The Transformers: Generation One Commemorative Series

Dirge is playing air guitar. No, really.

The Transformers: Generation One Commemorative Series was a line of Toys"R"Us exclusive reissues of early Transformers toys. Series I and II were released in traditional window box packaging. Series III and beyond were available in "book box" packaging which vaguely mirrored the style of Takara's contemporary The Transformers Collection reissue series.

The Commemorative Series line, in its initial release, lasted from 2002 to 2004, but there have been extra figures added since then. Astrotrain, an already produced but unreleased toy, was eventually released as a Hasbro Toy Shop exclusive in 2005. Soundwave was released in 2007 as an un-numbered figure in packaging that mirrored the style of the Classics line. In 2009, two new "Commemorative Edition" reissues were released as part of the Universe line, both as Toys"R"Us exclusives again.

Commemorative Series

United States market

Series I

• Optimus Prime
• Rodimus Major
• Ultra Magnus

Series II

• Powermaster Optimus Prime with Apex Armor
• Starscream

Series III

• Autobot Jazz
• Silverstreak
• Thundercracker

Series IV

• Prowl
• Red Alert
• Skywarp

Series V

• Hoist

  

  Hey, I paid too much!

• Inferno
• Autobot Tracks

Series VI

• Autobot Grapple
• Smokescreen

Series VII

• Dirge
• Rodimus Prime

Series VIII

• Autobot Skids
• Side Swipe

Though intended to be released together with Skids at Toys"R"Us stores, Side Swipe wasn't officially released in the United States until more than a year later, and then only at KB Toys stores and outlets at half the original price.

Ricochet is shocked to learn he's a choking hazard.

Series IX

• Ricochet with Targetmaster partner Nightstick
• Astrotrain

Though intended to be released together with Ricochet at Toys"R"Us stores, the Hasbro version Astrotrain wasn't released until more than a year later, and then only exclusive to the Hasbro Toy Shop online store.

International releases and re-releases

Canada

In Canada, (almost) all of the figures listed above were released around the same time they came out in the United States, sometimes even preceding the US release. Unusually for Canadian releases, they were not sold in trilingual packaging, but in the same English-only packaging also used for the United States market releases.

Side Swipe was released as a Toys"R"Us exclusive together with Skids around the same time he was also suppused to show up in the United States.

Astrotrain was never officially made available in Canada.

Australia

Just like in Canada, all the figures listed above were also released in Australia, also close to their respective United States release dates. The packaging was also identical to the packaging used for the US releases.

Sideswipe was released as a Toys"R"Us exclusive half a year later than his Canadian release.

Astrotrain was released in Australia as a Kmart exclusive (for a deep discount price). Despite being an exclusive, he could also be found clogging up shelves in smaller, privately owned toy shops.

United Kingdom

The Commemorative Series figures were also released in the United Kingdom, but (unusually) not anywhere else in Europe.

Series I, II and III

The Series I figures were sold in standard multilingual packaging (with texts in English, French, Dutch, German, Italian and Spanish) around the same time they were released in other markets:

• Optimus Prime
• Rodimus Major
• Ultra Magnus
• Powermaster Optimus Prime with Apex Armor
• Starscream
• Autobot Jazz

Later figures

In 2006, long after even Sideswipe and Astrotrain had been made available in the United States, Hasbro UK released several figures that hadn't been available in the United Kingdom before. Unusually, these figures now came in English-only packaging, but lacked the "Commemorative Series" labels, the "choking hazard" safety warning labels and all trademark ™ and ® markings:

• Prowl
• Red Alert
• Skywarp
• Inferno
• Autobot Tracks

Asian Hasbro market re-releases

Several Commemorative Series figures were also re-released in Hasbro's Asian markets in 2012, in slightly altered English-only packaging that also lacked the "Commemorative Series" labels, featured different age recommendations (5+ instead of 8+) and sported updated trademark ™ and ® markings, as well as modern cardboard ties instead oftwist ties.

• Optimus Prime

Optimus Prime was actually a re-release of the Universe 25th Anniversary reissue of the figure, with tampographed insignias instead of stickers, in a variation of the older Commemorative Series packaging.

• Ultra Magnus
• Astrotrain
• Powermaster Optimus Prime with Apex Armor

Also among these re-releases was a re-release of Soundwave (see below).

Related releases

Classics (2006)

• Soundwave with Ravage and Laserbeak (Commemorative Edition)

"Commemorative Edition" Soundwave was a Toys"R"Us exclusive released in early 2007, available in packaging using the design of the Classics line. He was also available as a Toys"R"Us exclusive in the United Kingdom around the same time, in unaltered United States packaging, and was later re-released in Hasbro's Asian markets in 2007, in slightly altered packaging.

Universe (2008)

• Insecticons three-pack (Commemorative Edition), contains:
  • Kickback
  • Shrapnel (packaged as Sharpshot)
  • Bombshell (packaged as Hardshell)
• Perceptor (Commemorative Edition)
• Blaster
  • Eject
  • Ramhorn
  • Steeljaw

Notes

• Stock photos for Thundercracker and Silverstreak that depicted mock-up packaging had the packaging sport "Adult collectible" declarations instead of the final versions' age recommendations.

Foreign names

• French: Premiere Generation/Commémoratif de la Série
• Dutch: Eerste Generatie/Klassiekers Serie
• German: Erste Generation/Klassik-Serie
• Italian: Generation One/Serie Classica
• Spanish: Generación Uno/Series Commemorativas

External links

• TFarchive's reissue toys checklist