Unofficial guidebooks
For a property as successful and enduring as Transformers, there have been surprisingly few officially-licensed publications that catalogued the history and diversity of the franchise--and even fewer in English. Fans and publishers in the toy collecting industry have attempted to fill this gap over the years with unofficial works of varying scope, production quality, and accuracy.
Cybertronian: The Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide
Published by Antarctic Press from 2001-2002, Cybertronian: The Unofficial Transformers Recognition Guide is an unofficial (surprise, surprise!) but highly useful guide to American-released Transformers up to and including the first waves of Beast Wars. Although not authorised by Hasbro/Takara and thus technically a fan-publication, it was nevertheless the first book (sorta) of its kind and remains one of the most comprehensive English-language sources on the pre-Beast Era toylines of Generation 1, Generation 2 and Machine Wars.
BotCon Legends
A high quality fanzine written and published by Fumihiko Akiyama in 2004, with input from Jon Hartman, Karl Hartman, and others. Written in both Japanese and English. It covers the official convention from 1994 to 2004 in both the U.S., Japan, and Europe, and includes guest interviews, event and panel summaries, and picture spreads of the events themselves and their exclusive merchandise. Its glossy, magazine-quality photo galleries are especially notable for their emphasis on the unproduced toys and concept art displayed at various conventions over the years. It is, however, worth noting that the book excludes OTFCC 2003 and 2004.
TransManual
Prime Targets
Transformers Identification and Price Guide
A guide developed by Krause Publications, this guide lists every american Generation 1 toy released from 1984-1990. Each chapter covers a year with a short intro (Okay, the 1984 intro was longer, as it included asection on Pre-Transformers, the 1984 overview, and the franchise's success). Then, it lists all of the Autobot subgroups in a somewhat random order Then, it lists the Decepticon subgroups. Each character is listed in alphabetical order within their correct subgroup with their original Tech Specs and bios, as well as commentary by the author, full-color photos, and the occaisional comparison (Like frenzy's gold versus silver gun comparison).
Lee's Toy Review
This magazine has published several pull-out photo guides of various American Transformer series over the years.
