A brief history of Transformers

A look back at Transformers

Transformers were on many kids’ Christmas lists back in the 1980s. These two stories from KDFW show how they fit in with the rest of the hot toys of the time. Originally aired November 23, 1984 and December 5, 1985.

LOS ANGELES - The toy that was "more than meets the eye." Admit it, you sang that to the tune of the Transformers’ theme song.

Over the last four decades, Transformers has captivated children and adults not just with toys, but through film, TV, games and comic books.

Japanese toys gave inspiration

In the 1980s, Japanese toy companies were already tapping into the market of shape-shifting action figure robots.

Two popular toy lines were Micro Change and Diaclone, both of which were owned by the Takara toy company.

Micro Change and Diaclones offered consumers toy robots that could transform into different objects such as vehicles, electronics or weapons, according to The Strong Museum of Play.

Hasbro was inspired and decided to purchase the rights to Takara’s toy lines and rebranded the action figures as Transformers.

A toy with a story

Before introducing Transformers to the U.S. market, Hasbro enlisted the help of Jim Shooter, who was the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics at the time, to create an elaborate backstory to go along with the new toys.

And thus the world of Cybertron and its many Autobot inhabitants was born, according to Heart of Toys.

Transformers introduced to the world

The robot-to-vehicle action figures were first introduced to the world in 1984, according to Hasbro.

They were a huge hit from the start and featured characters created by Shooter, such as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron and Starscream (who were also characters in the comics).

FILE - A Transformer toy made by Hasbro is offered for sale at a Toys R Us store Oct. 22, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

TV, movies and more

The first animated series also debuted in 1984 and was credited with solidifying Transformers as a worldwide cultural phenomenon, according to Heart of Toys.

From there, animated movies and new issues of the comics continued to grow in popularity and the stories continued to evolve.

Games were spawned from the toys and Hasbro even brokered a licensing agreement with companies outside of the toy industry to create a variety of goods with the Transformers image on them such as pencil cases, clothing board games and more.

Toy Hall of Fame

Transformers were inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in November 2024, alongside other popular toys such as My Little Pony and the game Phase 10.

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