Walmart
From Transformers Wiki
Walmart(previously spelledWal-Martuntil 2008) is one of the biggest discount department store chains in the United States, with branches in many other countries.
Over the years, they have carried a lot ofexclusiveTransformerstoys,in addition to the regular mass retail releases.
Walmart employees are also often accused of not really caring about what they sell in addition to a lax return policy, making Walmart one of the main victims oftoy swapping.
Walmart is also the parent company ofSam's Club.
Fiction
DreamwaveGeneration Onecontinuity
The Transformers Trilogy
During a battle againstBumblebeeandProwl,Bonecrushercrashed through a Wal-Mart inLas Vegas.Hardwired
Walmart exclusive toys
- Opposites Attack
(Excellionvs.Thundercracker) - Search for the Pirate Moon
(Downshiftvs.Cannonball) - Dirt BosswithDownshift
- Thundercrackerwith Downshift
- The Ultimate Battle
(Optimus Prime,Megatron,and two of the following Mini-Cons:Deepdive,Longarm,Overcast) - Bumblebeevs.Barricade:First Encounter
- Leader for the Ages
(2007 Optimus Prime,1984 Optimus Prime) - The Legacy of Bumblebee
(Classic Bumblebee,Movie Bumblebee Premium Series,Animated Bumblebee) - Brain Scrambler Team
(Power Up VT6/Zoom Out 25X) - Mass Media Battle
(Speed Dial 800/Booster X10) - Robo Recon Team
(Spy Shot 6/Longview) - Ultimate Bumblebee
(w/ DeluxeDecepticon Brawl&Scorponok) - Cyber Stompin'Optimus Prime
(w/Cyber SlammersBumblebee) - Cyber Stompin'Bumblebee
(w/ Cyber SlammersBarricade) - Decepticon Sneak Attack
(Cliffjumper,Supermetal Finish Megatron,Hologram Mirage,Supermetal Finish Optimus Prime,Skywarp) - Road Rival Showdown
(Beachcomber/Deadlift) - Windy City Chase
(Slap Dash/Trenchmouth) - Optimus Prime
(w/Autobot Camshaft) - Megatron
(w/ Autobot Camshaft) - Desert Ruins Brawl
(Decepticon Brawl/Jolt) - Starscream's Assault
(Starscream/Mudflap) - The Fury Of Bonecrusher
(Ironhide/Bonecrusher) - Battle in the Moonlight
(Crankcase,Optimus Prime,Autobot Ratchet) - Bumblebee/SoundwavewithRodimus
- Ultimate Gift Set
(Bumblebee,Crowbar,Optimus Prime,Powerglide,Sideswipe) - The Data War
(Clocker/Hardtop) - War of the Waves
(Air Raid/Storm Surge) - Battle in Space
(Prowl/Megatron) - The Revenge of Blackarachnia
(Optimus Prime/Blackarachnia) - MudslingerwithDestructiconsplus:
- Icepick with Chainclaw
- Skyhammer with Airlift
- Over-RunwithStunticonsplus:
- Salvage with Bomb-Burst
- Sledge with Throttler
- Steelshot with Beacon
- StakeoutwithProtectobotsplus:
- Huffer with Caliburst
- Searchlight with Backwind
- Skyhammer with Airlift
- SteamhammerwithConstructiconsplus:
- Heavytread with Groundspike
- Icepick with Chainclaw
- Leadfoot with Pinpoint
- Salvage with Bomb-Burst
- Sledge with Throttler
- Optimus PrimeRescue Trailerwith BonusBumblebee& 2 Human Hero Figures
(w/Graham&Cody Burns) - Optimus PrimeRace Track Trailer
(w/ Flip RacersBumblebeeandBlurr,and bonus Flip RacersHeatwave the Fire-Bot&Morbot) - MaximalCybershark
- MaximalK-9
- PredaconRetrax
- Scorponok
- Terrorsaur
- Tigatron
- MaximalWolfang
- Hotlink
(w/Heatstroke&Heartburn) - Megatron
(w/Captive Lionizer&Captive Pinpointer) - Spoiler Pack
(Ultra Magnus&Battlefield Rung) - Optimus Prime
(w/Enerax&Sheeldron) - Soundwave
(w/Ravage&Laserbeak) - Spoiler Pack
(Nemesis Primew/Giza&Fangtron) - Optimus Primal
(w/Rattrap) - Sparkless Seeker
(w/Sparkless Caliburst&Sparkless Singe) - Spoiler Pack
(Megatronw/Fossilizer Skelivore) - Megatron
(Primeseries) - Optimus Prime
(Primeseries) - Thundercracker
- Autobot Cosmos
- G2 Universe Road Rocket
- Autobot Hot Rod(cancelled)
- Transformersmovie DVD with exclusive bonus DVDBeginnings
- To commemorate their exclusive release ofRevenge of the Fallen,Walmart issued a foil gift card with Bumblebee on it. Included with it was a four piece cardboard figure of Bumblebee.
- A 2009 television ad for Walmart's"Cyber Week"deals featured two moms discussing the"Revenge of the FallenRamjet Raptor "figure available at Walmart, only to be interrupted by a "nerd" who gleefully informs them that the "Ramjet raptor figure was added to the Transformers family in 2009," although he personally prefersSkywarp.
- God dammit. We're totally the newTrekkies,aren't we?
- For the 2011 release ofDark of the Moon,Walmart had exclusive retailer rights to use Sentinel Prime in their signage and marketing as part of their "Power of the Primes" campaign.[1]
- A 2019 Walmart commercial featured a plethora of famous cars (and close-enough wheeled vehicles) from numerous movies and television shows, set to the tune ofGary Numan's 1979 hit song "Cars".Among them was our dear friendBumblebee,in his design from his2018 solo film,transforming from robot to Volkswagen Beetle and then back to robot, trundling away with an adorably tiny (for him anyway) bag of groceries.[2]
- This commercial also includes theEcto-1fromGhostbusters(withSlimerinside), aJurassic ParkFord Explorer, and theDeLoreanfrom theBack to the Future... aka the inspirations forEctotron,JP93andGigawatt.
- Since September 2022, Walmart partnered with streamerParamount+as a subscription bundle included for the Walmart+ membership.[3]
- ↑"The Power of Partnership."Walmart WorldJun. 2011: 13
- ↑2019 "Famous Cars" Walmart commercialat Youtube.
- ↑[1]
- Official Walmart website
- Walmartat Wikipedia
Beast Wars
Beast Warsdidn't just have Walmart's firstTransformersexclusive, but the firstTransformersstore exclusiveperiodin the US in roughly a decade.
| Deluxe Class |
Robots in Disguise (2001)
The unexpected level of success 2001'sRobots in Disguiseline enjoyed meant Hasbro suddenly found themselves putting out quite a lot of exclusives to meet demand. Walmart would more or less have the lion's share of these through this line and the next several years.
Curiously, the "urban camo" Ruination set and yellowBlack Friday (event)Landfill sets came out in the packaging style of theArmadatoyline,but still labeled as part ofRobots in Disguise.A few other stores got exclusives like this, and it only gets weirder in the next section....
| Mega Class | Ultra Class | Autobots Multi-Pack |
Dinobots
A very strange sub-line,DinobotshadArmadastyle packaging, complete with character "card" stickers, but was seemingly its own disconnected thing, with no fiction attached. Still, it brought US fans two molds that had previously only been available by importing them from Japan.
| Two-packs |
Universe (2003)
With 2003'sUniversetoyline,Walmart got quite a few exclusives, and most of them ended upshelfwarmingreal bad, especially with of some of the prior line's exclusives being released around the same time. This had a knock-on effect, as Walmart scaled back the following year.
| Spychanger 2-packs | Deluxe Class | Deluxe + Mini-Cons | Deluxe 2-packs
| |||
| Ultra Class | Halloween Horrorcon 2-packs(canceled) | Ultra Class(canceled) |
Unicron Trilogy toylines
Energon
After the glut of exclusives from the prior lines, Walmart'sEnergonexclusive output wasn't so much scaled back as almost obliterated. The twoMini-Conmulti-packs, consisting of unchanged versions of regular-release toys, were a "shared" exclusive withToys "R" Us,and the combiner set was outright canceled (but revived many years later through theTransformers Collectors' Club).
| Mini-Con Team 2-packs | Ultra Class(canceled/used later) |
Cybertron
Cybertron's exclusive content mostly consisted of bonusMini-Consadded to unchanged versions of previously-released toys. Most of these were tied in with theTiny Tinslicense, where the Mini-Cons also came with a tin carrying case. The Tiny Tins Mini-Cons had new decos, at least.
There were also a run of "Value Packs" which were just two randomly-paired, fully-packaged Deluxes set in a cardboard sleeve and sold at somewhat less than the cost of two normal Deluxes, another "exclusive" shared withToys "R" Us.
| Tiny Tins Bonus Packs | Supreme Class | |||||
| Value Packs |
Classics (2006)
Classicsproduct was quite the mixed bag, with "bonus buy" still a factor. Remember those? Anyone else miss this?
| Ultra Class | Masterpiece | Bonus Value set
|
Live-action movie toylines
Hoo boy. Here we go.
Transformers (2007)
The massive popularity explosion thanks to the2007Transformersmovieled to a massive explosion ofmovie-tie-in product,and Walmart got alotof exclusives. This was mostly in the form of multi-packs of unchanged product, thanks to the need to crank out stufffast,but whatreallystood out to fans were the two waves of Deluxe-class redecoes of prior-series molds that had originally been slated for release in the2008Universeline(see below).
Curiously, there is also aRobot Heroesmulti-pack that isincredibly"Generation 1",but was labeled as movie product, soshrug emoji.
| Deluxes w/ poster | Deluxes Wave 1 | Deluxes Wave 2 | Multi-packs
| |||
| Real Gear Robots 2-packs
|
"Bonus Value" packs
|
Robot Replicas packs | Role-play packs | |||
| Robot Heroes multi-packs
|
Revenge of the Fallen
Come 2009'sRevenge of the Fallenline, Walmart went more in on redecos and new "off-screen" characters, once again leaning into multi-toy packs.
| Scout Class 2-packs
|
Voyager Class | Multi-packs | Leader "Bonus Value" sets
|
Transformers (2010)
The subtitle-lessTransformersline gave us a bunch of multi-packs, with some pretty out-there decos.
| Deluxe/Legends packs | Voyager/Deluxe packs
|
Dark of the Moon
WithDark of the Moon,the new hotness wasCyberversesets, the newest iteration of theLegends Class toys.Of course, what with the "Moon"theming of the film, space exploration also played into set choices.
| Deluxe Class | Bonus Value packs | Cyberverse multi-packs
|
||||
| "Bonus Value" packs(canceled) |
The Last Knight
Walmart'sThe Last Knightexclusive product was given the subline name "Autobots Unite",though it probably should have been called" The Only Way To GetHot RodToys ".
Yes, for reasons unknown, Hot Rod was not available in the normal retail line, with every one of hisLast Knight-era toys (save theTiny Turbo Changer) being exclusive to Walmart... at least, until they started appearing in discount chains.
| Legion Class | Legion Class 2-packs | Deluxe Class | One-Step Turbo Changer packs | |||
| Flip N' Change |
Universe (2008)
Universemostly went heavy on the higher size-classes, with a trio of Ultra-Class toys and anotherMasterpiecerelease. Curiously, the Scout-class 2-packs are repackagedTargetexclusives from 2007, albeit representingCybertron-era incarnations of the characters.
| Scout Class 2-packs
|
Ultra Class | Masterpiece |
Animated
Transformers Animatedexclusive content was light. Really, really light. As in "unchanged versions of toys in two-pack form" light.
| Deluxe Class 2-packs
|
Power Core Combiners
After most stores had long gotten rid ofPower Core Combiners(and a few waves of product virtually never hit normal retail shelves), Walmart put out these bonus packs of a 5-piece combiner team with a two-pack taped to the side... all for the whopping price often dollars.TEN DOLLARS.These were placed mostly on pallets pretty much wherever there was room in the aisle. There does not appear to be any particular order to who got packed with what, but reported combinations include:
| Power Core Combiners Special Value Offers: | ||||||
Rescue Bots
Weirdly,Rescue Botswas the only one of the"Aligned" seriesto get Walmart exclusives. And most of that they got were big sets with freebies tossed in, all unchanged from their normal-retail individual releases.
| Bonus Packs |
Vintage
Vintagestarted as basically the return ofCommemorative Series,only with "retro" -style packaging. Reissues of classic molds, with a few concessions to modern construction, increased durability, andsafety standards.
In 2021,Vintageexpanded into reissues ofBeast Warstoys, seemingly to take advantage of the line's 25th anniversary as well asTransformers: Rise of the Beasts(though repeated film production delays kinda missed that mark).
| Vintage G1 2018 | Vintage G1 2019 | Vintage G1 2020 | ||||
| Vintage Beast Wars 2021 | Vintage Beast Wars 2022
|
Vintage Beast Wars 2023 |
War for Cybertron Trilogy
Somewhat confusingly named, Walmart'sWar for Cybertron Trilogytoyline is a sub-line of the normal-retailWar for Cybertron Trilogy,released to tie into theNetflixWar for Cybertron Trilogycartoon series.While (most of) the line was extensively painted with extra grime and flatter, more desaturated values, accuracy to the actual decos in said cartoon may vary. Each wave is meant to tie in with one of the three different "seasons" of the cartoon, though naturally there is a certain amount of overlaps and "catching up" in places... as well as characters who don't appear in the cartoon at all. Whoopsie.
| Wave 1 (Siege) Deluxes | Wave 1 (Siege) multi-packs
|
Wave 2 (Earthrise) Deluxes | Wave 2 (Earthrise) multi-packs
| |||
| Wave 3 (Kingdom) Deluxes | Wave 3 (Kingdom) multi-packs
|
R.E.D. [Robot Enhanced Design]
Transformers R.E.D.is Hasbro'sTransformersentry into the 6 "collector's figure market: highly-posable, media-accurate (some more than others) non-transformable action figures, available only at Walmart in the US. These toys often come with multiple accessories and replaceable hands in different poses. The overwhleming majority of the line is taken up with" Generation 1 "characters (who arguably need these theleast), but there are also a fewBeast WarsandPrimecharacters in the mix as well.
| Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 | Wave 4 | |||
| Wave 5 | Wave 6 | Wave 7
|
Legacy
ForLegacy,Walmart started small with just a trio of Beast-era characters, but notably two of them were characters whose original toys were either very hard (or nigh-impossible) to obtain.
The bulk of exclusive content comes in theVelocitron Speedia 500 Collection,which is a pretty loose theme of characters from across themultiverseengaging inVelocitron's biggest race for leadership of the planet, including many characters who don'treallyfit into a "racing" theme... but on the other hand, it has a number of toys fans have beenverykeen to get, so, loose theming it is!
Announced in March 2023, theToxitron Collectionis once again a lineup ofStudio SeriesandLegacyfigures, this time inhardcore nineties,G2-inspiredcolor schemes. While there aren't any new molds compared to its predecessor, most of the characters are based on unreleased figures from G2 (except for the titular Toxitron, who is instead based on a G2moldplanned forUniverse). Jazz, Cloudcover and Toxitron (plus Grimlock, accidentally) were revealed first, with the rest of the lineup being leaked in July and released shortly thereafter.
| Deluxe Beasts | VelocitronDeluxes Wave 1 | VelocitronDeluxes Wave 2 | ||||
| VelocitronVoyagers Wave 1 | VelocitronVoyagers Wave 2
|
VelocitronLeaders Wave 1 | VelocitronLeaders Wave 2 | |||
| ToxitronDeluxes | ToxitronVoyagers | ToxitronLeaders |
Non-toy Walmart exclusives
Transformers (2007)
Revenge of the Fallen(2009)
