Machine Wars: Transformers
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Machine Wars: Transformers was a line of Transformers toys released in 1997 as a Kay-Bee Toy Works exclusive. Apparently, the line was an early attempt to bring vehicular characters and popular names back into Transformers after the success of Beast Wars revived the brand. Only one wave of figures was produced, and memory of the line has mostly faded. It is a rare example of a micro-continuity which nevertheless had a full (albeit very small) toyline of its own.
Fiction
Machine Wars' placement within the larger fiction is an open-ended question. There is no form of accompanying fiction, nor even a story-establishing packaging blurb to set the stage. The on-package bios establish that ten of the twelve toys are blatantly returning Generation 1 characters in new bodies. (The errant two are Megaplex and Hubcap, the latter of whom shares a name with but is otherwise nothing like the Generation 1 robot of that name.) As such, many fans have taken to thinking that Machine Wars is part of the Generation 1 universe after Generation 2, since this was its characters' first appearance as toys since then, and the Transformers franchise had not yet explicitly rebooted continuity nor established the concept of a multiverse.
This placement is supported somewhat by Megatron's bio, which refers to him taking to the skies "again", likely a reference to the unreleased Generation 2 "ATB Megatron" toy. Years later, the idea would find more traction in TakaraTomy's "official timeline", where Machine Wars indeed follows Generation 2 in a grand conglomeration of all Transformers continuities. Although that timeline makes Machine Wars a dead-end branch, the e-HOBBY-exclusive black Starscream bio refers to his Machine Wars form in the past tense.
Within Machine Wars itself, the only remaining element of story progression is found in Thundercracker's bio. Where his Generation 1 bio had established him as being unsure of the Decepticon cause but willing to follow orders, his Machine Wars function is "Rebel Warrior", and he's described as believing in the Decepticon cause, yet "rebellious among his own ranks".
The Genesis art book contains one more suggestion of continuity in a portrait of Machine Wars Starscream. The artist embedded story information into the scene, placing Starscream on the dais where he was once crowned and adorning him with the same purple cape. But the setting glows golden, a reference to the post-Rebirth Golden Age, and Starscream brandishes the presumably-defeated Galvatron's torn-off particle cannon. The picture was intended to be a sequel to a piece of the artist's own fan art.
In 2012 it was announced via Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 48 that the BotCon 2013 set would be Machine Wars-themed and set after Generation 2 in the Wings Universe. Related fiction now shows this happening.
Toys
The line consists entirely of pre-existing molds: four small molds that had been originally developed for Generation 2 but were canceled with the line, and four larger toys released in the second-to-last year of Generation 1 in European markets. The four smaller molds share the same "flipchanger" quick transformation feature as early Beast Wars Basic class toys released the year before; the four larger toys are more in line with the blocky, non-articulated Generation 1 design style.
The card artwork is often cited as a testament to rushed production; almost all of the packages have character art from different toys, altered to resemble very vaguely the toy inside the package. Only Hoist and Hubcap have new art, a single new piece that was recolored between them.
Autobots
Basic
Mega
Ultra
Decepticons
Basic
Mega
Ultra
Notes
- It has been speculated that Machine Wars would not have existed if not for a slip of the tongue at BotCon 1996. At the time, Beast Wars was in full effect, but Hasbro representative Anthony Gaud reportedly told a BotCon audience, in detail, that Hasbro was going to launch a Generation 1 revival as well, which naturally brought a LOT of excitement to the fandom. When the lackluster Machine Wars appeared the following year, with virtually none of the details mentioned coming to pass, some fans surmised that Hasbro had scrapped any true revival plans, but still felt the need to follow through on Gaud's remarks.
