Transformers Gum
Transformers Gum (トランスフォーマー ガム) is the premiere Transformers candy toy series produced by Japanese confectionery company Kabaya.
The original Transformers Gum series ran for the entirety of the franchise's peak years in Japan, from 1985 to 1989. Usually (but not always) released in waves of four, each toy took the form of a snap-together model kit sculpted from three colours of plastic, with a sheet of stickers for detail, and, per the name of the line, a stick of chewing gum. The figures were generally packaged individually, but smaller characters like the Mini-Cassettes and Combiner limbs would come in groups of two. Once assembled, the kits, which mostly stood at around four inches tall, were fully transformable, appearing as essentially downsized versions of the original toys upon which they were based. They often preserved the gimmicks of said toys—including Headmaster partners and working stats bars, Godmaster partners, and full combination ability for combiner teams—though kits based on much larger figures did undergo some notable simplification.
In 1990, Transformers Gum merged with its Kabaya sister line, Transformers Choco to became the super deformed Parody Deformed line of models. The line returned as Beast Wars Gum to cover characters from the various portions of the Beast Era in the late 1990s, then switched back to its original name in 2000 for Robots in Disguise. After being retired for the duration of the Unicron Trilogy, Transformers Gum returned in 2009 for a new series that celebrated various eras of Generation 1.
Generation 1
Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers
All the kits from wave 1, and the Decepticons from wave 2, were made from black, red and grey plastic, while Inferno and Red Alert were made from black, red and white.
Wave 3:
Wave 4:
Every kit from wave 3 is made from black, red and grey plastic except for Ultra Magnus, who is made from red, white and blue. In wave 3, the Protectobots, Swindle and Blast Off are made from red, white and black plastic, and the other Combaticons are made from green and grey. The two combiner teams can merge to form Defensor and Bruticus.
Transformers 2010
Wave 5:
All four of this year's kits were made from red, grey and black plastic.
The Headmasters
Wave 6:
Wave 7:
All of the kits from wave 6 are made from black, red and cream-colored plastic, except for Highbrow and Hardhead, who, along with all four kids from wave 7, are made from blue, grey and white. The small Headmasters all come with transforming Headmaster partners and working stats bars, but Scorponok and Fortress Maximus, greatly simplified from their larger toys, do not. Raiden can separate into vehicle-mode models of Yukikaze, Seizan, Suiken and Getsuei.
Super-God Masterforce
Wave 10:
- Godbomber
- Sixknight
- King Poseidon A (Turtler and Overbite
- King PoseidonB (Tentakil, Gulf, Lobclaw and Kraken)
Most of the Masterforce figures are made from red, blue and grey plastic, except for Wave 8's Pretenders, which use an lighter, off-white grey, and the Seacons, who are made from magenta, teal and grey. Lightfoot, Hydra and Buster all featuring transforming Godmaster partners, and the Seacons can combine to form King Poseidon, but Ginrai and Godbomber can not merge into God Ginrai.
Victory
Wave 13:
Wave 7's kits are all made from red, white and blue plastic, wave 8's are red, grey and blue, and wave 13's are red, black and white. The smaller three Brainmasters feature working Brain figures and can combine into Road Caesar; while the Breastforce can combine into Liokaiser, they lack their Breast Animal partners. Victory Leo cannot combine with Star Saber, hence why Victory Saber gets a dedicated kit.
Beast Era
Car Robots
The Car Robots kits are non-transforming robot mode figurines, consisting of a solid grey body to which partially-colored translucent armor pieces are attached: red for for the two Primes, green for X-Brawn, blue for Side Burn and colorless for Prowl.
2009 series
Wave 3: (March 2011)
Wave 1's figures are all made from red, white and blue plastic, wave 2's are blue, white and black, and wave 3's are red, blue and grey, with all the figures using a remarkable amount of stickers to make the characters look like themselves. Prowl, Jetfire, Starscream and one of the Optimus Prime figures are designed after their Classics/Henkei! Henkei! toys, while the remainder are based on their classic selves. Ginrai and Godbomber one-up their original Transformers Gum incarnations by being able to combine into God Ginrai.
