Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (toyline)

Japanese Generation 1 continuity Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers » Toyline Cartoons Commercials Comics Story pages Video games

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers is the ostentatious title given to the first year of the Generation 1 franchise in Japan. Released in 1985, one year after the franchise had been launched in Hasbro markets, the various aspects of FSRLTF combined Hasbro's 1984 and 1985 products into one large line.

Overview

The toyline consisted of most of the toys released by Hasbro in 1984 and 1985, most without any deco changes. The only significant difference in most of the toys is that the Japanese versions' missile launchers are still fully functional, due to differing safety standards for projectiles.

There are two items with big changes from their US releases. Astrotrain was released in a more NASA-accurate white-and-black deco, but would change to his Hasbro colors for his re-release the following year. Megatron's deco was from a different version of the Micro Change toy: matte grey plastic and blue trim, no scope/stock/silencer parts, and an additional silver-chrome sword accessory. On top of that, the original bullet-firing mechanism was kept intact as well.

Even among those toys without big changes, there were some big differences in how the toys were sold. The "Cassettrons" were sold individually (and came with a clear-plastic tape case) rather than in two-packs. Reflector, a mail-away item in Hasbro's line (not available until 1986!) was a standard retail release in Japan, while several retail toys in the US were relegated to mail-away status in Japan. And there was the "VSZ" set, a multi-pack that was the only way to get Skids, Sunstreaker, and Buzzsaw (who was replaced by Rumble as Soundwave's pack-in partner).

In the end, several toys were simply never released at all in the original line. While most of these toys are obvious omissions like the non-Takara molds (Jetfire, Omega Supreme, the Deluxe Vehicles, and the Deluxe Insecticons), this list also bizarrely includes Ironhide and Gears, both of whom were pretty dang prominent in the cartoon which was brought over to Japan, including the Gears-focused episode.

Toyline

Retail releases

Minibots Beachcomber Bumble Charger Cliff Drag Gong Powerglide Seaspray		Cassettron Condor Frenzy Jaguar		Insectrons Bombshell Kickback Sharpnel		Buildrons Bonecrusher Gren Long Haul Mixmaster Scavenger Scrapper Devastor (giftset)		Takara Megatron
Cybertrons Alert Grapple Hoist Hound Inferno Lambor Ligier Meister		Prowl Ratchet Smokescreen Streak Tracks Trailbreaker Wheeljack		Triple Changers Astrotrain Blitzwing		Dinobots Grimlock Slag Sludge Snarl Swoop
Jetron Ramjet Skywarp Starscream Thrust Thundercracker		VS packs VSX Convoy VS Megatron VSZ set (Buzzsaw, Skids, Sunstreaker)		Others Broadcast Convoy Perceptor		Laserwave Megatron Reflector (Spectro, Spyglass, Viewfinder) Soundwave (w/ Rumble)

Mail-aways

Minibots Adams Warpath

Double Changers Camshaft Downshift Overdrive

Jetron Dirge

Post-series releases

You can get this cheap unless you're really into packaging variants.

The sheer number of "new" toys of these characters released over the last 30 (and counting) years is insane, so we're not going to list them here, but rather point you to this list of post-"G1" "G1" toylines. However, there is one toy we need to point out in specific.

In 2010, Takara released the Cybertron Primus toy in Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers packaging, complete with a "00" ID number, rather than in Galaxy Force, their version of Cybertron. This toy even has the Hasbro release's Cyber Key Code on the Key, which the Japanese version of the line lacked. They would later re-release the toy in different colors as "Creator Primus" in 2010.