And then there were all the major sorta-likes, such as Kenner's M.A.S.K. Also, in more global terms, Hasbro's Transformers was originally just one of several international outlets for Takara's Diaclone and Micro Change figures, initially coexisting with Joustra's own version of Diaclone in Central Europe, GiG's Trasformer line in Italy, and Takara themselves were releasing Diaclone in Finland. Transformers wasn't even the first shape-changing robot toy to US shelves, having been beat to the punch by then-competitor Tonka, who brought over Bandai's Machine Robo toys as GoBots six months prior, plus Takara's own prior attempts to market their toys in the US as Diakron and Kronoform. Mattel was still an action-figure heavyweight thanks to Masters of the Universe, which led the boom of cartoon-advertised toy lines (more on that in a bit) throwing out weird concepts in the hope of creating the next big thing. On top of that, there were far more toy companies scrabbling for shelf space. No, you had to get out there and shop - or use a big printed mail-order catalog like the old Sears "Wish Book". Even grocery stores and drug stores devoted a significant amount of space to toys year-round, and not just the cheap stuff! The idea that you could buy anything via computer, much less toys, was a novelty at best. There were multiple large-scale toys-only chains, not just Toys"R"Us (now RIP in the US). Sears and Kmart were the biggest retailers in the United States Walmart and Target were just regional players poised to go nationwide. There were a lot more retailers out there, both national and regional, muscling for market share, and virtually all had a sizable toy department. The original Transformers came out in a very different toy environment than what exists today, and at a time when the market was venturing out from the slow-paced 1970s into undiscovered country.įirst of all, the market itself was simply broader. A book hundreds of pages thick, which could devote an entire page or two to a single toy line. Page from the 1984 JC Penney annual catalog. but there's still plenty to talk about in the big picture. Thus, the more descriptive bits will be tackled year-by-year. Having run for seven years, the line changed dramatically over its lifetime, going from pre-made items to all-new designs and greater focus on gimmicks beyond simply transforming. 5 Mexican & South American Transformers.4 Takara Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers line.3 Hasbro (and others) Transformers European line.2.7 1990: Micromasters and Action Masters.2.4 1987: Headmasters and Targetmasters.It was also revealed that the film would feature the cinematic debut of one of the franchise's most notable adversaries in Unicron, voiced by Colman Domingo. The team will unite, brought together by Yeoh's Airazor, to face the Maximals' natural enemies, the Predacons, as well as the Terrorcons - led by the Peter Dinklage-voiced Scourge. Also joining the cast on the newly released poster are human characters and unlikely heroes Noah ( A Star Is Born's Anthony Ramos) and Elena ( Swarm's Dominique Fishback). The film, which was directed by Steven Caple Jr., is an adaption of the fan-favorite Beast Wars storyline and sees the newcomer Maximals Cheetor ( Tongayi Chirisa), Airazor ( Michelle Yeoh), Rhinox ( David Sobolov) and Optimus Primal ( Ron Perlman) join forces with Autobots Optimus Prime ( Peter Cullen), Bumblebee, Arcee ( Liza Koshy), Wheeljack ( Cristo Fernández) and Mirage ( Pete Davidson). Rise of the Beasts will be the seventh cinematic outing for the beloved franchise based on the Hasbro toy line. The poster showcases familiar Autobot faces as they team up with the film's newest faction of Cybertronians - the Maximals. With Transformers: Rise of the Beasts rolling out into theaters next month, a new Dolby Cinemas poster for the film has been released.
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