Transformers Action Figures

The transformers action figures were initially created by a Japanese company named Takara. The year 1984 brought about most of the Japanese toys and designs to be bought over by the American toy company Hasbro. Japanese transformers action figures though were still allowed to be circulated among the Japanese market in exchange of giving Hasbro sole ownership of the transformers toy line. Transformers action figures are immensely popular even now due to its ingenious feature of enabling one to shift the toy’s parts to change it from an automobile to a machine or an animal in to a robot and then back again. 

Some of the Japanese transformers action figures were timely creations in comparison with the United States because all toy releases were timed with accordance to the television series at the time.  In the years 1985 to 1992, most of the transformers action figures released in Japan were also released in the US G1 (generation 1) toy line. In G1, the villains are known as ‘Destrons’ while the heroes are called ‘Cybertrons’ in both Japan and the US. Some individual transformers action figures though have differing names in the two countries. For example; Optimus Prime is referred to as ‘Convoy’ in Japan.

Europe too was successful in the creation of their own comprehensive list of transformers action figures ever released. Many of the European G2 transformer action figures were also distributed in the US at the same time. The transformers action figures in the US consisted of many evolutions of the concept. The first is G1 (generation 1). This is where the first incarnates of Optimus Prime and Megatron appear. The next is G2 and this generation brought about transformers action figures that were not up to standard in comparison with the G1 figures.

The years between 1996 and 2000 though turned the whole concept of transformers action figures in to a more evolved product. These years brought about the beast wars generation which features Optimus ‘Primal’ as a gorilla and Megatron as a T-rex. The figures of this era transformed in to beasts or insects. The next era gave way to the machine wars in the year 1997 where only twelve figures were produced.  Next in 1999 came a little known transformers action figures series called Animorphs. This is where people figures turn in to animals and is derived from a series of children’s books.

The years 2001-2003 brought about another heat wave with new smoking hot Robots in disguise with the use of the G1 influence and in synch with the Japanese action figures. Next came the ‘Heroes of Cybertron’ transformers action figures series soon followed by the Armada action figures which were in turn followed by Transformers Alternators. After the era of the Transformers Energon and the re-issue of the transformers G1 action figures the production of figures are currently at a standstill.