Transformers Animated (toyline)
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The Transformers Animated toy line merges the more expressive design style of the cartoon with extremely poseable robot forms (to a degree which seemed pleasantly surprising even to Hasbro). Unlike the franchises immediately before it, there is no overarching, line-wide gimmick (such as Mini-Cons or Cyber Planet Keys). Rather, transforming is the gimmick, and the toys have other special features unique and appropriate to the character (such as triple-changing or interchangeable tools). While the designs originated with Hasbro and the Cartoon Network team, TakaraTomy stepped up to the plate to engineer the toys. The line debuted on July 1, 2007, at Hasbro's Future Products panel at BotCon.
Hasbro, citing the strength of the movie toyline, postponed the official release of the Animated toyline to June 22, 2008 in the US. However, some toys began showing up at retailers in the Cincinnati area to coincide with BotCon, followed by wider releases in Canada in May and the U.S. shortly thereafter.
Toys
The core toys of this franchise are available at most of the traditional size classes.
General retail
Deluxe Class
Wave 1
Wave 2
Wave 3
Wave 4
Wave 5
Wave 6
Future waves
- Arcee
- Electrostatic Soundwave
- Freeway Jazz
- Cybertron Mode Ratchet
- Rodimus Minor
- Fugitive Waspinator
- Ironhide
Voyager Class
Wave 1
Wave 2
Wave 3
Wave 4
Wave 5
Wave 6
Future waves
Leader Class
Wave 1
Wave 2
Wave 3
Wave 4
- Roadbuster Ultra Magnus (redeco colored as a Roadbuster homage)
Supreme Class
Wave 1
Entertainment Packs
Wave 1
- Optimus Prime vs. Megatron - The Battle Begins
Wave 2
Activators
The Activators subcategory consists of chunkier, simpler, Scout-class-sized toys with one-touch, spring-loaded transformations.
Wave 1
Wave 2
Wave 3
Wave 4
Wave 5
Future waves
Bumper Battlers
An expansion on the Cyber Slammers subline from the 2007 live-action movie toys, Bumper Battlers feature "bump-and-transform" action. Hitting the front bumper causes the toy to change into robot mode, and pressing the toy's sigil activates sound effects and speech gimmicks.
Wave 1
Wave 2
Wave 3
Wave 4
Future waves
Power Bots
Wave 1
Wave 2
- Street Patrol Bumblebee (redeco of Cyber Speed Bumblebee)
Exclusives (United States market)
Target
- Stealth Lockdown (Deluxe Class) with Legends Class Bumblebee and Legends Class Optimus Prime
- Rescue Ratchet (Deluxe Class) with Legends Class Starscream and Legends Class Prowl
Toys "R" Us
- Megatron (Leader Class) with Activators Starscream
Wal-Mart
- "The Revenge of Blackarachnia" two-pack (Deluxe Optimus Prime from "The Battle Begins" two-pack and Deluxe Class Blackarachnia)
- "Battle in Space" two-pack (Deluxe Class Prowl and Deluxe Megatron from "The Battle Begins" two-pack)
Foreign market exclusive releases
Multi-packs
- Autobot Ratchet & Bumblebee two-pack
McDonald's Happy Meal toys
United States
Latin America
France
Toys of Animated characters released as part of other lines
Movie (2007)
Wal-Mart exclusives
- The Legacy of Bumblebee three-pack (movie-inspired minor redeco of Classic Deluxe Bumblebee, regular Movie Deluxe Class "Premium" Bumblebee and regular Animated Deluxe Class Bumblebee)
Universe (2008)
Legends Class (wave 3)
Legends Class (wave 4)
Criticisms
Since the first wave of Animated toys were released, there have been multiple complaints of poor quality paint applications, sloppy paint applications, and very greasy ball and hinge joints. There are also complaints over certain breakage issues, such as Lockdown's wrists, and toy functionality being limited by support struts added to prevent breakage, such as with Voyager Megatron's cannon and Bumblebee's stingers being unable to position properly.
Most of these issues can be fixed with relative ease. [1]
