User:SlimerJoel/Sandbox:Size class

"Deluxe" redirects here. For the two-member subgroup from Generation 1, see Deluxe Vehicle.

"Voyager" redirects here. For the human probe carrying the Golden Disk, see Voyager spacecraft.

Animated Optimus Prime toys of different size classes. From left to right: Legends Class, Activators, Deluxe Class, Voyager Class and Supreme Class.

Transformers come in all shapes and sizes and naturally, so do their toys. Size classes allow for Hasbro to organize and structure their Transformers toylines to better fit retail store space, cover a wide variety of price points, and to represent their characters as accurately as possible.

Size classes are a long-standing staple of the Transformers franchise with almost every major incarnation (barring Generation 1 and Generation 2) incorporating them into their product lines.

Design

The logic behind size classes is simple: retailers can order a case of toys, knowing exactly how much they will sell for and exactly how much shelf space they will occupy. All the Deluxe Class figures in a line will come in the same packaging and sell for the same price. When you run out of Deluxes, you order a new case and put them in the empty spot on the shelf where the last assortment sat.

Each size class correlates to a specific price point. While not all prices reflect Hasbro's suggested retail price, they do suggest the rough value one can expect to pay. A $10 price point toy may retail for $9.76 at Wal-Mart while being $10.99 at Toys-R-Us and $7.99 on sale at Target. While it varies by toy line, most of the smaller price point size classes are generally geared more towards the casual collector or allowance-having kid, allowing them to build up a collection of characters they like for a fraction of the price the more standard sizes ask for.

The intended class of a toy is relevant to all phases of its design process. To sell at a given price, there are tight formulas for how much plastic can be used, how many paint applications are allowed, whether electronics can be included, and how complex the transformation and articulation can be. Further, since a size class is literally a size class; toys are limited in their measurements, so that they will fit into the same size packaging as other toys in their class. As an example, the Animated Voyager Lugnut toy, in robot mode, is very short compared to other toys in his class. This may be because he transforms into a mostly-linear plane, with his weapon added on as a tail assembly, making him even longer. Regardless of whether there was room in the budget for more plastic, there may not have been room in a Voyager-sized box for him to be any bigger.

Size classes can also account for an internal sense of scale. Larger characters like Omega Supreme will be released in larger and pricier size classes than characters like Bumblebee who will be on the smaller and cheaper end. However, certain characters can be released in size classes out of their normal scaled depictions in media, such as the Roll-Out Command Animated Optimus Prime, a figure woefully out of scale with pretty much everything else in the toy line. These oversized figures tend to be more on the gimmicky side, intended for younger kids who don't care that Optimus Prime towers over their other action figures when he can swing his axe, light-up, and auto-transform.

History

This history only covers toy lines in which distinct size classes are present (excluding G1 and G2 for historical purposes). For later lines like the 2007 movie, this effectively means "kid-focused" lines like Fast Action Battlers will be ignored.

Generation 1

The 1986 Decepticon Planes assortment

The original Transformers toy line did not feature specific size classes as we know them today. Instead, characters came in a wide variety of assortments that were featured at specific price points. For example, characters like Ironhide, Wheeljack, and Trailbreaker were all different yet similarly scaled toys with varying amounts of accessories and complexity between them, yet all sold within the same price point. Some assortments were only of a certain faction (Autobot Cars and Decepticon Planes) while others were mixed between each other (the 1986 Triple Changers). The lack of proper size classes and relatively scattered nature of the Generation 1 toyline can be attributed to it's initial origin as an assortment of imported molds from various Japanese toy lines, although starting in 1986, Hasbro would begin producing their own molds that would more-or-less follow the relative sizes of the original 1984/1985 assortments.

Generation 2

The relaunch of the Transformers brand in the 1990's saw Hasbro transition from assortments focused specifically on character functions to ones branded according to the toy's specific gimmick. Though much of Generation 2's initial assortments consisted of Generation 1 molds with tweaked decos and new accessories, much of the later releases in the line were all-new molds with an enhanced focus on gimmicks. Figures such as the Rotor Force and Color Changers focused more on categorization by gimmick rather than their size (of which all figures in assortment were the same). Although somewhat preceded with the Action Masters of late Generation 1, Generation 2 was notable for introducing legacy characters available in multiple sizes simultaneously, something that would become a regular occurrence in later lines.

Beast Wars

The release of Hasbro/ Kenner's Beast Wars toyline marked a massive paradigm shift for the Transformers brand as a whole, both fictionally and functionally. This line introduced the first true size class system that would continue to see use throughout the rest of Transformers history.

The five size classes utilized in Beast Wars were:

• Basic: The smallest and cheapest size class. The first year of Basics featured spring-loaded autotransformations while subsequent years transitioned to a more standard style of transformation. Basics retailed at US$5.
• Deluxe: The "standard" size class with the widest variety of figures. This was one of the strongest performing price points, and nearly all future retail lines would feature product in the Deluxe price range. Deluxes retailed at US$10.
• Mega: Starting at this size class and above, figures were sold in standard boxes which sat on shelves as opposed to the hanging cards of the Basics and Deluxes. Toys of this size were often shelfwarmers. Megas retailed at US$15.
• Ultra: Only eight toys were sold in this size class, two of which were the combiners Magnaboss and Tripredacus comprised of three Deluxe-sized figures. Megas retailed at US$20.
• Super: The most expensive size class at US$30. This size class contained only one toy, Optimal Optimus.

These size classes were also utilized in the concurrent Animorphs line.

Beast Machines

Beast Machines continued to utilize the size classes introduced with Beast Wars, but increased the price of the Basic class to US$7 and the size of the Ultra class (but the price remained the same). A new larger size class was introduced, Supreme which retailed for US$40 and featured electronic lights and sounds. Only a figure of Cheetor was released in this line; a planned Supreme Optimus Primal (complete with quotes recorded by Garry Chalk) was shifted to the 2001 Robots in Disguise toyline. Two additional size classes, Deployers (US$5) and Beast Riders (US$10) would turn out to be short-lived.

Robots in Disguise

Robots in Disguise marked the first time Hasbro directly imported a line wholesale into the American market, in this case Takara's Car Robots line. Robots in Disguise used the same size classes as Beast Machines, though the Basic price point once again went through a price change, this time lowering back down to US$5. This was likely due to the somewhat smaller and extensively less intricate Basics released in this line, consisting of simple Spychanger two-packs or redecoed Generation 1 combiner limbs. A notable exception is the recolor of Obsidian, which was ironically sold for less than the original version.

Armada

The launch of the Armada toyline saw a series of changes take place of the previously established size classes, keeping most of their price points but changing the names to better fit the line-wide gimmick of Mini-Cons, of which every size class (barring the obvious Mini-Con class) came packaged with a Mini-Con partner.

• Mini-Con: Replacing the Basic price point, the Mini-Con size class consisted of carded 3-packs of Mini-Con figures based on specific themes. Mini-Cons sold for US$6.50.
• Super-Con: Replaced the Deluxe class. Super-Cons sold for US$10
• Max-Con: Replaced the Mega size class. All Max-Cons had electronic sound effects. Max-Cons retailed for US$20.
• Giga-Con: Replacing the Ultra class, all Giga-Cons (except for Tidal Wave) featured electronic lights and sounds. Giga-Cons retailed at US$25.
• Super-Base: Replacing the Super class but using the Supreme price point of US$40, the only Super-Base class figure was Optimus Prime, who featured an infrared-activated automatic transformation gimmick, as well as lights and sounds.
• Supreme: Retailing at US$50, the lone Supreme class figure Unicron featured lights but no sounds.
• Role Play: While not necessarily a size class, the role-play toys effectively replaced the previously used Mega class' US$15 price point.

Armada saw a bit of a price jump due to higher production costs though this was offset by the fact that the toys tended to be somewhat more bulky and massive than their predecessors.

Universe (2003)

The original Universe differed from the Armada line's new designations and used the Beast Wars size classes of Deluxe and Ultra.

After the Universe line as such had effectively ended, repackaged Energon (and even later, Cybertron) toys were sold on Universe cards as discount chain exclusives, divided into the price points Basic (US$5) and Deluxe (US$8).

Alternators

The Alternators line was unique in that it only consisted of a single price point (US$20). This was owed to the uniform scale of the line at 1:24, as well as the fact that all the toys from the line were based on licensed vehicles.

Some retailers actually listed the toys under the "Mega" price point, but this designation was never officially used by Hasbro. In fact, there was an official "Mega Alternators" assortment of sorts, which consisted of shrinkwrapped two-packs consisting of two individual toys (mostly limited to shelfwarmers such as Smokescreen, Side Swipe or Windcharger), available for the price of a single Alternators toy exclusively at Toys'R'Us.

Hasbro later replaced the original mass retail Alternators assortment with a second one, which remained at the original one's price point. In the case of Alternators Optimus Prime, Hasbro reportedly accepted a smaller profit margin (since the toy was more expensive to produce than other Alternators toys) so they could still sell it at the US$20 price point.

Energon

Energon took a somewhat random approach to size-class naming. The second pack-in catalog introduced the size class range as

• Energon: Basic sized figures, with the price once again changing, this time back up to US$7.
• Combat: Deluxe sized figures retailing for US$10. In keeping with the Energon line's basic theme of combination, Combat class figures could combine with others of their size or (in a rather under-advertised way) with the Mega Combat class.
• Mega Combat: The former "Max-Con" size class, consisting of larger figures with sound effects that retailed for US$20.
• Commanders: The former "Giga-Con" size class. Commanders had lights and sounds depending on the figure. Commanders retailed for US$25.
• Leaders: The former "Super Base" size class, featuring both lights and sounds, retailing for US$40.
• Unicron was given no size class and retailed for US$50, same as the Armada figure.

The third catalog explicitly referred to the price points as

• Energon Class
• Combat Class
• Mega Class (a renamed US$20 Max-Con/Mega Combat class, not to be confused with the old Beast Wars/Beast Machines/Robots in Disguise-era US$15 Mega class)
• Command Class
• Leaders Class
• Omega Supreme was given no size class.

The fourth and final catalog continued using the terms originated by the third (although each of the combiner teams has its own double-page spread, and the individual members have no price points listed, even though the limb and torso bots shipped as part of the Energon and Command Class assortments, respectively), but finally listed Omega Supreme as Supreme Class.

Cybertron

The Cybertron toyline marked the return of Beast era/Robots in Disguise (2001) size class designations Deluxe and Ultra and the Armada Mini-Con class while introducing a whole slew of new names for previous price points. These size class names would be significant in that the majority of them would continue to see use throughout future toylines.

• Legends of Cybertron: A newly designed "budget class" consisting of smaller, simplified versions of existing characters aimed to be sold at Market six retailers for the budget collector or younger fan who couldn't afford the larger, more expensive figures. Legends of Cybertron figures sold for US$3.
• Mini-Con Class: A similar size class to the Armada three-packs, though featuring one less figure. Mini-Con class packs retailed at US$5.
• Scout Class: The Scout class' new designation echoes the "lost colonies" theme the toyline centered itself around. Scout class figures were the first size class to feature the line-wide gimmick of Cyber Keys which could be plugged into slots on the figures to reveal hidden features. Scout class figures retailed at US$7.
• Deluxe Class: One of the two earlier size classes brought back for the line, Deluxes retailed at US$10.
• Voyager Class: Taking the reins of the Energon Mega class figures, sound effects were dropped from all but four figures in this size class. Vector Prime, Leobreaker, Crumplezone and his remold Dark Crumplezone retained their sound effects gimmick. Voyagers sold for US$20.
• Ultra Class: Returning from the Beast era/Robots in Disguise (2001), Ultra class toys had lights and sounds and retailed for US$25.
• Leader Class: Dropping the plural "s" from the previous "Leaders Class", Leader class figures featured lights and sounds, and (except for Metroplex) featured several Cyber Key gimmicks. Leader Class figures retailed for US$40.
• Supreme Class: Retailing for US$50, the Supreme class remained the same. Supreme class figures had lights and sounds, with several different Cyber Planet Key gimmicks. Primus featured an Omega Lock accessory gimmick that was essential for his transformation.

Classics

Classics was originally conceived as a short-lived filler line akin to Universe (2003) and as such, doesn't feature any drastically different size classes.

• Legends: Sold at US$4, the Legends class (shortening the "Legends of Cybertron" subtitle) were raised $1 in price. Originally consisting of Generation 1-inspired repaints of Legends of Cybertron figures, the final wave consisted of straight reissues of Cybertron product.
• Mini-Con: Sold at US$7 and released in three-packs again, these were completely brand new Mini-Cons originally intended for release in the Cybertron toyline.
• Classic Deluxe: Retailing at US$10.
• Classic Voyager: Retailing at US$20.

Movie

The toyline based on the 2007 live-action movie retained many size classes from previous lines, though a few consisted mostly of reissued and redecoed product:

• Legends Class: Retailing at US$4, the 2007 movie's Legends class assortment was the first of its size class to be sold in general retail as opposed to the Market six exclusivity of the Cybertron and Classics releases.
• Scout Class, Sold at US$7, this size class consisted entirely of Energon and Cybertron redecos sold exclusively at Target in the United States and mass retail in Europe and Canada.
• Deluxe Class: Sold at US$10.
• Voyager Class: Sold at US$20. Continuing on from the standards set in Cybertron and Classics, Movie Voyagers featured no electronics unless they were redecos of toys from previous lines.
• Ultra Class: Sold at US$25, this smaller numbered size class consisted of only two Toys "R" Us exclusive Cybertron redecoes.
• Leader Class: Sold at US$40. The Leader class featured electronic lights and sounds, usually attached to a spring-loaded Automorphing gimmick.

The Supreme class was dropped for the Movie line, essentially replaced by the US$90 Ultimate Bumblebee figure. Additionally, multiple gimmick-based sub-lines were released, focused on a younger audience who were likely turned off by the main line's complex nature: Fast Action Battlers, simplified, Deluxe-sized figures sold at the same price of US$10 and an even more simplified and cutesy line called Cyber Slammers.

Animated

The Transformers Animated toyline has the following size classes:

• Activators, at US $8. Features an automorph gimmick.
• Deluxe Class, at US$10.
• Voyager Class, at US$20.
• Leader Class, at US$40. Features electronic lights and sounds, including speech samples voiced usually by the actors from the cartoon.
• Supreme Class, at US$50. Only Roll-out Command Optimus Prime got released for this price point. It features electronic lights and sounds, including speech samples voiced by David Kaye.

In addition, the Bumper Battlers size class replaces the movie line's Cyber Slammers, going one better by featuring an extensive array of voice samples and sound effects. However, with this comes a price increase to US$10. Legends Class toys of the Animated cast were released as part of the Universe toyline instead.