Unreleased toy

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For every Transformer that makes it to store shelves, there are always some that fall by the wayside. Lines get canceled, retailers back off on exclusives, designs go over budget, focus groups pass on a concept, or maybe they just weren't cool enough. Regardless of the whys and wherefores, this article aims to document the unreleased toys that never quite saw retail.

Note that this list will likely never be "complete," as for every concept design that makes it into collectors' hands, a countless number wind up in the garbage can.

(Quick! Get to the landfill outside Pawtucket and START DIGGING.)

Notable examples

Regular releases

Generation 1

Concepts

• Rock Bots

Concept art

Yup, they wanted to make me, but oh well.

• A Headmaster version of Arcee, based on a redecoed Chromedome.

• New Rodimus

• Skywarp/Megatron Triple Changer.

• Megatron/Galvatron Triple Changer.

• Big Bang

• A Rodimus figure with a strange design and transformation. It is believed that the Target exclusive transforming Optimus Prime gift card is based on this figure, as it is similar in design and transformation.

• A "Decepticon Stingray" revealed in Transformers Vault. Though the image caption identifies it as "an unreleased and nameless Decepticon Headmaster", the artwork shown does not appear to agree with the "Headmaster" description.

Prototypes

• Arcee in her original design

Unicron wanted a toy, but his bargaining posture was highly dubious.

• Two Unicron prototypes were created during G1, neither saw full release.

• Diaclone Triple Changer - His design was later used for Dropshot.

• Double Pretenders

• A Micromaster carrier-base, which has some similarities to the released Rocket Base.

Toys

• The tank Deluxe Vehicle.

Generation "1.5"

"Hi, I'm the Bonecrusher-Bonecrusher fuzor!"

(This section is about the line available in parts of the world (most prominently Europe) between the US G1 and G2 lines.)

Concept art

• Buffalo Dump
• Hyperdrive

Generation 2

Prototypes

• General Optimus Prime and Sgt. Hound

• Two additional Auto Rollers that eventually wound up as Beast Wars II Autojetter and Autolauncher.

• Greasepit

• Cyberjets retooled with armored limbs and larger weapons.

• Block Town series

• Two new-sculpt Go-Bots

• G.I. Joe Transformer

• A version of Mirage in green and pink

• A version of Starscream in jungle colors. Whether this figure would have actually been Starscream or not is unknown.

• A version of Starscream in a black deco. Whether this figure would have actually been Starscream or not is unknown.

• A version of Ramjet in sky blue colors. Whether this figure would have actually been Ramjet or not is unknown.

• Sandstorm

• The four "flipchanger" sculpts which were later released as Machine Wars Megatron/Megaplex, Skywarp/Thundercracker, Hoist/Hubcap and Mirage/Prowl.

• Motormaster

• Hot Spot

Packaged samples (test packaging)

• Four new-sculpt Go-Bots, packaged on High Beam cards. One of them would have been Rumble.

Packaged samples (final packaging)

• "Combat Hero" redecoes of the two G2 Hero sculpts: Optimus Prime in a dark-blue and red color scheme, and Megatron in a gray and black camouflage.

• Laser Cycle Jazz

• Laser Cycle Soundwave

• "ATB" Megatron with Starscream

"ATB" Megatron was released to test markets in Ohio in very limited quantities, but was never available as a wide release.

• All of the Stunticon limbs except for Breakdown, who was released as a BotCon 1994 exclusive.

• All of the Protectobot limbs.

Beast Wars

One of the most well-known unreleased toys.

Concept art

• Transmetals Dinobot

Prototypes

• Beast Wars Neo Unicron

Packaged samples

• Ramulus (green version)

Transtech

It was not to be.

Concept art

• Megatron; unsure whether this would have been the G1 or beast era character.
• Depth Charge
• Shockwave
• Silverbolt
• Soundwave
• Blackarachnia
• Nightscream
• Immorticon

Prototypes

• Optimus Prime
• Cheetor
• Starscream

Armada

Prototypes

• Built to Rule Ramjet
• Built to Rule Rollout

Packaged samples

• Adventure Mini-Con Team redecos
• Space Mini-Con Team redecos
• Street Speed Mini-Con Team redecos

Alternators/Binaltech

Concepts

• Bumblebee (Volkswagen New Beetle)
• Cliffjumper (Volkswagen New Beetle, retool of Bumblebee with different weapon and new head)
• Tracks (Dodge Viper SRT-10; body ended up as Side Swipe, head was used for Chevrolet Corvette Tracks)
• Trailbreaker (Jeep Wrangler; was released as Swindle in different colors instead)
• Windcharger (Ford Mustang, retool of Grimlock with new head; body ended up as Wheeljack, head was used for Decepticharge)

Prototypes

Jazz, not Meister. And Smoke... streak?

• Jazz (Porsche 986 Boxster)
• Smokescreen (Subaru Impreza WRX, Deluxe-sized)
• Autobot Tracks (Chevrolet Corvette Z06, yellow version; intended to be released by Hasbro with a running change to blue later down the road, but ultimately only released in blue; yellow version released in Japan)
• Blackwidow (Honda S2000, prototype sporting the long gun barrel and right-hand steering wheel of Binaltech Overdrive and the head sculpt, hardtop roof and rear spoiler of Alternators Decepticharge, originally announced as Wildrider but then given a deco based on Beast Wars Blackarachnia; ultimately released in Japan in new colors as Binaltech Arcee)

Smallest Transforming Transformers

Prototypes

• Skids
• Tracks
• Stock and silencer accessories for Megatron

Attacktix

Prototypes

• Uh... the entire second wave, pretty much.

Universe (2003)

Prototypes

• Menasor - a redeco of Thunder Clash as the Stunticon leader.

Energon

Packaged samples

2 HOT 4 U!

• Mini-Cons Brakedown, Override, and Clocker were originally intended to come with Energon Ultra Magnus, but were swapped out at essentially the last possible minute for a redecoed Space Mini-Con Team. (The Street Speed Mini-Cons are still listed on both sides of the US packaging, though the European version and the Japanese "USA Edition" release both fixed that to different degrees.)

Titanium Series

Two for the price of... none.

Prototypes

• Soundblaster redeco of Soundwave with Ravage
• Primal Prime redeco of Optimal Optimus
• Arcee
• War Within Bumblebee
• War Within Cliffjumper (Bumblebee redeco/retool with a new head sculpt)
• Cosmos
• Shockwave

Revoltech

Prototypes

• Energon Optimus Prime

Cybertron

Buried by his namesake.

Concepts

• Landslide

Prototypes

• More Mini-Con partners for Soundwave
• A Scrapmetal redeco

Classics

Concepts

Tapedeck superior SUV inferior!

• Cosmos
• Soundwave

Prototypes

• A Deluxe Class Optimus Prime that looks a lot like the Voyager Class version, with fixed on knee parts. Apparently, an early plan was for this toy to be released without a trailer at the Deluxe price point, and with a trailer at the Voyager price point. 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.

Animated

You'll never find me! Hahahaha!

Prototypes

• Toxic Oil Slick
• Fugitive Waspinator
• Vortex Blurr
• Mercenary Swindle
• Hydrodrive Bumblebee (Voyager Class, released in Japan)
• Goldfire Grimlock (Voyager Class)
• Blackout (released in Japan)
• Wingblade Optimus Prime (Voyager Class, released in Japan)
• Electromagnetic Soundwave (Activator)

Packaged samples

• Thundercracker (Voyager Class)
• Mudbuster Bulkhead (Voyager Class)

Transformers (2010)

Averted by the FIBRIR crowd.

Packaged samples

• Bodyblock (Breacher redeco)
• Demolition Rumble (sculpt/character released under United in Japan)
• Downshift (Hubcap redeco)

Movie Trilogy Series

Kill all Generation 1 homages.

Packaged samples

• Wheeljack (redeco colored as an homage to Generation 1 Wheeljack, using the toy's alternate head)

Prototypes

• Bumblebee (redeco of Nitro Bumblebee)
• Ratchet (redeco colored as an homage to Generation 1 Ratchet)
• Soundwave (redeco colored as an homage to Generation 1 Soundblaster)

Prime

Prototypes

• A redeco and retool of Deluxe Class Ratchet with the toy's alternate head, possibly as the Prime version of Gears
• A Hasbro release of Deluxe Class Ironhide (released in Japan)
• A redeco and retool of Deluxe Class Rumble with the toy's alternate head as Frenzy

Exclusives

Conventions

Transcon

Concepts

• Albitron and Swoop. These figures were advertised as convention exclusives by Men in Black Productions, but never materialized.

OTFCC

Why, 3H? Why????

Concepts

• Brawn
• Devcon
• Megatron (post-Beast Machines)
• Roadbuster

Prototypes

• Defensor
• A limited repaint of Defensor as Midnight Shield Defensor
• Alpha Trion
• Fractyl
• Devcon

Wonder Festival

Packaged samples

• Intended for the Henkei! Henkei! toyline, a black redeco of the Classics Optimus Prime mold, but as a black version of the heroic Convoy character with Autobot faction symbols, not a Nemesis Prime/Black Convoy character. TakaraTomy designer Shogo Hasui said this figure was canceled for release because it was too similar to Universe Nemesis Prime. Years later the figure would have its deco changed slightly (the metallic blue into teal and the front bumper painted silver instead of unpainted) and its faction symbols switched. It was released as Black Optimus Prime (instead of Convoy) for Tokyo Toy Fair 2012 under the United toyline.

Store

Robots In Disguise

Prototypes

• Hasbro-release Fortress Maximus (intended as BigBadToyStore / Action Figure Xpress / Entertainment Earth / Marz Distribution / FAO Schwarz shared exclusive)

Universe (2003)

Prototypes

I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic?

• Toxitron
• Megatron (Energon redeco)/Soundwave (Smallest Transforming Transformers) two-pack (intended for Target)
• Optimus Prime (Energon redeco)/Optimus Prime (Smallest Transforming Transformers) two-pack (intended for Target)
• Smokescreen vs. Drench (Battle in a Box, intended for Target, Drench later came out as Timelines/Shattered Glass Sideswipe)
• Spacewarp with Space Mini-Con Team (intended for Toys"R"Us, later released as Timelines Astrotrain with a new head sculpt and different Mini-Cons)
• "Halloween Horrorcons" Leatherhide vs. Blackarachnia (intended for Walmart)
• "Halloween Horrorcons" Nightprowler vs. Waspinator (intended for Walmart)

Movie (2007)

Packaged samples

Would you like to play with my gunbarrel?

• Backtrack (intended for Target)
• Decepticon Reverb (intended for Target)
• Gunbarrel (intended for Target)

In early 2010, about two years after the first samples had surfaced, considerable quantities of the three unreleased Scouts were sold on eBay. Each of them came packaged with two instruction sheets, one in English and one in Spanish, suggesting that the batch was initially intended for the Mexican market. However, based on information from Mexican fans, the toys never actually made it to retail there.

Transformers (2010)

Shanghaied!

Megatron rising... not today.

Prototypes

• Blue Maximus vs. Crosshairs (redecos of Revenge of the Fallen Ransack and Rollbar)
• Drydock vs. Undertow (redecos of Revenge of the Fallen Depthcharge and Cybertron Shortround)

Packaged samples

• "Sideways Sneak Attack" multi-pack (intended for Target), containing:

• Sideways (Deluxe Class)
• Arcee (Legends Class)
• Chromia (Legends Class)
• Elita-One (Legends Class)

• "Megatron Rising" five pack, containing:

• Megatron (Revenge of the Fallen Voyager Class Megatron redeco)
• Long Haul (Legends Devastator component)
• Mixmaster (Legends Devastator component)
• Rampage (Legends Devastator component, yellow deco)
• Scrapper (Legends Devastator component, red redeco)

Dark of the Moon

So close...

Packaged samples

• "Autobot Team Racers" (intended for Target), contains:

• Leadfoot (MechTech Deluxe Class)
• Topspin (MechTech Deluxe Class)

• Leader Class Sentinel Prime and Bonus Value Deluxe Class Nitro Bumblebee (intended for Walmart)

Miscellaneous

Concepts

• A supposed Hooligan
• A supposed Megatron
• A supposed Starscream
• A supposed Optimus Prime

Statues/Busts

Walking the... cat?

Prototypes

• Transformers vs GI. Joe Baroness and Ravage.
• A Soundwave bust that didn't work well once it was downscaled for release.

Merchandise

Titanium Series

The star wouldn't leave his trailer.

Prototypes

• Sunstreaker (redeco of Side Swipe)
• Cliffjumper (redeco of Bumblebee)
• Soundwave
• Nemesis Prime (redeco of War Within Optimus Prime)

Robot Heroes

Sooooooooo cute.

Packaged samples (final packaging)

• Optimus Prime & Megatron (Robots in Disguise Series)
• Prowl & Laserbeak (Generation 1 Series)
• Victory Saber & Dessaras (Generation 1 Series)
• Optimus Primal & Jetstorm (Beast Machines Series)

Notes

Not the focus of this article.

• Quite a lot of toys are effectively "unreleased" as far as Hasbro's primary United States market is concerned, but have been released in other Hasbro markets such as Canada, Latin America, Australia, Asia (not counting Japan, which is Takara's market) and/or Europe. For the purpose of this article, however, any toy that saw an official release in any Hasbro market does not qualify as "unreleased", or this list would easily multiply in length. Toys that were intended for release by Hasbro but ultimately ended up only being released by Takara do count, but they get a note that points out their Japanese release. In return, toys intended for a Japanese release that ultimately never made it to store shelves can also be found on this list.

See also

• Pre-Transformer

External links

• Galleries of various unreleased toys (photos compiled from various websites and eBay auctions)
• Dairycon 2008 report featuring the concepts for the supposed Hooligan, Starscream, Megatron and Optimus Prime