Transformers: Classics

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This article is about . For other uses of "Classics", see Classics (disambiguation)|The name or term "Classics" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Classics (disambiguation).}}

When the live-action Transformers film was pushed back from November 2006 to July 2007, Hasbro needed to create a filler line to bridge the gap in their product offerings. That bridge was a revisitation of the original Generation 1 characters, dubbed Transformers: Classics. The line featured many original toy designs as well as some Mini-Cons which were originally meant for the tail end of the Cybertron line. A handful of redecoed Legends Class figures rounded out the selection.

Classics has a Japanese counterpart in Henkei! Henkei!, and later gained spiritual successors in the 2008 Universe line, the Generations line and the Reveal the Shield sub-segment of the 2010 Transformers line.

Toys

Classic Legends

Wave 1

Wave 2

The second wave had very minimal distribution and was effectively only available from online retailers and specialty stores.

Cybertron Collection

These toys were re-releases of past Legends figures in unchanged decos and Classics-style packaging; they were found at KB Toys, Kmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Big Lots and Meijer stores in 2008. It's possible they were already available in 2007—nobody really seemed to care.

Mini-Cons

Wave 1

Wave 2

Classic Deluxe

Wave 1

Wave 2

Wave 3

Classic Voyager

Wave 1

Wave 2

Box sets

  • Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The Ultimate Battle (versus two-pack with DVD). In 2007, Walmart had an exclusive "Bonus buy" version of the Classics "Ultimate Battle" Optimus Prime/Megatron multipack that had two random members of the Giant Planet Team attached to the top of the box. All the toys involved were unchanged from their original separate releases.
  • Ultra Magnus vs Skywarp: Battle for Autobot City (versus two-pack, Target exclusive)
  • Constructicon Devastator (Wal-Mart exclusive giftset, includes:)

Miscellaneous

Ravage is called "Battle Ravage" on the back of the box, but simply "Ravage" in the instruction sheet.

BotCon 2007 exclusives

Non-US market Hasbro releases

  • Bumblebee/Astrotrain two-pack (Deluxe Bumblebee and Astrotrain on a new, shared cardback)
  • Rodimus/Starscream two-pack (Deluxe Rodimus and Starscream on a new, shared cardback)
  • Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus Twin Pack (Voyager Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus from the "Battle for Autobot City" two-pack in a new box similar to the Soundwave reissue)
  • Jetfire and Grimlock Twin Pack (Voyager Jetfire and Deluxe Grimlock in a new box similar to the Soundwave reissue)
  • Optimus Prime (from the "Ultimate Battle" two-pack, on a new, individual cardback)
  • Megatron (from the "Ultimate Battle" two-pack, on a new, individual cardback)

Fiction

Although no cartoons or comic books were planned for the line by Hasbro, Fun Publications picked up the ball for their Official Transformers Fan Club Magazine comic, making Classics the basis of their 2007 story-arc, "Crossing Over". The story uses the old Marvel Generation 1 comic as backstory, but disregards the Marvel UK material and the Generation 2 comic that followed, taking things in a new direction instead. The Classics fiction has since been expanded by several exclusive on-line prose stories, single issue comics available through the club or at BotCon, and through Bios available on the club website or in the magazine.

A brief timeline of the Classics universe includes:

Also of note is that, after "Crossing Over", Classics Cliffjumper embarks on his own adventures in the Shattered Glass universe. On a similar note, the Classicsverse itself ceases to exist after Invasion as the result of Ultra Magnus's dimensional tampering, save for its version of Earth (which was absorbed into the Shattered Glass universe and is now orbiting Cybertron).

What counts as Classics?

The term "Classics" is universally accepted and used by both fans and Hasbro, but it appears with surprising irregularity around the toys themselves. The first year of packaging only labeled them "Transformers" (with the tag line "Robots in Disguise" occasionally being mistaken for a secondary title), with "Classic" appearing solely as a prefix to some of the size classes, such as "Classic Deluxe" or "Classic Voyager".

On the other hand, the photo gallery of the toy line included on the Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The Ultimate Battle DVD invited its viewers to "check out all the awesome TRANSFORMERS Classics figures!". Furthermore, Hasbro's official Transformers website prominently featured the name "Classics" in multiple places at the time, including a "Transformers Classics" overview page. The accompanying toy list included almost all the toys listed above, explicitly identifying assortments such as "Classic Legends" and "Classic Mini-Con 3-packs" by name. The Hasbro website also featured a variation of the toy line logo that included the secondary title "Classic", which can also be found, of all places, on the bottom of the packaging for TakaraTomy's Henkei! Henkei! versions of all the figures that originated from the US Classics line, just like those figures whose Hasbro counterparts were released under the Universe toy line sport a small Transformers: Universe logo on the bottom of their packaging.

Some toys, such as the Magnus/Skywarp two-pack, have no "Classic" label at all. The one unifying factor was the distinctive design of the packaging, which spread to even the Soundwave re-release. This has become the commonly-accepted delineator of the Classics line, which brings the following toys into the fold even though they don't self-identify as such:

  • Prime vs. Megatron Ultimate Battle set
  • Magnus vs. Skywarp Battle for Autobot City set
  • 20th Anniversary Prime redeco
  • Mini-Cons (the Mini-Con sets have been referred to as Classics toys on Hasbro's website, but not on the packaging)
  • Toys "R" Us exclusive reissue Soundwave
  • BotCon 2007 exclusives
  • Pepsi Optimus Prime
  • Optimus Prime & Ultra Magnus (Asian market exclusive two-pack, 2007)
  • Jetfire & Grimlock (Asian market exclusive two-pack, 2007)
  • Masterpiece Starscream Hasbro release

Complicating things further, Classics would later be subsumed by the relaunched Universe franchise (which also engulfed Robot Heroes). The line replaced the defining Classics packaging style with the new Universe design. Only a small "Classic Series" label on their packaging maintained the connection to the previous Classics toys and separated them from other toys in the Universe line, labeled "Beast Wars Series", "Armada Series" or "Cybertron Series". However, as the line progressed, "Classic Series" was eventually replaced with "Generation 1 Series", which appears to have been simply an attempt at more consistent labeling.

The 2008 Universe toy line and the 2010 Generations toyline are sometimes informally referred to as Classics 2.0 and Classics 3.0.

Notes

And this is what you could have won...
  • Several other toys were planned for Classics, but never made it past the concept or prototype stage. Those include:

Footnotes

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