Transformers Masterpost

I Want To Tell You About Transformers!: The Lore

Posted on by tainkirrahe

“I am: THE LORE.” – Sylvester Stallone as Alpha Trion

UNDER CONTRUCTION – LAST UPDATE 18/12/18

“Look,” I hear you say, because you are the imaginary person I just made up and therefore I control your thought processes and speech patterns, “Transformers is a franchise all about alien robots who turn into cars, right? How complicated can the story around that be? Wasn’t this whole thing started to sell toys?”

The answers to the above, in no particular order, are: yes, yes, and incredibly to the point where I regularly have to look things up on TFWiki to make sure I’m not going mad, misremembering, or confusing Transformers with Go-Bots or Power Rangers again.

Transformers has existed in various forms since 1984, and in the grand tradition of shows like Doctor Who has survived for nearly forty years by regularly switching up characters, aesthetics, and lore. This is, of course, incredibly confusing if you discover the franchise by watching Transformers: Prime on Netflix only to find your beloved Knock Out doesn’t exist in most other continuities and that Optimus Prime used to smile quite regularly. Well. Sound like he did, anyway. He didn’t really have a mouth until Transformers: Animated.

Confused yet? Good. It gets worse.

The Key Players (AKA March of the Bumblebees)

Backstory

A very, very basic premise of most Transformers fiction is as follows.

Millions of years ago on a planet called Cybertron, a race of sentient machines known as Transformers or Cybertronians were at war. They were at war a lot. Like, all the time. A super duper serious war. You know how Americans love baseball? Well Transformers love war. It’s kind-of their thing.

The Good Guys are the Autobots, who believe in truth, freedom, And The American Way™. They are led by Optimus Prime, a noble Chosen One who was upgraded from a younger Orion Pax by a Cosmic Macguffin known as The Matrix. Wherever Optimus goes, you are almost always gaurunteed to find a Bumblebee (inexpensive kid-appeal boy) or a Ratchet (grumpy medic) not far behind.

The Autobots fight against the Bad Guys, the Decepticons. More recently the source of the war has been over the Decepticons being an oppressed under-class who finally rose up to challenge Autobot supremacy under the leadership of an ex-Gladiator called Megatron (formerly Megatronus but he shortened his name so he could get through autographs quicker. Maybe). Megatron has a loyal lieutenant called Soundwave who is way overdue a promotion, and a backstabbing lieutenant called Starscream who is way overdue an ass-kicking.

So, war. War never changes. The Autobots and the Decepticons fight over their homeworld for millions of years, eventually ruining it, and at some point one faction or the other decides to strike out into the galaxy to either find help or hide some sort of Macguffin. Their travels almost always end up on Earth, where the Decepticons try to enslave the planet/extract its energy whilst the Autobots fight for the Freedom of All Sentient Beings.

A lot of buildings get blown up.

In the Beast Era (don’t worry, I’ll explain later), the Autobots eventually evolve into the Maximals, and have a significant key player called Optimus Primal (no relation), whilst the Decepticons evolve into the Predacons who have a key player called, er, Megatron (…no relation). Later still, the Predacons became Vehicons.

Biology of The Transformers

Transformers are sentient machines who do not require human pilots. They can transform between Robot Mode and Vehicle Mode (or alt-mode) using a piece of internal, inbuilt hardware called their t-cog. They have visible souls called sparks which usually reside in their chest and are hella cool I mean they can see their own souls just by opening their chest holy moly that’s SO AWESOME.

Ahem.

Like organic creatures they require energy to live, most commonly consumed by a blue-or-pink liquid called energon. They can apparently live for millions of years so long as they remain undamaged and have an adequate supply of energy. If a Transformer is badly damaged then they can go into a state known as stasis lock and remain in this condition for quite some time, which is a brilliant excuse for over-sleeping on a Monday.

Sometimes an entire group of Transformers can merge with one another to form a Combiner, or Gestalt, which is just like a really huge robot made of smaller robots. If you’re a Power Rangers fan, then – just think of the Zords all coming togerher. Each Transformer usually has its own duty in forming the Gestalt, and the resulting fusion has its own personality. The most famous Combiner is most likely Devastator, who is formed out of construction vehicles called Constructicons because irony is great.

So, that’s the lowdown on what the Transformers are, but what about all them cool films and telly episodes and comics then eh? Well, I hope to cover that below. I really did try to keep each entry short, but, uh, I’m not so good at being short. Unless we’re talking height. I’m OK at that.

The Telly: Cartoons, CGI Cartoons, And Really Good CGI Cartoons

Generation One: The Transformers (G1)
1984 – 1987

Developed as a Saturday Morning Cartoon by Hasbro in order to sell their new range of fancy robot toys to all the little girls and boys, “The Transformers” told the story of how the Autobots and Decepticons brought their war to Earth…by accidentally crashing their ship, the Ark, into a volcano four million years ago. The Autobots and Decepticons are reawakened when said volcano gets a bit rumbly in the modern day, and voila! Robot war!! ON MODERN EARTH!! …Well, 1984, anyway.

For Seasons 1 and 2, the Autobots typically aimed to prevent the Decepticons from destroying the planet or enslaving its populace through a series of outlandish plots and schemes that grew more ridiculous as the series progressed. They had human friends called Sparkplug (a mechanic), Spike (his son), Carly (Spike’s girlfriend, I guess, she deserved better, it’s fine), and Chip Chase (interestingly one of the only disabled characters I’ve ever seen who is just played as a regular person). Raoul, a Dodgy Youth what stole cars and breakdanced, also appeared in two episodes as Autobot Tracks’s friend. Oh, and Autobot Powerglide has a human girlfriend called Astoria Carlton-Ritz that one time. Look, it was the 80’s. A human dating a robot apparently just made more sense back then.

After the 1986 film killed most of the cast in order to make way for new toys (brutal, yes), Season 3 was instead based on Cybertron itself and followed Rodimus Prime (Optimus’s replacement) and his efforts to stop Galvatron (Megatron’s upgrade) from destroying the galaxy’s new fragile peace. This extreme change in style, including the mass murder of many, many beloved characters from Seasons 1 and 2 such as Optimus Prime himself is widely pointed to as being why the franchise started to stall around this time. Apparently Hasbro hadn’t considered that slaughtering latchkey kids’ beloved father icons was perhaps not the greatest thing to do…on the big screen…in the dark…in graphic detail.

Season 4 is only five episodes long and is usually referred to as The Rebirth. It introduces Headmasters (Autobots whose heads can detach to become little people because why not) and Targetmasters (little people who turn into guns for Decepticons to wield because okay this one makes a little more sense?? I guess??).

IMPORTANT:

The above only summarises the Western Transformers continuity. In Japan Season 4/The Rebirth was replaced by a full series called Headmasters which continued on from Season 3 and introduces the Headmasters/Targetmasters in a different way. They then went on to have two further series: Super God Masterforce, and Victory.

So Wait Like What The Heck Is Generation Two Then

There was technically no new Transformers media produced for television in the West in the early 1990’s, but the brand’s toys were relaunched as Generation Two (G2) with a bright neon toyline and, well, the kiddos had to watch something or how else would they know to bug mum or dad for those snazzy yellow Constructions?? So Hasbro repackaged the Generation 1 episodes from Seasons 1 and 2 and rebroadcast them with a healthy smattering of terrible, terrible CGI.

Ah, the 1990’s. I do not miss you.

The Beast Era: Beast Wars (BW)
1996 – 1999

EXTREME. NINETIES. CGI. ACTION.

Initially appearing to be a brand new continuity only for Season 2 to sneakily reveal that it had been a sequel to The Transformers all along (mwahaha, etc.), Beast Wars is possibly the most extreme, hah, transformation that Transformers has ever undergone. (It’s a pun. Do you. Do you get it? Transformation? Yes? Like the robots?? Aren’t you glad you clicked on that link?)

When Megatron – no, not that Megatron, a different one – steals an artifact called the Golden Disk from Cybertron and flees in his vessel the Darksyde with his motly Predacon crew, Optimus Primal and his science team give chase in their ship – the Axalon. During their skirmish, the vessels are dragged through some sort of spacewarp and crash on prehistoric Earth. As there are local dumps of pure energon that would damage Maximals and Predacons alike without protection, both crews are forced to adopt organic-based ‘beast modes‘ obtained from their ships scanning the local wildlife.

Season 1 is an odd mix of standalone episodes with a little bit of arc-building, and CGI that has…not aged well, owing to rushed production. But Seasons 2 and 3? They are All About That Storyline – as in, full on, trying to change history, characters dying, new characters appearing and dying, mystical stuff involving fate and destiny, it’s all very cool. Also there’s lots of death. Don’t watch Code of Hero if you don’t have any tissues in the house, it’s brutal.

Beast Wars is responsible for a lot of lore-building in the general Transformers mythos, and introduced long-standing concepts such as sparks to the franchise. On a personal note I have noticed that a lot of the things fans of the G1 cartoon insist were in there (such as terms like stasis lock) are actually misremembered from Beast Wars.

The Beast Era: Beast Machines (BM)
1999 – 2000

EXTREME. ALMOST NOUGHTIES. CGI. ACTION.

Beast Machines was the direct sequel to Beast Wars and picks up almost immediately after that series’ finale. The Maximals return to Cybertron to discover that Megatron (the Beast Wars one, not the other one, god this is confusing) got there first and has managed to enslave almost the entire populace by extracting their sparks and placing them in emotionless shells known as Vehicons. The series follows Optimus Primal’s attempts to find a balance between technology and organic life whilst Megatron tries to erase anything organic from existence because he’s now a massive germaphobe, or something.

Beast Machines has had a real Marmite effect on the fandom in general: there are lovers and haters, and not many inbetweeners.

Robots in Disguise (RiD)
2001

Created in Japan and ported over to America with an English dub, Robots in Disguise  was the first total reboot the franchise underwent on the telly. The previous continuity of The Transformers -> Beast Wars -> Beast Machines was thrown out and replaced with a brand spanking new cast of characters and supporting canon.

The Decepticons show up on Earth and kidnap a famous scientist, boo! But it’s okay, because Optimus Prime and co. show up to help the scientist’s son find his dad again, yay! But Megatron has created an evil clone of Optimus Prime called Scourge (or Nemesis Prime), boo! And he’s on a quest to find the ancient Fortress Maximus, boo! But that’s okay because Fortress Maximus can only be controlled by human children! Yaa…what?

Help! I’m confused!

Yep, you probably are. Robots in Disguise (2001) should not be mistaken for the cartoon Robots in Disguise (2015) nor the IDW comic Robots in Disguise (2012). And neither do these three separate medias have anything to do with one another. They’re all just references to the franchise’s official strapline. Confusing, confusing references. Thanks Hasbro.

The Unicron Trilogy (UT)
2002 – 2005

Comprising three different cartoons that ran sequentially – Armada, Energon, and Cybertron – the Unicron Trilogy was a co-production between the USA and Japan. It is once again a total reboot and has nothing to do with either The Transformers, the Beast Era, or Robots in Disguise.

The Autobots, lead once again by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons, lead once again by Megatron, are all after a race of beings called Minicons: tiny, human-sized robots who, when plugged into an Autobot or Decepticon via a process known as Powerlinxing, power up that robot’s abilities. Nothing about this was a Pokemon rip-off. Honest.

The trilogy has a lot of fond fans who will be the first to tell you to buy and love the toys but leave the shows as a happy, somewhat fuzzy, memory due to the bad dubbing and animation quality. There’s also a human character called Rad who is so annoying that he once gave me an actual headache. As in, I had to take paracetamol because of this guy.

The series should be notable for trying to do something with a little more depth with fan-favourite character Starscream, and also for giving everyone an actual Unicron toy – something they had been wanting since the 1986 film.

Transformers: Animated (TFA)
2007 – 2009

Transformers Animated took a good long hard stare at all of the continuities that came before it, nodded to itself, and said aloud: I am gonna take all of these concepts and I am gonna use ’em to make something awesome. And lo, did it come to pass.

Animated follows a crew of Autobot maintenance workers – Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, and series newcomer Bulkhead – who crash on Earth in the modern day after finding Macguffin the AllSpark and subsequently being attacked by Megatron for ownership of it. The series is set during what is actually a time of peace, with Cybertron intact and being ruled over by a proper government and everything, and the main struggle of the protagonists is both to survive and to prove to their…somewhat incompetent council that Megatron is still alive and still very much a threat.

The show is somewhat unique in having regular human super villains as well as a looming Decepticon threat, and is stylistically incredibly different to what came before (to the point where some fans refer to it as Chinformers).

Unfortunately the series was cancelled before a lot of plot lines could be resolved, because Hasbro doesn’t want us to have nice things.

Transformers: Prime (TFP)
2010 – 2013

A grittier, darker, edgier, and CGIer series than Animated, Transformers: Prime could not be farther from the aesthetics of the show that came before it. Rebooting continuity again, Cybertron is now a ruined lump of space metal that has been largely abandoned whilst the Autobots and Decepticons battle one another in a series of skirmishes across space. These battles, of course, come to Earth – where the Autobots are assisted by schoolchildren and the US government in ensuring Megatron can’t a) conquer the planet or b) keep huffing all that Dark Energon he’s found what makes him incredibly powerful like.

The show really puts a lens on the fact that Cybertronian culture was kinda sorta a bit of an asshole to Decepticons, who rose out of the mines and gladiator pits under Megatron’s guidance to challenge Autobot authority but, er, at some point went a bit wrong when Megatron’s ego inflated to roughly the size of Mars and he decided he should be in charge of everything, actually. It’s the first television series to turn Optimus Prime from a lighthearted older-brother-or-dad figure into a tired war veteran, and the first television continuity to feature Bumblebee as unable to speak.

TFP was resolved with a television movie called Beast Hunters.

 

I Want To Tell You About Transformers! The Toys

Posted on by tainkirrahe

Introduction

“Plastic crack” is the term fans frequently use to refer to their beloved plastic/diecast robots, and for good reason: once you’ve bought one, it’s impossible to not buy more. I mean, for a start, that one robot would just be kinda lonely. And odd numbers are unlucky. And you can’t have Optimus Prime without Megatron, or Soundwave without Blaster, or Bumblebee without the crushing sense that you’re contributing to a wider problem but damnit he’s just too cute.

Unfortunately, new fans coming to the franchise will quickly discover that a lot of toy purchases are wrapped up in jargon, exclusivity, arguments over size classes, or that their favourite character simply hasn’t been made by Hasbro or Takara – but, er, is available on the internet. Nudge nudge wink wink. Say no more.

Helpful Links

If you’re looking for all of the (official) toys made of your favourite character, you can’t go wrong with TFWiki – just look up your favourite dude or dudette and click on the Toys section.

There are also comprehensive databases to be found at:

Lines, Waves, And Size Classes: Nobody Knows What Hasbro Is Doing Any More, Really

Surely a robot is just a robot? I mean, how many toys of Optimus Prime can there be?! Ha ha ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Oh boy.

Lines

Until recently, Transformers lines have been pretty easy to follow. If a toy is called Armada [Character], then they’re from Armada. If they’re called G1 [Character], they’re from the original 1980’s toyline. And if they’re called C.H.U.G. [Character], then they’re…um…they’re…ah. This is where it gets a bit more difficult.

In the 2000’s, Hasbro began to release anniversary lines and things got all messed up. Sure, you want a G1 Thundercracker – as in, a Thundercracker from the G1 cartoon – but you want him a bit more modern (i.e. to have knees and elbows and not the relative weight to become a rather handy murder weapon) so what you actually want is a Generations Thundercracker, because that’s the line that G1 character was re-released under with this hip new thing called movement and oh no I’ve gone cross-eyed.

It’s like this. If you’re after the original toy of the original character from the media they were originally in, you need to search for Media + Character name. If not, you might be looking for someone from…

Anniversary Lines

Anniversary lines created new toys for old characters, typically from Generation 1 but also from Beast Wars, the Unicron Trilogy, modern comics, and…well, no, actually, that’s about it. Hmm.

In the early 2000’s, this was limited to the Alternity/Binaltech lines – realistic car alt-modes (with tiny seats and steering wheels and everything!) with horrendously complex transformations that sliced fingers and frustrated braincels. They also turned everyone into a car, regardless of whether they had been a car to begin with.

Fortunately, these were soon replaced by…

Classics – Hasbro anniversary line
Henkei – Takara annisary line, typically with different paint jobs
Universe – Hasbro anniversary line that took over from Classics
Generations – Hasbro anniversary line that took over from Universe

The above are typically referred to as C.H.U.G. After Generations, C.H.U.G. gave way to…

Combiner Wars – anniversary line with a kinda tie-in cartoon from Machinima but not really
Titans Return – ditto
Power of the Primes – strong ditto

For the film series helmed by Michael Bay, there is now a separate anniversary line called Studio Series (shortened to StudSer) which is as of 2018 producing new toys of how the characters were represented in those films.

Masterpiece can also be considered as an anniversary line aimed solely at adult fans due to their price point and complexity.

The current retail line is Transformers: Siege, which is not currently based on any one piece of Transformers canon but instead a general “the Autobots and Decepticons are at war on Cybertron and it’s very muddy there…on that big metal planet. Lots of mud, yes”. I’m considering it to be an anniversary line until further notice.

Size Classes

Size always matters to Transformers fans, and it’s one of our favourite things to argue about.

It’s like this: Hasbro want to sell to everyone at every price point. So they have to make sure that they’re producing toys of the most characters at the most price points, right? But to make a figure cheaper, you have to make it both smaller and less complex. Maths, innit.

There are typically five size classes in play currently:

Like, Ant Man Tiny (less than 1″)
Since the success of turning everyone into Headmasters in the Titans Return range (don’t worry, I’ll go over this in the Lore section), Hasbro has been producing Titan Masters. These tiny, tiny robots fold in half to form the head of a Deluxe or Voyager class Transformer.

Small (circa 3″)
Referred to as Basic (Beast Wars), Legend, Legion, or Scout Class, these small figures have retailed at around £10 – £12 through the years and are the least complex type of Transformers that aren’t one-step changers (toys that transform at the touch of a button). Lots of parents get confused by them on Amazon, apparently.

Medium (circa 6″)
Referred to as Deluxe or Warrior class figures, these are what I would consider “standard” Transformers toys for kiddos and teens and adults alike. They have between a medium and mildly difficult level of transformation, and comprise the most characters in any given line. They currently retail at between £18 and £25.

Large (circa 7″ – 8″)
Referred to as Mega (Beast Wars) or Voyager class, these figures are a tiny bit bigger than Deluxe/Warrior toys but feature a more complex transformation. They tend to comprise characters that are larger in the fiction, such as Optimus Prime or Blackout, and retail at around £30.

Larger Still (circa 10″)
Ultra (Beast Wars) or Leader Class figures are taller than Voyagers and more complex to boot. They’re the largest figures available in a main line and tend to be based on The Mainest of Main Characters instead of characters that are tall – given that we have had Optimus Prime and Starscream Leader Class figures. They retail for around £50.

Basically A Coffee Table (circa 24″)
Completely and utterly impractical but an utter delight to own, Titan class figures Fortress Maximus, Metroplex, and Trypticon are massive robots who turn into massive cities or bases for your smaller toys. They’re adorable and ideal for placing in a shopping trolley child seat to freak out other parents.

Masterpiece and Third Party figures do not have size classes applied to them, although Masterpieces can be roughly equivalent to either Voyager or Leader Class (except for MP G1 Bumblebee who is TINY).

Waves

When Hasbro release a new line, they don’t release all of the figures all at once. Instead, they release them in waves – typically comprising figures from several size classes – a few weeks or months apart.

To make it more confusing those waves are released in cases, which are the boxes the toys are shipped to retailers in. If a figure is referred to as shortpacked, then it’s a toy that only appears once per case. In other words…hard to find, thanks Hasbro, DIDN’T WANT IT ANYWAY.

Review? You Mean Someone Just Goes On The Internet and Talks About Toys? Rad!

So. You see this figure online. Looks pretty cool, right? But…does it have knees? Elbows? Stand up properly? What does the back look like? What does the paint look like up close? Does it have lightpiping? Can’t anyone answer these questions??

Well the good news is: YES. YES THEY CAN. For if the Transformers fandom is good at one thing, it’s irresponsibly spending mo- er, I mean, it’s posting about toys online! Below you will find a couple of lists of toy reviewers who use their passion to inform others and make their bank accounts weep, as well as several useful places for new toy buyers to refer to.

For these lists, I have chosen reviewers who are mostly factual with a bit of personal flair.

Written Reviewers

Video Reviewers

Third Party? Is That A KO or Nah?

*tugs at collar*

So. As with any industry, everybody’s trying to get in on the action. And some folk think they can do the action better than the people who originally started the action. And what I’m basically trying to say here is that sometimes it’s possible to get Transformers toys that weren’t made by Hasbro or Takara or one of their licensed partners.

These naughty, naughty toys come in two different flavours: Third Party, and Knock Offs (KOs).

A Third Party (3P) figure is a toy produced that is either not based on an original Hasbro/Takara mold, or one that borrows some of the engineering work but is ultimately a brand new toy. Whilst Third Party figures come in all manner of size classes, they typically tend to be aimed at adult collectors and feature more advanced transformations than the standard Hasbro/Takara fare (barring the Masterpiece line). Most Third Party companies focus on G1-centric characters and there is an ongoing joke about just how many Devastators, Dinobots, Optimus Primes, and Megatrons that have been produced over the years.

A Knock Off (KO) is just exactly what you think it is: a figure that has been bootlegged. KOs have been a part of Transformers since the beginning and are a continuing problem when buying online, especially on sites like eBay. Many also feature artwork stolen from fan artists. It is possible to have a KO of a Third Party figure.

However recently KO companies like Wei Jiang have become almost their own Third Party company – taking an existing Hasbro toy, up-scaling the figure, adding die-cast components and new paint apps, and releasing it for sale at a price that is often lower than the original. (An example would be Hasbro’s Voyager Megatron from The Last Knight, which Wei Jiang released at 200% of its original size with diecast wing tips and film-accurate paint apps under the name “Rendsora” for roughly the same amount of dough).

As you can imagine, Third Party and KO figures are something of a grey area in the fandom.

Some fans have argued that as 3P companies are taking intellectual property that isn’t theirs (in this case, characters from the Transformers media), buying any toy they produce is wrong as it was not theirs to make and none of the proceeds from the sale goes back into the Hasbro/Takara ecosystem.

Others reason that if there is a character Hasbro and Takara simply haven’t made (for example, the IDW characters are few and far between on official pegs), or haven’t recently updated, then buying a 3P or KO version of that character is harmless as there was no money lost in the first instance. Others still buy 3P figures because they appreciate that the majority are aimed solely at adult collectors and are therefore more complex and enjoyable.

Neither are wrong, neither are right, and so long as they keep producing Megatrons of some kind I’ll be more than happy.

Distribution? In My Area? Seems Unlikely. Where in the world do I buy these cool things?

It is becoming unfortunately harder to find Transformers at retail – there have been plenty of theories as to why this is, but the long and the short of it is that fans all over the world are increasingly turning to the internet to spend their pennies, dollars, and yen. Thanks to the responses on this Twitter thread, I have started to compile a list of brick ‘n’ mortar and online websites that should hopefully help you find the robot you’re looking for!

A Quick Note on Exclusives: Sometimes, Hasbro or Takara will release a figure that is only obtainable from certain shops. On the list below I have marked stores known to have carried exclusives with an asterisk (*). Exclusives like these can also be obtained through various online stores.

Brick and mortar shops that are independent stores as opposed to chains are marked in green. I am in the process of including their location and website/social media links.

Please note that this post is not actively promoting any of these stores, be they physical or online. It is intended only as a collated resource. If you have any suggestions for this list please tweet me @tainkirrahe on Twitter.

Online Stores

  • Ages Three and Up
    Based in Canada, ships internationally
    Stocks Hasbro and Takara toys, including Masterpiece, as well as Third Party figures and other robot-based properties like Gundam
  • Amazon (.com, .co.uk, or .jp)
    Do I really need to explain what Amazon is?
    Be wary of scalpers in the Used & New section – always make sure to benchmark the prices against completed listings on eBay
  • AmiAmi
    Based in Japan, ships internationally
    Stocks Hasbro and Takara toys, including Masterpiece, as well as other robot-based properties like Gundam
  • Archonia
    Based in Belgium, ships to Europe and the UK
    Stocks Hasbro and Takara toys, including Masterpiece, as well as other Transformers-related media such as DVDs, books, and comics
  • Big Bad Toy Store (BBTS)
    Based in America, ships internationally
    Stocks Hasbro, Takara, and Third Party Transformers, as well as apparel and decals
  • Hasbro Toyshop
    Operated by Hasbro. Based in America, ships to America and Canada
    Stocks…Hasbro Transformers, shockingly
  • HobbyLink Japan (HLJ)
    Based in Japan, ships internationally
    Stocks Hasbro, Takara, and Third Party Transformers
  • In Demand Toys (ID Toys)
    Based in the UK, ships to the UK
    Stocks Hasbro and Takara Transformers
  • Kapow Toys
    Based in the UK, ships to the UK and Europe
    Stocks Hasbro, Takara, and some Third Party Transformers
  • Oh My Primus
    Based in Singapore, ships internationally
    Stocks Hasbro, Takara, and Third Party Transformers
  • Nottingham Robot Company (Notts Bots Co.)
    Based in the UK, ships to the UK, America, and Europe
    Stocks Hasbro Transformers
  • RobotKingdom
    Based in Hong Kong, ships internationally
    Stocks Hasbro, Takara, and Third Party Transformers
  • Taobao
    I’m not able to offer any guidance on this one as the page is entirely in Chinese – please contact me @tainkirrahe if you have any information
  • TF Source
    Based in America, ships internationally
    Stocks Hasbro, Takara, and Third Party Transformers
  • TFS-Express & Transbridge UK
    Based in the UK, ships to the UK
    Stocks Hasbro and Third Party figures
  • The Chosen Prime
    Based in the US, ships to the US
    Stocks Hasbro, Takara, and Third Party Transformers
  • The Falcon Hanger
    Based in Singapore, ships overseas
    Stocks Hasbro and Takara Transformers
  • The Little Toy Company
    Based in Australia, ships internationally
    Stocks Hasbro, Takara, and Third Party Transformers

eBay

Lots of Transformers are sold on eBay every day, most of them directly to me (if they are Megatrons). And this may be the easiest way of finding an older figure for your collection! But as with any eBay purchase, it is important to check the seller’s feedback to ensure that the figure you are buying is not a Knock Off – especially if they are shipping from China or Hong Kong.

Scalpers are also ever-present on the site so make sure you benchmark what is being charged for a figure against completed listings or other websites, especially if it’s a figure that has only just hit retail.

Australia

  • Big W
  • EB Games
  • KMart
  • Myer
  • Target
  • Toyworld

Canada

  • Ages Three and Up (Burnaby, British Columbia) [Facebook]

North America

  • Gateway Comics (Fredericksburg, Virginia) [Facebook]
  • Marshall’s
  • Ollie’s
  • Records & Rarities (Springfield, Virginia) [Facebook]
  • Ross
  • Target*
  • TJ Maxx
  • Tosche Station (Springfield, Virgina) [Website]
  • Victory Comics (Washington, Virgina) [Website]
  • Walgreens*
  • Walmart*

Europe
For the United Kingdom, see below

  • BR Leksaker (Sweden)
  • Lekia (Sweden)

Japan

  • Bic Camera
  • Mandarake
  • Yodobashi

Singapore

  • BHG
  • Isetan
  • Kiddy Palace
  • Metro
  • Movie Replicas Collection [Facebook]
  • OG
  • Robo Robo Toyshop [Facebook]
  • Simply Toys
  • The Adelphi – large shopping mall
  • Toy Closets [Facebook]
  • Toys Outpost
  • Unrivalled Collectibles [Facebook]

United Kingdom & Ireland

  • All the Cool Stuff (Fordingbridge, England) [Website]
  • Asda*/Walmart
  • Argos – Argos only sell by Size Class with no individual listings, so you may need to visit your local store to ascertain what they have in stock
  • B&M Bargains
  • Dublin City Comics (Dublin, Ireland) [Facebook] [Twitter]
  • Home Bargains
  • Orbital Comics (London, England) [Website]
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I Want To Tell You About Transformers!

Posted on by tainkirrahe

A Beginner’s Guide To The Wonderful And Expensive World Of Oh God Why Are There So Many Cool Toys: Hasbro and Takara Tomy’s Transformers

Introduction

This page is currently under construction!

When I first encountered Transformers in July 2009 via an impulse purchase of the 2007 film on DVD, I had no idea that I had walked into such a big thing – mostly because I was lucky enough to have a friend who knew exactly what Transformers were and how to guide me through the various continuities and toylines (thanks Brent!). But it’s occured to me recently that whilst we have wonderful resources like TFWiki and a very warm and welcoming fandom, there’s no one place that says to new fans hey. welcome. wanna know what a C.H.U.G. is? well then buckle up, you’re in for one heck of an infodump. I hope you brought popcorn, a notebook, and a pretty sturdy will to survive. (DARE TO BEEELIEEEVE YOU CAN SURRRRVIIII yeah I’ll shut up).

This isn’t going to be that, exactly – but what I hope to achieve is some sort of easy-to-read, skimmable springboard for new fans so that they know where to look next for the things they want and, most importantly, where they can find fellow fans to chill with if they so wish.

So…What is Transformers?

Oh yeah, that’s probably a good place to start. Duh.

Transformers is a global brand of cartoons, films, comic books, video games, and novels all centred around a race of ancient robotic beings who are, more often than not, at war with each other because war, war never chan- wait. Wrong franchise.

Developed as a vehicle to sell toys to children because that was America’s jam in the 1980’s (and 90’s, and 2000’s, and), Transformers has survived for nearly forty years by pulling a Doctor Who and changing the aesthetics and story structure for Optimus Prime & Co. to suit each new generation of kids. We’ve gone from Goofy Saturday Morning Cartoon to Goofy Saturday Morning Cartoon ft. Animals to Massive Blockbuster Smash Hit to Comics What Make You Think, and there’s no sign of the juggernaut slowing down any time soon.

Join us, if you will, for shenanigans. There is intrigue, laughs, sads, and irreparable damage to your wallet.

Contents

Each heading is a hyperlink that will take you to another post detailing that subject. Why yes, I am also here to explain how tables of contents are supposed to work. I’ve got to use my English degree for something, people.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE 14/12/2018: Currently working on “The Lore”! “The Fandom & Where To Find Us” is pending. I might also be having a fidget with layouts and what-have-you, so bare with us. Bear with us? Bears. They are sometimes with us.

The Toys *now live*
Lines, Waves, And Size Classes: Nobody Knows What Hasbro Is Doing Any More, Really
Review? You Mean Someone Just Goes On The Internet and Talks About Toys? Rad!
Third Party? Is That A KO Or Nah?
Distribution? In My Area? Seems Unlikely. Where in the world do I buy these cool things?

Last update: 14/12/2018: added tfu.info as a suggested database; added Titan Master as a size class; added ohmyprimus under websites; added several brick and mortar shops based in Singapore.

The Lore 14/12/2018 – UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The Key Players (AKA March of the Bumblebees)
The Telly: Cartoons, CGI Cartoons, And Really Good CGI Cartoons
The Movies: So Much Controversy, So Little Time
The Comics: So Much Death, Wow
The Video Games: Smashy Smashy

The Fandom & Where to Find Us
That Big Ol’ Scary Place, The Internet
A Note On Forums
Fan Fiction Writers
Fan Artists
Conventions: Not As Scary As Previously Advertised?