Mysterians

Mysterians was a cancelled toyline developed by Knickerbocker Toys in late 1982 for a planned release in 1983. Inspired by a small keychain that transformed from train to robot discovered by some of the company's executives on a trip to Japan, the line would have been one of the earliest attempts to bring the transforming robot toy craze already gripping that country to America.

Development

The series was to be subtitled "The Hidden Force," and would have featured the heroic "Golden Guardians" battling the "Evil Warbots," each of whom transformed from a simple geometric shape like a cube or a sphere into a retro sci-fi robot. Knickerbocker intended to produce an animated TV special, and to include a pack-in comic book with each figure, and turned to DC Comics to help develop the property and produce the comic. Unhappy with what DC produced, the company approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter in 1983 to ask if they could do better, but before the project could proceed much farther, Knickerbocker was acquired by Hasbro. Mysterians promptly ceased to be, and just a few months later, Hasbro and Marvel would begin development of The Transformers.

Connection to Transformers?

A sub-series of four Mysterians figures was in development when the line was cancelled: "Vehicle Mysterians," sub-titled "The Mobile Force," who transformed into cars and trucks. Astoundingly, these four—"Jeepar," "Blazar," "Truckar," and "Speedar"—were the figures that would later become the Transformers toys, Brawn, Gears, Huffer, and Windcharger, respectively. Packaging mock-ups for the first three have been found, while concept art and prototype images exist for "Speedar." It is unclear if these figures were actively designed by Knickerbocker themselves for Mysterians or if they were acquired from Japanese toy company Takara, who released them in their Micro Change toyline in 1983, and which fans assumed for decades to their point of origin. If the former is the case, presumably Takara must have acquired the designs from Hasbro after their acquisition of Knickerbocker, but without precise dates for these events, we can't say for sure. Notably, Gears, Brawn, and Huffer all have an "M" logo sculpted into their bodies; fans had always assumed that it stood for Micro Change, but could it be that it actually stood for Mysterians?

Marchon's Mysterians

The story of Mysterians did not end with Hasbro's acquisition of Knickerbocker. In 1984, a toy company named Marchon released their own Mysterians toyline... which consisted of geometric shapes that transformed into simple robots, all very clearly based on Knickerbocker's early designs. It's possible Marchon may have cut a deal with Hasbro for the unused Knickerbocker designs, but there's no documented proof of it, and the full story of how this came to be remains unknown.