Homage

Everybody knows where this art comes from.

In fan terminology, an homage is a toy that is intentionally designed to resemble an earlier (usually Generation 1) toy or character, without being the exact same character. Noted examples of homages include Energon Downshift (based on G1 Wheeljack) and Energon Shockblast (based on G1 Shockwave).

Sometimes, homages are given different names from their predecessors if the actual rights to the name are lost via trademark murkiness, or if the name has already been applied to a non-homage toy within the same series.

Conversely, in order to protect trademarked names, Hasbro and Takara continue to use the same names over and over again, often on very different toys or very different characters within the official fiction. Since use of the term "homage" within the fandom is almost exclusively in reference to visual similarities, these name reuses alone are not considered homages.

Amusingly, Takara has given homages a new twist with "Ratchet Emergency Green", a redeco of the original Diaclone-based Ratchet toy in the color scheme of the live-action movie Ratchet, and "Ironhide Protect Black", a dual homage to the color scheme of both the toy's Diaclone incarnation and the character's live-action movie incarnation.

Also, the term homage not only applies to toys, but also various things such as dialogs or arts.

The following list is meant to include all more moden toys that 'visually' represent the Generation 1 characters. Re-uses of names without any visual relevance may be better placed on the trademark page.

Notable examples

Transformers Armada

• 
  Scavenger is essentially an homage to the Constructicons.
• Powerlinx Hot Shot is similar to Hot Rod.
  Powerlinx Hot Shot is similar to Hot Rod.

Transformers Energon

• 
  Downshift's design is an homage to Wheeljack.
• Shockblast's appearance heavily similar to Shockwave.
  Shockblast's appearance heavily similar to Shockwave.
• Rodimus's appearance is heavily based on Rodimus Prime.
  Rodimus's appearance is heavily based on Rodimus Prime.
• Megatron's appearance is an homage to Galvatron.
  Megatron's appearance is an homage to Galvatron.

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Transformers Cybertron

• Blurr's head design is an homage to his original Generation One counterpart.
  Blurr's head design is an homage to his original Generation One counterpart.
• 
  Longrack's head design is an homage to his original Beast Wars Neo counterpart.
• 
  Runamuckis an homage to his original Generation One counterpart's best mate.
• Buzzsaw's head design is an homage to his original Beast Wars counterpart.
  Buzzsaw's head design is an homage to his original Beast Wars counterpart.
• Galvatron's color is similar to Megatron.
  Galvatron's color is similar to Megatron.
• 
  Soundwave is heavily based on his original Generation One counterpart.
• 
  Quickmix shares a few physical similarities to his original Generation One counterpart.
• Excellion is an homage to Hot Rod.
  Excellion is an homage to Hot Rod.

Generation One

• The colorscheme of the lucky draw item of Primus is base on his appearance in Marvel G1 continuity.
  The colorscheme of the lucky draw item of Primus is base on his appearance in Marvel G1 continuity.
• 
  Ratchet Emergency Green used the color scheme to his Movie counterpart.

Shattered Glass

• Goldbug's color scheme is similar to Stealth Bumblebee.
  Goldbug's color scheme is similar to Stealth Bumblebee.
• Starscream's color scheme is similar to Jetfire.
  Starscream's color scheme is similar to Jetfire.

• 
  And the sextuple homage guy!

From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.