Editor's note: this is not my fault :-) Blame it all on Particle-Man for delving into this section....oh, and Rework, too...

Vintage Playschool:

The first series of 'kid-friendly' transformers. Made back in the day, when *I* was a kid :-) Some people don't count these as a 'true' tf...well, they're made by Playschool, who is owned by....Hasbro! :-) And they're stamped Takara. And they transform. So....there.

Because of updating things in the production facilities, you can find a number of variants between the toys(sounds like the happymeal toy problem, eh?:-). For example, the trademark stampings have been altered between the two versions (japan initially, then china). The paintapps and sticker colors are slightly different between the two versions. It's also fun to note that these weren't *just* released in the US; they saw foreign release too :-) Pic. Have a look below to see the changes in the two versions:

jet(top) jet(front) jet(copyright)

Racecar(vehicle) Racecar (robot) Playschool Racecars then and now

Modern Playschool:

Send in the Clones! Playschool has done it again nearly 20 years later. Now, we have variations on a theme; base-mold, and a number of recolors/slight retools to create different characters. It works great :-) Most of them are called 'Gobots', a theme originally created by Tonka(for US-distribution of Machine-robo toys) and now used by Hasbro(they won the lawsuit, and now own what's left of the defunct Tonka:-)

Frankly, it's a pain to document these. There was no rhyme or reason to the releases, other than to crank out *a lot* of them. The first out of the gate were Speedbot and Mototron. Same mold, just different colors. Next up were Gorillabot and Cheetor. Suddenly, the floodgates opened. There are so many renames and recolors, that from here on in, I'm just gonna do a listing by mold type, or maybe by name(obviously, they will be in approximate release-order as well). You'll note that Speedbot seems to be dang popular:

Speedbot, Mototron, Prowlbot(2types),Firebot, Aerobot2, Speedbot(recolor),
Taxibot(lights-up), Firebot(clear crystal version) Speedbot(red chrome) Aerobot(blue chrome)

Gorillabot, BeastBot Cheetor, Beastbot2, Tigatron, Beastbot Preditron(new wolf head)

Aerobot, Silverbolt, Aerobot(chrome), Silver-bot(chrome)
Flying fists Aerobot and Silverbolt (remold, fists shoot)

Speedbot Dragster

Mirage, Speedbot2, Aerobot

Buzzerbot(bee), Buzzerbot(cycle), Buzzerbot(light-up bee), Buzzerbot(convertable)

Reptron, Dinobot, Reptron(recolor), Beastbot dino

Strongbot, Scrapbot

Flashbot, Truckbot(lights up)

Hauler Bot

Speedbot Racer(new mold, smaller cars), Mototron Racer, Racerbot-alpha

Strongbot(yellow crystal cement mixer, lights up), StrongBot(4X4)

Note that there are also package changes, from Transformers-Gobots, to Gobots, to a new Gobots logo(first seen transitioned on the lg jets, where silverbolt could be named silverbolt2 as well). Note that the first mold seems to be the most popular, ie has the most number of 'characters' released. Guess card are supposed to be popular for kids. It is also interesting to note that they transitioned from an autobot tampo-stamping to a specially created 'G' for a faction symbol. The two types of Prowl bot saw equal release; one of them has 'Police' on only one door, while the other has both, and differently-colored(red/blue) eyes.

There is no true rhyme or reason for the names chosen/released on some of these guys. For example, we had Beastbot2 released before Beastbot. There are further examples, but...I'm tired ;-)

Later still, we see a release of new molds...or more accurately, retooled original molds incorporating light-up features. The old molds are also recolored aplenty. And then there are the remolded flying fists on the big jets. Heck, then there are the TRU-exclusive chrome versions (red, blue) of the original car mold (needless to say, called Speedbot!! and Aerobot. Grrr). Frankly, if this line does, I would not be sad. Hard enough to assemble a set of them mold-wise, much less color-wise. I gave up several years ago. Nowadays, if someone can't donate a pic, I buy them, take pics, and then take them back to the store :-) I don't need this crap cluttering up *my* house.

That's right. You heard me. Crap.

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