Gen1:
=====
Autobots: Minibots:
'84 carded in vehicle mode: Bumblejumper, Bumblebee
(red and yellow), Cliffjumper(red and yellow),
Huffer, Windcharger, Brawn(face 1), and Gears. No rubsigns.
'85 carded in robot mode, without(than later with)minispy: Bumblebee
(red and yellow), Cliffjumper(red and yellow),
Huffer, Windcharger, Brawn (face2), and Gears.
Rubsigns introduced. Seaspray, Cosmos, Beachcomber, Powerglide,
and Warpath added to assortment.
NOTE: Warpath and friends did NOT come with minispies
when added to the assortment in wave 2. pic pic2
'86 carded in robot mode w/patch: All '85 minibots.
(Bumblebee in yellow only, Cliffjumper in red only)
Wheelie, Outback, Hubcap, Pipes, and Swerve added to
assortment, both with and without patch.
NOTE: Also, the only minicars that came with patch were the
third group of 6, and the second group of 5 minicars(and Bumblebee,
who is exceedingly rare.)
Tailgate: mispelled card, correct word w/ use of sticker,
correct printing on card
*it may be interesting to note that when
Warpath was packaged in robot mode, they turned his
tank turret sideways so he would fit on in the bubble. :)
*nore that Bumblejumper has only been confirmed on a Cliffjumper card,
despite rumors that he came on a Bumblebee card as well...
*Final Note: The Minibots were changed to Robot mode at the beginning of
1985. They were first packaged with minispy, and actually, the cards with
minispy had variations. The first ones had a TM after the Transformers logo
on the front of the card, and it was quickly changed to a Circled R after
the Transformers logo.
================
Autobots: Jumpstarters:
Let's not forget the Jumpstarter tec spec variations
(pics reversed for initial print run)
'85 Topspin with Twintwist pic on techspec,
Twintwist with Topspin pic on tech. Fixed when?
===============
Autobots: Regular Cars
'84 Ratchet: cross-canopy versus non-cross artwork on box
(which first?)
'86 HotRod, Kup, Blurr: poster box, non-poster box
Regular Hotrod, vs Reissue Hotrod pkg(86 vs 2002) color-change, no boxflap.
(What about the mail-in units? Mirage, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Sunstreaker, Hubcap?
They came either boxed/carded in stores, or in a little bag thru the mail....
it counts as a pkg variant :-) Anyone got the years?)
(see below for more on box variants, including techspecs ;-)
Jazz box article
===============
Autobots: Misc:
Well, I don't have a big collection of Jetfire boxes, but so far it looks
like the Matsu ones tend to have the Tatsunoko Pro seahorse in the corner,
and the Bandai ones tend to not. (Either that or vice versa...) If anyone
out there has a bunch of Jetfire boxes, it'd be cool if they could shed
some further light on this.
'86 Rodimus Prime, Wreck-gar, posterbox, non-poster box
'86 Metroplex, UltraMagnus, Skylynx: poster box, non-poster box
Micromaster Transports: silver background (89), green background (90)
TM Hotrod:
1) error-box
2) sticker-correction pic
3) printed correction
Can someone explain case-assortments to me again? Since when did the
original cars come all the same to a case? Trickery? pic1 pic2
(turns out, they're from China. Go to that page. Not american, despite the pkg.)
================
Autobots: Combiners
'86 Aerialbots, packaged individually, packaged as giftset, '87 packaged w/decoy
'86 Protectobots, packaged individually, packaged as giftset, '87 packaged w/decoy
'86 Technobots with decoy, without decoy, packaged as giftset
================
================
================
Decepticons: Jets:
'86 Cyclonus, Scourge: posterbox, non-poster box
Blue-eared Cyc came in a non-poster box and is Japan stamped.
The blue-plastic Scourge was non-poster box (Jap stamped), the shiny
blue-stickered Scourge was poster box (Taiwan stamped).
Starscream, unconfirmed error-box: inserted into pkg wrong at factory pic
================
Decepticons: Combiners
'85 Constructicons, packaged individually, Packaged in Giftset
'86 Stunticons, packaged individually, packaged as giftset, '87 packaged w/decoy
'86 Combaticons, packaged individually, as giftset(not mass-produced), '87 packaged w/decoy
pic1 pic2
'86 Predacons, poster box, non-poster box (no giftset in america)
'86 Terrocons, with decoy, without decoy, packaged as giftset(not mass-produced)
'88 Seacons, packaged individually, packaged in giftset
*Piranacon giftset note-Piranacon is the only giftset not to be complete in the
giftset box, but that's only the US release that was 5 piece. The Japanese
Piranacon giftset includes all 6 figures and has the word Targetmaster on the
box. The box art is also a little different to reflect the 6-bot formation
instead of the 5.
Note that there were 3 distinct package variants to the carded seacons pic
===============
Decepticons: Misc:
'84 Frenzy: silver artwork (1st release), '86 gold artwork on pkg front and techspec
(note: more on decep cass techspecshere.)
'85-86 Blitzwing: posterbox, non-posterbox
'85-86 Astrotrain: posterbox(pic2), non-poster box.
'86 Galvatron, Trypticon: posterbox, non-poster box
'87 Scorponok: incorrect techspec, '88 correct techspec
'89 micromasters: card says 'micro-transformers'; card says 'microMaster-transformers'
Micromaster Transports: silver background (89), green background (90)
(What about the mail-in units? Megatron, Thundercracker?
They came either boxed in stores, or in a little bag thru
the mail....it counts as a pkg variant :-)
Anyone got the years?)
TM Scourge:
1) error-box
2) sticker-correct
3) printed-correct(unconfirmed)
==============
=============
Generation One Misc:
-boxart in-general was switched between 84/85 when Hasbro bought out
Milton-Bradley. The two main box versions can be distinguished by
(among other things) the copyright on the box, which will say either
Hasbro, or the later Hasbro-Bradley. Or, to be more specific:
1984 - (c)1984 Hasbro Industries Inc.
Early 85 - (c)1984 Hasbro Industries Inc.
Later in 85 - (c)1984 Hasbro Bradley Inc. pic
Even later in 85 - (c)1985 Hasbro Bradley Inc.
1986 - (c)1986 Hasbro Inc.
1987 - (c)1986 Hasbro Inc. and so on and so forth
Note also that the backer-cards that the bubbles attached to changed from gray
to more of a white between 84/85 pic
Note *also* some of the major differences between the package styles above:
I'll detail, among other things, the straight vs crosshatch techspecs More....
(see also: euro-classic package variants)
(see also: case assortments)
Bonus: What is the AP sticker on (certain tf packages) mean?
"AP stands for ashi productions.
they worked in corporation with fuji t.v. to bring you the series
that aired in Japan between 1983/10/7(fri)-1984/7/6(fri). I believe
it was shown once a week every friday at 4:30pm.
The takatoku toys company had production rights for the toys along
with orguss, batrain, macross etc...
Even the pre transformer ovelon gazzette for instance you will find a
AP sticker on the box, along with ashi pro. in Japanese marked on the
instructions and so forth. I'm looking at my pre whirl now, and it
has takatoku on one leg, ashi pro on the other in Japanese.
It's the same as how sunrise has rights for a cartoon, but the toys
may be made by takara or bandai depending on the toy. there will
probably be rights to the animation company on the box or toy itself
along with the toy manufactures name. Take G.G.G. for instance,
you'll probably not only see Takara on there, but also sunrise, and
Nagoya T.V.!" -Maz
Note: "K, let's get this sorted out, takatoku made both toys, but
dorvack and beetras came from different studios, hence the different
stickers and different company markings in Japanese on the boxes.
Beetras was from ArtMic, the others which I mentioned before from
that old message Maz dug up was from Asahi Pro. Thanks." -Himawari
++++++++++++
Catalog scans:
Reflector mailaway, 3 different versions pic
Original Catalog, 3 different versions pic pic(lg)
It's interesting to note on the original catalogs, how the quality
of the paper changed from each successive printing.The very first
catalogs were on rough stock. Later ones, while switching
to thinner paper, also refined the inking process.
==============
==============
==============
Gen2:
Starscream and Ramjet: missles packaged together, packaged seperately
Megatron Tank (lg): pkg1,white insert w/ back panel printed upside down.
Pkg2, white insert ,back panel was printed correctly.pkg3, yellow insert.
The Constructicons were originally sold on "bubble" cards identical to the
Autobot cars and Decepticon jets when they were test-marketed at TRU. They
later came on regular cards like the Combaticons etc.
G2 Jazz: while comparing the paperwork on two of them, I found a significant
difference in the instruction manuals! One is shadowed, one is not. One has
the rifle listed(as 'weapon') while the other...does not! pic
G2 Cyberjets: 3 distinct package variants: pic
-small printed warning
-Lg printed warning
-Lg printed warning w/sticker
==========
==========
==========
Beastwars:
'95 RockBlister, '96 Smooth Blister: Cheetor,
Dinobot, Waspinator, Tarantulas, Iguanus,
Razorbeast, Rattrap, and Terrorsaur.
All others smooth blister from there on.
*Also of note is that the 2 pack was never released in smooth bubble,
only rock, and smooth Waspinator is considered by some to be more rare than the rock.
*Dinobot was rather badly mistransformed to get him to fit inside the round bubble.
*Cheetor has gone through three card backers. The first, which shipped as a
rocky blister, does not have a point specification in the assortment number.
When it shipped in the second wave with red eyes, it became .01. When
Cheetor continued shipping through the third Deluxe wave, Hasbro updated the
card back to match the others in the assortment, making it .02.
'97 Airazor, Clawjaw: packaged individually, packaged w/video
================================
Beastwars: Fuzors
Injector: instructions changes .00 and .01...The artwork in Injector's transformation
instructions was changed during
production. The text was moved, but not altered. Steps 3 & 4 have alternate
artwork. The .00 version shows the Fuzor legs on the chest, while the second
.01 version has the legs behind the figure. In Step 2 on the .00 card, there
is no mention of the rubsign, but it is mentioned on the corrected card.
=================================
Beastwars: Transmetals
'97 Depth Charge and Rampage,Thin box (1st release), thick box.
*Don't forget to mention that Depth Charge's original package called his
vehicle an "all terra assault vehicle" (leftover from Rampage's template
evidently) while the later boxes correctly call it a space cruiser. There
were also the starburst stickers applied to late-run Rampage packaging that
touted him as "expert challenge level" and stickers over the "ages 5 and up"
recommendation that changed it to "ages 7 and up." "Challenge Level" sticker is on the .03 box
(year?)Cloud(1st release) versus arrow front boxart on Optimal Optimus
[Transmetals: inner bubble changes]
=================================
BeastWars: Transmetal twos
'98 Transmetal 'II'(1st release) versus '2' sticker on bubble on 6 characters
(Op-minor, Scarem, Sonar, Ramulus, Dinobot, Cheetor)
'98 TM2 Dinobot, head packaged facing up, head packaged facing down.
'98 Tm2 Cybershark, altered boxart w/warning
Tigerhawk: spelling correction .00 and .01....00 box has the mispelled 'MISSLES'
on the top and bottom. Corrected .01 box
spells 'MISSILES' correctly. Unfortunately, 'Tigertron' is still mispelled
in the Bio Card. I'm guess Hasbro will probably not fix it.
================
'00 Fox Kids Recolor Beastwars: TM Rhinox packaged with side flaps down;
packaged with sideflaps straight out.
================
MachineWars:
'97 Starscream with, and without techspec on box
MW Soundwave, error-packaged into a sandstorm box.
The instructions for
the initial shipments of MW Autobots(Hubcap, Hoist, Mirage, Prowl):
Type 1 card (error)
Type 2 card (sticker correction)
Type 3 card (printed correction)
It has also been considered that Megaplex and Megatron were
error-packed onto each other's cards thru the production run.
Does it bother anyone else that the MachineWars Prime boxart
was recycled from the Gen2 Laser Prime box? I mean, he doesn't
even *look* like the Thunderclash toy he was recycled from...
==========
==========
==========
BeastMachines: 2000
Primal facing straight, Primal angled in running position
Jetstorm straight nose, jetstorm angled nose
Tankorr turret facing straight, Tankorr turret angled toward window. Also:
There are four versions of Tankor packaging AFAIK:
1. Front claws together, torpedoes, .0000
2. Front claws separate, torpedoes, .0000
3. Front claws separate, torpedo, .0000
4. Front claws separate, energy bolt, .0100
Cheetor standing, cheetor in crouched position
Blackarachnia, or more accurately, her
package. First releases of the toy (in the .0005 assortment, for those
of us keeping track) were packaged with her facing left. Later
assortments (such as the missing .0006 and the current .0007) have
Blackarachnia facing right. This is a little tough to see simply when
glancing through a peg of them. The only reason that Jon and I can come
up with for this adjustment is for easy viewing of the spark crystal.
Scavanger error-packed on a Mirage card
BM 2-pks: some carded Longhorn/Gekkobot and Obsidian/Nightviper units
were sold with a special-bound cardboard wrap. Wee.
==========
==========
==========
R.I.D.
(see also: pressed-pkg stampings)
We picked up the initial releases of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus,
and noticed that they both sported oblong, red-text-on-white, child
warning labels, on the lower left front corner of their boxes. Silvy's
Wal-Mart recently got a second shipment in, and now, Optimus Prime sports
a smaller, black-text-on-white, child warning label in the same spot,
while Ultra Magnus has no warning label at all in that spot. We didn't
check to see if the warning was actually printed elsewhere on Ultra
Magnus's package... We did check, btw, and found that RID Ultra Magnus
does indeed still sport a .0000 box, as does Prime--Magnus is now just
shipping without any warning to parents that 'hey, we've got twenty-
three different things for your kid to choke on in THIS toy!'
...shameful, yes. :) Silverwynde and Defensis Prime.
Freds additional note: latest versions both sport warning logos in the boxart.
Example of Prime box:
Type 1)No warning labels or boxart
Type 2)Red warning labels (lower left corner, front)
Type 3)Black warning labels (lower left corner, front)
Type 4)Warning boxart (mid-front of pkg, and two more on back)
Megatron: initially shipped with bat-mouth covering robot face, and small-
limbs on belt pointing down, while later shipments came with the bat-mouth
retracted, and the small-limbs on the belt pointing level.
Megatron packaging variation. I don't
remember what the first version had on the bottom of the box, but the new version has
the Trains pictured on the bottom of the box. Also, his box is thinner
front to back than the earlier release which showed Sky-Byte, Optimus,
and Magnus on the bottom..--Karl Hartman. (note: first pkg had Prime, Magnus, etc on the box)
So the three possble versions are:
Type 1:Type one box, bat mouth covering face, limbs down
Type 2:Type one box, bat-mouth retracted, level limbs
Type 3:Type two box, bat-mouth retracted, level limbs
Towline, packaged with or without front grill of towtruck
Combaticons:
type 2 card: simple 'combiners' logo on front of card. Combaticons pictured in robot-mode.
type 3 card: tri-logo 'combiners' on front of card. Combaticons pictured in vehicle-mode.
type 4 card: tri-logo 'combiners' on front of card, with '2 of 5', etc added to it.(pic)
Oh yeah, The RID Trains had a package variation similar to the combaticons.
First version had Single language "combiners" logo on front.
This was seen briefly. Later versions have the standars tri-lingual
combiners logo.--Karl Hartman.
RID trains:
1) Single-combiners logo, unpainted(gray) windows variant.
2) Tri-logo Combiners, unpainted(gray) windows variant.
3) Tri-logo combiners, blue-painted windows variant.
Skybyte: waning labels on side flaps, blank side flaps.
Spychangers:
Type 1) wave one pointing vertical in pkg, left one in robot mode:
Type 2) wave two both in vehicle mode, both angled up and to the right.
Type 3) Wave8? individually pkgd (pic) (clear Kaybee versions)
Type 4) Tiny tins versions (magazine)(pic)
Note that Tiny Tins were also available during the late-run Armada series
at various TRU/Geoffery stores, as well as Target.
Spychangers error-pack: Prowl2/Sideswipe with a Sideburn/Daytonas label insert
Super-brothers error-pack: Sideburn on Xbrawn card, Xbrawn on a Sideburn card.
Literally. The bubble, insert, and toy were sealed to the wrong cardbacks.
(*Note: see also: RID cardback text-changes(in-process) )
==============
==============
==============
Armada:
(see also: pressed-pkg stampings)
*Note the style change on all the symbols between the versions, from
white to black stylixed 'eyes'on the autobot/decepticon insignias...
*Note also that on some packages, the 'O' in Transformers is printed upside down!
*Finally, note that I'm not listing the powerlinx toys as pack-changes for the
item, since the toys are technically, 'different' along with the new cardbacks.
Now, should a powerlinx toy come with a pack-change, I will of course list
that(ex. Powerlinx Prime).
Deluxe Carded:
Hotshot:
1) initial-release, clear tray w/warning label inserted into bubble
2) later-releases, no warning label on bubble
Hotshot(powerlinx):
1) initial-release, with NEW sticker, solid red symbol
2) no New sticker, solid red symbol
3) no NEW sticker, white outline symbol
Cyclonus and Demolisher:
1) error-stamped as autobots pic1 pic2
2) sticker-correction to Decepticon pic1 pic2
3) pack-correction to Decepticon pic pic2
(Powerlinx) Demolisher:
V1) std ub packaging, and NEW sticker
V2) NO new sticker
Prime:
Version 1: WITH NEW Sticker, and with Warning Sticker
Version 2: Without NEW Sticker, and with Warning Sticker
Version 3: Without NEW Sticker, and Warning PRINTED (also changes on the back)
Version 4: Unicron Battles sticker, tampo-stamped logo on hood
Version 5: NO Unicron Battle sticker, but retains tampo-stamped hood
Version 6: NO Unicron Battles sticker, tampo-tamped hood, Warning sticker
Version 7: Unicron Battles sticker, Warning sticker, tampo-stamped hood
(Nemesis) Prime:
V1) std ub packaging, warning sticker, NEW sticker
V2) NO new sticker
Blurr:
Version 1: WITH NEW Sticker, and with Warning Sticker
Version 2: WithOUT NEW Sticker, and with Warning Sticker
Version 3: Without NEW Sticker, and Warning PRINTED (also various changes on the back)
Thrust and Sideswipe:
Version 1: standard cardback
Version 2: with New sticker
Version 3: Unicron Battles sticker
Version 4: Unicron Battles sticker and Warning sticker
Version 5: Warning sticker only
Hoist, AirRazor, Wheeljack: pic
1)Unicron Battles cardback, Unicron Battles sticker
2)NO Unicron Battles sticker
3)Unicron Battles sticker and Warning sticker
Terrasaur, Rhinox:
1)Standard cardback, NO Unicron Battles sticker
2)Unicron Battles sticker
3)Unicron Battles sticker, and Warning sticker
Deluxe-carded Bonus Packs: K-mart has been selling bonus-packs similar
to the walmart ones, except in-place of two minicon packs, they have a
supercon and a minicon pack. These are the ones I've found so far:
Blurr w/ Skyboom
Blurr w/ Destruction
Hotshot w/ Skyboom
Hotshot with Perceptor
Sideways w/ Destruction team
Sideways w/ Perceptor
Deluxe-carded Bonus Packs Redux: TRU/Geoffery is now selling Supercons
with *one* bonus minicon in the bubble. At the 12.99 price point, this isn't
much of a bonus at all.....
Cyclonus w/Adventure Team member
Hotshot w/Adventure Team member
Sideways w/Destruction Team member
Blurr w/Destruction Team member
Deluxe-carded Bonus Packs Again: Apparently, some store had a special on
supercons being in packs with each other. I have no info at this time as to
where these came from, or what was in the sets pic
Hotshot with Demolisher
Minicon 3-pks: pic (Air Defense, Street Action, and Land Military teams)
1) small-type font
2) Lg-type font, tf website logos moved
The first-three packs of minicons were released with the small-type font.
Later releases of those three-pks switched to the large-type font. Presumably,
no small-type font of the second wave of minicons exists. At least, I've not
seen it. In addition, artwork of an individual minicon team member was added to
the front of the package.
More on minicon 3-pks:
the third-wave (adventure, streetspeed, and space) come with or without
the 'new' sticker on the package front.pic.
The latest releases of Night-Attack, Street-Speed, Adventure, Air-Assault,
and Space fall under the Unicron Battles banner as well.
(NightAttack, Street-Speed, Adventure, Space minicon teams:)
1) WithOUT 'new' sticker
2) WITH 'new' sticker
3) Unicron Battles cardback
Even More on minicon 3-pks: Walmart is selling them in sets of 6(basically, two
carded sets in a blister pack, with a 'bonus' sticker on them). These are the
sets we've seen so far(note that they are all on UB cardbacks):
1) Air Assult Team with Sea Team
2) Air Assult Team with Night Attack Team
3) Space Team with Night Attack Team
4) Space Team with Adventure Team
5) Adventure Team with Speed Team
Zob adds: "I took some notes yesterday and jotted down all the
package combinations of the Minicon 2-packs of the ones at my store.
Here's what I ended up with:
Air Military Team/Road Assault Team
Emergency Team/Air Military Team
Night Attack Team/Road Wrecker Team
Road Assault Team/Emergency Team
Road Assault Team/Night Attack Team
Road Assault Team/Sea Team
Road Wrecker Team/Emergency Team
Road Wrecker Team/Space Team
Sea Team/Emergency Team
Space Team/Road Wrecker Team
Some people on ATT have reported finding duplicates in the G.I. Joe 2-packs,
so I guess it's theoretically possible the same could happen with the
Minicons, but I haven't seen any packs with two of the same Minicon team yet."
YES, Even More on minicons:
1) Minicons have been included in small Bonus Pack trays with larger toys.
2) in Energon, certain minicons have been repackaged(this isn't counting
recolored ones). For example, a set of 6-packs at Walmart, as well as
Tinytins(see Rid Spychangers) at Target. Just one team can have several
changes between both lines. Example:
SpaceTeam:
1) WithOUT 'new' sticker
2) WITH 'new' sticker
3) Unicron Battles cardback
4) Included in Bonus Pack with Jetfire
5) packaged in Walmart Bonus Pack
6) Packed in Energon 6pk with recolored Skyboom shield
Race Team(in Road Assault colors; forms skyboom shield)/Space Team; then
Night Attack team/Destructionteam(in Road Wrecker colors) team have appeared
in the Walmart Energon 6 packs, and TRU had an E-6pk of Adventure/Sea
teams.(completely new pkg, *not* like the leftover 3pks stuck in a clear
blister like last time) while The members of the Star Sabre team and
the Raceteam(original colors) have shown up in tiny tins.
pic of tinytine
Pic of E-6pks
Boxed (big, and bigger):
Megatron:
first-release, small-font, tank pic on back facing left
second-release, lg-font, tank pic on back facing right
Galvatron and Jetfire: pic
first-release, standard packaging
second-release, bonus-pack of Space/Night-Attack minicons on top (Target)
third-release, with cds!
Jetfire(powerlinx):
1) Unicron Battles packaging with new sticker
2) Unicron Battles packaging withOUT new sticker
RedAlert(powerlinx) and Predacon(recolored tm Megatron):
1) Unicron Battles packaging
2) Unicron Battles packaging w/bonus 3-pk of Original Destruction Team minicons pic
Scavanger and Thundercracker:
1) std boxes
2) with Bonus 3-pk of Minicons
Tidal-Wave:
1) std packaging
2) packed with cd!
Skywarp and Overload:
1) std pgking
2) with NEW sticker
Optimus Prime(large version with Sparkplug):
first-release, small-font, error-box(comic 1)
second-release, small font, sticker-correction on bottom(contents)
third-release, lg font, printed correction on bottom(contents)
fourth-release, comic 3 instead of comic 2
fifth-release, with CDs!
Optimus Prime (large powerlinx version w/corona sparkplug):
1) Unicron Battles Packaging
2) Unicron Battles Packaging with CDs!
*it is interesting to note that a remolded-Prime is found in version-3 packaging :-)
Ruination:
1) error-box (wrong language on front)
2) sticker-correction (on front language)pic
It is interesting to note that Rollbar and Armorhide are misnamed
and mis-arranged(vehicle vs robot) on the back of the box: pic
Unicron:
The package is the same on the first four versions, but the toy changed. Then
we have a further problem on version 5.....which carries us into Energon, and
thus a double-listing...
Type 1: Pegless wings, solid shoulders
Type 2: Pegless wings, one shoulder slotted
Type 3: Pegless wings, slotted shoulders
Type 4: Pegged-wings, slotted shoulders
Type 5: Pegged-wings, slotted shoulders (bonus pack of Dark Sabre team)
Type 6: Pegged-wings, slotted shoulders, Energon box
Type 7: Pegged-wings, slotted shoulders(recolor), Energon box
Error?: Powerlinx Thrust has a picture of red Thrust(he's brown)
Error?: KB Scourge coming with a Bludgeon card pic
==============
==============
==============
Reissues:
A price-sticker does not a variant make:
On starscream, rumors abounded that there was going to be a disney-exclusive
version. This turned out to be false. The only noticable change is the
price-sticker on the toy (though some peeled off the stickers on the front, too)pic
A note on Grapple: why is Autobot spelled Auotbot on the sides? ;-)
US Soundwave TRU/HTS reissue:
- version 1 inner tray right side up
- version 2 swave pkgd upside down in box
==============
==============
==============
Universe:
Snarl, Silverbolt, Reptilion:
Version one: NO cd
Version two: with CD
Note: it is interesting to notice how the shape of the cards differ between
Silverbolt and Snarl packages (rounded vs square cards) Pic1 Pic2 Pic3
BlackArachnia, Striker:
Version one: NO cd
Version two: with CD
Version three: with Poster
Note: The reason for the three pack-versions depends on which wave the figure
is found in. Since BA and Striker are packed with w3 Ratchet and Inferno, they
get a poster :-)
Optimus Prime, Razorclaw: pic
Version one: NO cd
Version two: with CD
I would like to state how very annoying it is for them to have shrunk the
bubble-size on the wave-3 toys(and the corresponding shipping boxes).
I have a couple of wave-3 boxes, which won't fit my wave 1 or two toys....
(for example, wv 1 ba and striker won't fit in a box w/wv 3 ratchet)
Error?: Universe Sunstorm has a pic of Armada Thrust on the box.
(more 'erors' have occurred in Energon as well)
Universe Battle in a Box sets:
-initial release: plain box
-family dollar release: 'universe' sticker on boxfront
pic1 pic2
Tankorr/Obsidion: large box, narrow box pic
(just like when they shrunk Depthcharge and Razorclaw boxes back in bw....)
Universe Spychangers: 6 figures recolored and released as G1 characters
in Universe were re-released in Dollar General packaging (Prime,
Hoist, Silverstreak, Jazz, Wheeljack, and *). pic pic2
Energon in Universe:
Talk about getting chocolate in my peanut butter! Energon toys (Perceptor,
Arcee, and Strongarm, specifically) were repackaged, withOUT changes,
into Universe packages, and sold at places like Biglot. Mostly because they hate us.
Cybertron in Universe:
2007 after-thanksgiving, we saw 2pks featuring Skywarp/Excillion and
Downshift/Cannonball on Universe cards
Energon vs Universe package (pic in-process)
Cybertron vs Universe pkg (pic in-process)
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Energon:
(note: Energon Minicons: see Armada)
(note: energon Spychangers: see Universe)
StrongArm:
1) solid-symbol shoulder, packaged with face up
2) outline-symbol shoulder, packed with face down
Unicron:
Type 6: (Armada color)Pegged-wings, slotted shoulders, Energon box
Type 7: (E- recolor! )Pegged-wings, slotted shoulders, Energon box
Error: It is interesting to note that the Magnus package still highlights
the StreetSpeed team recolor, when it actually sports a Space team recolor...
of-course, considering he still shows Overload on the box-back :-)
(note: japan has a b/w sticker on their usa edition, while Europe has a corrected box)
1) Energon Magnus w/recolor Space Team, box shows recolor speed team
2) Energon Magnus w/recolor Space Team, box has sticker-correction (japanese 'usa edition')
3) Energon Magnus w/recolor Space Team, box shows Space Team (euro box)
More errors:
-Energon Treadbolt has a pic of Armada Scavenger on his box
-Energon Rapidrun has a pic of Armada Sideways on his cardback
...as Defensis would say,
"Hasbro's really hiding behind the 'color and products may very' slogan, eh?"
Repacks: The initial wave of Energon toys come backed with variant cards:
-either you have a card with a techspec(v1) or a bio(v2) or, in some
cases, both(later on, the reverted back to wave 1 cards).
-In addition, several months into 2004, they updated the cardbackers
from blue, to Powerlinx Battles red
Hotshot, Inferno, Starscream
v1) packed with techspec card
v2) packed with bio card pic
v3) packed with bio card card and xevos ad
v4) packed with techspec card and xevos ad
Rodimus, Prowl
v1) packed with spec card
v2) packed with spec card and xevos ad
v3) Powerlinx Battles red backercard
v4) (recolored)(renamed) 2pk
Snowcat and Demolisher, E-Hotshot(silver), Towline, Downshift, Sharkticon
v2) standard backercard pic
v3) Powerlinx Battles red backercard
Jetfire, Ironhide
v1) packed with techspec card
v2) packed with bio card AND techspec card
Scorponok
v1) packed with techspec card
v2) packed with bio card
Shockblast: pic pic2
v1) Energon packaging
v2) Powerlinx Battles red packaging
Hasbro sticker variants: In June of 2004, as the story goes, Hasbro reps
prowled the large chain stores across the nation(walmart, target, etc)
and placed these yellow stickers on most every carded deluxe and basic
figure: Pic
E-Megatron: Pic
1) with fleer bio card, and has Cybertron sticker on pkg
2) with fleer bio card,withOUT Cybertron sticker on pkg (unconfirmed)
3) with tech card, and withOUT Cybertron sticker on pkg
4) In red Powerlinx Battle packaging
E-Optimus:
1) packed with techspec card, NO cybertron sticker
2) (unconfirmed)
3) packed with bio card, with cybertron sticker
Perceptor, Arcee, Insecticon, Divebomb, E-Strongarm, Offshoot: Pic
v1) Energon blue backer card
v2) Powerlinx Battles red backer card
Energon Bonus packs: In an attempt to clear out stock, various stores
(walmart, tru) has 'bonus pack' packaging installed around their tfs. That is,
instead of getting one toy for a price, you got two of them. We've seen all
size classes, as well as a mix of regular and PLB(powerlinx battles) packaging.
Like the Armada minicon bonus packs, there was no rhyme or reason to the basics
packaging. However, the Prime and Megatron seemd to be quite consistant
(I didn't see two Primes in a pack, for example)
see
Basics 2-pack (TRU):
Arcee & Insecticon
Insecticon & Signal Flare
Divebomb & Signal Flare
* all were in reg packaging
Perceptor/Divebomb
Perceptor/Offshoot
Doomlock/Command Ravage
Divebomb/Command Ravage
*all in red PLB packaging
Mega-Deal (TRU):
Optimus Prime & Megatron
*available in both PLB and pre-PLB packaging
Mega 2-Pack (Wal*Mart)
Ironhide & Jetfire
* pre-PLB packaging
Ultra 2-Pack (Wal*Mart):
Scorponok & Landmine
Scorponok & Bulkhead
Landmine & Bulkhead
*pre-PLB packaging
"There was also mention of an Alternators bonus pack
from one of the Wal*Mart employees I talked to.
However, they could not provide any evidense to
support their claim." ~Richard
pics of Bonus packs
Error-pack: during assembly, some Energon toys were made minus a few key parts:
Terradive, no canopy pic2
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Alternators(american version of the japanese Binaltech):
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime:
v1) packed with grey gun
v2) packed with black gun
v3) packed with black gun and poster pic
Alternators: the bulk of them came first in the gray-blue box, which
was switched (starting with Prowl)to a red box. in 2006, they switched
to a bubble-style package. There have been transition units (prowl and
tracks) who came in the red box and the bubble-box. Some toys come in
the original grey box, but were reissued later in the line in the
bubblebox (shockblast, Meister).
1) greyblue box (original)
2) Red box (2nd series)
3) Grey Bubble (3rd series)
Prowl, Tracks: 2 and 3
Meister, Shockblast: 1 and 3
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Cybertron:
PkG Variants: Cybertron
Cybertron:
Sideways, Snarl:
-packaged with DVD
-packaged withOUT DVD
RedAlert, Override.
-packaged with DVD
-packaged withOUT DVD
-packaged with *recolored* minicon Team (skyboom shield)
Hot Shot, Landmine, Thundercracker:
-packaged carded
-packaged in box with recolored Minicon Team (skyboom shield)
**And they didn't come with the whole bleedin' team, just one unit
each, along with a corresponding Tiny Tin:
Dirt Boss w/ Downshift, Thundercracker w/ Downshift, Hot Shot w/
Mirage, Red Alert w/ Dirt Boss, Landmine w/ Dirt Boss, Override w/
Mirage.
-also note that in a lot of cases, people bought the regular color
single-pack tiny tins from fleet farm that year, took out the
recolored ones from the boxed sets and swapped in the regular ones,
returning them to the store for a refund. A rotten practice, resulting
in people thinking that the regular color minicon team was a
legitimate package variant. It's not.
-also note that the boxes containing these (formerly) carded toys have
altered/new techspecs (a pattern we'll sadly see repeated later on in
the series)
(note: there were two seperate releases of dvds; the ones above, and a
set later on in the 'primus' series)
Mudflap, Leobreaker, Evac:
-boxed
-boxed with Bonus minicon pair
*Mudflap had Shockwave & Tankor, Evac had Razorclaw & Steamhammer, and
Leobreaker had Sky Lynx & Thunderblast. (Target exclusive, mostly)
Red Alert (large phallic missle truck):
-'Red Alert' on package
-'Cybertron Defense Red Alert' on package Pic
BOGO packs:
Landmine/Thundercracker
Red Alert/Thundercracker
Override/Thundercracker
Override/Landmine
Override/Red Alert
Dirtboss/Red Alert
Dirtboss/Hot Shot
Override/Hot Shot
Recon/Backstop Pic
Ransack/Armorhide
Scattorshot/Hardtop
Clocker/Undermine
*note that BOGO (buy one get one) packs can have any number of
combinations. These were the ones we happed to find at the local TRU.
Win a Trip to SpaceCamp stickers:
this asst of toys came either with or without the 'SpaceCamp'
stickers. Though once thought to have been placed on the packages
prior to hitting the store shelves, it now seems that, as with the
11/4 Movie dvd (listed later on, below) these stickers were placed
either by walmart employees, or more likely roving hasbro reps.
Toys to be found with, or withOUT the 'spacecamp' sticker:
Repugnus
Scrapmetal (red)
Armorhide
(more to follow)
Target-exclusive Vs Packs:
-Different that BOGO packs (in which regular cards are inserted into a
bogo wrap) these toys were pasted to the back of a new, largeer
package, with altered/new techspecs(from the original carded toys).
CRITICAL PATH PACK: Sideways vs Red Alert
DRAG RACE PACK: Hot Shot vs Override
GROUND TO AIR BLAST PACK: Thundercracker vs Crosswise
Primus Unleased packaging:
Some previously-released deluxe carded and boxed figures (the march
asst) had small Primus Unleased stickers on the top front of their
packaging. Later assortments incorporated the Primus Unleashed logo
into the main packaging
Crosswise, Downshift, OverRide GTS, Excellion with another E, dammit,
Thunderblast, CD Hotshot, SkyShadow
-without PU sticker
-with PU sticker
Primus:
-without Unicron head
-with Unicron head and pack-change
-with bonus Classics minicons pack-change
*Probably gonna wanna make note, if you haven't already, of the renaming
of a couple of the Mini-Cons included with Primus...
The yellow & purple Decepticon-aligned motorcycle:
CYBERTRON: OFFSHOOT
CLASSICS: DIRT ROCKET
The blue & yellow Autobot-aligned jet:
CYBERTRON: NIGHTSCREAM
CLASSICS: THUNDERWING
Oddly, Nightscream will be the name of the dragon in the CLEAR SKIES TEAM
to which that jet also belongs. Wonder, why monkey with the names at all,
and only two of the four, at that...
Primus Unleashed Bonus Dvds Inside:
-Note the difference between 'Bonus' dvd and the dvd which came out
earlier)
Cannonball, Brimstone, Ransack GTS, Downshift, Swerve, Wreckloose,
Lugnuts, Minicon Team:
-packaged with Bonus DVD
-packaged withOUT Bonus DVD
**'Minicon Team' is pretty generic, donchaknow... :)
(yea, but I forgot the name of the specific team...I only wrote down
'minicon' on my notepad)
20th Anniversary DVD stickers:
this asst of toys came either with or withOUT the 11-4 Movie Prime
sticker. Like the Spacecamp stickers, these appear to be random
stickers placed on whatever toys were on shelves at the time, (by
either Hasbro reps or Walmart employees) so the list is incomplete at
the moment (though I have to say, I saw a *lot* more spacecamp
stickers on a tighter run of packages back in the day, so....). Some
of the ones I found:
-Optimus Prime
-Megatron
-Thunderblast
-Ransack GTS
Cool Pallette-Pack note: in Nov 2006, shelves of tail-end deluxes
showed up in pre-made shelfsits. The advert on the side showed Prime,
Demolisher, Crosswise, and Unicron. However, the assortments I've seen
came with CannonBall instead of Crosswise.
Super Value Pack: Not to be confused with a BOGO, this card featured 3
deluxe tfs...and charged slightly more than full-price for them :-)
Similar to the Target-exclusive vs-sets, these toys were pasted to the
back of a new, larger package, with altered/new cardback(from the
original carded toys).
List of Tfs in SVP (SuperValuePackaging) at TRU:
-Sideways, Brimstone, and Thunderblast
-Snarl, Landmine, and Dirtboss.
Leader Class with Bonus figure: Also released in November were 3 LC
figs with a bonus figure attached to the top of the package:
-Megatron (with hardtop)
-GalaxyForce Prime (with Brakedown)
-Metroplex (with Clocker)
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Classics:
Grimlock:
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07 Movie:
The Movie Bumblebee Listing:
Too-many Bumblebees. Broken down as:
Bumblebee(74)
- packaged on card
- in set w/Barricade
- in set w/Bumblebee(concept) Evolution of a Hero set- Target exclusive
Bumblebee (concept)
- on card
- in set with Bumblebee 74(Evolution of a Hero set -Target exclusive)
- in set w/small figures(2008)
Bumblebee (Cyberslammer):
- packaged seperately
- packaged with ****
Bumblebee (ultimate):
- in box (square)
- in new box(round)w/ Titanium Bumblebee
+++++++
Longarm:
- on card
- in set w/Bumblebee
- in set w/sm figures(2008)
RealGear:
- packaged individually
- packaged as giftsets (the first 6, Walmart)
*too-much of a good thing. These warmed the pegs till christmas,
at which point only the 2-packs warmed the pegs :-)
RealGear Giftsets:
Brain Scrambler Team - Power Up VT6(pocket game)
& Zoom Out 25X(videocam)
Mass Media Battle - Speed Dial 800 (cellphone)
Vs. Booster X10(mp3 player)
Robo Recon Team - Spy Shot 6(camera)
& Longview(binoculars)
Movie Giftsets:
- First Encounter (Barricade/Bumblebee 74, Walmart)
- Evolution of a Hero (Bumblebee/Bumblebee, Target)
- Desert Attack (Blackout/Scorponok, TRU)
- Legends Exclusive 4pk (Prime/Prime, Megs/Megs, Target)
- Legends Exclusive 6pk (LOC Bumblebee/Prime/Starcream/Megatron/Jazz, TRU)
- Sams Club 3pk #1 (Jazz, Bonecrusher, Brawl)
- Sams Club 3pk #2 (Battle damaged Prime/Battle Damaged Arcee/Starscream)
- Robot Replicas 'battle damaged' Prime and Megatron
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Misc::
Otfcc: the 2003 exclusives came with mismatched weapons(sunstreaker/sideswipe).
In addition, the vehicles could come with spoilers either upraised, or lowered
(blame crazy-steve; "If BM Tankorr turret placement counts, so do these".) Pic
e-hobby: the 2005 Cobalt Sentry packs came with either two right or two left Ravage guns.
Takara offered replacements.
2007: MasterCollector Botcon had Dirge and Thundercracker with mismatched guns
(2 left, 2 right) in some of their boxed sets(they asked people to check at the con).
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