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Generation 1 also known as Generation One or G1 is a children's toy line that ran from to and was produced by Hasbro. The line was originally called The Transformers , with "Generation 1" originating as a term coined by fans of the toys when the Transformers: Generation 2 toy line was released in Hasbro eventually adopted the term "Generation 1" to refer to any toy produced in that era.
In , Hasbro representatives were sent to Tokyo Toy Show, a toy expo in Japan, in search of prospective toys that they could import to the North American market. At the time, Japanese toy manufacturer Takara was showcasing several transforming robot toys from lines such as Diaclone , Micro Change and Mecha.
Hasbro bought the rights to produce the toys, but decided to release them under a single brand to avoid confusing the market with several series with similar premises. Prior to the Hasbro deal, Takara briefly sold Diaclone toys in specialty toy shops in the U. Hasbro had a business relationship with Marvel Comics , which had successfully produced the Hasbro tie-in comic book G. A Real American Hero , based on the Hasbro action figure. Marvel was approached once again to provide a backstory for the new toy line.
Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and writer Dennis O'Neil created an overall story, and editor Bob Budiansky was brought in to create names and profiles for the characters. When the toy line was released, it was supported by the Marvel Comics series, an animated television series , and a gamut of other merchandising tie-ins.
The setup for Transformers are two factions of sentient alien robots: Both sides are from a race called Transformers - robots that can change into vehicles, mechanical devices and even animal forms. They have waged civil war for eons on their home planet of Cybertron , a war that had started several million years B.
Their planet of Cybertron had become decimated and both factions have been reduced to scavenging for needed supplies, primarily energy. The Autobots leave their planet on a space ship, and the Decepticons follow them in their own vessel.
When the Decepticons board the Autobot ship, a battle breaks out, and with nobody controlling the ship it crashes onto prehistoric Earth and knocks everyone unconscious. Millions of years later, in , the dormant volcano the Autobot ship had crashed on becomes active. The eruption re-sets the ship's computer, which deploys a probe to study the planet.
The computer learns that the planet is inhabited, and in order to survive first contact the computer both repairs the disabled Transformers and re-configures them with physical forms based on vehicles and machines of human origin.
The Transformers are now able to hide by changing into vehicles or devices in case humans turn out to be hostile. This initial premise, in all three media toys, TV series and comics , became more cosmic in scale as time passed. More stories began to be set in outer space and on alien worlds, especially after The Transformers: Additional story elements are also added to the series, such as establishing the origins of the Transformers race.
A cruel and coldly logical race of alien squid-like creatures with five faces and tentacles known as Quintessons originally built mundane robots.
There were two primary product lines; one producing construction and service robots while the other produced military robots, which were the respective progenitors of the Autobots and Decepticons. They also created a gigantic factory that would become so large as to be an artificial planet in its own right, Cybertron. Eventually the design of the robots would become so sophisticated they accidentally developed emotions, self-awareness, and the machines went into rebellion, known as the 1st Cybertronian War.
After successfully seizing control of Cyberton the robots lived in peace until the Decepticons could not resist or overcome their innate desire for military campaign and attempted a coup. The Autobots only overcame the Decepticons in the 2nd Cybertronian war by developing transformation to hide as mundane objects, vehicles, or tools. After copying the transformation ability of Autobots and creating a new leader named Megatron, the Decepticons launched into a 3rd Cybertronian war that would see Cybertron ruined, at which point the TV series begins.
Two characters - each the greatest leader of his side, became the most iconic representatives of the series: Optimus Prime of the Autobots and Megatron of the Decepticons. After the featured film, Megatron was reformed as Galvatron , and Optimus Prime was replaced for a time by Rodimus Prime , only to return later on.
Both Optimus Prime and Megatron continued to appear in one form or another in subsequent Transformers series, where they maintained their leadership roles. The toys of Generation 1 are divided into seven different series determined by the year in which they were originally released. The first ever series of Transformers toys features twenty-eight characters in all; eighteen Autobots and ten Decepticons. Of these, eleven of the Autobots transform into cars, six of the Autobots transform into minicars, and one of the Autobots transforms into a tractor trailer truck , while three of the Decepticons transform into planes, five of the Decepticons transform into microcassettes, one of the Decepticons transforms into a microcassette recorder, and one of the Decepticons transforms into a gun.
Almost all of the first year Autobot cars were nearly identical in appearance to their Diaclone counterpart with the exception of Bluestreak. All box art as well as catalog and instructions for Bluestreak show a blue Fairlady Z with a silver hood. The toy itself was only sold in solid silver.
There has been rumors of a "blue" Bluestreak being released in the US market but no boxed examples have been identified. A yellow Familia XG minicar dubbed "Bumblejumper" and later known as Bumper was released on Cliffjumper backer cards. No carded examples have been found with the minicar on a Bumblebee backer card. Megatron is the Decepticon Leader and can transform into three different types of guns; a Walther P38 handgun , a particle beam cannon , and a telescopic laser cannon.
Soundwave is the Decepticon Communicator and transforms into a microcassette recorder modeled after a s Sony Walkman. The three Decepticon planes are Skywarp, Starscream, and Thundercracker. All three of them transform into F Eagles. Skywarp and Thundercracker are both warriors, while Starscream is the Aerospace Commander.
To save production costs in developing separate chassis for multiple toys, many of the G1 Transformers are simply re-painted or re-accessorized clones of one another. The physical actions to transform one or the other between modes was identical. Finally, Thundercracker, Starscream, and Skywarp are functionally identical to one another.
The Series 2 Decepticon jets Thrust, Dirge, and Ramjet all share the same robot centerline of the Series 1 jets with different attachable wing accessories Thrust's have molded non-functional vertical turbofans in them, Dirge's are elongated like a hyper-performance flyer, and Ramjet's have ramjets As the series moved farther along beyond the first two series and new characters were introduced, this replication became fewer and farther between.
The newer toys tended to share thematic processes such as the Headmaster and Targetmaster lines but the physical manipulation of the toy to transform it between modes was generally unique to that character. Operating explanation for the heat sensitive rub signs, as found in the instruction booklets for toys that were new to Series 2, and in brochures that were included with the reissued Series 1 toys [28].
Series 2 features reissued versions of all of the toys from Series 1 and also introduced seventy-six new toys. As such, only thirty-five of these new toys are standard Autobots and only eighteen of them are standard Decepticons. Of the other new toys, five are branded as "Dinobots", three are branded as "Omnibots", six are branded as "Constructicons", and seven are branded as "Insecticons"; the Dinobots and the Omnibots are both subgroups of the Autobots, while the Constructicons and the Insecticons are both subgroups of the Decepticons.
Each following series of Generation 1 introduced more subgroups to the toy line, and continued the practice established by Series 2 of aligning those with names ending in the suffix "-bot" with the Autobots, and those with names ending in the suffix "-con" with the Decepticons. Rounding out the seventy-six new toys of the series, are the first two accessories of the toy line to be individually sold. All of the toys released during Series 2, both those that were new to the series, as well as the reissued versions of Series 1 toys, featured heat sensitive rub signs.
These would reveal either the Autobot logo or the Decepticon logo upon being rubbed. Intended as a means of authentication, they were introduced in response to similar, though inferior, bootleg toys that were being released at the time. Series 2 features seven new Autobot Cars. Series 2 features five new Autobot minicars. Topspin serves in land and sea assault, [47] and Twin Twist serves in demolitions.
The lines became the foundation of the Generation 1 series, with all of the classic characters introduced here. The toys made use of molds and designs primarily from the Microman and Diaclone lines. Other characters were taken from different toy lines of other companies see Re-licenses.
The year of saw Hasbro start using original designs for many characters as fewer Microman and Diaclone molds were recycled. This was a banner year for the toy line as the tie-in animated feature, The Transformers: The Movie , was finally released. While the movie was not the blockbuster Hasbro hoped for, it marked a change in the direction the series in general was taking. The last use of a non-Takara toy for the Hasbro line was also in Sky Lynx , originally manufactured by ToyBox. Cheap construction and disappointing features were its most notable problems.
Subgroup teams became prevalent. The number of new characters increased from this year on. Both figures were identical to their original release with the exception of a more reinforced fist design for Optimus Prime.
Both figures came in their standard styrafoam insert but the box was a plain brown mailer box. Each figure was accompanied with a "Movie Edition" certificate and sticker.
As Transformers went on, new characters needed new gimmicks to stand out. As the number of Combiner teams had been reduced, the Headmasters and Targetmasters were introduced. Fortress Maximus and Scorponok became leaders of the Autobot and Decepticon forces respectively. The animated series had one more season but only three episodes were produced in America due to Sunbow losing its contract and its subsequent inability of renewal coinciding with the G.
Joe cartoon meeting their demise , leaving only the comics to support the toy line. Transformers continued on despite smaller support and still managed to introduce a plethora of new characters. New Headmaster and Targetmaster characters were introduced, but the new driving forces for the line were the Pretenders and Powermasters which featured the return of Optimus Prime.
The toy line received a new logo design for its sixth year. The subgrouping idea was changed as characters were now limited to Pretender and Micromaster groups. These two groups were further subdivided into thematic teams.
A few classic characters were revamped as Pretenders. In its final year in the US market, Transformers' last burst was with a more expanded Micromaster line and the introduction of the Action Masters - non-transforming figures of classic characters with transformable vehicles and weapons.
Of the countries Transformers was exported to, Japan and the UK were the only ones to make some interesting twists to the toy line. Although the popularity of Transformers has waned in these two countries as well, they still managed to make some output in the interim between and , before the launch of the next series, Transformers: The UK releases, while in general following the American releases and storylines, omitted a fairly large selection of the original toys from the US line.