The Transformers (franchise)
| "The Transformers" redirects here. For other uses of The Transformers, see Transformers (disambiguation). |
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Generation 1, originally known as The Transformers, is the original Transformers franchise which took the United States by storm in 1984.
The term "Generation 1" (G1) was originally a fan-coined back-formulation of Generation 2. Until the Transformers:Generation 2 line was released, Generation 1 was simply called The Transformers. Over the years, the use of the term G1 has become fairly universal and has frequently been used in official materials. It has appeared on Takara toy packaging, Hasbro's official Transformers website and reissue toy packaging, and is a series under the second Universe toyline.
The Generation 1 franchise as it ran in the 1980s/90s featured the following primary components:
Generation 1 also included an avalanche of ancillary licensed merchandise, moreso than any other Transformers franchise outside of Japan. This has resulted in a higher number of micro-continuities in G1 than in any other Transformers franchise. This licensing was revived in the early 2000s due to retro-appeal at retailers like Hot Topic. It has continued at varying levels of intensity since.
Japanese release
In Japan, rather than simply be identified as The Transformers throughout its lifespan, the franchise was rebranded with a new title and a shift in storytelling every year. This led to a collection of mini-franchises within the larger Generation 1 franchise, each featuring their own individual components. They are:
- 1985 - Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers
- 1986 - Transformers 2010
- 1987 - The Headmasters
- 1988 - Super-God Masterforce
- 1989 - Victory
- 1990 - Zone
- 1991 - Return of Convoy
- 1992 - Operation Combination
Continuations and addenda
The first two revivals/reinventions of the Transformers line following the end of the original line (Generation 2 and Beast Wars/Beast Machines) remained, as far as their fiction was concerned, as part of the same overall storyline/history framework. Thus a character like Optimus Primal is listed as being "a character from the Beast Era portion of the Generation 1 continuity family." Despite hailing from a later post-Generation 1 franchise, he is a part of the same Generation 1 continuity family.
Also of note, the lasting popularity of the original Generation 1 franchise, its characters, and stories have led Hasbro and Takara to produce a long stream of modern revisitations of it. This new Generation 1 material is sometimes referred to by fans as "Neo G1".
Among these are:
- New Generation 1 characters (generally redecos of existing G1 toys) retroactively introduced into the franchise by the Japanese reissues toy line.
- Whole new toy lines with ancillary fiction set in a Generation 1 continuity: these include Binaltech, Universe, Robot Masters, Micromaster Collection, Kiss Players, and Classics (2006), and certain series within Universe (2008)[1].
- Many new Generation 1 comic book series, first from Dreamwave and then from Devil's Due and IDW.
- The toyline itself has a continuation in the form of the Generation 1 series in Universe (2008).
References
- ↑ Only certain series within Universe (2008) would be considered part of the Generation 1 continuity family, including: Classic Series, Generation 1 Series, War Within Series, Beast Wars Series, and Beast Machine Series.
