Robot Heroes (toyline)

The name or term "Robot Heroes" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Robot Heroes (disambiguation).

An army of cute, one thousand strong.

Robot Heroes was the Transformers entry into Hasbro's series of adorable, little-kid-friendly lines of characters from popular franchises in the late 2000s.

Each Robot Heroes figure is approximately two inches tall and constructed of soft, pliable PVC plastic. The characters are sculpted in a super deformed style, with exaggerated limbs and smiling expressions (well, for those characters with mouths). Articulation is typically limited to neck and shoulder swivels (for characters with conventional humanoid bodies, at least). It is notable that the Transformers Robot Heroes figures are more dynamically posed than most such figures from other franchises.

The line is effectively part of a multi-property brand, although it has no uniform name or logo across its many incarnations, which includes Star Wars (sold under numerous names, eventually settling on Galactic Heroes) , Marvel Comics (Superhero Squad), Indiana Jones (Adventure Heroes), Toy Story (Toy Box Heroes) and -of course- G.I. Joe (Combat Heroes). In fact, Robot Heroes itself was sold under three different franchises within the Transformers brand (though for simplicity's sake we treat it as a singular line rather than a size class within those lines on the individual characters' toy/merchandise listings).

IDW Publishing had announced plans to launch a tie-in comic based around the toyline, but only ended up releasing a single hardcover children's book.

Transformers (2007)

The first three waves of Robot Heroes releases featured Generation 1 characters only, even though they were already branded as part of the first live-action movie toyline. From the fourth wave onwards, the focus shifted to actual movie characters.

Two-packs

Wave 1 (Generation 1 Series) Grimlock / Shockwave Rodimus / Insecticon Mirage / Starscream Optimus Prime / Ravage		Wave 2 (Generation 1 Series) Bumblebee / Soundwave Ultra Magnus / Megatron		Wave 3 (Generation 1 Series) Autobot Jazz / Thundercracker Optimus Prime / Unicron		Wave 4 (Movie Series) Bumblebee / Barricade Autobot Jazz / Decepticon Frenzy Autobot Ratchet / Megatron Optimus Prime / Blackout		G1 Optimus & Ravage Movie Bumblebee & Barricade
Wave 5 (Movie Series) Armor Bumblebee / Starscream Ironhide / Bonecrusher Protoform Jazz / Decepticon Brawl Optimus Prime / Scorponok		Wave 6 (Movie Series) Ironhide / Dispensor Allspark Bumblebee / Starscream Battle Jazz / Megatron Optimus Prime / Barricade

Exclusives

Best Buy Transformers Two-Disc Special Edition (includes Optimus Prime with Battle Damage & Cliffjumper)

Walmart Decepticon Sneak Attack (Generation 1 Cliffjumper, Megatron with Supermetal Finish, Hologram Mirage, Optimus Prime with Supermetal Finish, Skywarp) The Final Battle (Movie Battle Damaged Blackout, Battle Damaged Autobot Jazz, Megatron with Metallic Finish, Optimus Prime with AllSpark Power, Autobot Ratchet with AllSpark Power)

Universe (2008)

The 2008 Universe-branded Robot Heroes releases eschewed the themed waves for a mix of generations, as the rest of the Universe line did. Unfortunately, many sets would not be released in the US, or anywhere for that matter...

Two-packs

Wave 1 Cheetor / Blackarachnia (Beast Wars Series) Autobot Hound / Blitzwing (Generation 1 Series) Rattrap / Megatron (Beast Wars Series) Sunstreaker / Galvatron (Generation 1 Series)		Wave 2 Arcee / Decepticon Rumble (Generation 1 Series) Rhinox / Waspinator (Beast Wars Series) Optimus Primal / Predacon Tarantulas (Beast Wars Series)		Wave 3 Autobot Blaster / Thrust (Generation 1 Series) Ironhide / Kickback (Generation 1 Series) Silverbolt / Megatron (Beast Wars Series)		Wave 4 Cheetor / Tankor (Beast Machines Series) Perceptor / Hardshell (Generation 1 Series) Snarl / Sharkticon (Generation 1 Series)		Waspinator & Rhinox Cheetor & Tankor Optimus & Megatron (canceled)
Wave 5* Ricochet / Predaking (Generation 1 Series) Tigatron / Inferno (Beast Wars Series)		Wave 6 (Canceled) Optimus Primal / Jetstorm (Beast Machines Series) Optimus Prime / Megatron (Robots in Disguise Series) Prowl / Laserbeak (Generation 1 Series) Victory Saber / Dessaras (Generation 1 Series)

Wave 5 was only released in Singapore, Australia, Hungary, Germany and the UK.

Revenge of the Fallen

Naturally, the Revenge of the Fallen-branded Robot Heroes went all-in on figures of characters from the first two movies. This series also introduced figures of various characters in their alternate modes, mainly for major characters who already had numerous robot-mode figures already. Some of the multi-packs even included significantly larger figures for the more titanic film characters.

Two-packs

Wave 1 Bumblebee / Long Haul Mudflap / Rampage Optimus Prime / Blackout

Sideswipe / Sideways Autobot Skids / Megatron Autobot Springer / Starscream

Wave 2 Ironhide / Mixmaster Jolt / Ravage

Wave 3 Chromia / Megatron Ratchet / Barricade

Sideswipe & Sideways

"Battle Scenes" multi-packs

Wave 1 Battle for the AllSpark (Decepticon Brawl, Bumblebee, Megatron, Optimus Prime, Autobot Ratchet, Sam Witwicky, Starscream)

Battle of the Fallen (The Fallen, Ironhide, Megatron, Jetpower Optimus Prime)

Wave 2 Desert Devastation (Constructicon Devastator, Mudflap, Autobot Skids, Captain William Lennox)

Shanghai Shootout (Demolishor, Optimus Prime, Sideswipe, Sideways, Autobot Skids & Mudflap)

Board game

Optimus Prime vs. Megatron

Blind-pack series

Numerous early Robot Heroes were re-issued in new, "blindpacked" packaging in international regions such as Malaysia (appearing in 7-11s there in December 2008) and the United Kingdom (appearing in Tesco stores in June 2009). They were never released in North America, however. The figures sold in single-packs, as opposed to the traditional double-pack, and are sealed within an opaque baggie, rather than a blister card. Each figure comes with a short bio card, and a catalogue advertising the available figures. They are deliciously cheap, retailing at either £1.00 or £1.99 (where the standard two-packs have customarily retailed at £5.99, rising to £6.99 for Revenge of the Fallen).

The blindpacked range includes all 24 figures from the original four waves of the Robot Heroes line, comprising a mixture of Generation 1 and movie characters. Somewhat surprisingly, the line also includes the figures from Wal-Mart's "Decepticon Sneak Attack" box-set, with the exception of "Supermetal Finish" Megatron, and even more inexplicably, the movie Cliffjumper and "Battle Damaged" Optimus Prime figures previously available only as DVD exclusives at Best Buy.

Bizarrely (yet rather awesomely), the Rodimus figure is sold under the character's original name of "Hot Rod".