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he mid-1970s was an interesting time in both the toy business and the television business. On the upswing was a new animation movement that would be called anime. And the movement to link toys with TV shows or films was getting into full swing when Star Wars proved that kids will buy more toys if there is a supporting media line surrounding those toys. At the time, Japan was producing toys, movies and comic books about large transforming robots, a common theme in anime and in toy design. Toys like Micronauts were created in a modular fashion so you could take the toys apart and put them back together again in new formats—essentially to create new toys.
Gobots, Ultraman, Shogun Warriors, Micronauts, Voltron, Gundam and even Mighty Morphing Power Rangers used similar ideas and pumped out toys based on TV shows, movies and comic books. This trend continued into the 1980s and is still active today.
One of the most enduring of these is Transformers. Beloved as a TV series, followed up with a cult-classic film, Transformers held its own against the competition starting in 1984. Kids were enthralled. The rivalry between the Autobots and Decepticons was a simple one—the struggle for good to defeat evil. The good were the Autobots, the evil were the Decepticons. Each character could, at will, transform from a vaguely humanoid giant robot into, say, a Lamborghini or a jet plane.
The toy line in the 1980s was legendary, one of the first truly successful franchises in which a new character and its toy could be released and seamlessly fitted into the storyline and the hearts of kids.
Amazing engineering was the hallmark of these toys. A jet fighter, with the flick of a few parts here, a nudge of a lever there, could become a standing, fighting robot. And some of the designs were ... interesting, to say the least. I recall personally having transformed one set of toys from a minicassette into Decepticon robotic birds of prey. How a minicassette could be considered an adequate disguise for robotic birds was then and is now beyond me. And the scale issue was something I never understood.
A resurgence in popularity of toys from the 1970s and 1980s has brought Transformers back into the spotlight. New TV series such as Beast Wars, and several incarnations over the years of Transformers itself, repackaged with computer graphics added, have kept the line alive in the hearts of the kids who played with these toys and are now grown up and can afford to buy their childhoods back.
Sam's Club has issued an exclusive two-set in the new "Energon" line, featuring Autobot Prowl and Decepticon Starscream. Boxed together, the set alludes to the classic confrontation between good and evil.
Prowl is a blue and white police SUV that transforms into a noble robotic agent of good, complete with articulated arms and legs, festooned with weaponry (including a working disk launcher).
Starscream is a red and gray futuristic jet fighter that, after bending, clicking and sliding, becomes an evil soldier for the Decepticons, whose weapons include a sword and two over-the-shoulder projectile-firing cannon.
Not all change is good
Prowl and Starscream are amazingly complex toys. So much so that the instruction booklet unfolds into a single sheet that measures about 18 inches by two feet. Printed on both sides it outlines the detailed process of transforming each from one of its modes into the other.
Prowl transforms into his standing, robotic form in no less than 18 illustrated steps. The instructions show how various hinged parts can be accessed and used.
Starscream goes from robot to jet fighter in about eight moves, but tack on another few to include the unfolding and deployment of the swords.
Of course, this is part of the fun. It seems that the more steps are involved, the more fun the toy is as you watch it unfold and become something else before your very eyes. And the box indicates that this pair have a transforming skill level of 3 (out of a possible 4).
Besides electronic sound, this modern line of toys also adds the new Mini-cons, tiny robotic companion pieces to the main characters. Each is its own transforming mini-toy, vital to unlocking certain "hidden" features of the two toys. This is done by attaching each Mini-con to pegs on the main Transformer, which triggers features not accessible otherwise.
Prowl has Longarm, a miniature crane truck, which attaches to his shoulder to unlock a disk shooter. Attach Longarm to his leg and Prowl can fire a shoulder-cannon. These features can be used when attaching Longarm to Prowl either as a robot or as a Police vehicle.
Starscream has Zapmaster, a miniature Formula 1 racer that also transforms into a robot. Attaching him to Starscream unleashes his over-the-shoulder missile cannon.
Neither of these features can be activated unless the Min-con is in place, as each presses a tiny button that allows the components to be activated.
It is difficult not to compare this new line of Transformers to the originals, especially since Hasbro has recently introduced fairly accurate reproductions of the originals. But these new toys don't do the old ones justice.
Overly complicated and clunky compared to some of the original toys, these are harder to manipulate. They don't fit together nearly as well, and they'er weak in comparison to some of the originals, which seemed to glide and click so seamlessly and smoothly that they could only be the result of alien technology.
Even the plastic (and, yes, metal) used in the original Transformers was nicer and held more minute detail. One feature of the originals was that even a young child could, after some trial and error, figure out how to transform his toy from robot to vehicle without detailed step-by-step instruction or fear of snapping some vital part.
The same cannot be said for Prowl and Starscream. The softer plastic doesn't hold detail as well in places, and they don't seem quite as well put together as their predecessors, though the plastic is sturdy and will take a beating.
And the concept of the Mini-con is interesting, but woe betide the kid who loses his Mini-con. Those missile launchers may never again activate.
I admit it. I was never a fan of Transformers. I always took them to be a knockoff of Gobots. While writing this review I stood around and watched a group of adults, all of whom owned and loved Transformers as children, play with these new toys. And for the most part it turned into a nostalgia session in which they all bemoaned the elegance and simplicity of the originals and the needless complexity of these newcomers. — Sean
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