THE great Japanese tendency to take the usual and transform
them into smaller, cuter iterations is easily encapsulated by eye-popping,
aww-inspiring world of Super Deformed (SD) toys. Being one of the great toy lines
of the world, Transformers have seen several different manifestations of the SD
effect, but the newest, most multi-faceted iteration is the new Q Transformers
line of tiny transforming figures.
The
long story of the Q TFs begins with another toy altogether, Takara’s Choro-Q
line in 1978 (the company is now known as TakaraTomy). The Choro-Q toys were
3-4 inch cars boasting oversize rubber back wheels and pullback motors.; they
were officially licensed. These toy cars were a hit in Japan and in the United
States, where they were known as Penny Racers.
When
Takara was building its Microman line, they decided to include robots that
transformed into tiny toy cars. Take note: The cars were toy-sized, so the
robots were supposed to be tiny. Takara called them MicroChange robots. These
toys were the fat, short versions of cars like the Volkswagen Beetle and
Porsche 924 Turbo, keeping the same big back wheel but dropping the pullback
motor. When Takara and Hasbro put together the Generation 1 Transformers, they
included these two MicroChange robots—which are now instantly recognizable as
the original Bumblebee and Cliffjumper toys.
Through
the years, Takara has paid tribute to the idea of Choro-Q, but never fully
committed to an actual, mainstream toyline until 2014, when they began
releasing the Q-Transformers. Take note that the line’s name includes the
(listen carefully) word “Cute,” so you know what they were aiming for.
