Generation 1 (Japanese toyline)
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Takara took Hasbro's lead and brought the new universe of living robots to Japan in 1985, where it was a massive success. Despite many/most of the toys having been available just a year or two prior, the new story and cartoon propelled Transformers sales far beyond those of the lines that the toys originally came from. Diaclone and Micro Change were quickly discarded in favor of the new hotness as kids ate up this new take on the giant robot genre, one that was a fresh change from the sheer amount of "piloted mecha" robot toylines/cartoons out prior.
The line started very parallel with Hasbro's offerings, but over time the two companies pursued some pretty different visions for the brand... and then swung back closer together before finally ending in 1992. Transformers would not be back on Japanese toy shelves until 1995, when the short-lived G-2 toyline would hit.
Takara Super Robot Lifeform Transformers line
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (1985)
- Main article: Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (toyline)
Takara released most of the products from Hasbro's 1984 and 1985 offerings in its initial year of Transformers. Some toys weren't sold due to being made by rival companies (particularly Bandai) or other licensing issues, and some... we don't really know why they weren't offered. A few were relegated to mail-aways, where others just never happened at all.
By and large, what was released was identical to the Hasbro releases, save for having fully-functional spring-loaded launchers (due to differing safety standards in Japan), and a few notable color variants, namely a "NASA"-themed Astrotrain and an unchromed, blue-accented, cannon-less Megatron.
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 (1986)
- Main article: Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 (toyline)
Despite not actually getting The Transformers: The Movie this year (it wouldn't hit Japan until 1989), Takara went ahead with movie-themed product, keeping the actual fates of Optimus Prime and Megatron vague and just jumping ahead in time (not as jarring to Japanese audiences, as the reboot was already a longstanding staple of kid-aimed shows). This year's product is almost completely identical to the Hasbro 1986 line, from releases to colors, mostly minus Sky Lynx due to mold licensing issues.
If you really wanna know the details, go ahead and click the link above, but you're really not missing much.
The Headmasters (1987)
- Main article: Transformers: The Headmasters (toyline)
With The Headmasters, Takara took its first steps in breaking away from Hasbro's line. While most of the line is pretty dang identical to the US line, Takara added a large number of extra toys to its line: the previously-unused Diaclone Trainbots, retooled and redecoed prior toys like Twincast, Soundblaster, Stepper and Artfire, and even the all-new-mold Autobot Master Warriors and W Cassettebots.
Another big and odd addition is that the Battle Beasts, a separate toyline in Hasbro's markets, was rolled into The Headmasters as an allied alien race.
Super-God Masterforce (1988)
- Main article: Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (toyline)
This was the year that Takara really took Transformers in its own direction. While the toyline was mostly the same molds as the Hasbro line, many were given new decos, and depicted as completely different characters (namely, the Powermasters were dubbed the Godmasters, and like the new Headmasters were humans who piloted unliving robot Transtectors). The line also tossed in a few new items, most importantly the colossal Decepticon double-Godmaster Overlord.
This series is also the first one to release a female character toy, the Headmaster Junior Minerva. She'd then be the only one for the better part of a decade.
Victory (1989)
After the human-centric (and rather un-Transformers-y) Masterforce, Takara went back to focusing on living alien robots with Victory, a toyline that is almost completely different from what Hasbro was offering that year. The majority of the line is made up of all-new molds unique to Victory, with the rest filled out by significant retoolings of Hasbro-released molds. Combiners are a major focus, with four combiner teams in the central cast, and the huge Autobot leader Star Saber combining with his own jet-base as well as another huge bot to become an absolutely massive warrior.
Zone (1990)
- Main article: Transformers: Zone (toyline)
As the Hasbro US line was winding down, Takara kept going, but Transformers's star was fading in Japan as well. Zone is the first line to not be backed by a TV-aired cartoon, relying on a single OVA and magazine layouts to advertise it. While the new molds continued with the three larger Powered Masters taking center stage, the rest of the line is Micromasters, and only some of them are redecoed.
The Decepticon presence was also severely cut back, on the theory that kids were way more interested in buying "good guy" toys. (Japanese toylines in general tend to be light on the villains.) Thus all but one of the Hasbro Decepticon Patrols were Autobots in Zone, and the only large villain is Metrotitan, a redecoed Metroplex.
Return of Convoy (1991)
Sometimes erroneously known as "The Battlestars" (the name of the series' main hero team and, frustratingly, the name of the accompanying magazine spreads and one-shot comic), Return of Convoy took a grab at nostalgia in an attempt to stave off cancellation. Optimus Prime was brought back as "Star Convoy", and even came with a Micromaster version of Hot Rod. They were backed up by a handful of new molds, including a six-Micromaster super robot combiner but most of the small line was recycled Micromasters and Micromaster Combiners in their Hasbro decos, all as Autobots.
Decepticons were completely excised from the line this year. While a reborn "Super Megatron" was presented as the primary villain in-fiction, no toy was ever made.
Operation Combination (1992)
The final series of Japan's "Generation 1", Operation Combination played up combiners, which were popular toys in Takara's concurrently-running (and TV-cartoon-backed) non-Transformers "Brave" giant robot lines, effectively competing against themselves. The Decepticons are back, but a bit outnumbered.
The two stars of the line are Guard City and Battle Gaia, redecos of Defensor and Bruticus respectively, and two of the most expensive-on-the-secondary-market items in the entire Japanese "G1" line due to their incredible scarcity. Four more Autobot Micromaster six-teams and a set of four "Vs" sets, straight re-packs of the smaller European-line Turbomasters and Predators, fill out the Japanese Transformers franchise's swan-song.
