User:Locoman/Sandbox

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A franchise, for lack of a better term, is an incarnation or "generation" of the Transformers brand. The word is used here to refer to the collection of not just toys, but also media, merchandise, and ideas that surround each of these incarnations. Because of these other elements, the word "toyline" would not be broad enough; the toyline is just the toy component of the whole thing.

"Flagship" lines—generally those containing the bulk of new-mold toys and supported by an animated cartoon and other marketing—are listed in bold. Many of the minor "franchises" are little more than toylines, either with little or no fiction, or else new iterations of previous franchises, primarily Generation 1.

Generation 1

The original continuity family and the one from which most other incarnations of the brand are ultimately derived, the "Generation 1" umbrella covers a vast array of disparate stories and toylines that stretches back decades. By far the most "recognizable" incarnation of the brand, it's also the one with the most amount of franchises, fiction, and characters.

Main article: The Transformers (franchise)
1984-1991, 2001-present: For the first eight years of the Transformers brand, there was no "franchise" as such; the brand of "The Transformers" alone was used on the toyline and associated media. Following the rise of "Generation 2" in the early 1990s, and subsequent reboots in the early 2000s, the line was retroactively dubbed "Generation 1." As the root of the Transformers franchise, new Generation 1 stories and toys continue to be produced to this day.


  • 1990–1991: Classics was the name of a Generation 1 subline in Europe and Australia, reissuing many toys originating from 1984 through 1987.
  • 1993–1995: Transformers: Generation 2 was a relaunch of the toy line, a mix of old and new toy designs. A new comic continued the story of the Marvel Generation 1 comics, while the Generation 1 cartoon was re-edited and rebroadcast.
  • 1996–2001: Beast Wars: Transformers changed the direction of the line with robots that changed into "realistically"-styled animals and soon moved into other varieties of animal-alt-mode robots. It was supported by a CGI cartoon.
MW logo.jpg
MW logo.jpg
  • 1997: Machine Wars: Transformers was a limited line of redecorated older toys, released to capitalize on the popularity of Beast Wars. Fiction was limited to on-package bios.


File:BeastMachines Logo.jpg
  • 2000–2001: Beast Machines: Transformers continued the directions of Beast Wars and added futuristic vehicles to the mix. The latter portion of this franchise was subtitled "The Battle for the Spark". Like Beast Wars, it was supported by a CGI cartoon.
  • 2001–2002: 1-2-3 Transformers was a short-lived line of large, simple toys aimed at younger children. The line's niche was later filled by the Go-Bots line. No fiction exists for this franchise.


  • 2002–2005: The The Transformers: Generation One Commemorative Series consisted of reissued toys from the first three years of Generation 1, primarily available at Toys "R" Us. The toys had been previously reissued by Takara in Japan in the Transformers Collection line. As a reissue line, fiction was limited solely to on-package bios. Effectively ended in 2004, with two more delayed releases coming out in 2005.
  • 2003: Built to Rule consisted of Lego-compatible building blocks used to assemble various transformable Armada characters. It received no fiction independent of Armada.
Gobots logo.jpg
Gobots logo.jpg
  • 2002–2005: Transformers: Go-Bots, which also went by the names Playskool Big Adventures: Transformers and just Go-Bots, introduced a line of larger, simple toys aimed at children too young for the mainline toys. Fiction included on-package bios and a short-lived cartoon.


  • 2003–2006: Transformers: Alternators, a toy-only franchise, combined licensed, 1/24th-scale replica vehicles with complex transformations and Generation 1 characters. It was marketed in Japan as Binaltech, where the toys were packaged with bios and short stories that fleshed out the line's place in continuity. Sadly, the American franchise received no fiction beyond on-package character quotes for the later toys, a brief summary of the original setting of the Japanese Binaltech story revealed through a promotional Mazda website, and a single toy bio that was never officially released.



  • 2006: The Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary limited line featured six reissues of older Beast Wars toys with special packaging, new decos and bonus features, and two all-new molds. Fiction included on-package bios and pack-in DVDs of Beast Wars cartoon episodes.
File:Classicslogo.jpg
  • 2006–2007: Classics was a line of rehashed Generation 1 characters intended to be a stopgap while the 2007 movie toys were being prepared. Its success prompted Hasbro to continue it as the "Classic Series" under the 2008 Universe line. Fiction was limited to a fan club comic.
  • 2006–2009: The Titanium Series was aimed specifically at fans, with a range of characters from older franchises and more obscure corners of the fiction, and die-cast metal designs. As the characters are all based on previous franchises, fiction consisted solely of on-package bios. Effectively ended in 2007, with a few delayed releases coming out as exclusives as late as 2009. Later releases were co-branded as part of the Movie line, Universe or Revenge of the Fallen.

Robots in Disguise (2001)

Main article: Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 franchise)
2001–2002: Coming off the controversial Beast Machines franchise, Robots in Disguise was a stopgap: originally intended to be a Japanese-exclusive anime series, the need to buy time and retain a presence on store shelves while Hasbro and Takara collaborated to create the Unicron Trilogy led to Hasbro hastily importing and dubbing the Car Robots anime, giving rise to the odd beast known as Robots in Disguise. A transition of sorts away from the Beast Era and back to an age of vehicular Transformers, Robots in Disguise incorporated a mixture of new molds and a handful of Beast Wars toys, featuring heroic, vehicle-mode Autobots and evil, beast-mode Predacons.
Of all of the "main" Transformers franchises, Robots in Disguise is perhaps the most forgotten; following the conclusion of the series and the debut of Armada, Robots in Disguise recieved a single acknowledgement in the form of a Dreamwave comic story before largely slipping into oblivion.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise


Universe

Main article: Transformers: Expanded Universe
2002: Transformers: Expanded Universe based its name off the old Star Wars Expanded Universe, while also tying into the concurrent 3H Wreckers storyline. This extremely short-lived toyline ultimately encompassed a mere four figures— one original character and three remakes of fan-favorites—all of which saw exclusive release at BotCon 2002.


Transformers: Expanded Universe



Main article: Transformers: Universe (2003 franchise)
  • 2003–2008: Building off the concept of Expanded Universe, 2003's Transformers: Universe was conceived as a line made up entirely of redecoes of older toys, some of them returning faces while other redecoes represented entirely new characters. This cross-continuity hodgepodge of Beast Wars, Armada, Robots in Disguise, and even some Generation 1 toys was explained by the toy's packaging blurb, which described Unicron as having abducted these heroes and villains from across the multiverse to aid in his restoration. Universe supplemented the wildly successful Armada toyline, with a series of convention-based comics exploring the multidimensional conflict and its ramifications. Universe largely ended in 2005, but toys in the line reportedly continued to trickle into discount stores as late as 2008.


Transformers: Universe



Unicron Trilogy

Main article: Unicron Trilogy
The end result of extensive collaboration between Hasbro and Takara, the "Unicron Trilogy"—so named for the role that Unicron plays in each installment—dominated the Transformers franchise for most of the mid-2000s, its success due in no small part to the turn-of-the-millennium anime boom.
As was common for the era, the Unicron Trilogy was unafraid to mix and match character designs and personalities from "Generation 1" lore and beyond; while Optimus Prime, Starscream, and Megatron were more-or-less faithful reimaginings of their Generation 1 counterparts, other characters, like Armada Wheeljack, had little to do with their Generation 1 namesakes.


Main article: Transformers: Armada (franchise)
2002–2003: The first true coproduction between Hasbro and Takara, Transformers: Armada marked a new beginning for the toys and fiction, heralded by the addition of the Mini-Con faction. This toyline was supported by a variety of ancillary media, including comics, storybooks, and a tie-in cartoon series, all of which established a brand new Transformers universe and the first true "reboot" of the franchise.


Transformers: Armada



Main article: Transformers: Energon (franchise)
2003–2005: Transformers: Energon was a direct sequel to Armada, picking up where the first franchise left off and continuing its story. Released in 2004, the 20th anniversary of the Transformers franchise, Energon featured several homages to fan-favorite Generation 1 characters, and featured the return of concepts such as combiner teams. As with other franchises, Energon was supported by several pieces of ancillary media; however, the abrupt collapse of Dreamwave Productions during this time meant that the comic was cancelled, and the infamously poor quality of the Energon anime soured many fans on the line as a whole.


Transformers: Energon



File:Cybertron-Logo.jpg
Main article: Transformers: Cybertron (franchise)
  • 2005–2006: Transformers: Cybertron completed the arc begun by Armada, taking the Unicron Trilogy beyond Earth and Cybertron and introducing four all-new colony planets. Generally considered a return to form after Energon, toys were notable for featuring a franchise-wide "Cyber Key" gimmick that could unlock additional play features. Unlike its predecssors, Cybertron did not feature any kind of comic-tie in, due in part to the Transformers license having been then-recently acquired by IDW Publishing.


Transformers: Cybertron

Live-action film series

Main article: Live-action film series
Debuting in 2007, Michael Bay's first live-action Transformers film was a watershed moment in the history of the brand, almost singlehandedly responsible for revitalizing the flagging franchise, turning the Transformers brand into one of Hasbro's most profitable lines while ensuring that the Transformers would remain a household name. Though subsequent sequels were largely panned by critics for a variety of reasons, the series remained financially viable for almost a decade until the disappointing box office results from The Last Knight caused the next film, Bumblebee, to become a "soft reboot" of sorts.


Main article: Movie (franchise)
2007–2008: The "Movie" franchise marked a turning point for the Transformers franchise, built around the Transformers film and arriving amidst a blitz of tie-in merchandise and promotions, the likes of which have never been seen in the franchise before or since. The success of this franchise paved the way for the five sequels that make up what the wiki calls the "live-action film series", as well as 2008's Transformers Animated franchise, taking advantage of the resurgence of the Transformers in the pop culture consciousness. Indeed, the first movie's toyline proved so popular that it would delay the release of Transformers Animated''s own toyline by several months, well after the cartoon had first premiered.
Transformers



Main article: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)
2009–2010: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen continued the direction begun by its predecessor, featuring a greater variety of Transformers—both on and off-camera—and an international theme, expanding the war between the Autobots and Decepticons into far-flung countries.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen



Main article: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (franchise)
2011: The third installment of the series, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is built around the third live-action feature film, with the themes of human-Autobot cooperation carrying over into the film's toyline and other ancillary media. Dark of the Moon would be the last of the five Bay-directed movies to receive tie-in comics, due to Bay's displeasure at the fact that several adaptations of the film spoiled the movie's central plot twist months in advance.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon



Main article: Transformers: Age of Extinction (franchise)
2014: Transformers: Age of Extinction hit theaters with a smaller amount of merchandise than usual, due to a variety of factors; most notably, concerns over the growing complexity and budget of Hasbro's Transformers line led to a smaller, less collector-oriented line than prior outings. Due to Bay's new policy over spoilers due to the Dark of the Moon fiasco, both this film and The Last Knight received no tie-in comics or book adaptations, outside of a few side stories in Titan Magazines' Transformers magazine and a a lone online comic by IDW.
Transformers: Age of Extinction


Main article: Transformers: The Last Knight (franchise)
2017: After a decade of profitability, the fifth and final Micahel Bay-directed film in the series, Transformers: The Last Knight debuted with little fanfare, receiving the smallest amount of publicity and tie-in merchandise of any of the five Bay-directed films. This franchise followed up on the format established by its predecessor; like Age of Extinciton, The Last Knight franchise featured no print adaptations, with its tie-in toyline focusing largely on simpler, kid-friendly toys. The disappointing financial reception to the movie led to the indefinite shelving of its sequel, while the already-in-production Bumblebee was hastily reworked into a "soft reboot" for the franchise.
Transformers: The Last Knight


Main article: Bumblebee (franchise)
2018-2019: Bumblebee represented a fresh start the film franchise, helmed by a new director and featuring a nostalgic, 1980s-influenced approach that proved popular with critics and audiences alike. Bumblebee saw the return of ancillary comics and storybooks, including an IDW miniseries that served as an ostensible prequel to the film; last-minute changes to the final cut, however, meant that the two were mutually incompatible. As with the two preceding movies, the Bumblebee toyline consisted mostly of simpler, kid-friendly toys, with the more complex-collector-oriented figures folded into the Generations Studio Series line.
Bumblebee

Transformers Animated

Main article: Transformers Animated
2007-2009: Transformers Animated was the first American-written cartoon franchise in just under a decade, a movie-inspired reinvention that adopted the same design sensibilities as other contemporary Cartoon Network shows such as Ben 10 and Teen Titans. A radical departure at the time from the "traditional" Transformers design aesthetic, the cartoon reimagined old characters while also introducing new faces into the Transformers mythos, and proved popular with fans despite its relatively short run——enough to get two postmortem guide books to the universe in the form of IDW Publishing's AllSpark Almanac compendiums.
Transformers Animated


Aligned continuity family

Main article: Aligned continuity family
The "Aligned" continuity represented Hasbro's first serious attempt to create a series-wide "mythos" for the Transformers franchise, drawing on three decades' worth of lore in the hopes to create a functioning, cohesive universe for future creators to tell stories in through the "Binder of Revelation". For a variety of reasons, this plan almost immediately fell through; though the Aligned universe would eventually grow and forge stronger links between its disparate components, the original vision for the universe remains almost entirely unfulfilled.
Main article: Transformers: War for Cybertron (franchise)
2010: Transformers: War for Cybertron was the first installment in the universe, a prequel that explored the height of the Autobot-Decepticon war. This tale was told in two radically different mediums: the War for Cybertron video game told one story, while the novel Exodus and its recursive comic adaptation featured a slightly different version of events. This kind of disparity would continue throughout the history of the Aligned continuity family.
War for Cybertron also received a small toyline, which was folded in with the Generations line.
War for Cybertron



  • 2010– : Transformers: Generations continued on from 2008's Universe to be the catch-all franchise covering products not falling under the concurrent Transformers (2010) toyline. It is not slated to receive any fiction except for on-package bios although it includes characters from the game War for Cybertron.
  • 2010–2011: the non-subtitled Transformers toyline built on the Revenge of the Fallen toyline but also included other toys and characters, acting as a general celebration of the Transformers lineage. Sub-sections of this franchise include the Hunt for the Decepticons promotion and the Reveal the Shield subline. Reveal the Shield covers the same territory as the concurrent Generations line, recreating classic characters with new modern designs.
  • 2010–2013: Transformers: Prime served as the basis for the "Aligned" continuity family for some time, incorporating video games, comics, and a CGI TV show. The toyline began in late 2011 with the subline "First Edition", followed by "Robots in Disguise" in early 2012.




  • 2015: The second franchise named Transformers: Robots in Disguise was not connected to the 2001 series; rather, it served as a loose sequel to the Prime franchise, focusing on the continuing adventures of Bumblebee on Earth. It was accompanied by a toyline, comic series, and some other ancillary merchandise.


  • 2008–2009: Transformers: Universe re-used the catch-all name of several years prior, but is a new umbrella franchise covering products not falling under either Crossovers or Animated.

Takara franchises

Generation 1

Beginning in 1986, (the second year of the franchise in Japan), Takara got into the habit of annually rebranding the Transformers property. Moreover, 1987's Transformers: The Headmasters kicked off a trend in which Takara's toylines and fiction branched off from Hasbro's versions to increasingly significant degrees. Thus, the later iterations of Japanese Generation 1 are often referred to as "franchises", despite being part of the larger Generation 1 franchise. They include:

Beast Wars

To fill the sometimes-lengthy gap between the seasons of the Beast Wars television show, Takara decided to augment that series with two Japanese-exclusive franchises.

Post-Beast Wars

  • 2000: Transformers: Car Robots was a mixed line of complex new molds and redecorated toys from previous lines. An expanded version was later marketed in America as Robots in Disguise.
  • 2002–2004: Micromaster re-released the various Japanese-exclusive Micromaster combining teams from late in the Generation 1 era.
  • 2002-2006: The Transformers Collection consisted of book-boxed reissues of toys from the early years of Generation 1. Many of the same toys would subsequently be reissued in the United States in the Commemorative Series line.
  • 2003–2008: Binaltech, Japan's version of Alternators. Originally ended in 2006, later reanimated.
  • 2003– : The Transformers: Masterpiece is a collector-oriented series of "ultimate" versions of classic Generation 1 characters, with great complexity and high prices.
  • 2004–2005: Robotmasters was a line of mixed heritage, collecting characters from several continuities. Most of its toys were redecos or new designs based on larger toys reduced in scale.
  • 2006–2007: Transformers: Kiss Players picked up the tail end of the Binaltech/Alternators toyline, but with an all-new, all-creepy storyline.
  • 2007– : Transformers Encore revives the trend of reissuing older Generation 1 toys, including many not previously available in Japan.
  • 2007– : Henkei! Henkei! Transformers uses the molds created for the 2007 Classics and 2008 Universe lines and gives them color schemes more accurate to the original Generation 1 cartoon. Fiction exists in the form of a pack-in comic.

Other franchises

Several Transformers franchises do not fit cleanly into any one category; this may because they encompass a wide variety of characters from multiple continuities, because they crossover with outside intellectual properties, they can't be slotted neatly somewhere into the Transformers multiverse, or simply because they never grew beyond a handful of toys.

Main article: Animorphs
1999: Animorphs was a short-lived franchise based off K.A. Applegate's book series of the same name, featuring transforming versions of the main cast.


Main article: Star Wars Transformers
2006–2008: Star Wars Transformers' combined the transforming play pattern with the characters and vehicles of the popular movie franchise. Fiction was limited to on-package bios, as this line was in support of a non-Transformers fictional universe.
Main article: Transformers: Crossovers
  • 2008– : Transformers: Crossovers rebranded the Star Wars Transformers line, as well as bringing in transforming Marvel characters, following Hasbro's acquisition of the Marvel license.

Other franchises

Merchandising franchises

Several lines of non-transforming figures have been released, capitalizing on the popularity of the Transformers characters.

  • 2000–?: Super Collection Figure, a Japanese line of PVC figures based on character models from the Generation 1 cartoon. It was later marketed in America as Heroes of Cybertron, with some minor alterations.
  • 2002–2003: MyClone, a Transformers iteration of a super-deformed figure line in Japan.
  • 2007: Robot Heroes, adorably cute figurines of various characters. It started out under the Movie banner (despite originally containing toys based on Generation 1 characters), then continued under Universe (2008) and Revenge of the Fallen.



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