Block Town
Block Town was an unreleased Takara line that was planned to follow the Japanese release of Generation 2 in 1996. The line would combine Transformers toys with Takara's Dia-Block building-block line (compatible with — and competing with — Lego blocks), giving the Transformers small bases that could be rebuilt into battle stations.
The first wave were planned to be four small toys released at 380 yen a piece (roughly $3.50 US at the time); individually-packaged members of the Micromaster Rescue Patrol with small garage-style bases. The Transformers toys themselves did not appear to have any notable changes from their Generation 1 incarnations.
The next releases would be six sets, redecoes of 3/4ths of the Axelerators and Skyscorchers (all as Autobots) were displayed at a Japanese toy show.
- TFBT-1 Radar Set (with Afterburner redeco)
- TFBT-2 Control Set/Control Tower Set (with Terradive redeco)
- TFBT-3 Airport Building Set (with Windrazor redeco)
- TFBT-4 Gasoline Station Set (with Rapido redeco)
- TFBT-5 Garage Set (with Windbreaker redeco)
- TFBT-6 Signal/Traffic Lights Set (with Turbofire redeco)
Since the Axelerators and Skyscorchers are gang-molded, it is possible that two more sets were in the works using the last two members of those teams. If that were the case, Skram would have been red with white robot parts, while Eagle Eye would have been a lighter shade of green with blue parts.
The Takara Transformers Generations book shows packaging for the Garage set within one of its "unreleased items" sub-sections. This shot reveals that the robot packed in would have been named "Carzap". It is currently unknown what the names of the other five sets' robots were going to be, and if they too would also be alterations of the molds' European names.
In March of 2005, a supposed Takara upcoming product list was leaked, which included the Block Town sets. However, the sets didn't see release then either, nor did some of the other items on the list.
Hasbro would much later revisit the combination of Transformers and building blocks with their Built to Rule line, with only marginally more success... in that Built to Rule even made it to stores.
Microtransformers: American Rescue Team
Although Block Town was canceled, the four Rescue Patrol Team members were still released in 1996, but instead as part of Microtransformers: American Rescue Team, which paired each Micromaster with a jig saw-style floor plan. This release causes some confusion in the West, where it has sometimes been mistaken as a Block Town release.
