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Generations of Transformers

By: Bob Ethan Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Transformers are characters in a well-known line of toys from American toymaker Hasbro. Transformers change from robots into objects such as cars, planes, guns, buildings, or even radios. The Transformer toyline was also adapted to become a cartoon television series, a comic book series, and a number of full-length movies. Transformers have had the biggest following in the United States, the UK, and Japan.

The Transformers first came to life in Japan in the 1970s with the Takara toy series of Microman and Diaclone. In 1984 US company Hasbro licensed the rights to use the Takara toylines, rebranding them as "Transformers".The toys themselves were almost exactly the same, but sometimes underwent minor changes such as being repainted a different color. Hasbro also created a new storyline for the toys, giving new names and personalities to the Japanese toys. Hasbro later started creating new characters and toys that had no antecedent in the Japanese toylines. Takara was inspired in 1985 to end its production of the Microman and Diaclone toylines, based on the popularity of the American Transformers. Takara began to market them as Transformers as well.

In 1984 a Transformers cartoon series began running on television, and so did a comic book series from Marvel Comics. In 1986 the Transformers hit the silver screen with a full length movie simply called Transformers: The Movie. The movie caused a shock to Transformer fans with the death of many beloved characters, including Optimus Prime, the leader of the heroic Autobots. For the season finale of the Transformers in 1987, Optimus Prime was to be resurrected.. That year marked the end of the American cartoon show, but in Japan the show continued to be produced, and in Britain and America comic series continued being produced. It should be pointed out that these various series did not conform to the same storyline and they contradicted each other over and over.

Newly incarnated generations of Transformers have been produced since the finishing of the original American series, but the majority of fans of the original generation are unimpressed and prefer the old series. One such "generation" appeared in the series Beast Wars and its follwup Beast Machines, between 1995 and 2001. A Hasbro toyline of this new generation was also created. It took place in the future after the original Transformers series, and included a lot of flashbacks to the original.

Additional incarnations and interpretations of Transformers have also been releasted, but have never been able to compete with the fame of the first generation series. Only the recent Transformers film franchise has reached the levels of the original Transformers craze, with the release of "Transformers" in 2007 as a live-action movie, followed up by "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" two years later. Fans can expect to see a third installment to the franchise in either 2011 or 2012. Featuring fantastic computer-animated action and a young allstar cast of actors, the franchise has revived Transformers as a dominant force in the entertainment industry as well as the toy industry.

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About The Author: Billy Bob grew up on the Transformers and has every single issue of their Marvel Comics series. See his recommended Transformers coloring books at "Printable Coloring Pages.