Kronoform

Following Diakron, the Kronoform line was an unsuccessful attempt by Takara to market various Diaclone and Microman toys in North America which had not been licensed by Hasbro for The Transformers franchise.

Also included in the line were "Time Machine" transforming watch toys, many of which were taken from Takara's Watch-Q toyline in Japan. Three of the watches, Autoceptor, Deceptor, and Kaltor were released in The Transformers packaging, with a smaller Kronoform logo also printed on the boxes.

The Robot Time Machine (as Autobot) and Scorpia toys would later see official releases as Transformers in the US by Takara during the Transformers: Generation 2 toyline in 1993.

This is the Kronoform Robotic World. The originators are protectors of the universe directed by Diakron Commanders.
The Terminators are evil robots attempting to enforce their rule. Create your Kronoform Robot World with this space age concept.The entire Kronoform story

Toy Range (Incomplete)

The following list covers all Kronoform releases that were released or later rereleased as Transformers toys or otherwise inspired Transformers concepts. Kronoform molds with no Transformers relation are generally not listed as they fall outside the purview of this site.

1983 - The Robot Time Machine

Oops! all wingwolves.

Kronoform's idiosyncratic first year consisted of a single toy: Kronoform, the Robot Time Machine. Originally released in Takara's Watch-Q as simply "Watch Robo" and rereleased in Micro Change as "MC-06 Watch Robo," Kronoform was marketed not only as a watch-to-robot transformer but as a six-changer ("and more!") with some very... creative modes, as famously immortalized in its commercial. This toy would go on to inspire a flurry of Transformers characters, mostly in the pages of the Facebook incarnation of Ask Vector Prime.

• Silver deco: The toy's primary colorway. Released unchanged in Generation 2 as Autobot, later repurposed as Vector Prime in Ask Vector Prime and again as Azimuth in the pages of IDW Publishing's comics.
• Gold deco: Not released in Transformers but did later inspire the appearance of another Azimuth.
• Blue deco: Not released in Transformers but did later inspire the character Ephemeris in Ask Vector Prime.
• Black deco: Not released in Transformers but did later inspire the character Meantime in Dreamwave's comics.

1984 - Robotic World

1984 saw Kronoform explode in size as it took on Diakron's duties as Takara's "miscellaneous" toyline for the North American market.

Diaclone refugees

The Diaclone-derived toys that made up the bulk of Kronoform's second year were recast as the central players in what could charitably be called Kronoform's "story" as they were carved up into the heroic "Originators" and the villainous "Terminators." While none of them made their way into The Transformers, some have inspired later toys or fiction-only characters.

Pilot mini-figures

• Presumably the enigmatic "Diakron Commanders", these unnamed accessories were slight retools of Diaclone's heroic Dianaut pilots to replace their foot magnets with cheaper inert metals. Used as inspiration for the toy characters Dia, Cline, and Diac, as well as the fiction-only character Chifumi Takahashi.

Originators

• Multi-Force - Originally the Diaclone Gats Blocker toy and pretty much a straight reissue of Diakron's Multi-Force 14 Robot. Used as inspiration for an unnamed background comic character.

Terminators

• Attackon - Originally the Diaclone Dia-Attacker toy. Used as inspiration for the original form of Exarchon, arch-villain of the 2019-2022 IDW comics.
• Wargon - Originally the Diaclone Warudaros toy. Used as inspiration for the Storm Rider toy.

Time Machines

Kronoform-the-toy, now renamed simply "Robot Time Machine," returned at the head of a whole subline of watch-themed toys sourced from Watch-Q and/or Micro Change.

Transformers-relevant releases include:

• Robot Time Machine again - see above.
• Scorpia - Converts from watch to scorpion. Originally released as "Scorpio" in Watch-Q. Released unchanged (up to and including her name) in Generation 2.
• Autoceptor, Deceptor and Kaltor - rereleased the following year with combination Kronoform/The Transformers branding. See below for more.

1985 - Joint Transformers releases

Kronoform's final year saw the line pipe toys straight into Transformers proper via rebranded packaging, following a similar trajectory to adjacent European lines such as Trasformer and Joustra's iteration of Diaclone. Rather unsurprisingly all three toys to be rechristened Transformers characters were unchanged from their Kronoform releases the previous year.

• Autoceptor - Converts from watch to robot. Seemingly original to Kronoform, unchanged from his original Kronoform release.
• Deceptor - Converts from watch to robot. Seemingly original to Kronoform, unchanged from his original Kronoform release.
• Kaltor - Converts from wrist calculator to robot. Originally released in Watch-Q as "Watch Robo Calculator," unchanged from his original Kronoform release.

1986 - Maxitrek

The only known Kronoform toy solicited for 1986 was a potential fourth Transformers/Kronoform figure named "Maxitrek." The figure would have been a new mold watch Transformer with a motorized walking gimmick via a small wind-up motor.

Fiction

The Terminators unleashed the chronal bioweapon Hytherion against the Originators in their war at the end of time as the Big Crunch loomed in Cymond 772.0 Beta. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/06/15

Notes

• Kronoform's pilot figures were not distributed with any particular regard for the toyline's factions. What that means for the Diakron Commanders, who knows.

External links

• Kronoform the Robot Time Machine commercial at YouTube
• Article on the Watch-Q toyline at Soundwaves Oblivion