Transformers figures are incredibly collectible toys due to their excellent back stories, intricate past, and sheer coolness factor. While recent entrants in their toy line are impressive with their intricate transformations and engineering excellence, the clunkier and larger toys of the 80's are very desirable, partially thanks to their varied history.
In the late 70's, Takara, a Japanese toy company produced the popular Microman and Diaclone toy lines, which featured toys that transformed into electronics devices, robots, and vehicles. Hasbro was already licensing Takara's technology for the G.I. Joe toy line and continued the partnership to develop the Transformers figures toy line, while simultaneously buying the Diaclone toy line outright.
A backstory was created for the toy line and a plethora new figures were added, while many of the original Diaclone figures were retooled to blend into this new backstory. That's the easy piece of their history. Then things got confusing.
Soon afterwards, the Marvel comic was released in the United States. It would later be released in Japan and the UK, inspiring new figure variations and dual names for figures in the process. In 1984 the TV series was developed, but the writers veered from the original path that was set.
In 1986, the Transformers animated movie was produced, two more seasons of the cartoon show were launched, and the UK and Japanese story lines were still being produced. In the early 90's, the second generation series was produced (G2), followed by Beast Wars, followed by a new series of comics and toys produced by Dreamwave in the early 2000's. This all led to wild discrepancies in backgrounds, plots, characters, and many other aspects associated with the toy line and the backstory.
At the same time, Hasbro was creating more and more Transformers figures and sets, including Headmasters, Dinobots, Powermasters, Constructicons, Trainbots, Throttlebots, Triggerbots, Sparkobots, Protectobots, and many more. Many of these lines were truly engineering marvels. Wait a minute, you thought there was just one toy line?!
Adding to this confusion are the current Transformers launches, inspired by the popular 2007 movie. Some of these new toys even feature cross-over promotions with the popular Star Wars franchise. Although these transforming characters don't carry the same geek appeal as Star Wars vintage toys or the original Transformers figures, they are very popular with younger fans of both the Transformers and Star Wars series.
The end result is that Transformer action figures are more than just a fun memory for many collectors; they are also a perfect example of creativity, cooperation, and design ingenuity rarely seen in the current mass market toy releases. Thanks to their past, vintage Transformers figures should remain popular and valuable for many years to come.
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