![]() As such, grades were boosted to bolster the characters’ skill sets. in Civil Engineering), I came up with jargon that I hoped would lend a pseudo-scientific, cool-sounding veneer to the characters.”Īs time went on, Hasbro began to fear that consumers would be hesitant to purchase toys with middling scores. Budiansky created the tech specs, and he later said, “Drawing from my knowledge of comic books, science fiction, and my engineering background (I have a B.S. Tech specs would evaluate such attributes as strength, speed, intelligence, courage, and endurance with a grade between 1 and 10. The first league of Transformers toys were assigned and packaged with numeric grades, known as “tech specs,” assessing the battle worthiness of the character in question. HASBRO EMPLOYED GRADE INFLATION FOR ITS “TECH SPECS.” The least likely namesake of the bunch belonged to Autobot medic Ratchet, who Budiasky confirmed was named after the antagonist from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Louise Fletcher's Nurse Ratched. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'s fellow villain Shockwave, a hyper-rational Decepticon, owed personality traits to Star Trek hero Mr. The leader of the villainous Decepticons, Megatron, initially bore the moniker Gun Robo-P38 U.N.C.L.E., an obvious nod to the 1960s TV series. SEVERAL CHARACTERS WERE INSPIRED BY FAMOUS POP CULTURE FIGURES.Ĭomic book writer and artist Bob Budiansky, the mind behind many of the Transformers characters, made a habit of embedding pop culture references within the names and designs of his robot creations. The company teamed with Hasbro to repurpose a number of Diaclone and Microman figure models for the American Transformers banner, including several early Autobot cars that were originally Diaclone toys and a Microman handgun that became Megatron. Prior to the inception of the American Transformers franchise, the Japanese toy company Takara had undertaken two less successful action figure ventures called Diaclone and Microman in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. MANY TRANSFORMERS FIGURE MOLDS WERE BORROWED FROM OTHER TOY LINES. As a result of Reagan’s media deregulations in the mid-1980s, toy company Hasbro and Japanese toymaker Takara (now TakaraTomy) were suddenly free to launch a venture like Transformers: An action figure line that coexisted with a cartoon series about its characters, encouraging the purchase of as many of its products as possible. Historically, children’s programs had been prohibited from promoting products due to the FCC’s concerns that commercial elements would compromise the integrity of the content onscreen. President Ronald Reagan’s policy of deregulation extended to American television, and the repercussion for kids’ TV opened up a new frontier for toymakers. By now, these early fans are all grown up, so there are probably a few things they've forgotten-or perhaps never knew-about the incredible toys. The 1980s was a golden era for the action figure, and Transformers were among the most popular. Here are 25 toy lines from the 1980s that deserve to be remembered more to show why that decade was a dream era for kids.Gustavo Vargas, Flickr // CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Yet others can be forgotten despite how they were actually pretty good. Given the nostalgia for that time period, some toy lines have been rediscovered and a hit in online catalogs. ![]() ![]() ![]() Other lines were terrible ideas from the start, worst in execution and thus it’s no shock they’re ignored. It was just some bad timing or marketing that led them to fail. A few had actually good concepts and designs and boasted great figures. Many were obvious rip-offs of far more successful lines and should best be forgotten. It thus makes sense that there are quite a few toy lines from that decade that are mostly forgotten today. Still, given so many hits, it was only natural companies would keep on trying as one never knew when something could connect. Of course, there were a few flops as not every cartoon was a success and thus their toy line suffered. Those were just for the boys as there were slews of girl-themed toy lines that also took off huge. Joe, Thundercats, Masters of the Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and more. That led to such epic hits as Transformers, G.I. The idea soon grew that toy companies could make a fortune by creating cartoons based on lines and thus enhancing their popularity. The decade had started with Kenner finding massive success thanks to Star Wars. The 1980s was the glory period for toy companies.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |