Licensed vehicle alternate modes

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History

Generation 1

Robots in Disguise

Alternators/Binaltech

Hasbro and Takara finally jumped in with both feet in 2003, launching a toyline that was entirely composed of licensed vehicle modes. Much of this line was leveraged by the companies' growing relationship with the Chrysler corporation, with many of the figures being drawn from Chrysler vehicles.

The line hit some snags when it approached Porsche and Volkswagen with plans to make figures for Jazz and Bumblebee. Protypes were made, but Porsche refused to grant Hasbro and Takara the license, stating that "Transformers are not worthy carrying the Porsche trademark. They are war machines and the toyline in no way represents the lifestyle and ideas which Porsche represents."[1] As a consequence, the toy ultimately never went into production. Photos of the prototype were depicted in the Japanese book "The Transformers: Binaltech & TF Collection Complete Guide", and Hasbro later also displayed the prototype during the BotCon 2007 Hasbro Tour. Volkswagen had similar concerns as Porsche, what with not wanting to be associated with "war toys", therefore the design never made it past the control drawing stage. Control drawings for both Bumblebee and Cliffjumper have been published in the aforementioned Japanese BT guide book.

Eventually much of the Alternators, Binaltech, and derived toylines had to be taken out of production due to the expiration of the licenses which initially allowed their release.

2007 Movie

The advent of the 2007 live-action movie required licensing on a grand scale, as nearly all alternate modes featured in the film had to be at least nominally real-life vehicles. Hasbro reached what must be assumed to have been a very lucrative deal with General Motors, using vehicles from their product line almost exclusively.

However a new development in the official licensing of vehicle modes came in the fact that the movie used real-life military vehicles as well. Noteworthy inclusions are the Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, the Bell Helicopter V-22 Osprey, and the Force Protection Buffalo mine-protected vehicle. All of these found their way into toy form, though not all were given screen time as actual characters.

Unfortunately, due to issues of vehicle-mode licensing and the fact that the robot designs are the shared intellectual property of DreamWorks, it is a virtual certainty that the Movie toys will never be made available as redecos in other franchises or as convention exclusives. So get 'em while the getting's good!

Toys with licensed vehicle alternate modes

Robots in Disguise

Universe

Alternators

Star Wars Transformers

  • Anakin Skywalker (Jedi Starfighter)
  • AT-AT
  • Boba Fett (Slave 1)
  • Clone Pilot (ARC-170 Starfighter)
  • Clone Pilot (Republic Gunship)
  • Commander Cody (Turbo Tank)
  • Darth Maul (Sith Infiltrator)
  • Darth Vader (Death Star)
  • Darth Vader (Sith Starfighter)
  • Darth Vader (TIE Advanced Fighter)
  • Emperor Palpatine (Imperial Shuttle)
  • General Grievous (Wheel Bike)
  • Han Solo and Chewbacca (Millenium Falcon)
  • Jango Fett (Slave 1)
  • Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder)
  • Luke Skywalker (X-wing Fighter)
  • Mace Windu (Jedi Starfighter)
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Starfighte)
  • Saesee Tiin (Jedi Starfighter)

2007 Movie

See also

Popular Earth vehicle alternate modes

References

  1. ↑ Former Porsche employee Additional recounting an informal inquiry with Porsche's licensing department at TF Archive
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