Commercial

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And watch the cartoon, too! It's not nearly this pretty, but it gives you time to blink.

Despite the existence of comics, cartoons, and other media intended to advertise Transformers toys, Hasbro has routinely commissioned standard television commercials to promote their current toy lines.

Commercials for Transformers typically use a combination of animation and live-action film featuring the characters/toys in question.

Generation 1

Generation 1's stylized and somewhat dated commercials became nearly as famous as the cartoon and toyline itself. They would commonly start with a short animated sequence, then cut to two or more boys in the 7 to 10-year-old range playing with the toys. Victor Caroli and another narrator provided voice-overs to describe just how exciting the incredible new toys were. Various show characters narrated some spots, including Optimus Prime, Megatron, Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime.

Background music would feature the show's theme song, but with new lyrics about the toys in question, often rather stretched to fit the cadence of the song, or else jammed into a different melody altogether. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the commercials featured one of the young actors staring very seriously into the camera, mouthing "Robots in disguise!" as his eyes glowed and/or his face transformed into that of a robot (based on Galvatron or Ultra Magnus.)

The animated segments often featured high-quality art and animation. Some of the 1986 and 1987 animation was combined into a title sequence for "The Rebirth", the final 3-part episode of the Generation 1 cartoon. The short length of television commercials meant the animated sections were very rushed, with characters speaking their lines very rapidly; within the context of the fictional world they portray, this could lead to some hilarious results, such as Jazz taking about 1/4th of a second to decide to become an Action Master. The animated segments would sometimes feature the voice actors from the cartoon; however, some such as Blaster had not been assigned a voice actor yet. Later segments required soundalikes for characters whose voice actors had died (Jazz) or were unavailable (Megatron). These spots were the only American animation produced for dozens of characters from the toyline's later years.

Many commercials were re-edited into even shorter versions, without the animation segments.

1984

  • Megatron
  • Jetfire and Shockwave, featuring a toy-based animation model for Jetfire.
  • Mini-Spies, with animation featuring Huffer and Cliffjumper.

1985

  • Constructicons/Devastator
  • Blaster. Not a working radio!
  • Alex Kerras calmly promotes the virtues of Perceptor (a working microscope!) and urges you to shop now if you want one for your kid for Christmas.

1986

  • Hot Rod, Kup, and Blurr; Cyclonus and Scourge; and Rrrrrodimus Prime. No one can take on the Decepticons like Rrrrrodimus Prime!
  • Combaticons/Bruticus and Metroplex
  • Predacons. Few Decepticons can stand up to the Dinobots, but the Predacons can!
  • Sky Lynx, with animation of Predaking vs. the Dinobots.
  • Triple Changers - Sandstorm, Broadside, Octane.

1987

  • Headmasters. Head. MasterTransformers - more muchmore than meets the eyes! [sic]
  • Headmaster Horrorcons. The jaws of the beast become the pilot of the plane, and the pilot of the plane becomes the head of the robot!
  • Targetmasters
  • Technobots/Computron and Scorponok
  • Technobots and Terrorcons, with Decoy ending.
  • Punch/Counterpunch and Clones. You can trust me, Galvatron!
  • The Monsterbots. The new Autobots are Monsterbots!
  • Seacons


1988

  • Pretenders. I'm a skateboarder. I'm a Transformer!
  • Powermaster Optimus Prime
  • Double Targetmasters. Targetmaster Transformers -- theeeeeey've got the power to surprise.
  • Triggerbots/Triggercons. And when the Triggerbots battle the Triggercons, there's no doubt there'll be a real shoot-out! KERRUNCH.

1989

  • Micromasters, with animation featuring Prime, Dreadwind and Darkwing, and stop-motion toy animation featuring a bizarre light and dark gray Scorponok.
  • Micromaster vehicles and bases, with the Micromasters swarming over a Giant Decepticon Warrior. They're not just small; they're Tranzzforrrmerrzzz!
  • Micromaster battle stations, abbreviated from the previous commercial. The only Micros that transform!
  • Micromaster transports, abbreviated from the vehicles and bases commercial.
  • Micromaster micro bases. Optimus, we've captured two of the Decepticons vehicles!
  • Micromaster micro bases, abbreviated from the previous commercial.
  • Classic Pretenders. Jazz, you're back!
  • Classic Pretenders, abbreviated from the previous commercial.
  • Mega and Ultra Pretenders. Who's more than they pretend to be? Mega Pretender Transformers, Mega Pretenders!
  • Mega Pretenders, abbreviated from the previous commercial. Inside one, there's the other; then they both transform and combine to form another!
  • Ultra Pretenders, abbreviated from the previous commercial.
  • Monster Pretenders. Now, the Decepticons have Monster Pretenders. Monster Pretenders with rubbery skin!

1990

The Action Master commercials began and ended with a metal fist bursting through a wall, with "ACTION MASTERS" emblazoned across its knuckles. Some of the animation was screened against real-world backgrounds, with the animated characters morphing into the real toys.

  • Action Masters. Who will give up the power to transform to become stronger faster more alive? [sic]
  • Action Master vehicles - Starscream, Prowl, and Overrun. And look! The Action Master vehicles transform into powerful battle stations!!
  • Action Master vehicles - Wheeljack, Sprocket, and Gutcruncher. "Estroy them!" [again, sic]
  • Action Master vehicles - abbreviated version of the previous commercial.
  • Hot Rod Patrol (animation) and Construction Patrol (stop-motion animation).
  • Hot Rod Patrol / Construction Patrol - abbreviated version of the previous commercial.
  • Micromaster Combiners/Combiner Transports - featuring a rather wussy Frank Welker soundalike voicing Megatron.
  • Micromaster Combiners - abbreviated version of the previous commercial.

Generation 2

Advertisements for Generation 2 were totally hip to what the hep cats were digging. That background-music-singing jive was totally bogus, so it was replaced by the "rap music" that all the kids listen to these days. Cel animation was so five minutes ago; these commercials used graphical images made with a com-pu-tor.

1993

  • Megatron. Listen to the voice of doom!
  • Bruticus. He's a big bad battlin' dudicus!


Beast Wars

1996


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