Transformers: Classics
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Classics" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Classics (disambiguation). |
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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 segment of the 2010 Transformers line.
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Toys
Classic Legends
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In order to fill out the line with more "Generation 1" characters, eight redecos of "Legends of Cybertron" toys were released across two waves, with Bumblebee and Jetfire being the only ones to also receive larger toys in the line. The third wave, titled "Cybertron Collection", consisted of straight re-releases of Leo Prime and three Cybertron figures. |
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| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Cybertron Collection | |||||||
Mini-Cons
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Six brand-new teams of Mini-Cons were released as part of Classics, though they were originally intended for Cybertron two-packs. Nothing is known about the original pairings, but it resulted in three-bot teams that were noticeably looser in their themes than was the convention in Armada. These Mini-Cons were also noticeably shorter than those released as part of the "Unicron Trilogy", with more intricate parts and Powerlinx ports in strange places. |
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| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | ||||||||
Classic Deluxe
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Six brand-new Deluxe Class molds were released, along with a third wave of two retool/redecos (a tiny number of figures by today's standards). Some aspects of this lineup's scale would carry forward into later lines - Seekers utilizing the Classics Starscream mold and Autobot Cars would remain under this size class, while later Triple Changers and Grimlocks would generally get Voyager Class figures. |
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| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 | |||||||
Classic Voyager
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As the line was a short-term one, the largest mass-retail figures released were Voyager Class, though each one was considerably complex for their size. Naturally, this was limited to the leaders of each faction and the traditionally-larger-than-normal Jetfire, who also featured a large amount of add-on parts. |
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| Wave 1 | Wave 2
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Miscellaneous
- The faction leaders also each got a Deluxe Class figure, which stood out in the line as being the only figures with some kind of "action gimmick" beyond a firing missile. Megatron's figure was based on his Generation 2 tank form and would lead to more G2-inspired figures in later lines. Optimus Prime additionally received a redeco of his 20th Anniversary figure (perhaps better known as the first Masterpiece figure) with a new electronic base.
- Optimus Prime vs Megatron: The Ultimate Battle
- Optimus Prime (20th Anniversary "DVD Edition")
Exclusives
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While the regular retail line was limited, Hasbro was able to release more "Generation 1" characters in "updated" forms through store and convention exclusives. As there were a limited number of Classics molds available, the line was further filled with "Unicron Trilogy" redecoes, a Masterpiece redeco, and even some vintage original toyline molds. |
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BotCon 2007
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Hasbro Toy Shop | _target
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| ToysЯUs | Walmart | (w/ Giant Planet Mini-Con Team) | |||||||
Non-US market Hasbro releases
- Several Classics figures were also released in other markets in different packaging:
- 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 US The Transformers 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 profiles available on the club website or in the magazine.
A brief timeline of the Classics universe includes:
- "The New World" - online prose
- Revelations - 2006's 6 part club magazine story (only the very end takes place in the Classicverse)
- Crossing Over - 2007's 6 part club magazine story
- "Games of Deception" - BotCon 2007 convention comic
- "Gone Too Far" - online prose (only the ending takes place in the Classicsverse)
- "Withered Hope" - online prose (only the epilogue takes place in the Classicverse)
- "Cheap Shots" - one-time comic special, available through the club
- "At Fight's End" - online prose
The Classicsverse has always been tied closely to the Shattered Glass universe, with Classics Cliffjumper travelling there after the events of Crossing Over. The two universes collided in BotCon 2012's "Invasion" comic, where Ultra Magnus's interdimensional tampering resulted in the destruction of the Classicsverse. Various short TransTech comics were released online, acting as a framing device for the event.
- "Invasion Prologue" - online comic, later printed in the Diamond Edition of "Invasion"
- "Invasion" - BotCon 2012 convention comic
- "Invasion: Epilogue" - online comic, later printed in issue #48 of the club magazine
- "Timeless" - online comic in which Transtech Rhinox observes the Shattered Glass
Not everything from the Classicsverse would end up destroyed in this event. Classics Earth would be transported into the Shattered Glass universe to end up orbiting its Cybertron, and later stories would feature these refugees interacting with their alternate-universe counterparts. Ultra Magnus and Megatron's ships would also survive into this new universe, only to end up in its prehistoric past.
- Beast Wars Shattered Glass - 2013's 6 part club magazine story
- "Solar Requiem" - pack-in comic co-produced by Fun Publications and e-HOBBY
- Another Light - 2015's 7 part club magazine story
- Of Masters and Mayhem - 2016's 6 part club magazine story, set in another universe but featuring Classicsverse Pretenders
- Epilogue - one-page comic printed in the last issue of the club magazine, picking up on the cast of "Cheap Shots"
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 labelled 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". Aaron Archer indicated at various convention appearances that Hasbro did not want to use the term "Classics" on retail packaging because, despite originating the term in the first place, they didn't want kids to think the on-shelf "Classics" toys were old ("classic") product.
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, labelled "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 labelling. The 2008 Universe toy line and the 2010 Generations toyline are also sometimes informally referred to as Classics 2.0 and Classics 3.0.
The fan-created acronym CHUG serves as a general catch-all term for the follow-up lines to Classics that redesign and modernize old characters.
Notes
- Several other toys were planned for Classics, but never made it past the concept or prototype stage. Those include:
- Concept art for Cosmos was shown at BotCon 2006. The design was rejected because the higher-ups at Hasbro felt the alternate mode was too "boring". The art was later printed as part of the supplementary material in the Stormbringer trade paperback collection. The design itself was later revisited for the "Cybertron Heroes" segment of the Titanium Series, but ultimately never made it past the hardcopy prototype stage due to the cancellation of the Titanium Series.
- A Voyager-sized Soundwave was first hinted in an alleged list of the tentative Classics line-up.[1] Years later, Don Figueroa unveiled his unused design artwork for an SUV-esque Soundwave.[2]
- The aforementioned tentative line-up also listed a Deluxe-sized Optimus Prime without a trailer and a version with a trailer at the Voyager price point; however, it appears the decision was eventually made to upscale Optimus to Voyager size instead.[3] Don Figueroa's control drawings for the Deluxe version were leaked before the Classics line was even released at retail.[4] A gray model prototype was later shown as part of an interview with TakaraTomy's staff in Transformers Generations 2009 vol. 1.[5] It's unclear whether the trailer ever made it past the early planning stage before the decision was made to uspscale Optimus to Voyager size.
References
- ↑ Rumor about the Classics lineup that turned out to be spot on aside from Voyager Soundwave and Deluxe Optimus Prime.
- ↑ Don Figueroa, New Concept Art & comics news!
- ↑ "Cybertron Crosswise Redeco and Transformers Classics Info" (via Joe Kyde's proxy "SAGE2764")
- ↑ Leaked Classics Deluxe Optimus Prime control drawings: Vehicle mode, robot mode
- ↑ Translated TakaraTomy Henkei/Classics staff interview
