Jim Shooter has posted a very interesting
blog detailing the secret origin of the Transformers. The story focuses on a company called Knickerbocker Toys who wanted to bring over a line of Japanese transforming robots called Mysterions and "approached Marvel Comics seeking development of a toy property for comics, animation, and other entertainment."
Hasbro eventually acquired Kickerbocker Toys and that was the end for the Mysterions. Here are a few excepts from the blog.
Some months later, the Hasbro exec who was Marvel’s main contact, Bob Prupis, came to my office. He pulled a few toy vehicles out of his bag and proceeded to open and unfold them into ROBOTS.
They were bigger and much more complex than the Mysterions. Different Japanese technology, same general idea.
Hasbro, he said, had the rights to the technology and toys based upon it. The problem, he said was story. He said that the Japanese storyline associated with the toys wasn’t useful. Japanese kids, apparently, don’t require much justification. Cars become robots, robots become cars. Well, of course they do. What do you mean, “why?”
As stated, the treatment was all new, unrelated to the Mysterions treatment. And, the only thing of Denny’s I kept, as I recall, was the name of the Autobots’ ship, “Auntie.” I have become convinced, also, that he named Optimus Prime. It’s not unlike a name I might come up with, but it’s very much in the style of the erudite Mister O’Neill, full of scope, dignity and power.
By the way, “Transformers,” “Autobots” and “Decepticons” came from Hasbro.
You can read part 1 of the blog
here. Part 2 should be posted tomorrow.
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