Transformers: Classics

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

File:Classicslogo.jpg

When the live-action Transformers film was pushed back from November 2006 to July 2007, Hasbro needed to create a filler line to bridge the gap in their product offerings. That bridge was a revisitation of the original Generation 1 characters, dubbed Transformers: Classics. The line featured many original toy designs as well as some Mini-Cons which were originally meant for the tail end of the Cybertron line. A handful of redecoed Legends Class figures rounded out the selection.

Classics has a Japanese counterpart in Henkei! Henkei!, and later gained spiritual successors in the 2008 Universe line, the Generations line and the Reveal the Shield sub-segment of the 2010 Transformers line.

Toys

Legends class

Wave 1

• Fireflight
• Leo Prime
• Perceptor
• Trypticon

Wave 2

• Bumblebee
• Jetfire
• Menasor
• Autobot Whirl

The second wave had very minimal distribution and was effectively only available from online retailers and specialty stores.

Cybertron Collection

These toys were re-releases of past Legends figures in unchanged decos and Classics-style packaging; they were found at KB Toys, Kmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Big Lots and Meijer stores in 2008. It's possible they were already available in 2007—nobody really seemed to care.

• Hot Shot (Legends of Cybertron)
• Leo Prime (Classics Legends)
• Optimus Prime (Legends of Cybertron)
• Soundwave (Legends of Cybertron)

Mini-Cons

Wave 1

• Demolition Team
  • Broadside
  • Sledge
  • Wideload
• Dinobots
  • Knockdown
  • Swoop
  • Terrorsaur
• Night Rescue Team
  • Divebomb
  • Firebot
  • Strongarm

Wave 2

• Clear Skies Team
  • Nightscream
  • Steel Wind
  • Thunderwing
• Dirt Digger Team
  • Dirt Rocket
  • Grindor
  • Oil Slick
• Predator Attack Team
  • Dreadwing
  • Overbite
  • Snarl

Deluxe class

Wave 1

• Astrotrain
• Bumblebee (with the Wave Crusher)
• Rodimus
• Starscream

Wave 2

• Grimlock
• Mirage

Wave 3

• Cliffjumper (with the Wave Crusher)
• Ramjet

Voyager class

Wave 1

• Megatron
• Optimus Prime

Wave 2

• Jetfire

Box sets

• Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The Ultimate Battle (versus two-pack with DVD)
• Ultra Magnus vs Skywarp: Battle for Autobot City (versus two-pack, Target exclusive)
• Constructicon Devastator (Wal-Mart exclusive giftset, includes:)
  • Bonecrusher
  • Hightower
  • Long Haul
  • Scavenger
  • Scrapper

Miscellaneous

• Optimus Prime (20th Anniversary "DVD Edition" redeco with talking base)
• "Commemorative Edition" Soundwave with Laserbeak and Battle Ravage (Generation 1 reissue; uses the Soundblaster version of the mold, which had a remolded door that can hold two cassettes.), Toys"R"Us exclusive

Ravage is called "Battle Ravage" on the back of the box, but simply "Ravage" in the instruction sheet.

• Pepsi Optimus Prime (Hasbro release of Pepsi Convoy), available as a prize for winners of the Pepsi-sponsored Transform Your Summer contest and as a Hasbro Toy Shop "exclusive"
• Masterpiece Starscream (G1-colored redeco), Walmart exclusive

BotCon 2007 exclusives

• "Games of Deception" boxset, featuring:
  • Bug Bite (with Tidal Wave)
  • Dreadwind
  • Thundercracker
  • Dirge
  • Thrust
• Mirage (clear version) as a "Primus package" freebie
• Springer & Huffer set
• Alpha Trion with Beta Maxx & Weirdwolf set

Non-US market Hasbro releases

• Bumblebee/Astrotrain two-pack (Deluxe Bumblebee and Astrotrain on a new, shared cardback)
• Rodimus/Starscream two-pack (Deluxe Rodimus and Starscream on a new, shared cardback)
• Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus Twin Pack (Voyager Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus from the "Battle for Autobot City" two-pack in a new box similar to the Soundwave reissue)
• Jetfire and Grimlock Twin Pack (Voyager Jetfire and Deluxe Grimlock in a new box similar to the Soundwave reissue)
• Optimus Prime (from the "Ultimate Battle" two-pack, on a new, individual cardback)
• Megatron (from the "Ultimate Battle" two-pack, on a new, individual cardback)

Fiction

Although no cartoons or comic books were planned for the line by Hasbro, Fun Publications picked up the ball for their Official Transformers Fan Club Magazine comic, making Classics the basis of their 2007 story-arc, "Crossing Over". The story uses the old Marvel Generation 1 comic as backstory, but disregards the Marvel UK material and the Generation 2 comic that followed, taking things in a new direction instead. The Classics fiction has since been expanded by several exclusive on-line prose stories, single issue comics available through the club or at BotCon, and through Bios available on the club website or in the magazine.

A brief timeline of the Classics universe includes:

• The New World - on-line prose
• Revelations - 6 part story from 2006 OTFCC comic (only the very end takes place in the Classicverse)
• Crossing Over - 6 part story from 2007 OTFCC comic
• Games of Deception - BotCon 2007 convention comic
• Withered Hope - on-line prose (only the epilogue takes place in the Classicverse)
• Cheap Shots - one-time comic special, available through the club
• At Fight's End - on-line prose
• Invasion - BotCon 2012 convention comic

Also of note is that, after "Crossing Over", Classics Cliffjumper embarks on his own adventures in the Shattered Glass universe.

What counts as Classics?

The term "Classics" is universally accepted and used by both fans and Hasbro, but it appears with surprising irregularity around the toys themselves. The first year of packaging only labeled them "Transformers" (with the tag line "Robots in Disguise" occasionally being mistaken for a secondary title), with "Classic" appearing solely as a prefix to some of the size classes, such as "Classic Deluxe" or "Classic Voyager".

On the other hand, the photo gallery of the toy line included on the Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The Ultimate Battle DVD invited its viewers to "check out all the awesome TRANSFORMERS Classics figures!". Furthermore, Hasbro's official Transformers website prominently featured the name "Classics" in multiple places at the time, including a "Transformers Classics" overview page. The accompanying toy list included almost all the toys listed above, explicitly identifying assortments such as "Classic Legends" and "Classic Mini-Con 3-packs" by name.

Some toys, such as the Magnus/Skywarp two-pack, have no "Classic" label at all. The one unifying factor was the distinctive design of the packaging, which spread to even the Soundwave re-release. This has become the commonly-accepted delineator of the Classics line, which brings the following toys into the fold even though they don't self-identify as such:

• Prime vs. Megatron Ultimate Battle set
• Magnus vs. Skywarp Battle for Autobot City set
• 20th Anniversary Prime redeco
• Mini-Cons (the Mini-Con sets have been referred to as Classics toys on Hasbro's website, but not on the packaging)
• Toys "R" Us exclusive reissue Soundwave
• BotCon 2007 exclusives
• Pepsi Optimus Prime
• Optimus Prime & Ultra Magnus (Asian market exclusive two-pack, 2007)
• Jetfire & Grimlock (Asian market exclusive two-pack, 2007)
• Masterpiece Starscream Hasbro release

Complicating things further, Classics would later be subsumed by the relaunched Universe franchise (which also engulfed Robot Heroes). The line replaced the defining Classics packaging style with the new Universe design. Only a small "Classic Series" label on their packaging maintained the connection to the previous Classics toys and separated them from other toys in the Universe line, labeled "Beast Wars Series", "Armada Series" or "Cybertron Series". However, as the line progressed, "Classic Series" was eventually replaced with "Generation 1 Series", which appears to have been simply an attempt at more consistent labeling.

The 2008 Universe toy line and the 2010 Generations toyline are sometimes informally referred to as Classics 2.0 and Classics 3.0.

Notes

• Several other toys were planned for Classics, but never made it past the concept or prototype stage. Those include:
  • Concept art for Cosmos was shown at BotCon 2006. The design was rejected because the higher-ups at Hasbro felt the alternate mode was too "boring". The art was later printed as part of the supplementary material in the Stormbringer trade paperback collection. The design itself was later revisited for the "Cybertron Heroes" segment of the Titanium Series, but ultimately never made it past the hardcopy prototype stage due to the cancellation of the Titanium Series.
  • A Voyager-sized Soundwave was first hinted in an alleged list of the tentative Classics line-up. Years later, Don Figueroa unveiled his unused design artwork for an SUV-esque Soundwave.
  • The aforementioned tentative line-up also listed a Deluxe-sized Optimus Prime without a trailer and a version with a trailer at the Voyager price point; however, it appears the decision was eventually made to upscale Optimus to Voyager size instead. Don Figueroa's control drawings for the Deluxe version were leaked before the Classics line was even released at retail. A gray model prototype was later shown as part of an interview with TakaraTomy's staff in Transformers Generations 2009 vol. 1. It's unclear whether the trailer ever made it past the early planning stage before the decision was made to uspscale Optimus to Voyager size.