Talk:Generation 1 (toyline)
1986, Unicron and Arcee
Do we want to include the Unreleased Arcee and Unicron toys in the 1986 list? Unlike other Prototypes, these 2 got cast in final colors and had painted detail, so they were probably almost as close to release as the G2 Stunticons and Protectobots --FortMax 16:48, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
Do those unreleased G2 toys appear in a toyline list someplace? I think they shouldn't, except perhaps in a seperate "unreleased" section.
Regardless... As far as I know, the Unicron and Arcee toys were not that far along... there are supposedly only two of the large Unicron toy in existence, for example, so it's not like there were production molds for him made. And the only picture of Arcee I've ever seen (aside from the Chromedome repaint) is this one. It doesn't look very final to me.
--Steve-o 17:54, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
Sorting
Started restructuring the toy list similar to the Euro G1 list. I think it makes more sense breaking the toys from a year up into product ranges instead of mindlessly listing all Autobots and all Decepticons from a year without any sort of distinction or details about availability aside from the occasional "mail order only". After all, this is supposed to be a "list of available toys", not a "list of characters available in toy form", right? LMK if this is okay with you. BTW, were the Omnibots first available in 1985 or 1986? My notes say "1986", and as far as I recall, I tried to track down solid confirmation the last time I was confronted with this question, but unfortunately I don't rememeber the source. Anyone? - Nevermore
- So, reworked the 1986 list again, with a preface noting that some toys were available in mixed assortments (technially, it would make sense to me to break up combiners into "Mini-Vehicles", i.e. limbs, and "Large Vehicles", i.e. torsos/leaders, but then, that'd be more confusing then simply listing them by team; for the same reason, I kept the Cassettes listed individually with a note on availability rather then listing them as two-packs). Now, when it comes to 1987-onwards toys, the assortments started getting more and more mixed, with 1989 and 1990 having stronger division lines between "Pretenders" and "Micromasters" or "Micromasters" and "Action Masters", respectively, rather than factions. My suggestion would be to follow the divisions from the official Hasbro catalogs - the question, though, would be how 1987 and 1988 should be broken up? My reasoning is that a list that gives an overview on a toyline would be more useful when it explains how the line was sorted, which toys were available how and which categories they fit into, rather than sticking slavishly to the factions the fiction attributes them to. Think about it - if someone wants a quick overview on, say, the 1990 toys, would he be more interested in which Micromasters were available ("Hot Rod Patrol", "Military Patrol"), or which Decepticons were available ("Woo! Cement-Head! And Bombshock!")? A possibility would be to add "A" or "D" indicators after the names. In any regard, any structure would be better than a simple alphabetical list of all Autobots and Decepticons available in a specific year.--Nevermore 16:51, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
- Something along the Beast Wars (toyline) article would be nice. Each year is split into Autobot and Decepticon, which are then split up into subgroups. --Crockalley 21:11, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
- My point just is that in 1989 and 1990, Hasbro had specialized and diversified the "Transformers" range - first into "Pretenders" and "Micromasters", then into "Micromasters" and "Action Masters" - to a degree where they were almost separate toylines. The trend continued in Europe in 1990 and 1991, where we got "Micromasters", "Acion Masters" and "Classics" in 1990, and "Action Masters", "Classics" and a few imported/slightly recolored Japanese toys in "Classics"-esque gold boxes in 1991. My suggestion would be to keep splitting toys into "Autobots" and "Decepticons" until 1988 and then add a brief disclaimer about the more distinct separation between the two sub-lines in 1989 and 1990. There would be no "confusion" as some people fear if there's a disclaimer right at the start of the 1989 section saying "Beginning with 1989, Hasbro was effectively releasing two almost distinct sub-lines concurrently, a separation that was stronger from a marketing standpoint than the Autobot/Decepticon disinction from previous years." Basically, what I'm suggesting is: 1989 => Pretenders => Autobots, Decepticons; Micromasters => Autobots, Decepticons, rather than 1989 => Autobots => Pretenders, Micromasters; Decepticons => Pretenders, Micromasters.--Nevermore 18:13, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
- I see what you're saying now. What is more important for the toyline after 1989, faction or subline? I still have to say faction. I think it's weird to have the first half of this article split between Autobots and Decepticons, then the second half split between sublines.
- My point just is that in 1989 and 1990, Hasbro had specialized and diversified the "Transformers" range - first into "Pretenders" and "Micromasters", then into "Micromasters" and "Action Masters" - to a degree where they were almost separate toylines. The trend continued in Europe in 1990 and 1991, where we got "Micromasters", "Acion Masters" and "Classics" in 1990, and "Action Masters", "Classics" and a few imported/slightly recolored Japanese toys in "Classics"-esque gold boxes in 1991. My suggestion would be to keep splitting toys into "Autobots" and "Decepticons" until 1988 and then add a brief disclaimer about the more distinct separation between the two sub-lines in 1989 and 1990. There would be no "confusion" as some people fear if there's a disclaimer right at the start of the 1989 section saying "Beginning with 1989, Hasbro was effectively releasing two almost distinct sub-lines concurrently, a separation that was stronger from a marketing standpoint than the Autobot/Decepticon disinction from previous years." Basically, what I'm suggesting is: 1989 => Pretenders => Autobots, Decepticons; Micromasters => Autobots, Decepticons, rather than 1989 => Autobots => Pretenders, Micromasters; Decepticons => Pretenders, Micromasters.--Nevermore 18:13, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
- I don't know how to do this, but maybe some sort of table with the left column being Autobots and the right column Decepticons, and along the side would be subgroups. --Crockalley 20:43, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
