Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)
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Transformers: Universe is a Hasbro toy line launched in mid-2008, the second line to carry the name (the first one ran from 2003 to very early 2008). It ran as a mass retail line until early 2009, but continued throughout the year with a large number of store exclusive releases. It contained a thorough mix of new molds for "classic" characters from various previous lines, as well as redecos of existing toys from older lines (such as Cybertron and the 2006 Classics line).
Like Classics, Universe initially featured updated versions of "Generation 1" characters However, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the brand in 2009, the toyline's packaging design gained a "25 Years" corner logo and its offerings expanded to include updates of key characters from every franchise.
Most of the new-mold toys, again like those of Classics, featured modern and "realistic" alternate modes (a niche left otherwise unfilled after the end of the 2007 live-action movie toyline). Galvatron's futuristic cannon mode, for example, was replaced with a tank mode. The Beast Wars characters Cheetor and Dinobot gained more realistic proportions in their beast modes, with mixed results. Finally, four characters from the super-stylized Animated toyline (which ran alongside Universe) saw release as part of this line's Legends Class.
Many of the toys in this line were redecoed for release in the Japanese Henkei! Henkei! toyline, and it was succeeded by the Generations line and the Reveal the Shield segment of the 2010 Transformers line.
Contents |
Toys
General retail
Legends Class
The first wave of Universe Legends Class figures consisted of redecos of Cybertron figures, but later waves featured brand new molds. Six of these new molds were devoted to Mini Vehicles, four to "Animated Series" characters, and the rest to a variety of other "Classics Series" or "Generation 1 Series" characters. Unusually for a line of this size, none of these new molds saw release as redecos in later waves.
| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3
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Wave 4
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| Wave 5 |
Deluxe Class
The Universe Deluxe Class consisted almost entirely of new molds, with the exception of the Classics Seeker mold. That mold would be released twice in this line - once more as Starscream, then again as background-character Acid Storm; the latter of these would kick off a decade-long line of green Seeker redecos culminating in the character's Cyberverse appearance. Meanwhile, the new molds featured more complex engineering inspired by that of the live-action movie line. The reception to this was mixed, and only became more so as time passed - examples such as Galvatron and Ironhide in particular have been cemented in the fandom's memory for their overwrought transformation schemes, while the likes of Autobot Hound and Cyclonus are remembered more fondly. While these figures did not share a common gimmick, a signature of Universe engineering is that the last step of a figure's conversion is a "head reveal". All of these figures were released as part of the "Classic Series" and "Generation 1 Series", excluding "Beast Wars Series" Cheetor and Dinobot and "Armada Series" Hot Shot.
| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 | Wave 4 | |||||
| Wave 5 | Wave 6 |
Voyager Class
With the exception of new-mold Inferno and Tread Bolt (a redeco of Classics Jetfire), the Universe Voyager Class consisted entirely of redecos of Cybertron figures. These redecos were mostly released under the "Classic Series" banner, with the exceptions of "Cybertron Series" Vector Prime and Overload and "Beast Wars Series" Leo Prime.
| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 | Wave 4 | |||||
| Wave 5 |
Ultra Class
Three brand new molds, featuring lights and sounds, were released during Universe - two Special Team leaders and Powerglide, a Mini Vehicle. The latter of these was given a black redeco as one of several Micromaster homages in the line. Finally, Cybertron Scourge redeco "Predacon Bruticus" served as the only "Robots in Disguise Series" figure to be released during Universe.
| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 | Wave 4 |
Robot Heroes
Picking up where the live-action movie toyline left off, Universe continued to release two-packs of super deformed Robot Heroes figurines. Five waves of "Generation 1", Beast Wars and Beast Machines characters were released, but the fifth was only released in Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Germany and a sixth wave (which would have included some Robots in Disguise characters) turned out to be the only bit of known Universe product that never saw release anywhere. The subline would nevertheless continue in the Revenge of the Fallen toyline.
| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 | Wave 4 | |||||
| Wave 5 | Cancelled
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More than Meets the Eye 25th Anniversary Pack
The original Optimus Prime toy was reissued (again) to celebrate the line's 25th anniversary.
Exclusives
Buoyed by the success of the live-action movie toyline, Universe put out quite a lot of exclusive items over its run. Here we name US retailers only; see individual entries for how these toys were released elsewhere.
Several Cybertron toys were reissued for Universe - Optimus Prime and Crumplezone in a CostCo two-pack, Blurr, Buzzsaw, Longrack and Runamuck in a Sam's Club-exclusive five-pack (along with a redeco of the Deluxe Class Optimus Prime from that same line), and six Scout Class figures for "Market six" stores. A variety of "Generation 1" figures were reissued: Soundwave, Blaster, Perceptor and the Insecticons - plus a whole bunch of Mini-Cassettes. Finally Armada Unicron was reissued via Toys"R"Us.
In terms of more traditional Classics-style product, four "Special Edition" redecos of Classics Deluxe Class figures were released through Hasbro Toy Shop in monochrome book-box packaging and a redeco of Voyager Class Optimus Prime as Nemesis Prime was released as a SDCC-exclusive. Two multipacks of Classics Mini-Con redecos saw release through Kmart and Meijer - six from the larger of these were also single-packed for "Market six" stores, and variants of all twelve from that set were sold as blind-bags in the UK.
Various exclusive redecos of Cybertron toys as "Generation 1" characters saw release through Target - a pair of two-packs, each consisting of a single Voyager and Deluxe Class redeco, and a pair of five-packs of Legends Class redecos. They also released three redecos of Titanium Series figures and a redeco of Leo Prime in colours more like his previous Classics figure. Five Ultra Class redecos were released by Toys"R"Us and Walmart. Walmart also released a pair of two-packs of Scout Class live-action movie figures (unchanged from their original releases) and Masterpiece Skywarp (continuing on from the Walmart-exclusive Masterpiece Starscream redeco released for Classics).
International releases
Continuing on from the Classics Devastator giftset, the other two Energon Combiners were redecoed for Universe. However, these five-packs were only released in Universe packaging in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore - North America instead received them in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen packaging as Target exclusives.
Meanwhile, Hasbro Malaysia distributed a "Challenge At Cybertron" set of same-character Deluxe Class redecos. This set was a shared exclusive at China's Cybertron Con 2010 and at the Animation-Comic-Game Hong Kong festival. Hasbro would later go on to make some pieces available as contest prizes for Auto Assembly 2010 in the U.K.
- Superion five-pack (Air Raid, Airazor, Fireflight, Silverbolt, Skydive)
- Bruticus Maximus five-pack (Blast Off, Decepticon Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, Vortex)
- "Challenge At Cybertron" three-pack (Galvatron, Cyclonus w/ Nightstick, Rodimus)
In Japan
The TakaraTomy Henkei! Henkei! line served as the predominant release venue for Classics and Universe molds in Japan, but when it came to the three new Ultra Class toys, the company instead opted to brand them as "USA Editions". These were released at mass retail in unchanged Universe packaging, save for a sticker on the front window showing each toy's Japanese name and stock photos of its new deco. Said deco changes ranged from subtle to extreme in order to bring each character more in line with their appearance in the original Transformers cartoon; often lumped in with the Henkei! line by fans, the three USA Edition toys were far less slavish in their show accuracy and did not feature the line's characteristic chrome parts.
- USA Editions (10-2-2008)
Universe toys moved to the movie toyline
Due to retailer demand, several Deluxe Class redecos originally intended as Universe product were instead released as movie-branded Walmart exclusives (their logic being that the old Universe line eventually failed in the market, while the 2007 movie line was a dramatic hit).
- Divebomb (redeco of Cybertron Thundercracker)
- The above toys were also available as non-exclusive mass retail releases in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.
- Breakaway (redeco of Cybertron Hot Shot)
- Decepticon Fracture (redeco of Classics Mirage)
Notes
- Planned Deluxe versions of Bludgeon, Sky-Byte and Superion were discovered as part of a huge set of listings scraped from Hasbro's customer service site—however, the existence of these listings is the only information we have on them.[1]
References
- ↑ Monzo on the Allspark forums, 2013/11/01 (archived)