SDCC 2016: Hasbro forms more G1-era Transformers

If you’re a Transformers fan, then you’re probably bordering on being in love with what Hasbro has been putting out. Well, you’re about to be smitten again.

A Prime lineup

Combiner Wars was, putting it mildly, pretty freaking awesome. The latest named line of Transformers from Hasbro, CW was an awesome reimagining of Generation 1 in every way.

From finally getting decent versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron again, to redone combiners, it was boss in every way. It seems like Hasbro is seriously putting me big league effort into the robot modes of the Autobots and Decepticons too, and it’s appreciated.

As a big Transformers fan myself, I couldn’t have been happier with Devastator, Superion, and all the rest. And the line went deep too! I mean, we got a freaking Skylynx for goodness sake! Still though, even with all the greatness, there were a few gaps in the lineup.

Characters like Soundwave, Astrotrain, and others were nowhere to be found. Well, that’s where Titans Return comes in my friends. Tied into the IDW-created comics series like Combiner Wars was, Titans Return is the second evolution of the ‘Prime Wars’ trilogy from the publisher.

Titans Return

You know those bigger than life characters from Transformers lore? The ‘bots like Fortress Maximus and Trypticon? Well, they’re back. That’s what Titans Return focuses on in the comics, the return of these almost godlike Autobots and Decepticons.

Where the narrative will head, we don’t quite know just yet, but it’s going to be giving us some awesome Transformers toys. Based on what was on display at Comic Con, that’s a definite. It’s also going to be mostly ‘Headmasters’ stuff.

A sub-line back in the early 90s (I think), the Headmasters were Transformers who were ‘merged’ characters. Simply put, their heads could detach and transform into smaller robots. It’s still unclear how this’ll work in the comics, but as far as the toys are concerned, it means we’re getting some gloriously old school stuff.

Now, some of these bots are actually already available, but they’re part of the total line, so Hasbro had them on hand anyway. It’s what’s not quite available just yet though, that mainly got my interest.

At long last, the Technobots will finally be complete and we got a good look at their gestalt form of Computron in the display (looks great). Soundwave was also shown, and I have a feeling he might be available very soon, as he was displayed boxed.

We saw some niche characters too like Weirdwolf, but it’s the bigger characters that had me snapping away. The mentioned Astrotrain was there, as were the Sharkticons, Galvatron, a surprisingly cool looking Megatron and… two amazing Transformers – The Movie sets.

Yep, the Transformers movie is a staggering three decades old this year, and Hasbro looks to be doing the anniversary in style.

Transformers – The Movie

Three sets in total will be a part of this very small series of collector sets, and they’re all pretty great.

The weakest is probably Prime v Megatron, and I don’t say that just because that scene (and the after effect) scarred me as a child. Essentially a two-pack, the set includes versions of the characters that already saw release as a part of the standard line a few years back. All three of these packs include re-paints, but this is the weakest to me. I liked these versions of Prime and Megs well enough, but not to buy ’em a second time just for some cool box art.

Planet of Junk Clash includes just repaints as well, but they’re great so I’ll let it slide. Including Hot Rod and Wreck-Gar, it’s kind of hard not to dig this one. Plus I don’t have these versions of either one of them, so it’s very tempting indeed.

And last but not least is the super-cool Platinum Edition (Target exclusive) Autobot Heroes set. This pack includes re-issues of Ultra Magnus, Arcee, Kup and others. It’s awesome, and basically has the movie poster for a box. So points for that too.

More than meets the eye

So there you have it, a brief tour of all things Combiner Wars and Titans Return, and what the short-term future looks like for the Transformers toy line. Quite frankly, it’s a very bright future indeed, and the line looks to be getting better and better every year.

As I mentioned too, this is part two of a three part epic, so there’s plenty more to come. We already have confirmation that Trypticon is coming. As cool as he is, you have to wonder what other awesome surprises might be up Hasbro’s sleeve.

Personally, I’m hoping to see a return for the original Titan, Omega Supreme. Crossing fingers so hard for that one.