The Transformers (Chinese toyline)
Although the Generation 1 Transformers toyline was hugely popular throughout much of the world during the mid-1980s, Hasbro held out for several years before introducing Transformers into the People's Republic of China.
In August 1989, Hasbro International resumed production of toys from the first three years of Generation 1 at Chinese factories for the local market. The Chinese G1 toyline would eventually include the overwhelming majority of toys that had been available in the United States, and towards its end in 1995 it also incorporated several otherwise Japanese-exclusive toys from the Victory franchise.
Packaging
Most Chinese Generation 1 toys came in the same boxes as their American counterparts, only with small stickers giving the characters' Chinese names, and with the copyright information partially blacked out (usually to remove the no-longer-true statements "Made in Japan" or "Made in Taiwan"). During the last year of the Chinese Generation 1 line, Hasbro finally began to design packaging specifically for the Chinese market.
Availability outside of mainland China
Chinese Generation 1 toys were widely exported to Taiwan and South Korea, with additional stickers applied to the packaging for those markets.
In 1991, Takara sold a set of Chinese Aerialbots as a mail-away offer, complete with the American-style packaging. It is suspected, but yet to be confirmed, that the set of Dinobots that was another Takara mail-away offer the following year was also of Chinese origin.
Many Western collectors who have come into possession of Chinese Generation 1 toys have mistaken them for knockoffs, due to both the nature of their packaging and the trend of shady Chinese companies manufacturing counterfeit vintage Generation 1 toys.
External links
- The Little Sticker in the Corner: The Truth about Early-1990's Chinese G1 Transformers Toys
- Fighting "Transformer Fever"
