though, then you can never have too many Sharkticons. And capping off the bad guy ranks this year would be the largest of the Decepticons: Trypticon. With something of a growling voice in the cartoon, you can say he didn't even really have a true robot mode. He was either a hugely oversized dinosaur that was violently stomping over everything, or he could transform into a large city mode, as well as transform into a battle station mode. This is yet another toy that was powered by electronics, and like Skylinks of this year, or Omega Supreme of the prior year, Trypticon had a walking feature that you could activate. He did come with some smaller bots, namely the small car known as Full Tilt, and the tank known as Brunt. As mentioned earlier, Trypticon's battles with Metroplex in the cartoon series were always a fun thing to watch, and with this many features, one could argue he's actually a better toy that's more fun to play with than Metroplex ever was. While that covers the Autobot and Decepticon lineups for 1986, it's worth noting that the planet eating monster, Unicron, was prototyped but never released. Unicron would eventually make his way into the Transformers line in more modern times. Overall, with such an expansive lineup, so much variety, and a futuristic feel, this year of Transformers toys had a lot to offer. Regardless of its place in popularity compared to its earlier two years, in the long term, 1986 did a lot to evolve the franchise. In fact, the characters shown here have aged well such that we can adore them right up to this day. It's part of the timelessness and charm that makes the Transformers such a memorable and cherished franchise among toy enthusiasts. I've often referred to the glory years of the 1980s as an absolute peak for various toy properties. While we have seen both ups and downs across the multiple brands we collected in our childhood, it's always worth visiting particular years in a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the best times in the action figure industry. In this case, the year of 1987. When looking at the pop culture industry as a whole, one could talk about the timeless movies that were released, and others that are perpetually rewatchable through to modern times. The popular music genre continued to flourish with what would become classic, continual airplay hits, and our growing television options would see the rise of new shows as well as the ongoing peak runs of both sitcoms and primetime drama. Like most of the years during this decade, our toy aisles left us blissfully inundated with options, and choosing our toys wisely was something that each child had to learn, since taking the entire toy aisle home with us was clearly not an option. At least not for most of us. Now, to hone in on the big three of the 1980s, Masters of the Universe admittedly saw a notable decline in sales, even if they did release a live-action movie in 1987. GI Joe: A Real American Hero would see the production of a movie as well, albeit in animated form, in this same year. Also, GI Joe's toy sales were clearly enough to sustain the franchise for several more years after this, even if it took a break from our television screens before Deke took over with a follow-up animated series by 1989.
[01:27:08] Speaker 4: As for the Transformers, the year 1987 would see an abbreviated, shortened season on American TV, serving as its domestic swan song. However, overseas the series would carry on like the previous cartoon seasons, albeit with a dramatic shift away from our cast of regulars, such as Optimus Prime, Megatron, as well as the cars, seeker jets, and animated movie characters that were dominant in the prior years.
[01:27:37] Speaker 1: In their place would be the gimmick-themed Headmasters and Target Masters, among others, representing a new cast that would occupy, that would occupy our screen time in the post-1986 Transformers movie era. And while television airing and episode options varied depending on where you lived, the toys still flooded the aisles of your favorite stores. And depending on your preferences, it is arguable that this year of Transformers was as epic as the previous ones that introduced us to these heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons in the first place. As such, this here is the story of that revised cast of characters: the Headmasters, Target Masters, Clones, Combiners, and overseas exclusives: the Transformers in the year of 1987. It's obvious that the transition between the 1985 Earth-based Transformers cast and the more futuristic 1986 movie-era figures was a more gut-punching overturn of the core cast, at least by comparison to the more gradual transition of the 1987 Masters era, though the prior year's core cast still served in supporting roles on screen. However, thematically and selection-wise, I found that 1987 was the first year that the toy aisle switched the focus to these gimmick-driven releases, rather than any incarnation of a matrix-bearing prime and ruthless tyrant of a villainous leader, be it Megatron or Galvatron. As such, when I look at the ensemble main cast of Autobot Headmasters, namely Highbrow, Brainstorm, Chromedome, and Hardhead, my immediate thought is noting the equality and parody among this cast, rather than having a single standout character to lead the charge. As a child in kindergarten, I was fortunate enough to own all four of these back in the day, though the Hardhead figure is the only one that I've had to survive with me through to adulthood.
[01:29:32] Speaker 4: The attraction factor of these toys is clearly the two-in-one character nature, where the head could separate from the body to give us a separate, smaller Transformer, and thus more playtime creativity in our living room and backyard or schoolground adventures. Assuming, of course, you didn't lose the head.
[01:29:53] Speaker 1: I'll point out that the American cartoon release explained these Transforming Suit Headmasters as humanoid-like beings, known as Nebulons, from the planet Nebulos, who were locked in their own perpetual battle with one another before their interactions with the Transformers. During the short-lived three-part Rebirth series, which would comprise the entirety of the abbreviated fourth Transformers season in the United States, these head-forming characters were to be outfitted with these stylized exosuits to aid their Transformers partners on the battlefield. Either way, the heads ultimately can transform into drivers or pilots with the main body, Transformer, in its alt mode. I'll point out that in the fully developed 35-episode Japanese animated Headmasters series, the continuity takes a divergent path from what we saw domestically. Specifically, there are no Nebulons nor the existence of the planet Nebulos. Instead, the Transforming Heads are characterized as Cybertronians who fled the planet long ago over to the planet Master and eventually learned their head transformation process along the way. They would later bond and attach themselves to larger transector-type bodies. The key difference here is that the American continuity shows the character's head as a distinct and different being and personality from its body, with one Nebulon and one Cybertronian, whereas in the Japanese continuity, the character is shown as one individual, with the head that can separate from the body. Now, regarding the main quartet of Autobot Headmasters, it seems that there wasn't a clear leader in the American timeline. But the Nebulon Gort was clearly the leading voice of his Resistance faction, and was bonded to Highbrow, so there's that. However, in the Japanese continuity, Chromedome introduces himself as the leader of this foursome, even if he answers to other higher-ranking Autobots throughout the series. Note that Brainstorm has a faceplate-type appearance in both toy and animated form in the American continuity, but his Japanese animation doesn't include the faceplates. I'll also mention that RC was among the main cast of Autobot Headmasters in the American cartoon, bonded to Daniel Witwicky as her headmaster. Albeit, this was not the case in Japan, nor did she have a toy in any vintage release, though her character has turned up in toy form during more recent times.
[01:32:21] Speaker 4: The opposing Decepticon trio consisted of Weird Wolf, Mind Wipe, and Skullcruncher. And of course, they transformed into creatures rather than vehicle modes to oppose the Autobots. This trio is often seen flanked by another pair of Headmasters, namely the Horikons in 8-Face and Snapdragons, who were unique in that they were also triple changers.
[01:32:47] Speaker 1: As for the colossal Battlestation-sized characters, we need to introduce the largest G1 Transformer made in this video series at some point, so naturally, here's Fortress Maximus, who was released in this year. Standing around 22 inches tall in height, being a triple changer, and with incredible box art, this toy was a product of its time when we could get a vast array of playset-sized toys across multiple toy properties. I've often just defaulted to following the North American 3-part Rebirth Season 4 continuity, so I just generally call Sport Max's head as Cerebros, and Cerebros's head as Spike, though the Japanese continuity refers to the combined head mode character simply as Fortress, and the larger combined mode as the aptly named Fortress Maximus. Either way, it was an impressive figure even when I saw it at a friend's house during the 1980s, and he's equally as impressive now in adulthood. And if you do happen to own the Japanese version of him, he comes with the ultra-cool Master Sword for his large combined mode, and a smaller sword for his headmaster. And speaking of impressive, while not quite as large in toy form, here is the Decepticon's large battle station, Scorponok. I know it's not ideal that Fortress Maximus was quite a bit larger than Scorponok's toy, even if the cartoon counterparts were supposed to be equal in size. I do think though that Scorponok looks great when displayed with other large Decepticons, such as Trypticon. And what's also cool about these Headmasters overall is that when you stick the head into the next slot, you can see the character's vitals when you open the chest plate, namely their speed, intelligence, and strength.
[01:34:31] Speaker 4: Of course, the Masters era of Transformers didn't solely consist of Headmasters, but the Target Masters were just as important, seeing as their two-in-one gimmick was an interesting spin on the Masters technology. What I mean is that the weapons were a Transformer, and the main figure body was also a Transformer. The North American Rebirth portrays the weapons as Nebulons in exosuits bonded to existing Autobots and Decepticons, whereas the Japanese Headmasters series portrays the weapons as Cybertronians from the Planet Master, who bond themselves to Transformers.
[01:35:09] Speaker 1: Compared to the Headmaster robots of the Japanese continuity, the Target Masters maintained two distinct personalities between the weapon and main robot, as opposed to being a single character that separates into two forms. The Autobot newcomers consisted of Point Blank, Sure Shot, and Crosshairs, joined by Veterans Cup and Blur, as well as Hot Rod, who clearly needed something new after giving the Matrix back to Optimus Prime.
[01:35:35] Speaker 4: The Decepticons consisted of the newly introduced Slug Slinger, Trigger Happy, and Misfire, to go along with the established pair of Scourge and Cyclonus. Note that the Decepticon Target Masters have gone up in both price and desirability in recent years, so be sure to shop wisely when hunting to add them into your collection.
[01:35:58] Speaker 1: One manufacturing difference in the molding between the American and Japanese releases is that the Japanese release Target Masters do not contain an indentation molded into the figure for the rub signs, and as such, the molded-in spot where the rub signs would otherwise be placed is just a smooth surface. On the other hand, the American release does have an indented spot molded in for them. Just an interesting side note. Initially exclusive to Japan, Stepper and Artfire were added to the Autobot Target Masters lineup, albeit they did not appear in either of the North American or Japanese cartoons. Serving as recolors of Jazz and Inferno, they are hard to find and desirable for hardcore collectors, though do note that Stepper was reissued during the 2000s. 1987 would be the first year that the Transformers would officially do away with their ever so beloved minibots. In their place would be the six Throttlebots, who were basically wind-up toys, but unique enough in name and color scheme to fit seamlessly into the Autobot lineup. Meet Freeway, Searchlight, Rollbar, Wideload, Chase, and a reformatted Bumblebee now reconstructed as Goldbug. Also, the gimmicky nature of 1987 wasn't limited to just new Masters-themed toys and Throttlebots. Both the Autobots and Decepticons would issue a set of clones, namely Fastlane and Cloudraker on the good guy's side, then Pounce and Wingspan to support the villains. While the robot modes were virtually identical as a pair, their alternate modes were unique from one another to add to the levels of imaginative play on your fictional battlefields as a child. And because things seemed to go well in pairs during this particular release year, here's the dual cons of Battletrap and Flywheels. Two Decepticons who could actually split into separate halves in their smaller alt modes, and as such, Battletrap and Flywheels could split themselves into a flight mode as well as a land-based vehicle each. On the subject of innovative pairings, the two-in-one nature of the Transformers made its way into other forms in this particular year. Namely, the Autobot spy known as Punch, who could also transform into a Decepticon as Counterpunch. I do display both of his weapons on him regardless of which mode he is displayed, even if I'm aware that one gun is meant for his Punch mode and the other for his Counterpunch mode. Inexplicably though, his vehicle form seems to be universal to both factions. Now, since various sub-factions and groupings were clearly what drove the Transformers' 1987 year, in terms of what it's remembered for, we need to talk about the monster bots. Namely, Grotusk, Repugnus, and Doublecross. While they didn't appear in the North American cartoon, they did have a brief appearance in the Japanese series. They're a little underserved in animated form, but they do make for fierce, imposing toys on your shelf, and even came with a cool spark action, assuming of course that yours still works. The combiners were also not without representation in this year. While Computron and Abominus did make appearances during the third season of the Transformers cartoon of 1986, their toys were only made available as part of the 1987 set of offerings. What's great here is that we see the obvious foil between the intelligence-driven Technobots who formed Computron and the more vicious, animalistic combiner form of the Terrorcons known as Abominus. Of course, Computron was introduced by way of Grimlock's creation in the prior season, as a new combiner was needed to do battle with Abominus. For that reason, these two are forever locked in battle, in my mind's eye. In Japan, we would also get the addition of the now hard-to-find Trainbots combiner set, who assembled to form the merged robot called Raiden. This was cool to see as it was many years earlier, and a long gap before seeing this toy again, given that it originally started in the Diaclone line that predated the Transformers some years earlier, and we finally got a canon storyline introduction of him in the Japanese animated series. Since the Decepticons always seemed to have more combiners than the Autobots, it was great to add Raiden to the ranks of the good guys to help even out
[01:40:23] Speaker 4: the odds on that front. Then, of course, is the ultra-complex Transformer, the Hexachanger and Decepticon Ninja Officer, known as Sixshot. Six modes, deadly as ever, and a great toy overall. His American Rebirth three-parter appearance was limited to him demonstrating all six modes, as he quickly took down the Aerial Bot single-handedly. However, in the Japanese timeline, he's one of the
[01:40:53] Speaker 1: most prominent Decepticons. What he'll forever be known for overseas though, is his epic one-on-one encounter with Ultra Magnus, where he used his ninja prowess, all six modes, and even a hybrid Winged Wolf seventh mode to eventually defeat and kill Ultra Magnus, thus dealing a massive blow to the Autobot ranks. This was quite morbid for a kid's cartoon, but cemented the legacy and evil nature of Sixshot. As the Japanese Headmaster's cartoon wore on, he eventually developed something of a rivalry with the Autobot headmaster Chromedome, as well as something of an unlikely friendship with the human Daniel Witwicky. The year 1987 would also introduce us to two new Decepticon cassettes, namely Slugfest and Overkill, further adding to Soundwave's tape army. Now, due to the more hard-nosed, riskier nature of the Japanese cartoon, we did see another epic duel, one being that of Soundwave and Blaster's eventual fight to the death. This actually occurred in the opening episodes, and we watch both combatants fight until Soundwave explodes and Blaster falls to his death from injuries, leaving both factions mourning after the fact. Interestingly though, both would get resurrected and reformatted. Soundwave would eventually become Soundblaster, and Blaster would become known as Twincast. Both toys were initially sold only in Japan during 1987, but both toys would see reissues in the 2000s, which are the ones that I happen to own. Rounding out the year of 1987 would be more Japan-only releases, namely the dino cassettes as well as individual headmasters. Figures that I have far less familiarity with compared to other characters stated in this video. Most of these Japanese exclusive headmaster heads did appear briefly in the Japanese cartoon, albeit in a different color during animation compared to their toys. The dino cassettes themselves were never in the cartoon. Note that the 1987 release figures in Japan also included a cool bio card with their box in addition to the standard tech specs on the boxes themselves. Also, since Battle Beasts were released in the United States and still has a niche market among collectors right now, I'll make mention that the Battle Beasts were released under the Transformers sub-branding of Beastformers in Japan concurrently in 1987 with the Headmasters series. Either way, what you'll have seen here and experienced is my assemblance of the Transformers cast in 1987, not just in the domestic releases but also with the overseas figures that added to the already extended and large cast of characters. You'll notice that the cast of characters here is quite vast and when you include the Japanese exclusive releases, the potential collection of toys in this 1987 year is more or less double of that compared to 1984's opening year lineup of 18 Autobots and 10 Decepticons. 1987 was an interesting year overall, what with the fading of the big three 80s boys toy line properties from television screens and a transition year before Turtle Power would take over where the big three left off on our weekly episode watch list. Though, as shown here, the Transformers didn't go quietly from the toy aisle nor on television screens in international markets. The world of the Transformers is filled with a broad assorted cast of heroes and villains spanning a range of different roles and characteristics. They made their mark in the toy and entertainment industries as form-changing machines that switch between a robot mode and other modes serving various purposes. Through the years, you'd see robots shifting into cars, airplanes, handheld items, combiners, defense bases, and countless other alternate transformation states to flesh out their seemingly limitless collection of characters. In the opening year of 1984, the Transformers were considered as fresh, new and exciting. And as the years went on, owner company Hasbro would need to adopt further gimmicks to keep the brand as top of mind for a young audience looking to consume the latest product and media offerings. That said, by 1988, the Transformers were a mainstay in the realm of action figures. Attempts to stay relevant and popular meant incorporating never-before-seen concepts into their toy line, all in hopes of maintaining their standing as a key franchise. A franchise that, in fact, shook the industry years earlier with their sentient, likable product line of robots, and Hasbro was going to do everything in their power to keep a good thing going. So let's take a look at the dynamic cast of characters in this particular year, because this is the story of the Transformers in 1988. Let's begin. While Hasbro will always be credited for bringing the Transformers into relevance for Western markets, it's important to focus as well on the contributions of the Japanese-based Takara Toy Company that was responsible for distributing the Transformers in other parts of the globe. Takara was indeed the company whose original tooling enabled Hasbro to create the fictional world of the Transformers to begin with just a few years earlier. And while only a few selected figures in prior years would be exclusive to one market or another, with fans in one part of the globe likely being unaware of such regional limitations, 1988 is noteworthy for having a greater amount of differences in figure offerings from one global area to the next. This, of course, is particularly evident with the sheer amount of items available exclusively to Japan and distributed by Takara. And vice versa, some items were exclusively distributed by Hasbro in Western regions, creating a bit of a divergence in available offerings depending on where you lived. As such, the discussion here will focus on both the American-based Hasbro Toy Company releases and the Japanese-based Takara releases, noting some key differences throughout, though we certainly can't cover everything off in a single video release. At this point, let's take the time machine back a few decades to see the world of entertainment in the year of 1988 that the Transformers found itself integrated in. Here in the US, we'd hear some great rock music songs that would begin in this year and continue to get airplay as the years went on. Television would give us more in the way of sitcoms as well as various drama series and also expand the world of animation to go along with the Saturday morning cartoon genre. And the box office also gave us a lot of memories, with films that would evolve into all-time classics that people at the time as well as future generations would grow to appreciate. The widespread pastime of video gaming had already existed for a good period of time, but 1988 saw an expansion of this both in the form of large coin-operated arcade machines as well as domestic in-house consoles. Closer to the world of robot animation, Japan would see the release of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counter-Attack, a film that would feature the final showdown and fitting end to the rivalry between Ace Pilots, Amuro Rei, and Char as Novel. And of course the Transformers in 1988 would release their Super God Master Force cartoon, spanning a full season and continuing the Japanese animated timeline from the previous year's Transformers: The Headmasters cartoon. The Super God Master Force series was not aired in the United States as the American animated timeline concluded the prior year. Note that Super God Master Force, like other Transformers Japanese series, is presented quite differently from what fans in Western markets are familiar with. For the toy line itself, we'd get a significant expansion to the ranks of both the Autobots and the Decepticons, or if you prefer, they were referred to as Cybertrons and Destrons, respectively, in Japan. A key gimmick this year, which was a huge deviation from past releases, was the introduction of the Pretenders sub-team into the lineup. In North America, the Pretenders were advertised as humanoid or monster-like shells that could literally split open and reveal a Transformer inside. This naturally gave you a great two-in-one feature when you purchased the toy. Likewise, in the Marvel comics, they were portrayed in a similar way, whereby the inner robot was the actual Transformer and the robot could operate its shell via remote, like a drone. However, in the Super God Master Force Japanese cartoon, the Pretenders were characters who would morph from one state to another, going from their disguised human or monster form into their robot form and back. As such, this outer form and the inner Transformer were considered one and the same, thus not featuring them as being separate. The Autobot Pretenders this year consisted of an initial 1988 wave. You had Landmine, or Lander as he was referred to in Japan, and of note in Japan he was a mail-away figure, albeit he was a standard retail release in North America. You also had Wave Rider, and he was known as Diver in Japan, as well as Cloudburst, who in Japan went by the name of Phoenix. And while these three are often considered as the main Autobot Pretenders, being released in both markets and being featured heavily in the Master Force cartoon, the Pretender leader in the Master Force cartoon was Metalhawk. Released only in Japan by Takara, in the initial part of the Master Force cartoon, Metalhawk called the shots as a senior member of the hero ranks, and his inner robot's gold color scheme obviously makes the figure quite a standout in this range. Like many of the Japanese-only releases in this year, Metalhawk is considered as something of a holy grail piece for Transformers collectors. The rest of the heroic Pretenders this year were not released in Japan. A follow-up wave consisted of Sky High, Groundbreaker, and Splashdown. You also had the Pretender Beasts, who used an animalistic shell rather than a human one. This consisted of: Catilla, as well as Chainclaw. The Pretender vehicles had a figure ride inside a vehicle shell rather than a human or animal one, and the Autobots had a figure named Gunrunner to represent them on that front. And another new gimmick this year was the Powermasters. Like the Targetmasters and Headmasters, the Powermasters would transform, now into engines to binary bond to their larger Transformers partners. The most significant of these was, of course, Powermaster Optimus Prime. In the comics, Optimus Prime had died and returned as a Powermaster bonded to a nebulan by the name of Haikyuu. This feature heavy toy had a smaller robot mode, a battle station mode, a truck mode, and a larger combined robot mode. Haikyuu was quite important in the Marvel comics for helping to bring Optimus back to life. In Japan, the Powermasters were called Godmasters, and in the Japanese Super Godmaster Force continuity, the Powermaster or Godmaster wasn't Optimus Prime himself, but rather a non-sentient robot or a transtector as referred to in this timeline. transtectors refer to all of the non-sentient bots who were bonded to a smaller partner. In Japan, the smaller organic partner wasn't a nebulan at all, and was a human known as Jinrai. Thus, when bonded to the transtector, the robot is also known as Jinrai, or Super Jinrai when he takes on the larger robot mode that combines with the trailer. It does get confusing as this robot takes on the appearance of Optimus Prime even if he's not Optimus himself. Jinrai's transtector specifically would sometimes act on its own and display a will of its own much to Jinrai's surprise. It's also worth adding that the reason Jinrai, be it in his regular mode or in his Super Jinrai mode, looks like Optimus Prime is because the transtector was initially meant to be used by Optimus himself. That said, Optimus had died yet again in the previous year's Transformers: the Headmasters cartoon series. Super Jinrai also had a second trailer attachment known as God Bomber. As a toy, God Bomber is what collectors call as a parts former, as in you would literally have to take the whole figure apart to either put him into his trailer mode or his robot mode. But ultimately, he could separate into additional armor pieces that you'd put onto Super Jinrai to make a fully combined mode called God Jinrai. God Jinrai is a firm staple and an icon in the Japanese Transformers continuity and a must-have for many collections. Jinrai would eventually become the leader when Metal Hawk stepped down from this role. The three heroic Power Masters who accompanied Jinrai or Prime included Slapdash along with his nebulant partner named Lube. And yes, let the jokes begin. His name was literally Lube. Slapdash was sold in Japan as Road King. We also had Getaway, who was sold with his nebulant partner named Rev. In Japan, Getaway went by the name of Lightfoot. And finally we have Joyride along with his partner Hotwire. Joyride was sold by the name of Ranger in Japan. And note that Ranger had a lighter color scheme. Also, the North American color scheme was available in Japan as a mail-away. Takara also had a variant colorway for the three Godmaster engines that we just talked about. These figures went by the names of Zetka, Bullet, and Aquastar. The Headmaster gimmick returned this year as well. This set is often referred to as Headmaster Juniors, which is fitting given that the Headmasters that were bonded to the transtectors in the Master Force cartoon were quite literally children. For this subset, we'll start with the Japanese releases, beginning with Ghost Shooter, who is the form taken by the kid Shuta when he merges with his transtector. Shuta was a primary character in the Master Force cartoon. There was also a female in the line who was named Minerva, another grail piece that commands a high price on the secondary market. And then there's Cab, whose Headmaster character was a literal prince of an island region in the cartoon. These kids are often shown hanging out in the cartoon, be it in human form or when bonded to their transtectors. In North America, Ghost Shooter was recolored into Siren, whose Headmaster was known as Quig. And while Ghost Shooter was the standard release in Japan, the Siren recolor was released in Japan as a mail-away. Same goes for Nightbeat, who was the standard release in North America, but a mail-away in Japan. Nightbeat is the Autobot detective with a nebulant partner named Muzzle. Nightbeat is noteworthy for getting a bit of a boost in his status during the 2000s as he got both a Transformers Club exclusive figure as well as a featured IDW Transformers Spotlight issue during this time frame. Cab was called Hosehead for Western Markets with a Nebulon partner named Lug and was virtually the same figure as the Japanese release. So that summarizes the three North American figures for these Headmasters. And just like in the 1987 year, we'd get a giant Headmaster in this follow-up series as well. As such, we were introduced to Grand Maximus, the brother of the previous years, Fortress Maximus. He's a recolor of the 1987 figure, and like his brother, Grand Maximus came as a Headmaster whose head had his own Headmaster, thus doubling up on that particular gimmick. And like the Japanese release of Fortress Maximus, Grand Maximus came with a large sword to match with the towering figure. Grand Maximus was a toy that featured multiple gimmicks given that he also came with a pretender shell for his head when it was converted into robot form. The whole Grand Maximus set is another super high-end piece this year that doesn't pop up for sale very often. Like the Headmasters, the Targetmaster gimmick returned this year as well, with a trio of Autobot construction vehicles taking a page out of the 1985 Constructicons playbook. Interestingly, these Targetmasters came with two Nebulon partners instead of one. There's Landfill, the dump truck with his partners, Silencer, and Flintlock. You also have Quickmix, the mixing truck with his Targetmaster duo of Ricochet and Boomer. And finally, you have Scoop, the front-end loader with his Nebulon pair named Tracer and Hole Punch. There was also yet another Autobot trio this year known as the Triggerbots. Known for being able to spring their weapons into battle-ready form when you press the switch on the figure, they consisted of Backstreet, Override, and Dogfight. On top of all that, there was still yet another group of three known as the Sparkabots. The Sparkabots could literally shoot up sparks when you rolled them forward in their alternate mode. You had Fizzle, released by Hasbro, but he had a slight variation in color when released by Takara, where he took the name of Wild Spark. You also had Sizzle, which was his Hasbro name, and released as Hot Spark by Takara in Japan. And rounding out this small group is Guzzle, a Hasbro release who got to spend some time as a member of the Wreckers faction in the comics, particularly during the events of IDW's well-written Last Stand of the Wreckers comic series in 2010. He was recolored into Hard Spark for his Japanese release. The Autobot cassettes also returned to flesh out the ranks of either Blaster or Twincast's small army. Grand Slam and Rain Dance joined the lineup, and interestingly, they could form together into a cassette combiner going by the joint name of Slamdance. We then get to an important offering this year with the revisitation of the Transformers Six Changer gimmick, meaning the toy needed to be engineered to have six total transformation modes. The Hasbro release was known as Quick Switch and was said to be the son of Six Shot, as per the commercial, albeit Quick Switch is an Autobot and not a Decepticon. The mold was recolored into Six Knight, who like many Japanese releases has become quite desirable over the years by collectors. Six different modes like these give such toys a lot of play value and a leg up on the battlefield when they're taking on the Decepticons, or Destrons in Japan if you prefer. The Master Force cartoon shows Six Knight as being a warrior who desired to prove himself in combat. He was certainly a deadly fighter but also had a sense of honor. Now, while Quick Switch is said to be Six Shot's son, Six Knight was never mentioned in such context in the Master Force cartoon and is simply known to be another ninja robot who came from the same clan as Six Shot. This helps to segregate Six Night and Quick Switch as different characters. And take note that IDW comic writer Nick Roach has considered them to be different characters as well. We can then round out the Autobot discussion with the mention of these transformed junior figures of Jinrai and his various modes, as well as a junior toy of Grand Maximus, all released by Takara. And while that covers the cast of heroic Autobots, we need to talk about the Decepticons in this year as well. The villain ranks largely consisted of equal and opposite subgroupings, including many of the same gimmicks and features as our heroes. The Decepticons or Destrons had a slew of pretenders as well, sporting a monster type look to counteract the more human looking Autobot pretenders. The main three consisted of Bomb Burst, who went by the name of Blood over in Japan and served as leader of this sub-faction. You had Submarauder, who was called Gilmer for his Takara release, and Skulgrid or Dauros if you prefer the overseas name. These three were often seen working together during the Super Godmaster Force cartoon and are the main villains at the start of the series. Like with the Autobots, the other Decepticon pretenders sold by Hasbro greatly outnumbered those sold by Takara. A second group of three consisted of Finback as well as Bugly and then Iguanas. The Decepticons also had their pretender beasts to battle the Autobot ones, and these consisted of Carnivac as well as Snarler. They also had their own pretender vehicle who went by the name of Road Grabber. The Decepticon Powermasters had some very key releases this year. The main aerial pair consisted of Dreadwind along with his Powermaster partner High Test, who was a friend of Haikyuu, which was Powermaster Optimus Prime's partner in the Marvel comic before they came into conflict with one another, and you had Darkwing along with his Nebulant partner Throttle. For the Japanese release, the pair was recolored as Dreadwind was done up as Buster and Darkwing was done up as Hydra. A pair of Godmaster brothers in the Master Force cartoon, these two would often be at odds with their fellow villains largely due to their own overconfidence in their own skills. Both the North American pair and the Japanese pair had a combined aerial mode, and this was called the Darkwing's mode for the purpose of the Japanese continuity. The Darkwing's set could be bought as a multi-pack containing both Hydra and Buster as a toy, or the two could be bought separately. Another Powermaster this year was Double Dealer. Now, he came with two Powermasters because he could either be an Autobot or a Decepticon. While he's in his robot mode, he features the Autobot symbol, but his box features the Decepticon logo and art style, hence why he's covered off here in this particular section. That, and the similarly themed Double Agent from 1987, named Punch, or Counterpunch if you prefer, was featured in Autobot packaging, so I guess this evens things out. Double Dealer was a mercenary working for the highest bidder. As such, his official Decepticon mode is that of a Falcon, and his vehicle mode is that of a Neutral Allegiance. His Powermasters went by the name of Knock, an Autobot, and Scar, who was a Decepticon. This mold was used to make Double Clowder in Japan, who had a metallic chest plate and some different coloring details. Now, if there was one Powermaster, or Godmaster if you prefer, who was a popular Holy Grail piece in the Transformers toyline, that would be Overlord here. This was the Godmaster that largely called the shots for the Destrons in the Master Force cartoon, serving as their battlefield leader and being dubbed as their ambassador of destruction. He only answered to one higher being who was known as Devil Z, or Devil Zed if you prefer. As a toy, he had a base mode and could also be disconnected into separate tank and jet units. It was a feature heavy toy, making it quite desirable amongst collectors, and his robot mode was one of the taller ones in the line. You can have a look at him here, next to 1986's Trypticon, as well as 1987's Scorponok, just for comparison's sake. His Godmasters were known as Giga and Mega, a pair that played a huge role in the Master Force cartoon. Depending who you ask, many would say that this is the quintessential piece in the 1988 toyline. Take note that he was released not only in Japan, but also saw a European release by Hasbro. The Hasbro and Takara releases are very similar, though the purple parts and accessories will be of a lighter or darker color shade, depending on which version you find. 1988 also had a Decepticon wave of headmasters, and like the Autobot grouping, these three made a big impact in the Japanese cartoon. You had Fangry, along with his nebulant headmaster Brisco, and he was called Wilder in Japan. Wilder spent time as a gang member prior to joining the Destron headmaster crew. There's Horrible with his headmaster Kreb, and the character was called Bullhorn in the Master Force animated series. Then you also had Squeezeplay, who was paired up with Locos, and he was known as Cancer, just like the zodiac symbol for the Master Force cartoon. All three were often seen together during the Japanese animated series, and the character of Cancer in particular showed a softer side throughout the run, developing an affinity for the good guy ranks, particularly for the female Minerva. In the cartoon, Cancer was gifted with a mini transformer named Browning, who served as something of a pet. Browning was oftentimes used for comic relief, and his figure was a reuse and recolor of the Takara Microchange Gunrobo MC-07 from years earlier. And we can round out the headmaster discussion here. The largest Decepticon, or Destron headmaster, was Black Zarek. A recolor and slight retool of the previous year's Scorponok, Black Zarek is something of a secret weapon for the Destron ranks. Do take note though, that pricey as this figure is, his gold pieces are prone to gold plastic syndrome, meaning that they tend to degrade faster than other plastics used. For the double target masters, the Decepticons have their grouping as well, and just like the Autobots, they were all released by Hasbro, and not by Takara. You had Spinister, with his nebulant pair of Singe and Hairsplitter. There's Quake, who's partnered up with Tip Top and Heater, as well as Needlenose, whose target masters went by the names of Sunbeam and Zigzag. To battle the trigger bots, the Decepticons have the trigger cons, and were also a Hasbro release that were not picked up by Takara. These similarly spring-loaded bots, consisted of Crankcase, as well as Ruckus, and then Winsweeper. And to go up against the Sparkabots, the Decepticons had their own Spark Shooter toys, namely the Firecons, consisting of both Hasbro and Takara releases. There's Cindersaur, the North American release, recolored as Guzzle in Japan. And yes, Guzzle is also the name of one of the Sparkabots. There's Flamefeather, who was named Sizzle in Japan, taking yet another Sparkabots name, and of course creating a bit of confusion for us as collectors. Though at least this figure didn't have a recolor between the domestic and overseas versions, keeping them the same. And then there's Sparkstalker, who was recolored and renamed as Javel in Japan. And because it seemed like nearly every Autobot had an equal and opposite Decepticon this year, here's the cassette pair of Squawk Talk and Beast Box to bolster the ranks of Soundwave or Sound Blaster. And when combined, they formed Squawk Box to go up against the Autobot combined cassette pair of Slamdance. The Decepticons also had a full combiner team this year, which was the only traditional style combiner released for 1988. Here's the group known as the Seacons, consisting of Nautilator, Overbite, Sea Wing, Scalor, Tentakill, and the team leader, Snaptrap. Their merged form is known as Piranacon, though he went by the more fitting name of King Poseidon for his Japanese Takara release. That covers the physical toyline itself, though the notion of Transformers in 1988 could in Fury splinter off into many subtopics. For example, there are certain minor paint color variations between releases like you see for Wave Rider here in terms of his hair color if you decide to leave his helmet off. Additionally, there's also the fact that some people like owning both the Takara Super Jinrai and Hasbro Powermaster Optimus, particularly due to the differences like the Takara one having sliding fists for his transformation and the various chrome details on the Takara version, among other things. The mold was so popular that there'd even be recolors in the early 2000s such as the limited edition Black Colored Nucleon Quest Super Convoy as well as the Fire Guts God Jinrai. That's all in addition to the full-on reissues of God Jinrai by Takara and an equivalent Hasbro release that had the set called as Powermaster Optimus Prime along with Apex Armor. That is, with God Bomber being renamed into Apex Bomber and being able to transform into an armor set or into a second trailer attachment like he did back in 1988. The cartoon definitely comes recommended as it serves as the fifth season of the generation one Transformers animation timeline. It does alternate between being a bit campy as well as being very serious but of note it is meant to be viewed more like traditional anime which differentiates it largely from the english-speaking cartoons in earlier years. The cartoon also deviates hugely from the old-school cast of characters that most Transformers fans are used to. Yes, the previous years Transformers the Headmasters cartoon does do this to some degree as well but with the number of characters from earlier years who were shown throughout the Headmasters run this feels more like a softer transition compared to Master Force which very much does its own thing albeit still maintaining the core essence of what the Transformers is known for. While there wasn't an American-based cartoon for the 1988 year the reruns of earlier years would be shown and those episodes would be bookended with live-action sequences of a boy named Tommy Kennedy having various conversations with Power Master Optimus Prime. Prime would narrate the old episodes that aired as reruns while Tommy would listen thus we would get some minimal new footage for 1988 added in as starting and ending sequences for existing older episodes. Overall fans can decide for themselves if they like what this year of Transformers had to offer. It's worth pointing out that in 1988 at least in western markets the Transformers along with other similar Hasbro brands were giving up ground to new toy lines that were picking up popularity at the time. That said the Transformers would be back for a 1989 year to close out the 1980s as a decade overall and would still see life as a toy line heading into the 1990s. Reflecting back on the 1980s means remembering the decade for all the things that made it special. Unique fashion, flamboyant hairstyles, and an overall vibrance before a shift to the more grungy and edgy feel of the 1990s. Honing in on the action figure market, the decade began with Star Wars standing tall and ended with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seemingly being everywhere. Yet the majority of the decade in this sub-genre was defined by the big three boys targeted toys, namely Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, a real American hero, and the Transformers. While none of these three would be as popular by the end of the 80s as they had been in the middle of the decade, it's still important to see the direction taken by this aspect of toy history by 1989. He-Man would see a refresh of their toy line in 1989 as they made the attempt to ramp up again with the eventual New Adventures of He-Man cartoon of the early 1990s. G.I. Joe was still relatively strong, albeit had lost some momentum compared to their peak years. And the Transformers would continue to introduce new gimmicks as they continued to deviate further from the original offerings that most people generally associate this toy line with. When looking at their overall range of product in 1989, it's clear they still had a strong foothold in Japanese markets and still had some life as a brand on store shelves in the Western world. But the question could be asked whether or not characters like Star Saber, Deathsaurus, and their associated cast of robots are worthy of a similar iconic status compared to the Autobots and Decepticons that preceded them. That's what we're here to talk about today, so stay tuned, because this is the history of the Transformers in the year of 1989. Let's begin! Like the previous year's 1988 Transformers lineup, the 1989 series featured a bit of a divergent path whereby some items were only sold in the Western world, with others exclusive to Japanese markets, yet with some amount still crossing over into both sales regions. This gives the Transformers something of a splintered legacy during this period of its existence. Thus, over the many years, fans would come to learn of important characters that they did not see during their childhood, further adding to their curiosity about the Generation 1 selection. Yes, 1989 as a whole would close out the decade before the change to the aforementioned grittier, more rebellious, albeit equally memorable decade of the 1990s, but the final year of the glamorous 80s wasn't without its own key additions in the world of entertainment and pop culture, a world that the Transformers had naturally found itself embedded in since 1984. There was always something to listen to on the radio if you weren't in front of your TV screen, with hits both from artists in their prime years as well as long-term artists who still had something left to give, thus adding to their already legendary careers. The box office this year was largely about catching sequels to already existing popular film series, thus making each trip to the big screen memorable, and in some cases we'd get a refresh of an existing franchise that would become its own timeless classic. The small screen this year had its share of television debuts as well, ranging across several genres, and that of course included the Saturday morning cartoon lineup, a lineup that the Transformers was no longer part of in western markets, unless of course you were catching reruns. Elsewhere in household entertainment, Nintendo's Game Boy made its mark as a handheld device this year, and Sega had imported its Mega Drive console from overseas markets, calling it the Sega Genesis when brought into North America. Closer to the world of Japanese anime, this was also the first year of the Dragon Ball Z series, carrying on from the previous Dragon Ball show, and when it came to robot-themed animation, Gundam would release its 0080 War in the Pocket series. These were of course in the same Japanese market as the Transformers Victory series, which was the sixth season of the Transformers, and like the Master Force cartoon before it, it had more of that Japanese anime feel rather than being more stylized like an American Saturday morning cartoon. To quickly summarize, if you're following the North American cartoon releases, you'll be watching the first three seasons of the cartoon including the 1986 movie, then wrap up your viewing experience with the shorter, abbreviated fourth Transformers season titled Transformers: The Rebirth. If you're following the Japanese cartoon series, you'll still watch the first three seasons of the cartoon including the animated movie, but the Rebirth series becomes out of continuity. Instead, you get three additional full-length follow-up seasons, which includes the Headmasters series as the fourth season, Super God Master Force as the fifth season, and Transformers Victory as the sixth final full-length Transformers season in the Japanese animated timeline, which includes 32 unique episodes as well as various clip shows. That'll take you up to 1989, and then there's a single 1990 episode titled Transformers: Zone. That said, it's the 1989 victory series that naturally goes hand in hand with the 89 cast of characters in the toy line. Looking at the figures that were released in Japan, the best place to start is with the supreme commander of the Autobot 1989 lineup, namely Star Saber. As with prior Japanese stories, the Autobots were known as the Cybertrons in Japan. One new gimmick in Japan this year was the Brain Master concept, and Star Saber was an example of this. The smaller robot component contains the Rain Master itself, and that assembly can then turn into the chest of the larger robot form. He also has various other transformations, such as a base mode, as well as a flight mode. This flight mode can consist of just the smaller front section on its own, or can be merged with his larger body, which is called the V-Star, for a more grandiose shuttle mode. If you're looking to start your Transformers Victory collection, the ultra-powerful Star Saber would be a good option. His companion piece was known as Victory Leo. Now, in the 89 cartoon, Victory Leo was actually the new form of Jinrai, who had died in battle when he showed up to help the Autobots in this season of the cartoon. He was reformatted by Perceptor, Minerva, and a very much alive Wheeljack, and turned into Victory Leo. Now, while, in essence, Jinrai and Victory Leo are the same, Victory Leo is a more ferocious, unpredictable character with a natural, animalistic nature. His various modes effectively make him a triple changer. And do note that he and Star Saber could be purchased separately back in 1989, or be bought together in this amazing gift set box. Ultimately though, the most impressive merged form for the two is the combination of them into this amazing, gigantic robot known as Victory Saber. You can have a look at Victory Saber's imposing size right here, and see how he scales even compared to other large Transformers from previous years. Victory Saber's also got a combined flight mode to merge both Star Saber and Victory Leo in this form, and overall, this entire offering is probably the most impressive of the 1989 Transformers lineup. As a side note, Star Saber was also sold as part of the Transform Junior lineup of toys. The combiner teams took a bit of a different approach this year, and we'll begin with the Autobot ones. Road Caesar came in both a gift set, as shown here, and the components could also be bought separately in individual boxes. As you can see, Road Caesar consists of three bots rather than the usual five or six, as each bot in toy form is larger than your usual combiner piece. All three have a car mode and a brain master partner, so much like what was shown with Star Saber. You get the same brain master gimmick feature here again. The three bots consist of Blacker, Laster, as well as Braver, and all three come with individual swords as well. They combine to form the aforementioned Road Caesar, so in this case you have both the brain master gimmick as well as the combiner ability here. Note that the sword can combine into a merged form as well, and overall, Road Caesar was a character featured heavily in the Victory cartoon series. The other Autobot combiner shown heavily in the Victory cartoon was Landcross, and he consisted of the six individual multi-force bots. The multi-force bots were sold in three smaller boxes, each containing two figures, but were also sold as a gift set that contained all six bots. There are various combinations you can try when you pair up the individual bots, but some of the more commonly intended transformation pair-ups are shown here. Individually, and in no particular order, the six bots consist of Wing, Waver, Dash, Tacker, as well as Mack and Tackle. Forming them up into the combiner Landcross is the main desired feature for many collectors with this item, especially if you already have Road Caesar and the other combiners for him to be shown with. And similar to Road Caesar's weapons option, the guns can combine to form a single, larger weapon for Landcross to use in battle. Revisiting the Six Changer feature from prior years, here's the Autobot Great Shot, who is a redeco and a slight retool of the 1987 Decepticon Six Shot. And like previous Transformers Six Changers, all the different forms give Great Shot a ton of play value, and switching him from one state to another is an activity in of itself. The Victory cartoon portrayed him as having a rivalry and history with some of the Decepticons like Blue Bacchus, Black Shadow, and Guy Hawk. And Great Shot's role expanded when he was asked to become one of the Autobot commanders after God Jinrai fell in battle. Galaxy Shuttle is yet another character featured in the Victory cartoon series, serving as a transport of sorts for his fellow bots, and as his name implies, his alternate mode is literally a space shuttle. He's able to open up and hold smaller robots inside, such as MicroMasters, and he's compatible with the MicroMaster Countdown base to replace the rocket there and situate himself in a takeoff position. And speaking of Countdown, the big feature of 1989 was the addition of the MicroMasters, at least for the US market. The MicroMasters themselves would play a bigger role in Japanese markets when Takara would release them there in 1990. Thus, while there will be some discussion here about the Japanese MicroMaster releases, the discussion here will skew a little bit towards the American names and releases. Countdown is the name of the small MicroMaster that comes with this set, and he transforms into a lunar-style rover of sorts. He's an important part of the 2000s era Dreamwave MicroMasters comic and is often the first MicroMaster that many fans associate with when collecting this subline of characters. Countdown was called Moon Radar in Japan and wouldn't show up in an animation form until the 1990 Transformers Zone single episode, where he'd show up along with several other MicroMasters that we'll be talking about in this video. That said, the rocket base on its own was featured in the 89 Victory cartoon series. The rocket base has both a more spread out transformation mode as well as the standard gantry form that can either hold the rocket that came with the set, or as mentioned earlier, it can be used to launch Galaxy Shuttle as well. This entire offering is the largest of the 1989 MicroMaster range. The idea for the MicroMasters is that they are more fuel efficient versions of their larger counterparts. Looking at the teams themselves, the rescue patrol is particularly significant as they appeared in the Victory cartoon series, alternating between being serious as well as being lighthearted as a group. Fix It is the ambulance going by the name of Pippo in Japan. Red Hot here is also known as Fire in Japan and is naturally a fire engine. For a aquatic missions, here's Sea Watch, known as Boater in Japan, and most notably Stakeout, who goes by the name of Holy in Japan. Holy is good friends and is often seen with the Victory cartoon's main human protagonist named Jan. Though, as Jan had become an orphan, he also has something of a father-son type of relationship with Star Saber. The Victory cartoon's inclusion of the Rescue Patrol is why it made sense for some of them to be included as a stretch goal tier unlock as part of the more modern Haslab Victory Saber campaign. The Race Car Patrol is another set produced this year, consisting of Road Handler, Freewheeler, Tailspin, and Swindler. And like many of the MicroMasters produced in 1989, the Race Car Patrol had a bit of screen time during the 1990 Zone special episode. The Off-Road Patrol was a set of four, including Powertrain, Tote, High Jump, and Mud Slinger, and they were more rugged-style vehicles compared to that of the sleek-looking Race Car set. I'll point out that the Off-Road Patrol, Race Car Patrol, and the Decepticon Air Strike Patrol may have come out at the end of 1988, hence why their packaging colors look more like that of the toys from 1988, rather than matching the silver 1989 packaging common to the US releases at the time. However, they're part of the official 1989 catalog and not the 1988 one, and collectors generally associate the MicroMasters as being the new big gimmick of 1989. Actual release dates can always be a bit variable, so we'll go ahead and baseline these releases as part of the '89 set along with the other MicroMasters. The Autobot MicroMasters also included a crew known as the Battle Patrol Group, and this military-themed set was comprised of Big Shot, Flak, Sidetrack, and Sunrunner. This was one of the sets that got various recolors during the early 90s in Japan. The MicroMasters also had a pair of transports this year, and we can start with the truck cab named "Overload." Much like the greatest Autobot ever, Optimus Prime, he came with a trailer that he could pull, though that trailer could also transform into a jet as an alternate mode. The other Autobot MicroMasters had the somewhat humorous name of "Erector," and he was a construction engineer whose trailer attachment is a crane that can also turn into a battle station. There were also a couple of MicroMasters this year that were actually advertised as battle stations, such as Hothouse, who comes with a transformable fire station, and the other Autobot battle station was Ironworks, the MicroMasters of which was a recolor of the off-road patrol's powertrain, and his construction station could switch between its standard mode and its communications tower mode. And we've got a somewhat large MicroMasters offering with Ground Shaker. He's a field commander whose armored ATV transforms into a fold-out battle station, and his 1990 Japanese release had the same battle station, albeit with different decals, though that release came with a MicroMaster known as Gunrunner instead. There were several Pretenders that were released in Western markets that never made it to Japan. These 1989 Pretenders were smaller than their 1988 counterparts, and here's Doubleheader, who literally comes with two heads, and like the 1988 Pretenders, comes with a transformable inner robot within the shell. There's also Longtooth, an undersea warrior with his animalistic looking outer shell, and then Pinscher, a master of chemicals whose inner robot turns into a scorpion. Then there's the pair of Autobot mega Pretenders, where both the inner robot and outer shell were transformable, unlike the standard Pretenders. The inner robot and shell could also have their own combined mode together, and this year consisted of two good guy offerings, namely Crossblades, and then Vroom. The Pretender concept still took it one step further in this year with the Ultra Pretenders, whereby you'd get a transformable Pretender shell with a transformable inner robot, but both could be hidden within an even larger external shell, basically being a three-in-one offering. The Autobot release was known as Skyhammer. The final Pretenders' sub-gimmick was the Pretender Classics, who made use of existing characters from bygone years.
[02:28:26] Speaker 2: "Jazz, Bumblebee, you're back, and me, Grimlock!"
[02:28:31] Speaker 1: Yes, characters from 1984, such as Jazz, were back, as were Bumblebee, and 1985's Grimlock. This time, they all formed the inner robots for use within the external Pretender shells. Note that the inner robots were also sold on their own, without the shells as Kmart exclusives back in the day. And additionally, the 1989 Japanese Hero set also featured the inner robots in their own unique packaging. Take note of the addition of Starscream in this set and his inclusion in the Pretender Classics lineup. They're mostly unchanged from their US releases, save for a couple of them having differing paint or sticker applications. Like some of the other Pretenders shown here, the Pretender Classics did have a role to play during the old Marvel Comics run. Ultimately, there's a lot that can be said about all these figures, and there's even further variant releases, such as the Micro Master sets being included with the later micro trailers, even as late as 1991 in Japan as one example. But the plan here is to give you all a good idea of the Autobot offerings that began in 1989. That covers the heroic side, but let's have a look at who the Decepticons added into their lineup this year as well. We may as well start with Star Saber's rival in the Victory cartoon series, namely Deathsaurus, who was also known as the Emperor of Destruction for the Decepticon or Destron ranks if you prefer. For gimmicks in Japan this year, he's part of the oddly named Breast Force Warriors and thus comes with two transformable chest components known as Eagle Breast as well as Tiger Breast. He was something of a hands-off leader early in the Victory cartoon, preferring to let his soldiers do the fieldwork, though he does come face to face with Star Saber in a final battle to close out the series. His alternate mode is that of a dragon-type monster similar to the old-school Japanese kaiju monsters, and his tail can be transformed into a shield that can rest on the side of one of his arms. You will notice that Deathsaurus, Star Saber, and other figures in this range are larger toys than the leader characters of the past, which makes sense as many of the core characters in the 1989 Victory cartoon series were combiner-sized anyway. In any case, Deathsaurus is among the many Holy Grail toys you'll find amongst the Japanese-only releases of 1989. Amongst the other Breast Force members released for the Japanese line is the grouping of six that form the combiner called Leokaiser. The six characters consist of Hellbat, Guyhawk, Jargwar, Killbison, Drillhorn, as well as the leader Leozak. Leozak also serves as Deathsaurus the second in command and is one of the more significant characters in the Victory series. This group in the cartoon is also briefly joined by another Breast Force member named Deathcobra, but this does not last as Deathcobra is killed off pretty quickly. Each of these Breast Force figures have chest-based Transformers much like Deathsaurus, albeit theirs are scaled to the size of the smaller bots. Merging the form up into Leokaiser, it's a fun combiner to own if you can get your hands on one and is quite key if you happen to watch and enjoy the Victory cartoon. The other Japanese combiner released this year was comprised of the Dino Force sub-team who combined to form Dino King. They're led by Goryu and the other members of the team include Gairu, Doryu, Kakuryu, Rairu, and Yokoryu. Hopefully I didn't botch any of those names. The individual bots also have dinosaur pretender shells so they include both the pretender and combiner gimmick with this offer. Of note, they are often found bickering with one another and often used for comic relief in the cartoon. The Japanese releases also had their own mega pretenders with Blue Bacchus and Black Shadow. The pair formed a subgroup known as the Crossformers and had a small role to play in the Victory cartoon series where they were hired by Breast Force to steal a planet's energon. They're yet another hard to find set of items in the collector's market. Switching to the Decepticon MicroMasters, Skystalker in many ways is the Decepticon's answer to the Autobots Countdown. Like Countdown, the shuttle itself appeared in the Victory cartoon series and was known as the Thunder Arrow in Japan, though the MicroMaster Skystalker himself only ever appeared in the commercial, at least animation-wise. The set was a retail release in the US, albeit sold as a mail-away in Japan and it can unfold from its shuttle mode into its base mode. The Skystalker MicroMaster does appear in various runs of the comic books over the years as well. Then there's Skyhopper, the aerial assault commander and his helicopter, which would be the second largest Decepticon MicroMaster offering in this year, and like the other MicroMaster sets, it could unfold into its base mode. The copter was recolored into a white version known as the Sky Hyper in Japan, and it came with a different MicroMaster named Dead Wheeler. Like the Autobots, the Decepticons had their own MicroMaster transports as well. Here you have Flattop, with both an aircraft carrier mode that can turn into a jet mode, as well as Rough Stuff, who had both a truck transport mode, which could also turn into a jet mode. And the Decepticon battle stations here included Airwave, who was an airbase equipped with some anti-aircraft missiles, as well as Grease Pit, a fuel depot that turns into a towering battle mode. And one great play feature of the MicroMaster sets that we've been talking about here is that their ramps are capable of connecting to one another, giving you the ability to build your own MicroMaster city. And such ramps were good for both the MicroMaster Autobot cars, as well as this Decepticon sports car patrol 4-pack. This set consisted of Blackjack, Roadhugger, Hyperdrive, and Detour. These four would see a recolor in Japanese markets during 1990, but done up as an Autobot faction instead. The Decepticons also had a flight-based team known as the Airstrike Patrol. Consisting of Whisper, Tailwind, Stormcloud, and Night Flight, it was cool to see the Decepticons return back to basics, with a subgrouping of Jets, much like they did originally in 1984 with Starscream and the original set of Seekers. And as mentioned earlier, Starscream did join the Pretender lineup this year, amongst the other group of returning classics. It was interesting seeing him and the other older characters with their own Pretender shells, and overall, it was a good idea to remarket existing characters with an updated gimmick. For the more standard-style US-release Pretenders, you had a true terror from the seas with Octo-Punch, and he was joined by an enforcer or a brutish tough guy of sorts here with Stranglehold. Then perhaps one of the more significant Pretenders released here in 1989 was the samurai-themed Bludgeon. Due to author Simon Furman's usage of him in the original Transformers Marvel comic run, Bludgeon became well-known in fan circles and thus commands a high price compared to other Pretenders. He'd continue to be used throughout the comic book pages as the years went on, including the run by IDW Comics in the 2000s. Another who Simon Furman would make famous during the original Marvel run was Thunderwing. This was in particular during the Matrix Quest storyline, during the latter part of that first Marvel run. Thunderwing is among the Mega Pretenders whose shell is transformable and combinable with his inner robot. He'd be another who'd resurface for the IDW comics run from the 2000s and onwards. Additionally, the Ultra Pretenders representative on the Decepticon side this year was the character known as Roadblock, who naturally takes the same name as the famous G.I. Joe character a few years prior. Now the last mainline subgroup that we'll be talking about today is the Monster Pretenders, consisting of six small combiner pieces all with unique Pretender shells. In no particular order, we've got Icepick, Bristleback, Scowl, Wildfly, Slog, and Birdbrain. Their combined form uses the same tooling as Dino King, albeit with different external Pretender shells for the separate bots. Both Monstructor and Dino King are smaller combiners than their other combining counterparts, at least in toy form, albeit that doesn't necessarily translate to the various forms of fiction in which they appear. Monstructor notably appeared in the IDW comic continuity where he was the first combiner ever made and was driven to levels of grotesque insanity and had a notable battle with Omega Supreme during the Optimus Prime Spotlight issue. While the 1989 set of Autobots and Decepticons would take us to the end of this great decade of action figure history, the Transformers would continue to have life perpetually thereafter. Yes, the Generation 1 line would end by 1990 in the US, albeit still continue internationally for a couple more years with various market-specific releases. We then see new directions taken by the brand, not the least of which are the releases of Generation 2 toys and the further evolution of the line with both Beast Wars and Beast Machines. And that's not even taking into account the new re-imaginings of our favourite characters or the various modern lines revisiting our G1 favourites. Or the slew of live-action films that would help bridge the gap from one generation to another, forever keeping the Transformers relevant on an ongoing basis in popular culture. In the end, the timeless element and ground-breaking play pattern of transformable robots mixed with iconic, likeable characters makes for a never-ending, winning formula when it comes to marketing. And the fact that the Transformers can reach both adult-aged audiences as well as children of all ages is a result of Hasbro and Takara having developed something evergreen for us to continue appreciating. The Transformers brought fans together whether we would play with our toys and act out the scenes we saw in various forms of fiction, or had us all conglomerate together to watch the fierce Cybertronian battles on various screens across the globe. It's a toyline and a media franchise that's a true fixture of the world that we live in. That concludes this extended look of the Transformers during the 1980s, and stay tuned because there'll be plenty more Transformers to discuss during the 1990s and beyond. Hopefully you enjoyed this episode, and I'll see you all next time. Take care.
[02:39:11] Speaker ?: Thank you.