Transformers: Generations (toyline)

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

Insignia-like logo used on packaging for late 2014-onward Generations toys, in combination with the new generic Transformers logo.

Transformers: Generations is a line of figures launched in 2010. Like the earlier 2006 Classics and 2008 Universe lines, along with much of the 2010 Transformers line, it aims to recreate older Transformers characters as new toys and celebrate the history of the brand. The line lapsed after the end of 2011, but was relaunched in mid-2012 and has run continuously ever since.

The Generations line can be divided into three "eras", each of which saw a new logo and new packaging designs.

Original line (2010–2011)

The initial Generations line featured only Deluxe Class toys, and included both characters from the concurrently released War for Cybertron video game, and “modernised G1” figures in the spirit of the previous Classics and Universe toylines. In a first for the franchise, the Drift toy and its Blurr retool were based directly on designs created by Guido Guidi for IDW's Generation 1 comic universe. The earlier waves of figures sported advertising for The Hub or War for Cybertron.

Deluxe Class (general retail)

Wave 1 Cybertronian Bumblebee Autobot Drift Cybertronian Optimus Prime Thrust		Wave 2 Darkmount Cybertronian Megatron		Wave 3 Red Alert Cybertronian Soundwave		Wave 4 Blurr Dirge		Deluxe Cybertronian Megatron
Wave 5 Cliffjumper Skullgrin Thunderwing		Wave 6 Scourge Sergeant Kup		Wave 7 Thundercracker Wheeljack		Wave 8 Warpath
Wave 9 Junkheap Sky Shadow

ToysЯUs and online retailers like Entertainment Earth and BigBadToyStore received special cases containing only Cybertronian Optimus Prime and Cybertronian Bumblebee as a promotional tie in for the release of the War for Cybertron video game before the general release of the Generations toyline.

Asian market exclusives ("GDO")

Top: Asian market Deluxe packaging
Bottom: North American ToysЯUs packaging

In mid-2012, Hasbro's Asian division released a variety of redecos and retools in their markets such as China, Singapore and the Philippines. This lineup, which featured the same general packaging design as the 2010–2011 figures, introduced the first non-Deluxe toys in the line (as Generations had been limited to the Deluxe price point up to that point). Western online retailers referred to these figures under the mysterious term "GDO" (which was later revealed to be an abbreviation for "Global Development Organization").

Hasbro's United States and Canadian divisions later decided to release all these figures in North America as well, as a massive batch of ToysЯUs exclusives for the 2012 holiday shopping season. Strangely, while the Asian market versions were released in standard English-only packaging, the versions available in the United States and Canada came in bilingual English/Chinese packaging. Also, the Deluxes came packaged in their alternate modes, whereas the Asian versions were packaged in robot mode.

The Leader Class figures were only released in Generations packaging in Hasbro's Asian markets. While their United States releases were canceled, they were released in Canada, albeit in bilingual Dark of the Moon packaging with additional Movie Trilogy Series labels for whatever reason.

Legend Class Bluestreak Hoist Motorbreath Thundercracker		Scout Class Decepticon Brawl Dead End Laserbeak Sandstorm		Deluxe Class Cliffjumper Autobot Springer Swerve Wheelie		Voyager Class Protectobot Hot Spot Megatron Powerdive Brawn (canceled)		Voyager Class "Protectobot Hot Spot", not named "Hot Zone" unlike previous toys.
Leader Class Ironhide Starscream

Fall of Cybertron and Thrilling 30 (2012–2014)

Fall of Cybertron (2012–2013)

After a six-month hiatus, the Generations line was relaunched mid-2012, starting out the Fall of Cybertron toyline with eight Deluxe Class figures. The line continued into 2013, with Legends and Voyager Classes being introduced too. Unlike the previous Legends Class, now absorbed into Cyberverse under the name 'Legion Class', these new products consisted of two-packs of data disc Deployer figures designed to interact with the Voyager Class Soundwave mold.

Legends Class (Series 01)

Wave 1 #001 Ravage & Decepticon Rumble #002 Decepticon Frenzy & Ratbat

Wave 2 #003 Eject & Ramhorn #004 Autobot Rewind & Sunder

Legends Ramhorn Deluxe Class (Series 01) Another line, another Prime. And Rotorstorm gets the last laugh. Wave 1 #001 Optimus Prime #002 Autobot Jazz #003 Shockwave Wave 2 #004 Onslaught #005 Swindle #006 Vortex #007 Decepticon Brawl #008 Blast Off The five Combaticons introduced in wave 2 combine into Decepticon Bruticus. Wave 3 #009 Kickback #010 Starscream #011 Sideswipe #012 Ultra Magnus #013 Air Raid Wave 4 #014 Impactor #015 Twintwist #016 Autobot Topspin #017 Roadbuster #018 Autobot Whirl The five Wreckers introduced in wave 4 combine into Ruination. Voyager Class (Series 01) This time, I brought backup! Wave 1 #001 Soundwave with Laserbeak #002 Soundblaster with Buzzsaw Wave 2 #003 Grimlock #004 Autobot Blaster with Steeljaw Thrilling 30 (2013–2014) Like most Deluxe Class figures, Trailcutter was available with a comic book in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Asia (left). Packaging formats for Canada and Latin America (center) as well as Europe (right) were different and lacked a comic book. In mid-2013, Generations was rebranded to become part of Hasbro's Thrilling 30 anniversary campaign, which saw the line return to the Classics/Universe-style updates of older characters. This refresh was notable for introducing close ties with IDW Publishing's Transformers material – many toys were based on designs from comics, and for the US market, every Deluxe figure was packaged with a comic issue. The format of Legends Class was also changed, now including a vaguely Cyberverse Commander-sized figure with a smaller, triple-changing partner. Thrilling 30 saw two new size classes introduced to the line – 2013 featured the huge Titan Class Metroplex figure, whilst 2014 debuted Leader Class with Jetfire. For 2013, toys featured packaging art by Clayton Crain and the Deluxe pack-in comics were Spotlight issues. Continuing into 2014, the included issues tied into the "Dark Cybertron" story and Phil Jimenez, who helped plan and draw that event, took over package art duties. In Europe, only the first wave of the Legends and Deluxe price points was ever officially released, exclusive to Toys"R"Us. However, several UK retailers were later used as a dumping ground for all the Voyagers and the last two waves of the Legends as gray imports in US (Voyagers) or Canadian/Latin American (Legends) packaging. Legends Class (Series 02) Still just a miner, but hey, check out this bug I found! Wave 3 #001 Optimus Prime & Autobot Roller #002 Bumblebee & Blazemaster Wave 4 #003 Starscream & Waspinator #004 Megatron & Chop Shop Wave 5 #005 Swerve & Flanker #006 Autobot Cosmos & Payload Wave 6 #007 Skrapnel & Reflector #008 Tailgate & Groundbuster Wave 7 #009 Acid Storm & Venin #010 Autobot Gears & Autobot Eclipse In the United States, the wave 7 figures were released about a month later than the wave 8 figures. Wave 8 #018 Nemesis Prime & Spinister #019 Cliffjumper & Suppressor The numbering of the Legends Class figures skips the numbers 11-17. The reason for this is unknown; however, the names of two more planned two-packs, "Brawn & Mudslinger" and "Gnaw & Gnash", were leaked to the public and might have been canceled. Deluxe Class (Series 02) Liquor bottle accessories sold separately. Can be repurposed as gender-swapped Thrust. Wave 5 #001 Trailcutter with Spotlight: Trailcutter #002 Orion Pax with Spotlight: Orion Pax #003 Megatron with Spotlight: Megatron #004 Bumblebee with Spotlight: Bumblebee Wave 6 #005 Hoist (retool of #001 Trailcutter) with Spotlight: Hoist #006 Thundercracker with Spotlight: Thundercracker Wave 7 #007 Dreadwing with Robots in Disguise #17 #008 Waspinator with Robots in Disguise #19 #009 Autobot Skids with More than Meets the Eye #22 #010 Goldfire with Robots in Disguise #18 Wave 8 #011 Armada Starscream with Dark Cybertron #1 #012 Skywarp with Dark Cybertron #3 #013 Mini-Con Assault Team (Heavytread, Runway, and Windshear; merge to form Centuritron) with Dark Cybertron #4 #014 Autobot Scoop with Holepunch and Caliburst and with Dark Cybertron #2 Wave 9 #015 Tankor with Dark Cybertron #6 #017 Rattrap with Dark Cybertron #5 Wave 10 #016 Crosscut with Dark Cybertron #7 #018 Jhiaxus with Dark Cybertron #10 #019 Windblade with Dark Cybertron #8 #020 Nightbeat with Dark Cybertron #9 Wave 11 #021 Arcee with Dark Cybertron #12 #022 Chromia with Dark Cybertron #11 Voyager Class (Series 02) You could redeco me into anybody and please anyone. File:TFGenerations Voyager Sky-Byte.jpg Delicious subway cake was budgeted out. Wave 3 #001 Autobot Springer #002 Blitzwing Wave 4 #003 Sandstorm Wave 5 #004 Decepticon Doubledealer #005 Rhinox Wave 6 #006 Autobot Whirl Wave 7 #007 Sky-Byte #008 Roadbuster Wave 8 #009 Brainstorm Leader Class (Series 01) Right when you thought your wallet was safe... #001 Jetfire Titan Class Come oooon, Trypticon! Metroplex (with Scamper) Exclusives If you think this is huge, wait until you see his aftermarket prices... Decepticon Bruticus, who is composed of: Swindle Vortex Decepticon Brawl Onslaught Blast Off The Bruticus gift set was exclusive to Hasbro Toy Shop and San Diego Comic-Con 2012. Metroplex (redeco of Metroplex with two guns and twelve miniature figures of Orion Pax, Megatron, Bumblebee, Thundercracker, Trailcutter, and Hoist) This version of Metroplex was exclusive to Hasbro Toy Shop and San Diego Comic-Con 2013. It also doesn't sport a Generations logo anywhere on its packaging or instructions. Metroplex (Asian version) This version of Metroplex was exclusive to Animation-Comic-Game Hong Kong and is basically a slightly altered version of the Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic Con version, down to nearly identical packaging. The twelve miniature figures are cast in differently colored plastic. "Ultimate Gift Set" contains: Combat Hero Optimus Prime (redeco of Reveal the Shield Deluxe Class Optimus Prime) Autobot Jazz (redeco of Deluxe Class Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz) Thundercracker (Legends Class) Motorbreath (Legends Class) The Ultimate Gift Set was released at general retail in Hasbro's Asian markets, and was also made available as a "shared exclusive" between various online retailers in the United States, including the online storefronts of major retailers such as Walmart and Toys"R"Us). "Specialist: Decepticons" contains: Astrotrain (redeco of Classics Astrotrain) Galvatron (redeco of Universe Galvatron) Octane (redeco of Universe Tankor) "Specialist: Autobots" contains: Mirage (redeco of Classics Mirage) Ironhide (redeco of Universe Ironhide) Hound (redeco of Universe Autobot Hound) "Autobots Warriors" contains: Ratchet (redeco of Universe Autobot Ratchet) Kup (redeco of Generations Sergeant Kup) Perceptor (redeco of Reveal the Shield Perceptor) The above three gift sets were exclusive to Hasbro Asia markets. Prime Wars Trilogy (2015–) Combiner Wars (2015–2016) Like most Deluxe Class figures, Swindle was available with a comic book in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Asia (left), and with a character card in Canada and Latin America (center) as well as Europe (right). For 2015, the line was given another subline imprint titled Combiner Wars, which saw Deluxe, Voyager, and some Legends figures able to form combiner robots. The format for Legends Class was changed once again, dropping the small partner figures of the Thrilling 30 line. The tradition of including IDW comic books with U.S. Deluxes continued, whilst Legends, Voyagers, Leaders, and non-U.S. Deluxes gained collector cards featuring art taken either from the Transformers Legends mobile game, or simply the toy's package art (which doubles as the comic book cover for the U.S. version). However, due to production schedule problems, Deluxe wave 1's initial U.S. release featured the collector cards. Along with the concurrently released Robots in Disguise line, Combiner Wars also heralded the return of multilingual packaging to the United States market, now in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. The sole exception to this was the Deluxe figures packaged with comic books, which retained English-only packaging. Meanwhile, Combiner Wars marked the end of the Toys"R"Us exclusivity for Generations figures that had been in effect in several European markets since the launch of the original line in 2010 (which had usually resulted in only one wave per assortment ever being released in Europe). Not only did availability and distribution improve tremendously across the board—the Combiner Wars figures were even released in European markets where Generations figures had previously never been available at all! At the same time, European packaging reduced the number of languages from thirteen to a mere four (English, French, German and Spanish), resulting in a less cluttered packaging design. After the general retail assortments had run their course, the line was extended for several months via giftsets of complete teams featuring redecos and retools, referred to as "Collection Packs" in official promotional materials. Those sets were typically "shared exclusives" between online retailers and the online storefronts of "big box" retailers, though they were also available at brick and mortar retail in several non-U.S. markets. Titans Return (2016–) Unlike Combiner Wars, all Titans Return Deluxe Class figures such as Chromedome were only available with a character card everywhere in the world. Depicted left is the packaging version available in most markets (including the U.S.), depicted right is the packaging version available in Europe. Mid-2016 introduced a new subline imprint, Titans Return (initially touted under the early working name Titan Wars), with its own new line-wide gimmick: all Deluxe, Voyager and Leader Class figures include a Headmaster-style Titan Master partner, all of which are completely interchangeable. To compensate for the size differences, Leader class figures feature large helmets that cover the Titan Masters, while Voyager class figures have spring-loaded pop-out adornments to "bulk up" their heads. Each Deluxe and Voyager figure's hand-held weapons can transform and combine to form a "turret" that can be manned by any Titan Master, and which can attach to the base modes of the Leader Class figures. Additionally, a new Titan Master assortment was introduced, each including a single Titan Master, plus a small vehicle or beast. These can transform into a vehicle/beast for the Titan Master to ride, a second vehicle/beast formed by combining with the Titan Master, and a 5mm weapon for a larger figure to wield. Legends Class figures are predominantly Mini-Cassette characters, and can transform into both a vehicle and a blocky PDA that can fit inside Leader Class figures such as Blaster. Though never officially addressed by Hasbro, Deluxes no longer included comic books in any market, thus eliminating the need for English-only packaging entirely, leaving only two types of multilingual packaging, one for Europe and the other for all non-European markets. However, the character cards included with all figures (except for Titan Masters) now featured Tech Spec stats on their back. Voting for the second Titan Class figure was conducted via Facebook, with fans choosing between a remake of Omega Supreme, Trypticon, or Scorponok. Trypticon won. "GDO" Cyber Series figures Three years after a large batch of redecoes and retools had been created for Hasbro's Asian markets (with North American Toys"R"Us branches later picking them up as exclusives), Hasbro's Global Development Organization ("GDO") division was given a budget to design entirely new toys. Taking a cue from the tail-end Beast Hunters Deluxe and Voyager Class figures (with the Deluxes having ended up being available only in international markets such as Asia and Europe not by design but by circumstance), most of these figures were based on smaller figures from the 2010 Transformers Reveal the Shield Legends Class, Transformers: Prime Cyberverse Legion Class, Generations Thrilling 30 Legends Class and 2015 Robots in Disguise Legion Class ranges, with the designs upsized to roughly Deluxe or Voyager size, keeping the engineering mostly unchanged. These figures were not only released in Hasbro's Asian markets in 2015, but also in Latin American markets. Cyber Battalion Series Optimus Prime Bumblebee Grimlock Megatron Starscream Cyber Commander Series Optimus Prime Bumblebee Platinum Edition Japan TakaraTomy initially had Transformers United as their counterpart to the first phase of the Generations line. In 2012, with the revival of the Hasbro Generations line, TakaraTomy decided to use the same name for their successor to the United toyline. Similarly to United, many of the figures have been given "premium" paint jobs, being coated in shiny paint and featuring numerous additional paint details. Japanese Generations ended roughly halfway through the Hasbro's Thrilling 30 assortment, and subsequent Generations molds were released in Japan under a new banner, Transformers Legends. The "Combiner Wars" toys were released under the Unite Warriors toy line, which featured five-packs of the Combiner Wars combiner teams. Sling, Wildrider, and Groove (redecos of Hasbro's Quickslinger and Brake-Neck and an original mold, respectively) are included instead of Alpha Bravo, Offroad, and Rook, and Blast Off was similarly replaced with a new mold. The deco on Unite Warriors toys focuses primarily on accuracy to the Generaton 1 cartoon compared to Hasbro's more G1 toy-accurate approach. Also, every Legends mold released between Skrapnel and Groove was redecoed, retooled to have a circular sticker indent, and drafted into the Adventure Series toy line. Starting from Shockwave, they came back in the Legends toy line. Only in Japan, baby. (So far.) Wave 1 (December 28, 2012) TG-01 Optimus Prime TG-02 Autobot Jazz Wave 2 (January 26, 2013) TG-03 Decepticon Blast Off TG-04 Decepticon Vortex TG-05 Brawl TG-06 Swindle TG-07 Onslaught The five Combaticons introduced in wave 2 combine into Bruticus. Wave 3 (February 23, 2013) TG-08 Kickback TG-09 Starscream TG-10 Sideswipe TG-11 Ultra Magnus TG-12 Air Raid Wave 4 (March 23, 2013) TG-13 Soundwave (with Laserbeak) TG-14 Soundblaster (with Buzzsaw) Wave 5 (April 27, 2013) TG-15 Autobot Datadisc Set (Eject, Ramhorn, Rewind, and Sundor) TG-16 Decepticon Datadisc Set (Frenzy, Ratbat, Ravage, and Rumble) Wave 6 (May 25, 2013) TG-17 Blaster (with Steeljaw) TG-18 Skywarp Wave 7 (June 29, 2013) TG-19 Grimlock TG-20 Ratbat Wave 8 (August 31, 2013) TG-21 Springer TG-22 Blitzwing Wave 9 (September 28, 2013) TG-23 Metroplex TG-24 Optimus Prime & Bumblebee (with Blazemaster and Roller) Wave 10 (October 26, 2013) TG-25 Orion Pax VS Megatronus Wave 11 (November 30, 2013) TG-26 Bumblebee Goldbug TG-27 Trailbreaker & Hoist Wave 12 (December 28, 2013) TG-28 Megatron & Starscream (with Chop Shop and Waspinator) TG-29 Sandstorm Wave 13 (February 22, 2014) TG-30 Waspinator TG-31 Rhinox Wave 14 (March 23, 2014) TG-32 Mini-Con Assault Team TG-33 Armada Starscream Exclusives Magnificus (released by e-HOBBY in September 2013) Fireblast Grimlock (released in BicCamera and Kojima stores on March 29, 2014 ) Thundercracker (released in Edition, Yodobashi Camera, Yamada Denki, and Best Denki stores on March 29, 2014) Notes I don't belong here, bitches! During 2010, clicking "War for Cybertron Toys" on Hasbro's War For Cybertron web page actually brought up the whole Generations toy line. Looking for War for Cybertron toys? Here you go. Since the toys released during the first phase of the Generations toy line were all Deluxe-sized, the difficulty level bar on the front side of the packaging (which indicates how hard it is to convert a toy from mode to mode) denoted each individual toy's challenge level (Cybertronian Bumblebee, for example, is a Level 4, while Thrust is a Level 2). The plastic-coated wire twist-ties, which were normally used to secure a toy in its packaging in past toylines, have been replaced with rattan tie-downs. The paper-based tie-downs are also used in the 2010 Transformers toy line and subsequent toy lines until being replaced by sock ties near the middle of 2014. The tyranny of twist-ties has mercifully never sullied these toys. The 2010 Transformers toy line, particularly the Reveal the Shield subline imprint, contains several toys with a design aesthetic similar to the Generations line. This led to confusion when fan expectations were contradicted by official Hasbro announcements. Subsequently, Hasbro released Wheeljack, a retool of Reveal the Shield Turbo Tracks, and Junkheap, a retool of Reveal the Shield Wreck-Gar, under the Generations banner, later followed by Generation 2-inspired redecos of Reveal the Shield Optimus Prime and Special Ops Jazz released as part of the "Ultimate Gift Set" and the Asian market/Toys"R"Us exclusive Wheelie redeco/retool of Special Ops Jazz, all of them also in Generations packaging, thus further strengthening the ties between the two lines. Most of the 2010–2011 Generations toys (along with several from the 2010 Transformers toy line) were released by TakaraTomy in their Transformers United toyline. The toys representing characters who appeared in the video game War for Cybertron (which is part of the Aligned continuity family) were released as their Generation 1 continuity family counterparts in Japan. The waves from 2012 and onward were released under the Generations banner in Japan as well. As the toy list in the article above shows, the 2012-onwards figures were numbered in sequence for each size class assortment separately. However, the Combaticon and Wrecker combiner teams were also additionally numbered as members of their respective teams, and the sequences for those two separate sets of numbers are completely inconsistent with each other: For the Combaticons, team members 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 correspond with Deluxe Class Series 1 figures #004, #008, #006, #005, and #007, respectively; and for the Wreckers, team members 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 correspond with Deluxe Class Series 1 figures #014, #016, #018, #017, and #015, respectively. The only consistent system is that each sculpt is given the same number as a team member between both sets. Footnotes