Evergreen

I'm gonna take this moment
And make it last forever

In a commercial context,evergreenproduct is merchandise that is not "seasonal" – it can be sent to shelves for an extended period without needing to be refreshed or updated. ForTransformers,this means product that is "franchiseless", not tied to any flavor-of-the-year brand like a cartoon or movie.

After thelive-action film seriescatapultedTransformersback into the public consciousness, deliberately evergreen products became increasingly common throughout the early 2010s, typically for licensed merchandise or for ancillary,value-oriented Hasbrotoys. These products would typically borrow key art from a scattershot assortment of sources, such as variousGenerationstoylines and theLegendsmobile card game.

Eventually, Hasbro moved to align these sorts of products under a unified evergreen aesthetic, and began implementing a purpose-made set ofGeneration-1-inspiredcharacter designs, created byEmiliano Santalucia,for use on all-and-sundry licensed and in-house products. They debuted in late2016,without fanfare, inIDW Publishing'scontemporary comic line,before showing up on a wider variety of merchandise during2017.

Products incorporating evergreen character designs

Fiction

I'm gonna give my heart away
And pray we'll stay together

IDW Publishing's original Generation 1 comic line began introducing evergreen character designs in the aftermath of the 2016Revolutioncrossover event. The implementation was last-minute enough thatat least one coverhad to be redrawn by the artist to incorporate Optimus's evergreen design. Designs have been introduced as follows:

Starscream,beginning withThe Transformers: Till All Are One#5
Optimus Prime,beginning withOptimus Prime#1
Windblade,beginning withFirst Strike#1
Soundwave,beginning withFirst Strike#2
Shockwave,beginning withOptimus Prime#19
Bumblebee,beginning withTransformers: Unicron#0

Space Ape'sTransformers: Earth Warsmobile game introduced a design of their own that would be used in 2017:

Barricade,beginning with "Event Horizon".

Most main characters inCyberverseuse interpretations of evergreen designs, as do the established characters inEarthSpark.

TheRescue Bots Academycartoonredesigned previousAligned continuitycharacters, includingOptimus,Bumblebee,Grimlock,andRatchetto use their evergreen designs.Early concept artsuggests this mandate was not in place at the beginning of the show's development.

Grimlock and Optimus Prime inKing Grimlockboth use direct translations of the evergreen designs.