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in: Unreleased toys, Movie

Transformers (toyline)

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The 2007 Transformers film was accompanied by one of the largest product blitzes in the history of the Transformers brand. The prominence of the movie allowed Hasbro to push the toy line to new levels of complexity and diversity.

In addition to the standard "main line" figures, several sub-lines were developed. Some, such as the Fast Action Battlers and Cyber Slammers, are aimed at younger users. Others, such as Real Gear Robots and the various role play toys, expand on the plot and concepts of the movie. Furthermore, many stores received various exclusive redecos and multi-packs. Other markets, such as Japan and even Europe, also had their own exclusives.

Virtually all characters of the movie cast received multiple toy incarnations at various price points, from the tiny $4 Legends versions and two-for-$5 Robot Heroes PVCs up to the massive, complex, electronic $80 Ultimate Bumblebee. Given the limited number of Transformers featured in the movie, the toyline naturally contains many additional characters. Many of these are featured in alternate movie-related media, such as prequel comics and video games.

Toyline[]

Action figures ("main" line)[]

Overview[]

The main line movie figures attempt to emulate the spindly, multi-faceted appearance of the screen characters, succeeding to a remarkable degree. This aesthetic carries over to characters that do not appear in the movie, giving the line a unified appearance. Most alternate forms are realistically styled contemporary Earth vehicles, many of which are licensed replicas.

The main line figures feature an above-average design complexity, with figures such as Deluxe Class Bumblebee. packing an amazing number of moving parts into a small package. Transformations are fairly complex, and tend to capture the movie's visual spectacle of a vehicle flying apart into a thousand pieces as the robots transform. The primary gimmick of the main line is "Automorph Technology", a gimmick by which moving one piece of a toy will in turn move other pieces into their designated positions via hidden gears, furthering the parallel with the movie's visuals.

Many of the vehicle modes' exteriors are formed by thin panels, but limbs and torsos are sufficiently integral to the vehicle-mode panels that they are not shellformers. On some of the toys, these panels swing back on themselves or are otherwise concealed to such an extent that the finished robot gives comparatively little indication that it turns into a vehicle at all — yet another point of unity with the movie's design aesthetic.

Other noteworthy characteristics of the "main" movie line include a stronger focus on the Legends size class, which was once again available at all major retailers (instead of just at specialty and convenience stores), including toys for all but one of the movie's robot cast (although Legends were later changed from single packs to the "Allspark Battles" two-packs); the "Screen Battles" diorama sets containing minor, more movie-accurate redecos of Deluxe Class toys in nifty diorama sets including PVC figures of some of the movie's human cast (a rarity in Transformers toylines); the Real Gear Robots, a concept originally conceived for the Cybertron line, but then held back because it conveniently tied into a key scene in the movie; and the Premium Series, a mostly collector-aimed lineup of even more movie-accurate redecos of previously released toys of most of the movie's robot cast.

Unfortunately, due to issues of vehicle-mode licensing and the fact that the robot designs are the shared intellectual property of DreamWorks, it is a virtual certainty that the Movie toys will never be made available as redecos in other franchises (bar any movie sequel line) or as convention exclusives. So get 'em while the getting's good!

Legends Class[]

Wave 1

  • Bumblebee
  • Barricade
  • Autobot Jazz
  • Autobot Ratchet

Wave 2

Wave 3

Note: This wave had minimal distribution in the USA, and as a result was hard to find; it was released in larger quantities in other countries, however.


Allspark Battles[]

Note: "Allspark Battles" are two-packs that contain two Legends Class figures each. On the North American market, they replaced the Legends Class single packs in late 2007, coinciding with the launch of the AllSpark Power sub-line, whereas other markets continued getting some of the toys included in these two-packs as single packs instead. Most of the Legends Class toys included in these sets are redecos of molds previously available as single packs, although a few new molds made their debut as part of a two-pack.


Wave 1

  • Cliffjumper vs. Recon Barricade (redecoes of Legends Class Bumblebee and Barricade)
  • Autobot Jazz vs. Bonecrusher (minor redeco of Legends Class Jazz)
  • Rescue Ratchet vs. Decepticon Brawl (redeco of Legends Class Autobot Ratchet)

Wave 2

Wave 3

  • Battle Jazz vs. Ice Megatron (redecoes of Legends Class Autobot Jazz and Megatron)
  • Bumblebee vs. Scorponok (battle damaged redeco of Legends Class Bumblebee)


Real Gear Robots[]

Note: Capitalizing on movie scenes in which the AllSpark brings ordinary Earth machines to life, the Real Gear Robots are a sub-set based on modern electronic items (not actually working) which convert to miniscule robots. The toys are comparable to the Scout class in size and price. Their alternate forms tend to be slightly scaled down from life size, with realism varying widely. The robot modes are generally more in line with the "classic", blocky aesthetic of previous Transformers toylines, rather than the more complex look of the movie characters.


Wave 1

  • Speed Dial 800 (Mobile Phone)
  • Longview (Binoculars)
  • Spy Shot 6 (Digital Camera)
  • Power Up VT6 (Portable Video Game Player)

Wave 2

  • Booster X10 (MP3 Player)
  • Zoom Out 25X (Digital Video Camera)

Wave 3

  • Meantime (Digital Watch)
  • High Score 100 (Game Console Controller)

Wave 4

  • Wire Tap V20 (Mobile Phone; redeco of Speed Dial 800)
  • Night Beat 7 (MP3 Player; redeco of Booster X10)

Wave 5

  • Hacker X-3 (Portal Video Game Player; redeco of Power Up VT6)
  • Highline 1070 (Mobile Phone; redeco of Speed Dial 800)
  • Photon T-34 (Digital Camera; redeco of Spy Shot 6)

Wave 6

  • Farsight T-20 (Binoculars; redeco of Longview)
  • Midnighter XR-4 (Digital Watch; redeco of Meantime)
  • Twitcher F451 (Game Console Controller; redeco of High Score 100)
Note: This wave had minimal distribution, and as a result was very hard to find, if at all.



Deluxe Class[]

Wave 1 (Movie Preview wave)

Wave 2

  • Bumblebee (Classic Camaro)
  • Autobot Jazz
  • Decepticon Brawl
  • Barricade (includes small figure of Decepticon Frenzy)
  • Scorponok
  • Wreckage

Wave 3

  • Bonecrusher
  • Swindle

Wave 4

Wave 5

  • Final Battle Jazz
  • Longarm
  • Payload

Wave 6

  • Dropkick
  • Recon Barricade

Wave 7 (AllSpark Power wave 1)

  • Cliffjumper
  • Landmine
  • Autobot Camshaft

Wave 7 Revision 1 (AllSpark Power wave 2)

  • Stockade

Wave 8 (AllSpark Power wave 3)

  • Overcast
  • Jungle Bonecrusher

Wave 9 (AllSpark Power wave 4)

Wave 10 (Premium Series wave 1)

  • "Premium Series" Autobot Jazz
  • "Premium Series" Barricade
  • "Premium Series" Bumblebee
Note: "Premium" Bumblebee was slated to officially debut in wave 10; however, initially only revisions of this wave were sighted at retail which contained "Premium" Jazz and Barricade, but no Bumblebee; the first sightings for Bumblebee were not reported until a few weeks after Jazz and Barricade had first been found.


Screen Battles[]

Note: Screen Battles are minor redecos of previously released mass retail Deluxe Class toys in more movie-accurate colors and/or decos, in order to emulate specific moments from the movie. They come packaged in nifty diorama boxes and include PVC figurines of both human and Transformers characters from the movie (the latter do not transform). In Europe, they are named "Battle Scenes" for inexplicable reasons.


Wave 1

  • Final Stand (minor movie-accurate Deluxe Longarm redeco with Mikaela driver figurine and battle damaged legless Bumblebee figure)
  • First Encounter (minor Deluxe Barricade redeco with Sam, Mikaela and Decepticon Frenzy figurines)

Wave 2

  • Desert Attack (minor Deluxe Scorponok redeco with Epps, Figueroa and Donnelly figurines)
  • Capture of Bumblebee (minor Deluxe Camaro Concept Bumblebee redeco with Simmons and Sector Seven agents figurines, one of them being a miscolored William Lennox)


Voyager Class[]

Wave 1

  • Blackout (includes non-transforming scaled-down figurine of Scorponok)
  • Autobot Ratchet

Wave 2

Wave 2 Revision 1

Wave 3

Wave 4

  • Rescue Ratchet
  • Thundercracker

Wave 5 (AllSpark Power Wave 1)

Wave 5 revision 1 (AllSpark Power Wave 2)

  • Incinerator

Wave 6 (Premium Series Wave 1)

  • "Premium Series" Ironhide
  • "Premium Series" Blackout (more movie-accurate redeco of Voyager Class Blackout including the Scorponok mini-figure, virtually identical to Japan's Lawson exclusive Blackout version 4500X)


Movie Leader Class[]

Wave 1

Wave 2

Wave 3

  • Decepticon Brawl

Wave 4 (AllSpark Power Wave 1)

Wave 5 (AllSpark Power Wave 2)

  • Deep Desert Brawl

Wave 6 (Premium Series Wave 1)


Ultimate Class[]


Fast Transformers Fun[]

Cyber Stompin' Robots[]

(non-transforming)

Cyber Slammers[]

Wave 1

Wave 2

  • Decepticon Brawl
  • Autobot Ratchet

Wave 3

Wave 4

  • Cliffjumper
  • Autobot Jazz

Wave 5

  • Ironhide
  • Patrol Barricade

Fast Action Battlers[]

Wave 1

Wave 2

  • Double Missile Decepticon Brawl
  • Axe Attack Autobot Ratchet

Wave 3

Wave 4

Wave 5

Wave 6

Role Play[]

Helmet Role Play[]

Converting Arm Blasters Role Play[]

Note: In Europe, the role-play accessory is named "Optimus Prime Big Rig Blaster" for inexplicable reasons.


Allspark Blasters[]

Super Soaker Gauntlet Blaster[]

  • Transformers Water Shooter

T.E.C.H. (Transformers Electronic Combat Hardware)[]

Wave 1

  • Digital Dagger
  • Quick Bow

Wave 2

  • Tight Shot
  • Flash Bang

Wave 3

  • Autofire

Plain Transformers Fun[]

Mr Potato Head Transformers

  • Optimash Prime

Plush Transformers

  • Softimus Prime (G1-style Prime, soft toy transforms by turning inside out, using velcro)
  • [Slumblebee (ditto, for G1-styled Bumblebee)

Robot Heroes[]

(2-inch non-transforming cutified figurines similar to Star Wars Galactic Heroes.

Wave 4 (Movie characters)

Wave 5 (Movie characters)

  • Optimus Prime w/sword vs. Scorponok (alternate mode)
  • Ironhide vs. Bonecrusher
  • Armor Bumblebee vs. Starscream
  • Protoform Jazz vs. Decepticon Brawl

Wave 6 (Movie characters)

Collector[]

Unleashed[]

Turnaround Unleashed[]

Wave 1

Wave 2

Wave 3 (not released in the USA)

  • Autobots (Autobot Ratchet & Autobot Jazz)
  • Decepticons (Blackout & Barricade)
Note: The "Autobots" and "Decepticons" sets were only released in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia and Mexico, but were cancelled for the US market.


Robot Replicas[]

Wave 1

Wave 2

Titanium Series (3")[]

Main article: Titanium Series

Wave 1 (Wave 8 overall)

Wave 2 (Wave 9 overall)

Wave 3 (Wave 10 overall)

  • Decepticon Brawl
  • Autobot Ratchet

Store exclusives[]

Scout Class (Target exclusive)[]

Note: The Scout Class toys were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. Some European countries skipped the first wave, however, and never got any of the AllSpark Power waves either.


Wave 1

  • Hardtop
  • Arcee
  • Signal Flare

Wave 2

  • Strongarm
  • Skyblast
  • Clocker

Wave 3

  • Armorhide
  • Elita-One
  • Air Raid

Wave 4 (AllSpark Power Wave 1)

  • Warpath
  • Storm Surge
  • Crosshairs

Canceled wave[1]

This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

  • Backtrack
  • Decepticon Reverb
  • Gunbarrel

Other single-packed store exclusive redecos[]

Best Buy exclusives

Note: Ratchet and Megatron were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.


Target exclusives

Note: All these toys were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. In addition, the "AllSpark Power" versions of Bumblebee, Autobot Jazz, Decepticon Brawl and Barricade were also available as Sainsbury's exclusives in the United Kingdom. Deep Space Starscream was also available as a Toyworld exclusive in New Zealand, and a Zellers exclusive in Canada.


Toys"R"Us exclusives

  • Wingblade
  • Jetstorm
  • Inferno
    • With Longarm Mini-Con
  • Mudflap
Note: All those toys were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Hong Kong.


Walmart exclusives

  • Big Daddy
  • Jolt
  • Grindcore
  • Divebomb
Note: All these toys were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.


  • Crankcase
  • Decepticon Fracture
  • Breakaway
Note: These three toys were originally intended for the Universe line, but ended up in the extended Movie line due to retailer demand instead.


Single-packed non-redecoed store exclusives with bonus content[]

Kmart exclusives

Walmart exclusives

Store exclusive multi-packs with redecos[]

Target exclusives

  • "Evolution of a Hero" two-pack (regular Deluxe Class "Classic Camaro" Bumblebee & battle damaged "Camaro Concept" Bumblebee)
Note: This two-pack was also available as a non-exclusive mass retail release in Hong Kong and Europe.


  • Screen Battles "Freeway Brawl" (contains a minor redeco of Voyager Class Optimus Prime and an unchanged Deluxe Class Bonecrusher)
  • Screen Battles "Battle Over Mission City" (contains a redeco of Voyager Class Megatron and an unchanged Deluxe Class Final Battle Jazz, the latter named "Autobot Jazz" for this pack)
Note: These two-packs were also available as a non-exclusive mass retail releases in Singapore.


Sam's Club exclusives

  • Voyager/Deluxe three-pack (battle damaged Voyager Class Optimus Prime, battle damaged Deluxe Class Arcee & regular Voyager Class Starscream)
Note: This three-pack was also available as a mass retail release in Hong Kong, as a Toys'R'Us exclusive in Canada, and as a Kmart exclusive in Australia.


Walmart exclusives

  • Megatron vs. Optimus Prime (battle damaged Robot Replicas Megatron & Optimus Prime)
  • The Legacy of Bumblebee three-pack (movie-inspired minor redeco of Classic Deluxe Bumblebee, regular Movie Deluxe Class "Premium" Bumblebee and regular Animated Bumblebee)
Note: This three-pack was also available in New Zealand, possibly exclusive to Farmers stores.


Store exclusive multi-packs without redecos[]

BJ's Wholesale Club exclusives

  • Cyber Stompin' Optimus Prime with Bonus Robot Heroes Rodimus & Insecticon
  • Cyber Stompin' Optimus Prime with Bonus Robot Heroes Starscream & Mirage
  • Cyber Stompin' Optimus Prime with Bonus Robot Heroes Shockwave & Grimlock
  • Cyber Stompin' Optimus Prime with Bonus Robot Heroes Ravage & Optimus Prime
Note: At least some of the Optimus Prime combos were also available as Argos exclusives in the United Kingdom and as Kmart exclusives in Australia.


  • Cyber Stompin' Bumblebee with Bonus Robot Heroes Rodimus & Insecticon
Note: Official stock photos of the Bumblebee combo have been seen; but unlike the various Optimus Prime combos, it's unclear whether this one has ever actually been released.


Costco exclusives

  • Leader Class Optimus Prime with bonus figures (Legends Class Bumblebee & Autobot Jazz)
  • Ultimate Bumblebee with "Special Value" bonus Titanium Series 3" Bumblebee figure
Note: This bonus pack was also available as a non-exclusive mass retail release in Hong Kong.


Sam's Club exclusives

  • Deluxe three-pack (Decepticon Brawl, Bonecrusher & Autobot Jazz)
Note: This three-pack was also available as a non-exclusive mass retail release in Hong Kong.


Target exclusives

  • "Generations Legends" four-pack (Movie Legends Class Optimus Prime, Legends of Cybertron Optimus Prime, Movie Legends Class Megatron & Legends of Cybertron Megatron)
  • "Ultimate Optimus Prime 3-Pack" (contains Titanium Series 3" "Robot Mode" Optimus Prime, "Vehicle Mode" Optimus Prime and Protoform Optimus Prime)
Note: Both multi-packs were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Hong Kong.


Toys"R"Us exclusives

  • "Decepticon Desert Attack" two-pack (Voyager Class Blackout & Deluxe Class Scorponok)
  • "Battle for the Allspark" Legends six-pack (Bumblebee, Autobot Jazz, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Barricade & Starscream)
Note: Both multi-packs were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Hong Kong.


Walmart exclusives

  • "First Encounter" two-pack (Deluxe Class Bumblebee & Deluxe Class Barricade)
  • "Leader for the Ages" two-pack (Fast Action Battler Optimus Prime as "2007 Optimus Prime" & "1984 "Optimus Prime" Classics "The Ultimate Battle" two-pack)
Note: Both multi-packs were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Hong Kong.


  • "Mass Media Battle" two-pack (Real Gear Robots Speed Dial 800 & Booster X10)
  • "Robo Recon Team" two-pack (Real Gear Robots Spy Shot 6 & Longview)
  • "Brain Scrambler Team" two-pack (Real Gear Robots Power Up VT6 & Zoom Out 25X)
  • Ultimate Bumblebee three-pack (Ultimate Bumblebee, Deluxe Scorponok & Deluxe Decepticon Brawl)
  • Cyber Stompin' Optimus Prime with Bonus Cyber Slammers Bumblebee (Classic Camaro)
  • Cyber Stompin' Bumblebee with Bonus Cyber Slammers Barricade

Notable international variants[]

Even though the Movie toyline differed from previous Transformers toylines insofar as TakaraTomy's Japanese versions of the toys were almost identical to their Hasbro counterparts (as a matter of fact, the Japanese "mainline" toys even came in Hasbro packaging, with additional Japanese stickers on the packaging identifying them as the Japanese versions), there were a few genuine variants - and on top of that, one of those variants was also released in the United Kingdom, making it the first shared Japanese/European "variant" toy since red Armada Powerlinx Thrust.

UK variants[]

  • Nightwatch Optimus Prime (Leader Class; missing the US version's "AllSpark Power" blue paint and coming in slightly different packaging)
Note: This toy was available exclusively at Argos stores in the United Kingdom several months before the US version came out. Apparently this had originally been intended for the United States market, since the packaging sports various US market-specific logos and English-only texts.


Japanese variants[]

  • Most of the initial decos of the Real Gear Robots (Speed Dial 800, Spy Shot 6, Power Up VT6, Longview and Zoom Out 25X) featured different stickers in Japan, depicting scenes involving the Movie cast rather than screenshots from the Cybertron cartoon, and replacing the time index "7:47" (hinting at the US release date of the movie, July 4th) with "8:04" (as the movie wasn't released in Japan until August 4th).
  • MA-03 Bumblebee (Deluxe Class Classic Camaro; using clear blue plastic for the windows with painted over yellow car parts, instead of the US version's yellow plastic with tampographed blue windows)
  • MA-18 Nightwatch Optimus Prime (Leader Class; identical to the UK version)
  • MA-19 Landmine (different shade than the Hasbro version, and features tires made of rubber instead of plastic)
  • MA-21 Battle Mode Optimus Prime (same mold as Hasbro's Leader Class Premium Series Optimus Prime, but features vacuum metallized rims, bumper/grill and gas tanks/toolboxes. His overall paint deco in robot mode is also slightly more detailed.)
  • MD-22 Incinerator (Voyager Class; sporting black as the main colour and a slightly different deco than the US version; also comes with a small AllSpark cube accessory)

International exclusives[]

Note: Even though European countries got some of the US toyline's store exclusives (such as various Toys'R'Us exclusive releases) as well, some of them even at mass retail (such as the Target exclusive Scout Class redecos of Energon and Cybertron toys, or the "Evolution of a Hero" two-pack with the Deluxe Class Classic and Concept Camaro Bumblebee toys), and some toys that were released as store exclusives in the UK (such as Deluxe Class Recon Barricade) or Japan (such as Leader Class Decepticon Brawl) were available at mass retail in the USA, there were also some multi-packs and redecos that were genuine exclusives to European countries or Japan.



Non-US market Legends Class single packs[]

Wave 4 (AllSpark Power Wave 1)

  • Cliffjumper
  • Recon Barricade
  • Autobot Jazz
  • Bonecrusher


Note: The toys themselves are identical to those released as part of the "Allspark Battles" two-packs in the USA. However, these versions come on European-style single cards. Thus far, they have been released in various countries in Europe, Asia and Oceania.



Non-US market Hasbro multi-packs[]

  • "Unleashed y Voyager" (two-pack of Unleashed Bumblebee with either Voyager Class Autobot Ratchet or Blackout)


Note: These two-packs have only been released in Mexico.



  • Autobot Jazz, Protoform Optimus Prime & Decepticon Brawl three-pack (Deluxe Class Autobot Jazz, Deluxe Class Protoform Optimus Prime & Deluxe Class Decepticon Brawl)


Note: This three-pack has only been available as a mass retail release in the United Kingdom.




Note: This two-pack has been available as a mass retail release in Hong Kong, as an Argos exclusive in the United Kingdom, as a Kmart exclusive in Australia, and with undertermined distribution in France. Apparently this had originally been intended for the United States market, since the packaging sports various logos and design elements usually only found on North American packaging, as well as English-only texts.



  • "Towed to Safety" two-pack (Deluxe Class Longarm & Deluxe Class Classic Camaro Bumblebee)


Note: This two-pack has only been available as a mass retail release in the United Kingdom.



Non-US market Hasbro "special" single packs[]

  • Autobot Optimus Prime (battle damaged redeco of Voyager Class Optimus Prime, identical to the one from the Sam's Club exclusive three-pack)
  • Arcee (battle damaged redeco of Deluxe Class Arcee, identical to the one from the Sam's Club exclusive three-pack)


Note: These toys have only been released in Asia, but were also stocked by US-based online retailers. "Autobot Optimus Prime" comes in the same packaging style and sports the same assortment number as the Best Buy exclusive "Premium Series" redecos of Autobot Ratchet and Megatron, while Arcee comes on the same cardback as the regular release, with the only difference being an additional "exclusive battle damage" sticker on the blister bubble and a different barcode. An isolated sighting for Arcee has been reported from a Walmart store in the USA, which might or might not have been a fluke.[2]


Japanese exclusive molds[]

  • TS-01 Trans Scanning Optimus Prime (an articulated "Protoform"-esque figure with snap-on vehicle mode parts)
  • TS-02 Trans Scanning Bumblebee (an articulated "Protoform"-esque figure with snap-on vehicle mode parts)

Japanese exclusive redecos[]

  • EZ Collection Bumblebee "scanning version" (a clear redeco of Legends Class Bumblebee, exclusively available with the August 2007 edition of Hyper Hobby magazine)
  • Bumblebee "limited metallic color version" (a redeco of the first Deluxe Class Bumblebee toy with a shiny gold metallic finish, exclusively available at Lawson stores)
  • Protoform Optimus Prime "Fusion Cluster Edition" (a redeco of Deluxe Class Protoform Optimus Prime in "entry mode" colors, exclusively available at the C3xHobby Convention and later also from e-Hobby)
  • Protoform Starscream "Fusion Cluster Edition" (a redeco of Deluxe Class Protoform Starscream in "entry mode" colors, exclusively available at the C3xHobby Convention and later also from e-Hobby)
  • Optimus Prime (a Movie-esque redeco of the Robots in Disguise Spychanger Scourge mold, available at pretty much every store for purchase of the Transformers Movie DVD)
  • EZ Collection Bumblebee metallic version (a metallic redeco of Legends Class Bumblebee, exclusively available at Tsutaya Records stores for purchase of the Transformers Movie DVD)
  • Blackout "4500x version" (a more movie-accurate redeco of Voyager Class Blackout and his little Scorponok companion, exclusively available at Lawson stores; based on the same paint mask as Hasbro's "Premium Series" redeco of Blackout, with very minor differences)
  • Starscream Vardia Red Model (a red-ish redeco of Voyager Starscream, exclusively available at Toshiba stores for purchase of the Toshiba RD-A301 HD-DVD player)
  • MA-20 Black Arcee (black redeco of Deluxe Class Arcee, based on the motorcycle used by William Lennox during the final battle of the Movie; the only explicit redeco of a movie toy available at mass retail in Japan with no US counterpart)
  • Arcee G1 color edition (a pink and white redeco of Deluxe Class Arcee, limited to 1000 pieces, exclusively available at Wonder Festival 2008 Winter)

Merchandise[]

Notes[]

  • The "Scout" size class was made exclusive to Target stores for the run of the Movie toyline (although it was available as a mass retail assortment in other countries), and consisted solely of redecos of toys from the Energon and Cybertron toylines. The Animated and Universe lines didn't revisit this price point at all, but the Scout price point returned with the Revenge of the Fallen toyline, this time with entirely new molds.
  • Likewise, the "Ultra" size class was originally not used during the Movie toyline's run either. Eventually, the only two "Ultra Class" releases were redecos of Cybertron toys that were exclusively available at Toys"R"Us stores. The 2008 Universe line brought the price point back as a mass retail assortment.
  • The Fracture, Crankcase, and Getaway exclusive toys were originally meant to be part of the 2008 Universe line, but Wal*Mart insisted that they be placed into the Movie line instead. (The logic being that the old Universe line eventually failed in the market, while the Movie line was a dramatic hit.)

"Drought"[]

For the remainder of 2007 following the movie's premiere, many fans complained of a severe toy shortage in most markets, particularly the U.S. Mainline figures had proven to be more difficult to locate at retail than in many years, if not ever. This was due to the convergence of several factors:

  • The tremendous success and high profile of the movie has vastly broadened the toy-buying audience, with many more kids, adult collectors, and scalpers seeking out product.
  • Major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target placed orders for TF movie product based on their sales records for Cybertron and Classics figures, as well as movie-related toylines in general, which tend not to do well (as the Spider-Man 3 figures still warming shelves wherever you live can attest).
  • Unusual congestion at Chinese factories and shipping docks lengthened the time necessary to produce and ship new figures to the West.

Ironically for much of 2008, as supply began to overtake demand, the movie toys became shelf-warmers, appearing not to sell in huge numbers, and often to the detriment of shelf-space for the newer Animated and Universe toylines.

Innovations and lasting effects[]

  • While previous lines had occasionally featured multiple toys of the same character in different sizes, the Movie line considerably increased their number, with nearly all characters from the primary fiction getting a multitude of toys in various sizes and with different gimmicks, many of which were released around the same time.
  • The Movie line also took the concept of auto-transforming parts and sections, which had occasionally been used by a few toys from previous lines, and made it a line-wide gimmick, here named "Automorph Technology".

References[]

  1. ↑ Hasbro Q&A/March 2009: Answers
  2. ↑ [1]
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