From: mbaron@west.darkside.com (Baron Munchausen)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.animation
Subject: Re: REGARDING: Transformers come-back!  Finally!
Date: 30 Dec 92 10:59:22 GMT
Organization: The Dark Side of the Moon +1 408 245 SPAM

ttak@ellis.uchicago.edu (toki  takeuchi) writes:

> It's funny, that I was just telling my friends it was about time
> Transformers were brought back out, since the new group of
> kids know Batman and TMNT, and not Transformers.
> 
> I believe this is the Transformer's THIRD comeback.  I have
> an old Japanese ad from 1976 or so, displaying Megatron,
> Soundwave (rules!), the original four cassettes, and a few others.
> Can't remember.  Great things never die!
> 
> The problem that I think EVERYBODY had with the animated series
> is that HOW THE HELL does Megatron and Soundwave shrink when
> they are in desguise mode?
> 
> I was hoping the rerelease would come up with a new storyline
> would keep them MICRO-ROBOTS, as they used to be in the original
> 1970's release.  The mini-cars were meant to be the PENNY RACERS
> that were sold in the U.S. in the mid-80's.  The regular cars,
> I suppose, were meant to be just toy cars, not full sized ones,
> and the same with the decepticons.  Oh well...
> 
> They've got to give the new Soundwave, if they give him
> the electronic voice, the robot voice.
> 
> Cool stuff.
> 
> Kenji Takeuchi
> 
> P.S.. How about Transformer's the movie!  Great stuff!  What else
> has director Nelson Shin made?  Some of the movie was KIDDY,
> but much of it was QUALITY, in a sense.


WRONG!!!

The original line of toys that comprised transformers were two lines 
manufactured by Takara.  One was called "Diaclone", the other, 
"Microman". Both have origins in the early 1970's (around 1974), and part 
of the very earliest Microman line was released in the US by the now 
defunct Mego Corp. as "Micronauts" in the late 70's following the Star 
Wars boom. Diaclone featured transforming, combining, or other gimmicked 
robots all in "1/50th scale" (more or less often the case) with tiny 
posable figures 1 inch high and magnets on their feet.  The early 
eighties brought with it the idea of robots that could transform into 
familiar objects (in Japan) and thus was started the Diaclone "CarRobo" 
line which later expanded to include other things such as Jets and 
Dinosaurs, plus special non-50th scale toys--these toys would later be 
recognized as the original Optimus Prime, Jazz, and so on, the Dinobots,
the Insecticons, the f-15 variations such as Starscream, and even the 
non-50th scale Constructicons and such in the earliest Transformer 
line--however, these came with figures thacould be place in the vehicles, 
etc.  Meanwhile, Microman was a line of "full scale" toys of 
minature-sized warriors and robots, and these eventually included toys 
that transformed into things like m,icrocassetes, tape players, guns, and 
what not: Soundwave, Megatron, Ravage, Laserbeak, Blaster (a working 
radio originally) would come from these.

The "penny racer" cars were indeed supposed to be toy cars that turned 
into minature sized full scale Microman robots. Penny racers were sold in 
Japan by the same company so the resmeblence is not coincidental. They 
were not supposed to represent full scale cars.

Hasbro had become interested in these toys' marketability in the US after 
a large toy convention in Tokyo. They had ties already with Takara becaus 
e Takara had been the distributor of GI Joe in Japan since the Late 60's. 
A deal was quickly made.  Toei animation also had ties with Hasbro as a 
division of Hasbro had previously sponsored the release of Starblazers 
for Toei, and was already working on GI Joe with them and Marvel 
Productions.  Hence the birth of the original US Transformer shows--toys 
from Japan with japanese animation but American producers and Marketing.  
The imediate success sparked interest from Takara (and Toei) who wasn't 
selling the original lines nearly as well as Hasbro managed, and soon 
abandoned both lines entirely (just before production was to start on 
animated adaptations of the two lines) to market the US hybrid in`stead 
with good results (understatement).  Since then, after the cease in 
american production, Takara backed Toei into making the additional 
all-Japanese animated episodes never shown in the US.   Unfortunately, 
the quality of the newer toys never matched that of the originals swiped 
from Daiclone and Microman, with a few exceptions. 

Why do I know all this?  Because I am a collector of the rare Microman 
line of toys instead! ;^)  

This is the authentic origin of the Transformers, honest!

--Bryan Wilkinson 
(don't respond to this email adress---write mbaron@chinet.chi.il.us
instead.  sorry, no usenet access for me after this one-shot posting)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.animation