A Billion Dollars
Or, why Michael bay was inducted into
the transformers hall of fame
Toys for a new millennium
‘Adults who had grown up playing with the
toys now had discretionary income to spend on anything bearing the transformers
label’ 1986 was a turning point for Transformers. An animated movie was
released, which resulted in a large change to the toy line as well. Not only
did the movie kill off many of the original characters, it also introduced new
toys that were created specifically for the movie. By this point, Takara had
discontinued the Micro Change and Diaclone toy lines and instead marketed they
toys as Transformers in Japan. With some exceptions (like Ultra Magnus, Sky
Lynx and the large city-based Transformers) the new toys based on the movie
were created especially for Hasbro, and the differences between these and the
ealier Transformers were obvious: the diecast metal parts were mostly
eliminated as a cost-cutting measure. The transformation process was also
largely simplified, resulting in less detail.
This was a trend that continued late into
the 1980s, eventually reaching its low point with the 1990 release of Action
Masters, Transformers without the ability to transform. Unsurprisingly, the
concept never caught on and the line was soon cancelled.
The 1990s continued to be a low point for
the franchises. The original cartoon series had finished airing in 1988, and,
despite critical acclaim for thhe new Beast Wars CGI animated series, it failed
to reignite interest. The rapid evolution of the video game industry had taken
over as America’s best selling toy and Optimus Prime and Megatron were all but
forgotten.
Then, in the early 2000s, the
Transformers
found a surprising new market. A resurgence of 80’s nostalgia saw
renewed
interest in the Transformers, as adults who had grown up playing with
the toys
now had discretionary income to spend on anything bearing the
Transformers
label. Takara first tapped into this by bringing back
vehicle-transforming
robots with the 2000 Japan-only release, Transformers: Car Robots. The
toys,
which came with a higher price tag, but more complex transformation
steps –
Megatron had no less than nine alternate models – sold well and was soon
re-released by Hasbro as Transformers: Robots in Disguise. Based on the
success
of the line, a new, higher priced range called Binaltech in Japan and
Alternators in the rest of the World, was released in 2003, featuring
realistic, licensed
reproductions of actual cars and trucks with highly complicated
transforming
processes.
2004 marked the 20th anniversary
of the Transformers franchise and to commemorate it Takara introduced the
Masterpiece Series: 12-inch collectible toys reminiscent of the first series of
Transformers, but with ultra-detailed sculpts and highly complex
transformations. Capitalizing on nostalgia value, along with intricate and
advanced engineering, the series quickly became the preferred range of
collectors.
‘The movie was a smash success grossing
us $708 million worldwide’
The resurgence in popularity for the
franchise culminated in the 2007 release of the Michael Bay directed and Steve
Spielberg produced live action blockbuster film Transformers, featuring
radically changed designs for the robots and cutting-edge CGI special effects.
Despite mediocre reviews, the movie was a smash success grossing US $708
million worldwide, and resulting in two sequels, 2009’s Revenge of the Fallen
and 2011’s Dark of the Moon, which grossed over US $836 million and US $1
billion respectively, worldwide. Amid protests from fans, Bay and Spielberg
were inducted into the Transformers Hall of Fame at BotCon 2011, the official
Transformers fan convention, for their contributions to the franchise.
A fourth movie (early rumors have it titled
as ‘Rise of Galvatron’) is tentatively slated for release in 2014, which will
also mark the franchise’s 30th anniversary. Not bad for a boy that
started out as thee sideline to another toy and, if not for a certain US President, might never have existed at all.
