Transformers figures are wildly collectible toys due to their excellent story lines, wild past, and sheer coolness factor. While recent entrants in their toy line are impressive with their gadgetry and intricate transformations, the clunkier and larger toys of the eighties are extremely desirable, partially thanks to their storied past.

In the 1970's, Takara, a Japanese toy company produced the popular Diaclone and Microman toy lines, which featured figures that transformed into vehicles, robots, and electronics devices. Hasbro was already partnering with Takara for the G.I. Joe toy line and carried on this partnership to develop the Transformers figures toy line, while also purchasing the Diaclone toy line outright.

A backstory was commissioned for the toy line and a plethora new figures were added, while many of the original Diaclone figures were reworked to fit in with this new story line. That's the straightforward part of their history. Then things began to get confusing.

Shortly thereafter, the Marvel comic was released in the United States. The comics would later be released in Japan and the UK, inspiring new figure variations and dual names for characters in the process. In 1984 the animated series was developed, but the writers veered from the original path that was set.

In 1986, the Transformers animated movie was produced, two more seasons of the animated series were developed, and the UK and Japanese story lines were still being launched. In the early 90's, the second generation series was launched (G2), followed by Beast Wars, followed by a new series of comics and toys released by Dreamwave in the early 2000's. This all led to wild discrepancies in characters, plots, backgrounds, and most other aspects associated with the toy line and the backstory.

Concurrently, Hasbro was launching many more Transformers figures and sets, including Technobots, Targetmasters, Omnicons, Masterforce, Combiners, Brainmasters, Micromasters, Minibots, Pretenders, Powerlinx, Aerialbots, Actionmasters, Multiforce, and many more. Many of these lines were truly engineering wonders. Wait a minute, don't tell me that you thought there was just one toy line?!

Adding to the confusion are the current Transformers launches, inspired by the feature film. Some of these new toys even feature tie-ins with the popular Star Wars franchise. While these transforming figures don't carry the same geek appeal as Star Wars vintage action figures or the original Transformers figures, they are very popular with newer fans of both the Transformers and Star Wars series.

The end result is that Transformer action figures are more than just a disntant memory for many collectors; they are also a prime example of design ingenuity, cooperation, and creativity rarely seen in the current mass market toy releases. Thanks to their past, vintage Transformers figures should remain collectible and valuable for many years to come.

Jared is a vintage toys and games enthusiasts, and focuses much of his collections on vintage Pez, Star War vintage action figures, and vintage Transformer action figures. You can read about the history and backstory of each of these classic product lines on his blogs devoted to the subjects.

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