The Energon Pub

Here's a question I'm sure some of you can answer!

I've noticed Beast Wars TFs made by Kenner and I'm holding a G1 Whirl that says "Bandai 1984" on it. Why are these not all made by Hasbro? It seems very strange that other companies would make Transformers.

A lot of TFs are not made by Hasbro or Takara. The Revoltech figures are made by Kaiyodo, the Titanium line is made by Galoob, G1 Jetfire was made by Bandai.

Transformers started as an amalgam of several separate robot lines in Japan. That's why a lot of G1 toys have different maker marks. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Jetfire and Omega Supreme all came from different lines!

Kenner was a completely separate toy company in the 1980's (making little known things like Strawberry Shortcake and something called "Star Wars") that was bought up by Hasbro in the early 90's. They continued to operate as a subdivision for a few years before being completely blended in so to speak.

The original Shockwave that was sold by Radio Shack.

shonenfan4 wrote:The original Shockwave that was sold by Radio Shack.

The outlandish called "Shackwave." I remember making fun of a friend who had that. Not because of the toy but because he called it something like "Laserblaster."

zodconvoy wrote:Transformers started as an amalgam of several separate robot lines in Japan. That's why a lot of G1 toys have different maker marks. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Jetfire and Omega Supreme all came from different lines!

Kenner was a completely separate toy company in the 1980's (making little known things like Strawberry Shortcake and something called "Star Wars") that was bought up by Hasbro in the early 90's. They continued to operate as a subdivision for a few years before being completely blended in so to speak.

Yeah, something we take for granted these days is in-house designed toys but the origin of Transformers and other toylines seem to come from multiple sources. I remember reading on TFWiki's Jetfire entry about a Hasbro rep in the 80s who remarked they used to go to Asian toy fairs to find potential toys to incorporate into Transformers. They'd find stuff they thought would look good with TFs, I suppose, and then struck up deals with the owners of the design.

zodconvoy wrote:

shonenfan4 wrote:The original Shockwave that was sold by Radio Shack.

The outlandish called "Shackwave." I remember making fun of a friend who had that. Not because of the toy but because he called it something like "Laserblaster."

Heh, it was a cool toy to have back then. Shackwave.

shonenfan4 wrote:

zodconvoy wrote:

shonenfan4 wrote:The original Shockwave that was sold by Radio Shack.

The outlandish called "Shackwave." I remember making fun of a friend who had that. Not because of the toy but because he called it something like "Laserblaster."

Heh, it was a cool toy to have back then. Shackwave.

Yep, I had one back in the day too. All those years of play left him in a bad state so I had to find a replacement on eBay, but it was still easier than finding Shockwave.

In Generation 1 (1985 to be exact), Transformers grew very popular, way beyond original expectations. To expand the line and keep it fresh, Hasbro reached out to other toy companies for possible mold licensing (not mold creation). The radically different style of robots is explained that way. In 1986, the first original designs for Transformers appeared.

Once again, here's the list:

Takatoku Toys (defunct in 1984, designs bought up by Bandai)
Whirl
Roadbuster
Jetfire
Chop Shop
Barrage
Ransack (previously unreleased in his parent line)
Venom

ToyBox (designs bought by Tomy)
Omega Supreme
Sky Lynx

ToyCo
Shockwave

???
Mini-Spies

They were never released under the Transformers line in Japan (except Shockwave) and thanks to Bandai being a direct competitor, aside from Shockwave, don't expect to see reissues of them any time soon.

Beast Wars is a whole different matter. Rather than do it themselves, Hasbro gave the affiliated Kenner the assignment to revitalize the Transformers brand after Generation 2 declined. The result? Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

Thanks for the information, guys. All these details about buying out other companies, and even buying up other companies designs is pretty interesting!

Is this at all connected to the fact that Megatron's mini-con is "Leader-1" in Armada? Last I knew, he was the leader of the Go-Bots!

Energon Is My Drug wrote:Thanks for the information, guys. All these details about buying out other companies, and even buying up other companies designs is pretty interesting!

Is this at all connected to the fact that Megatron's mini-con is "Leader-1" in Armada? Last I knew, he was the leader of the Go-Bots!

In a way it is. Alongside Transformers was another (slightly older) line called Gobots, by Tonka. While Transformers had mainly Diaclone and Microman molds licensed from Takara, Gobots had Machine Robo molds licensed by Bandai. Transformers eventually claimed superiority in popularity, in fact Hasbro managed to even buy up Tonka, gaining possession of its intellectual property, meaning the names, characters and trademarks, but not the molds as they were still owned by Bandai.
In a sense of tribute, Hasbro has used some of it for Transformers, starting in Generation 2:

Generation 2
- Color Changer Gobots (repaint of EU Aquaspeeder Jetstorm)
- Go-Bots (precursors to the Spychangers)

Armada
- Mini-Con Leader-1
- Dead End (one of the suggested names was "Gobotron")

Movie
- Fracture (a homage to Crasher)

E-Hobby
- G1 Gobots (That's more Takara, but deserves a mention. Officially, they were never named out of fear for legal issues)

Comics
- Cy-Kill (he dies a lot)

Ah yes. I knew Go-Bots were Bandai but I didn't know Hasbro bought out Tonka. Hasbro's quite a juggernaut, huh? They've bought quite a few companies, it seems.

Skyfire77 wrote:Yep, I had one back in the day too. All those years of play left him in a bad state so I had to find a replacement on eBay, but it was still easier than finding Shockwave.

Is this true? I might try and find a loose Shackwave if possible.

Well, not so much "easier" as "cheaper". Depending on when you look, a loose Galactic Man will run you $25-$100, versus $60-$OMGWTFBBQ for a Shockwave in comparable condition.

Energon Is My Drug wrote:Ah yes. I knew Go-Bots were Bandai but I didn't know Hasbro bought out Tonka. Hasbro's quite a juggernaut, huh? They've bought quite a few companies, it seems.

Tonka and Kenner, for sure. The Tonka brand is still used for toddlers' toys, but Kenner isn't used at all.

Bear in mind, Hasbro and TakaraTomy (or simply Tomy) are still two seperate companies, but they do have a loose partnership. Put simply, Hasbro does the designing and marketing for the US other countries, TakaraTomy does the producing and marketing for Japan, excluding Japan-only items which are entirely TakaraTomy.

Did you get all that?

Edit: One correction concerning Omega Supreme and Sky Lynx. They were created by ToyCo, but as ordered by Tomy: they were outsourced! It's a common practice.

Skyfire77 wrote:Well, not so much "easier" as "cheaper". Depending on when you look, a loose Galactic Man will run you $25-$100, versus $60-$OMGWTFBBQ for a Shockwave in comparable condition.

Hmm, that's something to consider, as I really want a working Shockwave.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Bear in mind, Hasbro and TakaraTomy (or simply Tomy) are still two seperate companies, but they do have a loose partnership. Put simply, Hasbro does the designing and marketing for the US other countries, TakaraTomy does the producing and marketing for Japan, excluding Japan-only items which are entirely TakaraTomy.

Did you get all that?

Yep, makes sense. I'm glad you mentioned Hasbro's and Takara's relationship because I previously thought Hasbro was the American branch of Takara. Now I know they're two separate companies with a close relationship.

Good stuff, JelZe, good stuff. Thanks!

Energon Is My Drug wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Bear in mind, Hasbro and TakaraTomy (or simply Tomy) are still two seperate companies, but they do have a loose partnership. Put simply, Hasbro does the designing and marketing for the US other countries, TakaraTomy does the producing and marketing for Japan, excluding Japan-only items which are entirely TakaraTomy.

Did you get all that?

Yep, makes sense. I'm glad you mentioned Hasbro's and Takara's relationship because I previously thought Hasbro was the American branch of Takara. Now I know they're two separate companies with a close relationship.

Good stuff, JelZe, good stuff. Thanks!

You're welcome. One final thing: Before Hasbro's Transformers, Takara did try to sell Diaclone figures on its own in the US with the very shortlived Diakron line. The figure were direct re-releases, drivers and all with no changes in color:

DK-1 Lamborghini Countach LP 500S (Red Sunstreaker)
DK-2 Onebox Cherry Vanette (Black Ironhide)
DK-3 4WD Hi-Lux (Blue Trailbreaker)

Aragon (Powerdasher car)
Cromar (Powerdasher jet)
Zetar (Powerdasher drill)

Multiforce 14 (a collection of 14 small jet pods that combine into one robot. Here's a link)