Transformers Figures: Still Collectible After All These Years
Transformers figures are wildly popular toys thanks to their excellent story lines, storied past, and sheer coolness factor. While recent entrants in their toy line are impressive with their intricate transformations and gadgetry, the clunkier and heavier figures of the eighties are exceptionally desirable, partially thanks to their storied past.
In the 1970′s, Japanese toy company Takara manufactured the popular Microman and Diaclone toy lines, which featured figures that morphed into robots, electronics devices, and vehicles. Hasbro was already partnering with Takara for the G.I. Joe toy line and continued the partnership to create the Transformers figures toy line, while simultaneously purchasing the Diaclone line outright.
A backstory was created for the toy line and a plethora new characters were added, while many of the original Diaclone toys were reworked to blend into this new story line. That’s the straightforward part of their history. Then things begin to get confusing.
Soon after, the Marvel comic was released in the United States. The comics would later be released in Japan and the UK, inspiring new figure variations and bilingual names for figures in the process. In 1984 the animated series was developed, but the writers didn’t precisely follow the original backstory.
In 1986, the full length animated movie was launched, two more seasons of the cartoon show were released, and the UK and Japanese story lines were still being developed. In the early 90′s, the second generation series was produced (G2), followed by Beast Wars, followed by a new series of toys and comics developed by Dreamwave in the early 2000′s. This all led to wild discrepancies in characters, plots, backgrounds, and most other aspects associated with the backstory and toy line.
At the same time, Hasbro was launching more and more Transformers figures and sets, including Headmasters, Powermasters, Dinobots, Triggerbots, Trainbots, Throttlebots, Constructicons, Sparkobots, Protectobots, and many more. Many of these toys were truly engineering wonders. Wait a minute, don’t tell me that you thought there was only one toy line?!
Adding to the confusion are the new Transformers releases, inspired by the feature film. Some of these new toys even feature cross-over promotions with the popular Star Wars franchise. While these transforming figures don’t carry the same geek appeal as Star Wars vintage action figures or the original Transformers figures, they are very popular with newer fans of both the Transformers and Star Wars series.
The bottom line is that Transformer action figures are more than just a fun memory for many collectors; they are also a perfect example of cooperation, design ingenuity, and creativity not often seen in the current mass market toy releases. Thanks to their past, vintage Transformers figures should remain popular and collectible for many years to come.
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