Walmart

Bold claim.

Walmart (previously spelled Wal-Mart until 2008) is one of the biggest discount department store chains in the United States, with branches in many other countries.

Over the years, they have carried a lot of exclusive Transformers toys, in addition to the regular mass retail releases.

Walmart employees are also often accused of not really caring about what they sell in addition to a lax return policy, making Walmart one of the main victims of toy swapping.

Walmart is also the parent company of Sam's Club.

Fiction

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

The Transformers Trilogy

During a battle against Bumblebee and Prowl, Bonecrusher crashed through a Wal-Mart in Las Vegas. Hardwired

Walmart exclusive toys

Beast Wars



Transmetal Rattrap

Beast Wars didn't just have Walmart's first Transformers exclusive, but the first Transformers store exclusive period in the US in roughly a decade.

Deluxe Class Rattrap Tripredacus Agent




Robots in Disguise (2001)



Axer

The unexpected level of success 2001's Robots in Disguise line enjoyed meant Hasbro suddenly found themselves putting out quite a lot of exclusives to meet demand. Walmart would more or less have the lion's share of these through this line and the next several years.

Curiously, the "urban camo" Ruination set and yellow Black Friday (event) Landfill sets came out in the packaging style of the Armada toyline, but still labeled as part of Robots in Disguise. A few other stores got exclusives like this, and it only gets weirder in the next section....

Mega Class Sideways vs. Axer

Ultra Class Ruination (Armorhide, Mega-Octane, Movor, Ro-Tor, Rollbar)

Autobots Multi-Pack Landfill (Grimlock, Heavy Load, Hightower, Wedge)




Dinobots



Slapper

A very strange sub-line, Dinobots had Armada style packaging, complete with character "card" stickers, but was seemingly its own disconnected thing, with no fiction attached. Still, it brought US fans two molds that had previously only been available by importing them from Japan.

Two-packs Terranotron / Grimlock Snarl / Sludge Slapper / Triceradon




Universe (2003)



Sunstorm

With 2003's Universe toyline, Walmart got quite a few exclusives, and most of them ended up shelfwarming real bad, especially with of some of the prior line's exclusives being released around the same time. This had a knock-on effect, as Walmart scaled back the following year.

Spychanger 2-packs Ultra Magnus with Ironhide Optimus Prime with Prowl		Deluxe Class Side Burn Prowl		Deluxe + Mini-Cons Sunstorm with with Inferno and Street Action Mini-Con Team (Grindor, High Wire, Sureshock)		Deluxe 2-packs Opposites Attack (Excellion vs. Thundercracker) Search for the Pirate Moon (Downshift vs. Cannonball)
Ultra Class Ruination (Armorhide, Mega-Octane, Movor, Ro-Tor, Rollbar)		Halloween Horrorcon 2-packs (canceled) Leatherhide vs. Blackarachnia Nightprowler vs. Waspinator		Ultra Class (canceled) Piranhaking ("Archerbot", Nautilator, Overbite, Seawing, Snaptrap, Tentakil)

Walmart requested the Piranhaking box set, originally intended for Universe, be moved to Energon packaging. See below for how that turned out.




Unicron Trilogy toylines

Energon



Sir Not Appearing In This Toyline Either

After the glut of exclusives from the prior lines, Walmart's Energon exclusive output wasn't so much scaled back as almost obliterated. The two Mini-Con multi-packs, consisting of unchanged versions of regular-release toys, were a "shared" exclusive with Toys"R"Us, and the combiner set was outright canceled (but revived many years later through the Transformers Collectors' Club).

Mini-Con Team 2-packs Race Mini-Con Team & Space Mini-Con Team Dirt Boss Downshift Mirage Astroscope Payload Sky Blast

Road Wrecker Mini-Con Team & Night Attack Mini-Con Team Buzzsaw Drill Bit Dualor Broadside Fetch Scattor

Ultra Class (canceled/used later) Piranhaking ("Archerbot", Nautilator, Overbite, Seawing, Snaptrap, Tentakil)

Despite the name on the packaging, the "Road Wrecker Team" actually used the toys' original Destruction Team colors.




Cybertron



Red Alert & Dirt Boss with bonus Tiny Tins carrying tin

Cybertron's exclusive content mostly consisted of bonus Mini-Cons added to unchanged versions of previously-released toys. Most of these were tied in with the Tiny Tins license, where the Mini-Cons also came with a tin carrying case. The Tiny Tins Mini-Cons had new decos, at least.

There were also a run of "Value Packs" which were just two randomly-paired, fully-packaged Deluxes set in a cardboard sleeve and sold at somewhat less than the cost of two normal Deluxes, another "exclusive" shared with Toys"R"Us.

Tiny Tins Bonus Packs Landmine with Dirt Boss Red Alert with Dirt Boss		Dirt Boss with Downshift Thundercracker with Downshift		Hot Shot with Mirage Override with Mirage		Supreme Class Cybertron Primus (w/ Knockdown, Nightscream, Offshoot, Strongarm)
Value Packs (Could contain any two of the following toys) Dirt Boss Hot Shot Override Red Alert Sideways Snarl




Classics (2006)



Hightower, the Constructicon nobody remembers.

Classics product was quite the mixed bag, with "bonus buy" still a factor. Remember those? Anyone else miss this?

Ultra Class Constructicon Devastator (Bonecrusher, Hightower, Long Haul, Scavenger, Decepticon Scrapper)

Masterpiece Masterpiece Starscream

Bonus Value set The Ultimate Battle (Optimus Prime, Megatron, and two of the following Mini-Cons: Deepdive, Longarm, Overcast)




Live-action movie toylines

Hoo boy. Here we go.

Transformers (2007)



Fracture, not intended to be movie product, but ain't no-one complaining.



"The Legacy of Bumblebee", just different enough to make you mad.

The massive popularity explosion thanks to the 2007 Transformers movie led to a massive explosion of movie-tie-in product, and Walmart got a lot of exclusives. This was mostly in the form of multi-packs of unchanged product, thanks to the need to crank out stuff fast, but what really stood out to fans were the two waves of Deluxe-class redecoes of prior-series molds that had originally been slated for release in the 2008 Universe line (see below).

Curiously, there is also a Robot Heroes multi-pack that is incredibly "Generation 1", but was labeled as movie product, so shrug emoji.

Deluxes w/ poster Protoform Optimus Prime Protoform Starscream		Deluxes Wave 1 Big Daddy Divebomb Grindcore Jolt		Deluxes Wave 2 Breakaway Crankcase Decepticon Fracture		Multi-packs Bumblebee vs. Barricade: First Encounter Leader for the Ages (2007 Optimus Prime, 1984 Optimus Prime) The Legacy of Bumblebee (Classic Bumblebee, Movie Bumblebee Premium Series, Animated Bumblebee)
Real Gear Robots 2-packs Brain Scrambler Team (Power Up VT6 / Zoom Out 25X) Mass Media Battle (Speed Dial 800 / Booster X10) Robo Recon Team (Spy Shot 6 / Longview)		"Bonus Value" packs Ultimate Bumblebee (w/ Deluxe Decepticon Brawl & Scorponok) Cyber Stompin' Optimus Prime (w/ Cyber Slammers Bumblebee) Cyber Stompin' Bumblebee (w/ Cyber Slammers Barricade)		Robot Replicas packs Megatron vs. Optimus Prime		Role-play packs Optimus Prime Blaster Optimus Prime Voice Changer (w/ T.E.C.H. Digital Dagger)
Robot Heroes multi-packs Decepticon Sneak Attack (Cliffjumper, Supermetal Finish Megatron, Hologram Mirage, Supermetal Finish Optimus Prime, Skywarp)		The Finale Battle (Battle Damaged Blackout, Battle Damaged Autobot Jazz, Megatron with Metallic Finish, Optimus Prime with AllSpark Power, Autobot Ratchet with AllSpark Power)




Revenge of the Fallen



The Fury of Fearswoop

Come 2009's Revenge of the Fallen line, Walmart went more in on redecos and new "off-screen" characters, once again leaning into multi-toy packs.

Scout Class 2-packs Road Rival Showdown (Beachcomber / Deadlift) Windy City Chase (Slap Dash / Trenchmouth)

Voyager Class Ramjet Skywarp

Multi-packs Constructicon Devastator The Fury of Fearswoop (Fearswoop / Mudflap & Sideswipe) Super Tuner Throwdown (Blowpipe / Sideways)

Leader "Bonus Value" sets Optimus Prime (w/ Autobot Camshaft) Megatron (w/ Autobot Camshaft)




Transformers (2010)



"Bombing Run Battle" set

The subtitle-less Transformers line gave us a bunch of multi-packs, with some pretty out-there decos.

Deluxe/Legends packs Bombing Run Battle (Bumblebee / Grindor)

Desert Ruins Brawl (Decepticon Brawl / Jolt)

Voyager/Deluxe packs Starscream's Assault (Starscream / Mudflap)

The Fury Of Bonecrusher (Ironhide / Bonecrusher)




Dark of the Moon



Bumblebee / Soundwave with Rodimus

With Dark of the Moon, the new hotness was Cyberverse sets, the newest iteration of the Legends Class toys. Of course, what with the "Moon" theming of the film, space exploration also played into set choices.

Deluxe Class Bumblebee Optimus Prime Lunarfire Optimus Prime Track Battle Roadbuster Sideswipe		Bonus Value packs Bumblebee (w/ Starscream) Optimus Prime (w/ Comettor)		Cyberverse multi-packs Battle in the Moonlight (Crankcase, Optimus Prime, Autobot Ratchet) Bumblebee / Soundwave with Rodimus		Ultimate Gift Set (Bumblebee, Crowbar, Optimus Prime, Powerglide, Sideswipe)
"Bonus Value" packs (canceled) Sentinel Prime (w/ Nitro Bumblebee)




The Last Knight



Deluxe Class Autobot Hot Rod.

Walmart's The Last Knight exclusive product was given the subline name "Autobots Unite", though it probably should have been called "The Only Way To Get Hot Rod Toys".

Yes, for reasons unknown, Hot Rod was not available in the normal retail line, with every one of his Last Knight-era toys (save the Tiny Turbo Changer) being exclusive to Walmart... at least, until they started appearing in discount chains.

Legion Class Autobot Hot Rod		Legion Class 2-packs Bumblebee / Autobot Hot Rod Megatron / Berserker Optimus Prime / Ravenspar		Deluxe Class Autobot Hot Rod		One-Step Turbo Changer packs Bumblebee / Hot Rod
Flip N' Change Bumblebee Autobot Hot Rod




Universe (2008)



Skyfall, aka "Skyjack with a less outrage-inducing name"

Universe mostly went heavy on the higher size-classes, with a trio of Ultra-Class toys and another Masterpiece release. Curiously, the Scout-class 2-packs are repackaged Target exclusives from 2007, albeit representing Cybertron-era incarnations of the characters.

Scout Class 2-packs The Data War (Clocker / Hardtop) War of the Waves (Air Raid / Storm Surge)

Ultra Class Hardhead Powerglide Skyfall

Masterpiece Masterpiece Skywarp




Animated

Transformers Animated exclusive content was light. Really, really light. As in "unchanged versions of toys in two-pack form" light.

Deluxe Class 2-packs Battle in Space (Prowl / Megatron) The Revenge of Blackarachnia (Optimus Prime / Blackarachnia)




Power Core Combiners



Over-Run with bonus Sledge

After most stores had long gotten rid of Power Core Combiners (and a few waves of product virtually never hit normal retail shelves), Walmart put out these bonus packs of a 5-piece combiner team with a two-pack taped to the side... all for the whopping price of ten dollars. TEN DOLLARS. These were placed mostly on pallets pretty much wherever there was room in the aisle. There does not appear to be any particular order to who got packed with what, but reported combinations include:

Power Core Combiners Special Value Offers: Crankcase with Destrons plus: Salvage with Bomb-Burst Skyhammer with Airlift Sledge with Throttler Undertow with Waterlog		Double Clutch with Rallybots plus: Huffer with Caliburst Salvage with Bomb-Burst Steelshot with Beacon Undertow with Waterlog Windburn with Darkray		Grimstone with Dinobots plus: Icepick with Chainclaw Leadfoot with Pinpoint Salvage with Bomb-Burst Skyhammer with Airlift Undertow with Waterlog		Mudslinger with Destructicons plus: Darkstream with Razorbeam Icepick with Chainclaw Searchlight with Backwind Smolder with Chopster Skyhammer with Airlift
Over-Run with Stunticons plus: Salvage with Bomb-Burst Sledge with Throttler Steelshot with Beacon		Stakeout with Protectobots plus: Heavytread with Groundspike Huffer with Caliburst Searchlight with Backwind Skyhammer with Airlift		Steamhammer with Constructicons plus: Heavytread with Groundspike Icepick with Chainclaw Leadfoot with Pinpoint Salvage with Bomb-Burst Sledge with Throttler




Rescue Bots



Optimus Prime Rescue Trailer with bonus toys

Weirdly, Rescue Bots was the only one of the "Aligned" series to get Walmart exclusives. And most of that they got were big sets with freebies tossed in, all unchanged from their normal-retail individual releases.

Bonus Packs Electronic Fire Station Prime (w/ Cody Burns & Rescue Hose, and Chief Charlie Burns & Rescue Cutter)

Optimus Prime Rescue Trailer with Bonus Bumblebee & 2 Human Hero Figures (w/ Graham & Cody Burns)

Optimus Prime Race Track Trailer (w/ Flip Racers Bumblebee and Blurr, and bonus Flip Racers Heatwave the Fire-Bot & Morbot)




Vintage



Vintage Starscream



Vintage Scorponok

Vintage started as basically the return of Commemorative Series, only with "retro"-style packaging. Reissues of classic molds, with a few concessions to modern construction, increased durability, and safety standards.

In 2021, Vintage expanded into reissues of Beast Wars toys, seemingly to take advantage of the line's 25th anniversary as well as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (though repeated film production delays kinda missed that mark).

Vintage G1 2018 Bumblebee Devastator (Bonecrusher, Hook, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scavenger, Scrapper) Hot Rod		Outback Swerve Tailgate Starscream		Vintage G1 2019 Frenzy / Laserbeak Gears Optimus Prime Rumble / Ravage Soundwave & Condor Cassette: Buzzsaw Warpath		Vintage G1 2020 Blaster
Vintage Beast Wars 2021 Cheetor Optimus Primal Megatron Rattrap		Vintage Beast Wars 2022 Maximal Cybershark Maximal K-9 Predacon Retrax Scorponok		Terrorsaur Tigatron Maximal Wolfang		Vintage Beast Wars 2023 Iguanus




War for Cybertron Trilogy



Hotlink



Bumblebee, the one everyone wanted.

Somewhat confusingly named, Walmart's War for Cybertron Trilogy toyline is a sub-line of the normal-retail War for Cybertron Trilogy, released to tie into the Netflix War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon series. While (most of) the line was extensively painted with extra grime and flatter, more desaturated values, accuracy to the actual decos in said cartoon may vary. Each wave is meant to tie in with one of the three different "seasons" of the cartoon, though naturally there is a certain amount of overlaps and "catching up" in places... as well as characters who don't appear in the cartoon at all. Whoopsie.

Wave 1 (Siege) Deluxes Chromia Autobot Hound Decepticon Mirage Scrapface Sideswipe		Wave 1 (Siege) multi-packs Hotlink (w/ Heatstroke & Heartburn) Megatron (w/ Captive Lionizer & Captive Pinpointer) Spoiler Pack (Ultra Magnus & Battlefield Rung)		Wave 2 (Earthrise) Deluxes Bumblebee Autobot Elita-1 Autobot Impactor Red Alert Wheeljack		Wave 2 (Earthrise) multi-packs Optimus Prime (w/ Enerax & Sheeldron) Soundwave (w/ Ravage & Laserbeak) Spoiler Pack (Nemesis Prime w/ Giza & Fangtron)
Wave 3 (Kingdom) Deluxes Cheetor Deep Cover Deseeus Army Drone Sparkless Bot		Wave 3 (Kingdom) multi-packs Optimus Primal (w/ Rattrap) Sparkless Seeker (w/ Sparkless Caliburst & Sparkless Singe) Spoiler Pack (Megatron w/ Fossilizer Skelivore)




R.E.D. [Robot Enhanced Design]



R.E.D. Knock Out

Transformers R.E.D. is Hasbro's Transformers entry into the 6" collector's figure market: highly-posable, media-accurate (some more than others) non-transformable action figures, available only at Walmart in the US. These toys often come with multiple accessories and replaceable hands in different poses. The overwhleming majority of the line is taken up with "Generation 1" characters (who arguably need these the least), but there are also a few Beast Wars and Prime characters in the mix as well.

Wave 1 Megatron Optimus Prime Soundwave		Wave 2 Arcee (Prime series) Cheetor		Wave 3 Bumblebee Coronation Starscream		Wave 4 Reformatting Megatron Optimus Primal
Wave 5 Knock Out Ultra Magnus		Wave 6 Galvatron Shockwave		Wave 7 Megatron (Prime series) Optimus Prime (Prime series) Thundercracker

Legacy



Velocitron Override

For Legacy, Walmart started small with just a trio of Beast-era characters, but notably two of them were characters whose original toys were either very hard (or nigh-impossible) to obtain.

The bulk of exclusive content comes in the Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection, which is a pretty loose theme of characters from across the multiverse engaging in Velocitron's biggest race for leadership of the planet, including many characters who don't really fit into a "racing" theme... but on the other hand, it has a number of toys fans have been very keen to get, so, loose theming it is!



Toxitron Collection Toxitron

Announced in March 2023, the Toxitron Collection is once again a lineup of Studio Series and Legacy figures, this time in hardcore nineties, G2-inspired color schemes. While there aren't any new molds compared to its predecessor, most of the characters are based on unreleased figures from G2 (except for the titular Toxitron, who is instead based on a G2 mold planned for Universe). Jazz, Cloudcover and Toxitron (plus Grimlock, accidentally) were revealed first, with the rest of the lineup being leaked in July and released shortly thereafter.

Deluxe Beasts Buzzsaw Autobot Nightprowler Predacon Sandstorm		Velocitron Deluxes Wave 1 Blurr Diaclone Universe Burn Out Diaclone Universe Clampdown		Autobot Cosmos G2 Universe Road Rocket		Velocitron Deluxes Wave 2 Decepticon Crasher G2 Universe Shadowstrip
Velocitron Voyagers Wave 1 Cybertron Universe Override Road Hauler		Velocitron Voyagers Wave 2 Autobot Hot Rod (cancelled)		Velocitron Leaders Wave 1 Robots in Disguise 2000 Universe Scourge		Velocitron Leaders Wave 2 Victory Universe Galaxy Shuttle
Toxitron Deluxes G2 Universe Dead End G2 Universe Autobot Jazz G2 Universe Laser Cycle		G2 Universe Autobot Mirage G2 Universe Sideswipe		Toxitron Voyagers G2 Universe Cloudcover		Toxitron Leaders G2 Universe Grimlock G2 Universe Toxitron

Non-toy Walmart exclusives

Transformers (2007)

• Transformers movie DVD with exclusive bonus DVD Beginnings

Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

• To commemorate their exclusive release of Revenge of the Fallen, Walmart issued a foil gift card with Bumblebee on it. Included with it was a four piece cardboard figure of Bumblebee.




Notes

• A 2009 television ad for Walmart's "Cyber Week" deals featured two moms discussing the "Revenge of the Fallen Ramjet Raptor" figure available at Walmart, only to be interrupted by a "nerd" who gleefully informs them that the "Ramjet raptor figure was added to the Transformers family in 2009," although he personally prefers Skywarp.
  • God dammit. We're totally the new Trekkies, aren't we?
• For the 2011 release of Dark of the Moon, Walmart had exclusive retailer rights to use Sentinel Prime in their signage and marketing as part of their "Power of the Primes" campaign.
• A 2019 Walmart commercial featured a plethora of famous cars (and close-enough wheeled vehicles) from numerous movies and television shows, set to the tune of Gary Numan's 1979 hit song "Cars". Among them was our dear friend Bumblebee, in his design from his 2018 solo film, transforming from robot to Volkswagen Beetle and then back to robot, trundling away with an adorably tiny (for him anyway) bag of groceries.
  • This commercial also includes the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters (with Slimer inside), a Jurassic Park Ford Explorer, and the DeLorean from the Back to the Future... aka the inspirations for Ectotron, JP93 and Gigawatt.
• Since September 2022, Walmart partnered with streamer Paramount+ as a subscription bundle included for the Walmart+ membership.

References

External links

• Official Walmart website
• Walmart at Wikipedia