Vintage

That'll be $20 for the toy plus $30 for the nostalgia tax, please.

Beginning in2018,Vintageis the latestHasbroline ofreissuedolder toys. For the first several years the toys came from theoriginalThe Transformerstoyline,withBeast Warsreissues added to the line in2021.

The toys come inmostly-faithful recreations of their original packaging, complete with matching fonts, classicbox artandTech Specs(theBeast Warstoys even keep the classic, now-defunctKennerlogo), but with numerous concessions to modern requirements like multiple languages. The toys themselves aremostlyfaithful to the originals, but a number of small changes are present in each one, some intentional deco alterations, some concessions to modern toymaking requirements.

Mostof the figures have beenexclusivetoWalmartin the United States and Canada, but have also been released at general retail in Asia, and the first wave of the "Legion Class" assortment has been available in Australia, exclusive to clothing chain CottonOn. (Singapore got most toys at general retail, except for the "Legion Class" figures, which were available from the Singaporean branch of CottonOn; although the Bumblebee reissue wasalsooffered as a "Combo" freebie at Golden Village movie theaters.)

Toys

Vintage G1

Hasbro Pulse exclusive Mini-Cassette 3-pack, recreating packaging that never existed, but still, we appreciate the effort.

TheVintage G1toys are mostly based on the earlierThe Transformers Collectionvariants of the original toys, incorporating subtle differences like minor color changes/additions,retooledpartsfor safety reasons,and new tampographed company information instead of molded-in company info. These toys also sport a new type ofrubsign,with a mirror-like silver border, and solid-red insignia rather than the "mood ring" multicolored variety of past rubsigns (yes, even the Decepticon insignia comes up red). Like their original releases, many includesticker sheetsfor the customer to apply, enhancing themaddening, hair-pullingwarm nostalgic experience.

The default packaging isbilingual(English/French) so the toys can be sold in Quebec; however, it'snotbased on the original bilingual Canadian packaging for those toys from the 1980s, which looked even more cluttered (not least because it gave every character an additional French name). The only exceptions to this thus far are the Australian/Singaporean CottonOn exclusive releases of the "Legion Class" figures, which were available in multilingual packaging intended for the European market for whatever reason, which looksinsanelycluttered.

After the release of Hot Rod and Starscream, Hasbro responded towailsfeedback from customers, rounding off the boxflap corners on the packaging for the Optimus Prime and Soundwave releases.

Of particular note is that this is the first release of the original Bumblebee figure that's officially identified as a licensed Volkswagen product on its packaging, no doubt taking advantage of the existing licensing deal with the German car manufacturer thanks to theMasterpiecefigure and in particular theaccompanying toy linefor the live actionBumblebeemovie.

Carded figures

2018Legion Class Bumblebee Outback Swerve Tailgate

2019Legion Class Gears Warpath

2019 Cassette 2-packs Frenzy/Laserbeak Rumble/Ravage

Hasbro Pulse Mini-Cassettes 3-Pack (Gurafi/Noizu,Frenzy)

Vintage G1Bumblebee

Boxed figures

2018 Hot Rod Starscream (w/Megatrongun) Devastator

2019 Optimus Prime (cab only) Soundwave& Condor Cassette:Buzzsaw Astrotrain

2020 Blaster

Vintage G1Hot Rod

Vintage Beast Wars

In 2021, to take advantage of the 25th Anniversary of theBeast Warsseries, Hasbro began to apply the same vintage treatment to characters from theBeast Warsfranchise. While the packaging attempted to mimick the design the original English-only 1996 United States packaging for those figures, it nevertheless featured five languages (English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese), while ignoring any of the unique elements specific to the contemporarymultilingual packagingversions of those originalBeast Warsfigures' packaging. Oddly, the 2022 and 2023 waves of figures are listed online asGenerationsproducts under the in-house title:Transformers Generations: Beast Wars Vintage.

This line was also released exclusively through Big W inAustralia,through The Warehouse and Toyworld inNew Zealand,andTakaraTomy Malland participatingCybertron Satellitestores inJapan.

Carded figures

Boxed figures

2021 Optimus Primal Megatron

2022 Scorponok

Vintage Beast WarsScorponok

Notes

• The name "Vintage G1" doesn't appear anywhere on the toys' packaging. It was used in a Hasbro-initiated IGN article (read: advertorial) that officially announced the launch of the line inJuly2018,^[1]as well as in product titles and official product descriptions for the individual toys on Walmart's US and Canadian websites. Similarly, "Vintage Beast Wars"is not on the packaging anywhere, nor is its subsequentGenerationsbranding.
• InDecember2018, Hasbro held afan pollto decide a Spring 2020 release in theVintage G1toyline.^[2]Astrotrain won overPerceptor,Thundercracker,andSkywarp.^[3]
• InMay2019, Hasbro held another fan poll to decide another 2020 release in theVintage G1toyline.Blasterwon overSkywarp,receiving 58% of the vote.^[4]

References