[Scaleface]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Moore

Not really, but nice try.

I can point you to an article in People magazine about the rabid success of GoBots and how Hasbro plan to cash in on it with their upcoming Transformers toy line.

Anyways as I understand the timeline...

-1970's Takara makes Micromen (imported as Micronauts) Bandai makes Shogun Warriors among their toys. Both have elements of transforming robots in them.
-1980 Takara makes Diaclone line with spacey vehicles that sorta change and have pilots.
-1982 Takara makes their first realistic transforming Diaclone, the precursor to Sunstreaker. Popy, a company owned by Bandai releases the first wave of Machine Robo. Neither series has real fiction, just toy commercials.
-1983 Takara comes up with Microchange, 1:1 scale transforming robots who turn into role play toys. Bandai tries to sell Machine Robo outside Japan, with names like Machine Men in Australia, Robo Machines in UK. No real fiction exsits. They team up with Tonka in the USA to make GoBots. Tonka hires the guys who named the Masters of the Universe at Mattel to give the new robots names and sides. Then hires Hanna Barbara to make a story for them. GoBots sell like hotcakes, but Tonka didn't bet on them being so popular, so most of the line is cheap $3 toys with no profit margin, and didn't manufacture enough to keep up with demand.
-1984 Hasbro licenses Takara Transformers from Microman and Diaclone molds. Hires Marvel comics writers and Sunbow to make a story of them. Hasbro makes their toys larger and more expensive after learning from Tonka's mistakes and makes much more profit. Hasbro ALSO sells out of everything they can make.
-1985 - Hasbro and Tonka make as many toys as they can to fill demand of kids.
-1986 - Tonka makes a GoBots movie (first), and tries to spin off Rock Lords, who only last a bit over a year. Hasbro makes a movie too, and KILLS OPTIMUS PRIME. In Japan Bandai makes Revenge of Cronos, because they realize having fiction helped sell toys!
-1987 - Bottom falls out of market for BOTH lines in the US, but Hasbro has banked more money from the sales. GoBots quickly ends it's magazine and comic, but Marvel keep Transformers alive. In Japan Takara start making it's own series Headmasters, and Bandai makes Battle Hackers for Machine Robo.
1988 - Hasbro tries to reinvent Transformers to compete with large humanoid action figures - Pretenders are born!
1989 - Trying to cash in on Micromachines, the Micromasters are born.