Transformers: Generation 2 (toyline)

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Two years after the original Transformers toy line petered out in the US, Hasbro revamped the series with late-1992's Transformers: Generation 2, the first "reboot" of the franchise. With a mix of classic popular characters, vintage toys, all-new gimmick-laden molds, and bodacious 90s color schemes, Hasbro hoped to recapture some of the financial success that had been lost with age and competition.

Generation 2 saw more-or-less simultaneous release in the US and European markets, but Japan would not start the line (or even have any Transformers product at all on shelves, for that matter) until 1995.

Unfortunately, the revamping failed to give the franchise the jumpstart it needed, despite having created several benchmarks that Transformers lines still follow to this day. In a desperate bid to save Transformers from ending for good, Hasbro chose to end the line in its third year, and go in a completely new direction...

Overview

Optimus Prime's first G2 toy, essentially a re-release of the original toy but with a new soundbox and weapons.

Initially, the line heavily featured re-releases of several "Generation 1" toys (as the pre-Generation 2 series quickly became known to the fandom), with tweaked decos and new accessories, alongside several molds that had been recently released as part of the European-market line. But after that initial year, all-new product quickly outnumbered reworked old product, and the line pushed its design and engineering to levels far beyond the original series; most notably, it was during the latter half of Generation 2 that the toys began to feature the kind of advanced articulation in robot mode that made the toys much more "action figures" than ever before (and far more posable than many "regular" action figure lines!), which has been a staple of the brand ever since.

Generation 2 also sought to follow changing trends in the toy market in a broader sense. It put a much larger focus on keeping "main" characters (particularly Optimus Prime and Megatron) readily available on shelves with a variety of toys at different price points, as most of the successful competing toy lines of the '90s were focused on a core cast of characters, rather than the massive ever-changing casts of the '80s.

Unfortunately, the series debuted to lackluster sales, despite featuring many fan-favorite toys that hadn't been available for years. Some fans blamed color selections, but it seems far more likely that it was simply a case of bad timing combined with too much product "your older brother has in the attic". Even the later new molds didn't help much, nor the little changes made as the line went on, such as removing faction symbols from the toys (supposedly kids didn't quite "get" them at the time, possibly due to the mix of symbols in the early line), or packaging frippery like the "Real Action Pop-Ups 3-D Transformer Trading Card"s that came with larger later toys.

Laser Rod Optimus Prime, the last Optimus toy of the line, all-new with a literal truckload of gimmicks.

Kids simply weren't into robots that turned into "real" vehicles at the time, it seems, and the "older nostalgic" market (which can rarely sustain a major toy brand at nationwide retail even today) was downright microscopic at the time. Being up against the then-new Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the still-popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (whose overall garish color schemes give lie to the idea that colors are what sank Generation 2), and the ever-growing popularity of home video game consoles that sucked kids away from all toys added to the line's woes. The lack of a proper, network-backed "advertainment" cartoon was also a factor, as the repackaged '80s-series episodes branded as "Generation 2" didn't advertise the majority of the actual toyline, and was stuck in syndication hell to boot where Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles got steady network play. Ironic, given a strong advertising cartoon was a major contributor to the success of the original Transformers series over its biggest competitor.

Generation 2 was ended after about two and a half years, with several new products trapped in development limbo. A handful saw release in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand (namely the Power Masters), but most of those canceled toys stayed unreleased. (A few of the slated new molds got released in later lines with new decos, however.)

As Hasbro had recently acquired former competitor Kenner, and the Transformers franchise was facing extinction, the decision was made to shift the boys'-toy production to Kenner and take Transformers in a wildly different direction to hopefully revitalize the seemingly-tired concept... Beast Wars.

Hasbro US line

1992–1993

The earliest Generation 2 product made it to market in time for Christmas 1992. It was a modest start, at least by production standards, made up entirely of classic products. Most of them had new decos, but some, like Inferno and the Dinobots, were nearly identical to the originals at first glance, with only an "AUTOBOT" stamp somewhere on them as a deco difference. Many had new accessories replacing the old, outdated missile launchers, and toys with built-in launchers had those completely retooled away to non-functionality.

An unusual promotional tie-in^[1] saw theatrical ads for the toyline run in front of holiday movies starting at the end of November; attendees were given a promotional pamphlet with a coupon for $2 off Optimus Prime that expired on December 31st, 1992.

Constructicons (yellow) Bonecrusher Hook Long Haul Mixmaster Scavenger Scrapper		Autobots Inferno Jazz Sideswipe		Dinobots (silver) Grimlock Slag Snarl		Decepticons Ramjet Starscream		Sideswipe, basically the go-to for Generation 2 callbacks
Leader Optimus Prime Collector's Edition

The products released at the tail end of 1992 continued to be sold in 1993, with new decos for the Constructicons and Dinobots being introduced. This year expanded the range with a selection of all-new molds that had been developed for release in the European market this year (where the "Generation 1" line had not actually ended yet), and the first brand-new figure designed specifically for Generation 2: a huge tank Megatron. This series introduced light-piping for the robot eyes to the American market (first used in the European market the previous year), a minor gimmick that would become a standard in Transformers toys for a good two decades following.

Mini Autobots Beachcomber Bumblebee Hubcap Seaspray		Constructicons (orange)[A 1][2] Bonecrusher Hook Long Haul Mixmaster Scavenger Scrapper		Autobot Cars Rapido Skram Turbofire Windbreaker		Decepticon Jets Afterburner Eagle Eye Terradive Windrazor		Color Change Gobots
Color Change Deluge Drench Gobots Jetstorm		Dinobots[A 2] Grimlock (blue or turquoise) Slag (green or red) Snarl (red or green)		Leader Megatron		Watches Autobot Galvatron Scorpia Superion Ultra Magnus

Notes

1. ↑ Once thought to be KB Toys exclusives, the orange Constructicons have been found with clearance price stickers from Walgreens and Phar-Mor (in addition to KB), with anecdotal evidence also having them available from Toys"R"Us, CVS, and Fred Meyer stores. This suggests they were instead late-run color changes with low distribution, like the third release of the G2 Dinobots. As with those Dinobots, the orange Constructicons have no known stock photography.
2. ↑ The blue version of Grimlock, green version of Slag, and red version of Snarl were all depicted in Hasbro's 1993 Toy Fair catalog and are relatively easy to find on the aftermarket. In contrast, the turquoise version of Grimlock, red version of Slag, and green version of Snarl have no known stock photography and are much harder to find secondhand, suggesting they were a late-run color change with low distribution.

1994

Come the line's second (full) year, designs were getting more ambitious. While redecoes of "Scramble City" style combiners filled out the lower price-point ranks, completely new molds were being worked on, with a much bigger focus on extensive and impressive play gimmicks. On the other hand, it was also a comparatively light year for product, with seemingly more effort being put into each individual toy than cranking out a lot of toys as in prior years.

Two nigh-line-wide changes to how the toys were being produced were made this year, both of which would become standards in Transformers that remain to this day. The new Laser Rod, Hero, and Dreadwing figures featured enhanced robot mode articulation, well beyond what was necessary for transformation and "aim gun". The toys also completely moved away from customer-applied stickers in favor of factory-applied stickers and tampographs; even the re-used "Generation 1" molds for this year lost their customer-applied sticker sheets.

Aerialbots Air Raid Fireflight Silverbolt Skydive Slingshot		Combaticons Blast Off Brawl Onslaught Swindle Vortex		Rotor Force Leadfoot Manta Ray Powerdive Ransack		Laser Rods Electro Jolt Sizzle Volt		Rotor Force Powerdive Laser Rod Electro
Heroes Megatron Optimus Prime		Others Dreadwing (w/ Smokescreen)		BotCon 1994 Breakdown
Protectobots (canceled) Blades First Aid Groove Hot Spot Streetwise		Stunticons (canceled) Dead End Drag Strip Motormaster Wildrider

1995

Cyberjet Hooligan

For the 1995 releases, Hasbro introduced redesigned packaging that quietly dropped the Generation 2 moniker, as well as generally minimizing the use of faction symbols on the toys. Gone too were '80s-toy redecoes, everything this year was a brand-new sculpt... or a redeco of a brand-new sculpt introduced this year, in order to present the line as a fresh new thing.

1995 was the first year that Transformers really got into extensive same-line redecos as a budgetary procedure, as well as using "major" character names on toys of dubious resemblance to their namesakes in order to retain the trademarks on them (while still minimizing the "80's throwback" angle). The enhanced articulation of the prior year's Laser Rods got refined further with the Cyberjets' extensive use of ball joints, which would become the standard for Transformers toys up to the present day.

Unfortunately, this was also the final year of Generation 2, and a great many items advertised in toy catalogs ended up unreleased. Some in-package samples have made it out. Despite most of this unreleased product being redecoes of existing molds, their scarcity means that all of them still demand big bucks on the secondary market, especially the few new molds.

Go-Bots wave 1 Blowout Double Clutch Firecracker Gearhead High Beam Motormouth		Go-Bots wave 2 Megatron Optimus Prime		Go-Bots wave 3 Frenzy Bumblebee Ironhide Mirage Sideswipe Soundwave		Go-Bots wave 4 (canceled) Hound Rumble "4X" "911" "Black Viper" "Purple Mercedes"		Go-Bot Firecracker Auto Roller Dirtbag
Cyberjets wave 1 Hooligan Skyjack Space Case		Cyberjets wave 2 Air Raid Jetfire Strafe		Laser Cycles wave 1 Road Pig Road Rocket		Laser Cycles wave 2 (canceled) Jazz Soundwave
Auto Rollers wave 1 Dirtbag Roadblock		Auto Rollers wave 2 (canceled) General Optimus Prime Sgt. Hound		Auto Rollers wave 3 (canceled) "APC Auto Roller" "Jet Auto Roller"		Leaders Advanced Tactical Bomber Megatron (with Starscream, limited release)[B 1] Laser Optimus Prime
BotCon 1995 exclusives Nightracer		Watches Blast Off Megatron		Power Masters (Australia/NZ only) Bulletbike Ironhide		Meanstreak Staxx
Heroes (canceled redecos) Megatron Optimus Prime		Other canceled stuff Greasepit and the Go-Bots Racing Rig

Notes

1. ↑ ATB Megatron with Starscream was released at retail, but only to test markets in Ohio in very limited quantities. The toy was never available as a wide release, so it's effectively as rare as the unreleased stuff.

Hasbro European line

The whole European Generation 2 situation is a little weird.

Transformers didn't end in most European markets when the US line did, with roughly two years of product released after the franchise (temporarily) closed shop in the US. The normal, un-sublined Transformers series continued in 1993, but shared many new molds with the 1993 US Generation 2 line (albeit in different colors, sometimes as different characters), as well as the new "G2" Autobot and Decepticon faction symbols. Technically, these releases are still "Generation 1".

In 1994, Hasbro UK and Hasbro International followed Hasbro US's lead and changed the branding to the new Generation 2 name, and re-released much of the 1993 product as well as "new" items from the US line. This, mixed with the slow spread of information online at the time, has led many fans to overall consider all of the new-sigil 1993 product to be "Generation 2".

Which is fair enough, but this list will only contain the product released under the actual Generation 2 banner.

Most toys were available in two different multilingual packaging variants: English/Spanish/Portuguese and French/Dutch/German. In addition, GiG distributed figures in Italian-only packaging.

1994

The overwhelming bulk of this year's product was made up of repackaged re-releases of 1993 product from both the European and American toylines, the latter being "new" to most European markets, and newly-developed toys released concurrently with the American market.

This year's releases started the trend of the European toys having extremely condensed on-package bios, as some specs only had the figure's name, function, and motto. Many quotes were changed from their previous releases as well.

Sparkabots Blaze Flamefeather Sizzle Sparkstalker		Axelerators Hotrider Rapido Skram Zap		Skyscorchers Hawk Snipe Terradive Tornado		Rotorbots Blade Blitz Hot Foot Piranha		Sparkabot Blaze Stormtrooper Rage
Aquaspeeders Aquafend Deluge Jetstorm Speedstream		Stormtroopers Aquablast Drench Hydradread Rage		Lightformers Deftwing Ironfist		Trakkons Calcar Fearswoop
Illuminators Electro Fireball Hotrod Volt		Heroics Jazz Inferno Sideswipe		Skyraiders Ramjet Starscream		Dinobots Grimlock (blue deco only) Slag (green deco only) Snarl (red deco only)
Heroes Archforce Sureshot		Obliterators Colossus Spark		Leaders Optimus Prime Megatron Stealth Assault (w/ "robot/jet fighter")

1995

Come the line's second year, it fell pretty much into line with the US series, with only a single "exclusive" sub-group, the Powermasters. However, they wey were not truly exclusive to Europe, as they were also available in Australia and New Zealand in the same English-only packaging that would have been used in the United States had the line not been canceled, lacking the "Generation 2" moniker and rendering "Power Masters" as two words instead of one like in Europe.

The packaging for the European 1995 releases was differently redesigned compared to the North American packaging, featuring very different color layouts, retaining the Generation 2 title and, for whatever reason, now relegating all the individual character names for toys that shipped as assortments to the back of the packaging, thereby putting the emphasis of the marketing entirely on the price points.

Gobots Wave 1 Blowout[C 1] Double Clutch Firecracker[C 1] Gearhead High Beam Motormouth		Gobots Wave 2 Frenzy Bumblebee Ironhide Mirage Sideswipe Soundwave		Mini-Jets Hooligan[C 1] Skyjack[C 1] Space Case[C 1]		Powermasters Bulletbike Ironhide Meanstreak Staxx		Powermaster Meanstreak
Lasercycles Road Pig Road Rocket		Autorollers Dirtbag Roadblock		Leader Optimus Prime

Notes

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Apparently, the decision to market the wave 2 Go-Bot and Cyberjet redecos as separate characters was a last-minute change of plans that was only put into use in America and Japan; in Europe, Hasbro supposedly stuck to the original idea for those assortments (here named "Gobots" and "Mini-Jets", respectively), with the redecos being sold as running change color variants of their wave 1 mold-mates instead, in unchanged packaging featuring package art in the original deco and the original character's name: Megatron and Optimus Prime, slight color variants of Blowout and Firecracker with solid instead of clear plastic parts, were still marketed as "Blowout" and "Firecracker"; "Hooligan" was also available in Jetfire's colors, "Skyjack" in Air Raid's, and "Space Case" in Strafe's. This practice is only confirmed for the versions available in multilingual French/Dutch/German packaging; thus far, no specimens in English/Spanish/Portuguese packaging or in Italian GiG packaging have surfaced. The subsequent, completely redecoed Go-Bots wave was marketed as the same characters as their United States counterparts, however.

Takara G-2 line

Japanese Generation 1 continuity « Transformers: G-2 » Toyline Story pages Manga Manga special

Transformers: G-2 (トランスフォーマー G-2) was Takara's first foray back into Transformers after ending the original line in 1992 with Operation Combination. Available for only the latter half of 1995, G-2 did not include any of the Generation 1 molds (including the later European ones) which were in the American and European lines, only the more poseable toys newly created for the line. Each release came with a pack-in comic.

Virtually none of the toys in G-2 have significant differences from the Hasbro releases outside of packaging. The Cyberjets each came with an extra sticker sheet to customize the toys, but are otherwise identical. While prototypes for "enhanced" Cyberjets with add-on armor have since surfaced, they never made it beyond prototype.

One odd exception to all this are the three Go-Bots. Not only does each one have unique deco changes, but they were sold on bubble cards that look exactly like their individual Hasbro-market cards on the front save a small bit of Japanese in the top-right corner, with a generic all-Japanese design on the back.

G-2 was not a major financial success for Takara. As a result, the planned spin-off Block Town was canceled, and there was another short Transformers drought in Japan until the introduction of Beast Wars in 1997.

Go-Bots Megatron Soundwave Optimus Prime		Cyberjets TRF-07 Skyjack TRF-08 Space Case TRF-09 Hooligan TRF-14 Aero Raid TRF-15 Strafe TRF-16 Jetfire		Laser Bikes TRF-11 Road Rocket TRF-12 Road Big		Lazer Rods [sic] TRF-03 Effectro TRF-04 Autovolt TRF-05 Hot Row TRF-06 Firebot		Aero Raid's extra stickers
Prime of Justice TRF-01 Convoy TRF-13 Battle Convoy		Emperor of Destruction TRF-02 Megatron		Advanced Tactical Bomber TRF-10 Dreadwing (w/ Smokescreen)

Massive amounts of concept stuff

I got my spine, I got my Orange Sludge.

Camcorder Megatron?

In the years since Generation 2 ended, numerous ultimately-unused concepts have come to light, showing what might have been were more molds available, were budgets bigger, et cetera. These range from redecoes of old toys to all-new mold prototypes, and a few real oddities.

Redecoes

Most of these are redecoes of "Generation 1" molds, and most of those are redecoes of molds they had already released in the first year of the line. Assortment numbers on some of the art has revealed them to have been planned for the 1995 series of figures. However, as Hasbro was trying to distance the line from "more of those old toys your brother has in the attic" at that point, these appear to have been killed pretty early in that year's development cycle.

• Sludge in in orange, Swoop in bright green, and a delightfully tiger-striped version of Grimlock.
• "Sandstorm", a desert-themed redeco of Ramjet.
• "Blackout", a black redeco of Starscream.
• Hand-painted samples of a jungle camo-themed Starscream and a sky camo-themed Ramjet, both of whom could be new characters for all we know. The latter was eventually revived in Legacy: Evolution as Cloudcover.
• Mirage in green and purple, Sideswipe in yellow and turquoise, and Jazz in bright orange.
• Recolored card art of Power Master Ironhide, in yellow and blue, attached to packaging mock-ups bearing the names "Belzone", "Light Speed", and "Pothole".

New-mold prototypes

• A resin prototype of a transforming six-wheeled APC capable of carrying a G.I. Joe figure.
• A kitbashed/hand-painted mock-up of the large Megatron tank mold as a video camcorder.
• Takara had prototypes of the Cyberjet molds with add-on armor pieces on display at a toy convention, but those clearly never happened.
• Two more Auto Rollers: an APC and a jet. Those eventually ended up being used by Takara for the Japanese version of the Beast Wars line (as Autolauncher and Autojetter, respectively).
• Six additional Go-Bots: Rumble, "4X", "911", a black Dodge Viper, Hound, and a purple Mercedes-Benz SL500 sport coupé. Four of them were later used by Hasbro for the Robots in Disguise line, as the Spychangers Side Swipe (Rumble), Daytonus (4X), Prowl 2 (911) and Side Burn (Viper), while the Hound and Mercedes-benz sculpts remain unreleased.
• Four flipchangers were designed for price points that never came to fruition. Thundercracker (Dassault Rafale jet) and Skystriker (F-22 Raptor jet), which might have been released under an assortment named "Solar Jets", were later used by Hasbro for the Machine Wars line as Megatron/Megaplex and Thundercracker/Skywarp, as were Lightspeed (race car) and Greasepit (tow truck) as Prowl/Mirage and Hoist/Hubcap.
• The Solarbot, an item mentioned on some late-series card samples but otherwise we know literally nothing about what it was supposed to be. Possibly the race car and tow truck?

Post-Generation 2 releases

As time has passed and fandom attitudes have changed, the once-often-poo-pooed Generation 2 line has become a go-to source for a more quirky nostalgia-grab, particularly as a source for redeco color schemes for modern toys, though some do end up as new-character homages. A lot of these toys end up using the original faction symbols rather than the Generation 2 style ones, sadly.

Hasbro

Universe (2003) Space Case		Universe (2008) "Aerial Rivals" (Air Raid, Skydive) Inferno Megatron Skyfall		Transformers (2010) Optimus Prime		Generations Dreadwing Powerdive "Ultimate Gift Set" (Combat Hero Optimus Prime, Autobot Jazz)		Combiner Wars shared-exclusive Superion.
Amazon / BigBadToyStore Bruticus (Blast Off, Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, Vortex)		Kre-O Autobot Assault Devastator Constructicon Devastator		Combiner Wars Bruticus (Blast Off, Brawl, Onslaught, Shockwave, Swindle, Vortex) Menasor (Blackjack, Brake-Neck, Breakdown, Dead End, Dragstrip, Motormaster)		Superion (Air Raid, Firefly, Powerglide, Quickslinger, Silverbolt, Skydive)
Titans Return Diac & Optimus Prime "Chaos on Velocitron" (Refractor & Laser Prime)		Siege "Autobot Alphastrike Counterforce" (Covert Clone Sideswipe)		Generations Selects Combat Megatron Megatron (G2)		Sandstorm Ramjet
Legacy G2 Universe Cloudcover G2 Universe Dead End G2 Universe Grimlock G2 Universe Autobot Jazz G2 Universe Jhiaxus		G2 Universe Laser Cycle G2 Universe Leadfoot G2 Universe Megatron Laser Optimus Prime G2 Universe Road Rocket		G2 Universe Shadowstrip G2 Universe Breakdown G2 Universe Toxitron Troop Builder Multipack (G2 Universe Cybertronian Trooper)		Age of the Primes G2 Grimlock & Autobot Wheelie

This item is currently scheduled for release, but is not yet available at mass retail. Breakdown, G2 Grimlock & Autobot Wheelie

Hasbro via Fun Publications

BotCon 2010 "Generation 2: Redux" (Breakdown, Clench, Autobot Spark, Streetstar) Rapido & Cindersaur 2-pack Sideswipe		BotCon 2011 Sideswipe		Transformers Collectors' Club "Club Crossover Exclusive" (Megatron) Fisitron Nightracer		Ramjet Solarbot Starscream		BotCon 2010 Rapido
BotCon 2013 Autobot Electrons		BotCon 2014 Kreon Breakdown		BotCon 2015 General Optimus Prime Sgt. Hound		BotCon 2016 Autobot Ratchet
Transformers Figure Subscription Service 5.0 Double Pretender Optimus Prime Double Pretender Megatron

TakaraTomy

e-HOBBY Laser Ultra Magnus Solarbot		Hybrid Style Convoy Black Version		Transformers (2010) Dreadwing & Smokescreen		Transformers United Laser Optimus Prime Tank Megatron		Masterpiece G2 Lambor
Chronicle Megatron		United EX Dozermaster Marinemaster Racemaster Prime Mode		Masterpiece Bumble G-2 Ver. Lambor G-2 Ver.		Legends G2 Megatron

Notes

• A Generation 2 exists within the fictional Unicron Trilogy universe, as a toyline! According to the online Cyber Key Code bio for the Cybertron Decepticon, Shortround, he is an avid toy collector whose prize pieces are Generation 2 Defensor and Menasor. However, it is not specified whether or not these items are actually Transformers toys like their real world counterparts.

References