Transformers Generation One Collectors Sticker Album
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| Transformers Generation One Collectors Sticker Album | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Cards Inc. | ||||||||||||
| First published | 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 40pp | ||||||||||||
The Transformers Generation One Collectors Sticker Album was a children's activity book published for the United Kingdom by Cards Inc. in 2003.
Vital Statistics
Published in the UK, this album was designed to hold 183 collectible stickers. These stickers were used to spotlight various characters from a number of episodes of the "Generation One" cartoon as well as The Transformers: The Movie. A pull-out poster to be filled with foil stickers depicting characters from the contemporaneous Transformers: Armada was also included. The sticker book saw wide release as a free gift bundled with the first issue of Panini's Armada comic in the summer of 2003.
Overview
The book was divided into two halves, flipping upside-down after a central double-page spread. The nominal first Autobot half of the book featured a Spot The Difference activity on its inside cover before an introduction to the heroic faction and a contents page for the 12 Autobots featured with their human allies. A page of Autobot group shots preceded the centrefold depicting battles with the Decepticons. Flipping it around, the Decepticon half of the book started with a Wordsearch and "Cyber Maze" activities on its inside cover before a similar introduction and contents page listing the 12 Decepticons featured. A page showcasing various nefarious human accomplices to Decepticon schemes preceded a similar selection of group shots of the villains before returning to the central spread.
Every sticker featured was a frame from animation whereas the art on each page was a relatively crude vector based tracing of each character from a particular frame of the cartoon. Frequently details were lost or misinterpreted in this art; Megatron gained a visor instead of two separate eyes for instance!
The profiles for each character used a varying degree of details only found in their original Tech Specs and story points gleaned from the cartoon's plot. Odd emphasis was put on certain elements like a detailed description of Optimus Prime's three module system (something the cartoon didn't really exhibit) or Megatron's banishment from Cybertron (an incorrect inference from the details of his original bio with no basis in the actual story)!
The full complement of characters featured is as follows:
Autobots
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Decepticons
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Armada Poster
As Transformers: Armada was the new series to gain popularity and draw eyes back to G1 in 2003, the book also included a fold-out poster to fill with 17 blue holographic stickers featuring characters from the series. Each sticker featured box art for the respective toys of:
- Optimus Prime (2 stickers)
- Blurr
- Hot Shot
- Red Alert
- Sideways
- Megatron (2 stickers)
- Cyclonus
- Demolishor
- Starscream
- The Adventure, Air Defense, Destruction, Land Military, Race, Street Action and Street Speed Mini-Con Teams
- Many characters were notably absent from the book, none moreso than Unicron, mentioned in both Rodimus Prime and Galvatron's profiles but otherwise left to the imagination of the unenlightened reader. Some absentee characters such as Skywarp and Gears were visible in some of the stickers however.
- None of Soundwave's minions are shown in their cassette modes and no mention of what they transform into is given despite the fact they all get a page each!
- Rodimus Prime's ascension to Autobot leader is described only as him being "the matured, transformed persona of Hot Rod" with no mention of the Matrix of Leadership at all.
- Galvatron is said to draw a continuously building power from Unicron, so long as the Chaos-Bringer exists to furnish it.
