Big Bot Books: The Total Package in Transformers Legacy!

WHEN the Transformers Generation 1 toys first came out from Hasbro in 1984, I fell in love with the idea of toys that turned into another toy. There was just something about the ingenuity of action figures that turned into vehicles or other machines that sparked interest with the coherent themes of subterfuge and duality. But as the years went on, I came to a stunning conclusion: As much as I loved the toys, what I really loved was the packaging! The packaging for the G1 TF line was just perfect. The boxes or cardback were coded red for heroic Autobots and purple for evil Decepticons, with that splashy and iconic Transformers logo. On the front was this amazing depiction of the robot poised to attack, on the back was a sweeping battle scene with so many TFs transforming to face their counterparts, the tech specs (which could “only” be decoded by the provided red plastic strip, and, of course, the bio complete with motto, function and personality (provided by, among others, Marvel comics writer Bud Budiansky).

Big Bot Books: Transformers Generation One More Than Meets The Eye Official Guidebook Vol. 1 & 2

WHEN I first began collecting Transformers in 1984, the thing that fascinated me the most was those short bios on the back of the Generation 1 (G1) packages. Not only did the bios include a function (Beachcomber was a geologist and Doublecross was a supply procurer) and a motto (Optimus Prime: “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.”).

Add to that the cool tech specs, which initially could only be read with a special decoder (it was a red plastic strip). The bios made every TF a true individual and made Cybertron seem like a huge place teeming with diversity—and the mind-blowing idea of robots with personality problems. This is important because the G1 TFs are the rock stars of the entire TF line. All the succeeding series had something to offer, but for me, the G1 TFs are the OG TFs. If anything, the only real criticism I had of the bios/tech specs was that they were too short.

What I didn’t know at the time was that Hasbro had hired Marvel Comics writer Bud Budiansky to write much longer bios for each character and Hasbro had actually shortened them to fit on the back of the packages.