War for Cybertron: Earthrise
War For Cybertron: Earthrise is a subline imprint of the Generations toyline, and the second portion of the War for Cybertron Trilogy.
First revealed in late-2019 at New York Comic Con, War for Cybertron: Earthrise is a direct continuation of Siege, carrying over the C.O.M.B.A.T. System. Most toys are once again covered in 3 mm and 5 mm posts to accommodate the previous effect parts from Siege and the Deluxe Class range from Cyberverse. Continuing in Earthrise are the Micromasters and Battle Masters. Battle Masters (which now primarily turn into shields/ramps) still include additional effect pieces that can be placed onto other weapons included with other size classes, as well as hardpoints on the figures themselves to simulate being 'shot' or on the back of vehicles to simulate "rocket boosters" or "speed", depending on the effect part. Micromasters also feature these additions and retain their weapon mode combinations. Another carryover from Siege is relative robot mode scale, with the Leader Class figures being smaller, Voyager Class-sized figures that come with additional parts to beef up the price (except for Doubledealer). Heck, some Siege figures even got re-released in this line!
The new primary gimmick of the toyline is the "A.I.R. Lock System" (Adaptable Interconnection Retrofitter) that involves ramps that can hook up to various toys and connect them to each other, forming a giant battle station. This is supplemented with certain Deluxe Class Modulators, that can break down and form armor or weapons, and add on to other stations using the modular system, effectively replacing the Weaponizers of Siege. Earthrise also returns to traditional Earth vehicle modes, rather than the Cybertronian vehicle modes of Siege, and few of these releases feature battle-damage style paint.
Inside the package for every toy in Earthrise, in the middle of the cardboard backdrop, is a clip-and-save piece of the "Transformers Universe Map", following the Ark's journey to Earth. These pieces can be cut out with scissors and combined to form a larger map, depicting many of the familiar planets and other interstellar locations from the history of Transformers fiction. Larger figures (Deluxe, Voyager, Leader) include a translucent red decoder to view the map's labels and hidden paths. The Voyager, Micromaster, Battle Master, and a few other backdrops contain map segments that help to complete paths, but they lack labeled locations. Unfortunately for some Siege fans, Earthrise figures that are re-releases from Siege do now include unique exclusive map pieces in their new Earthrise packages.
Unusually for a Generations toyline, the mass-retail portion of Earthrise ran for less than a full year, beginning in each assortment's second wave of 2020 product and running through to the end of the same year. Additionally, the worldwide coronavirus pandemic saw an atypically long gap of roughly nine months between the line's debut and the next round of releases.
Contents[hide] |
Wave 1
| Wave 2
| Wave 3
|
Deluxe Class
Wave 1
| Wave 2
|
Voyager Clas
Wave 1
|
2020
|
Titan Class
2020
|
Store exclusives
Please note that the exclusivity listed below applies to the United States. The Hasbro Deluxe Centurion Drone is not branded or marketed as part of Earthrise, but is nonetheless registered on this wiki page due to having an Earthrise ID number. Cybertronian Villains was a brief subline carried over from the 2018 Cyberverse toyline focusing on villains, exclusive to Target in the United States (Team: Seeker Elite was later made available on BigBadToyStore and Entertainment Earth).
The Galactic Odyssey Collection was a subline unveiled late into Earthrise, employing Generations Selects-style packaging, with unique symbol replacing the faction logo, and exclusive to Amazon in the U.S. market (Micron Micromasters and Dominus Criminal Pursuit was later made available on Hasbro Pulse). Focusing on the other-worldly adventures of both factions, the Amazon listings for each set featured a short story about the adventure taken on its respective planet, and the toys feature a planet card for info regarding their world.
Amazon
| Walgreens
| Hasbro Pulse
|
Generations Selects
Continuing on from Siege, the special edition Generations Selects line offers redecos catering to fans, sold through online retailers in the US and Canada. Unlike with Power of the Primes and Siege, the Selects add-ons to Earthrise are not branded with the Earthrise logo (except for Hot House's instructions), but are nonetheless registered on this wiki page for convenience. The same applies to the first two Selects offerings in 2021, which packaging-wise, is synonymous with Kingdom, but utilize Earthrise instruction graphics.
Shared exclusives
|
TakaraTomy's Transformers Earthrise (トランスフォーマー アースライズ) toyline sees the "brand unification" strategy from 2017 continue: the toys in TakaraTomy's version of the line are identical to their Hasbro counterparts with the exception of having the clip out maps and red decoders included in the package, just released in different waves and given new "ID" numbers with lightly-altered packaging.
TakaraTomy's regular retail lineup is smaller than Hasbro's, with about two-thirds of the line being sold as TakaraTomy Mall exclusives.
General retail
Wave 1
| Wave 2
|
Deluxe Class
Wave 1
| Wave 2
| Wave 3
| ||||||
Wave 5
|
Voyager Class
Wave 1
| Wave 2 | Wave 3
|
Leader Class
Wave 1
| Wave 2
| Wave 3
|
Commander Class
2021
|
2021
|
Exclusives
Store exclusives
Please note that the exclusivity listed below applies to the United States. Much like the Earthrise Deluxe Centurion Drone, Tricranius Beast Power is not branded as part of Kingdom, but is nonetheless registered on this wiki page due to having a Kingdom ID number. The Battle Across Time Collection pair and its connected artwork are in the same vein as the Amazon-exclusive Final Strike Series from Siege, though the Kingdom pair are also available on Hasbro Pulse.
The Golden Disk Collection was a subline unveiled late into Kingdom, focusing on a mysterious alternate timeline with different consequences from the quantum surge. Each entry's listing features a short story about the characters included and a box that forms a large image of the Golden Disk. In one of its many similarities to the Earthrise Galactic Odyssey Collection, the sets are exclusive to Hasbro Pulse and Amazon in the US, Canada, and the U.K.
Target
| Walgreens
| Hasbro Pulse
|
Continuing on from Earthrise, the special edition Generations Selects line offers redecoes catering to fans, sold through online retailers in the US and Canada.
Shared exclusives
|
TakaraTomy's Transformers Kingdom (トランスフォーマー キングダム) toyline sees the "brand unification" strategy from 2017 continue: the toys in TakaraTomy's version of the line are completely identical to their Hasbro counterparts.
General retail
Wave 9 (December 29, 2021)
| Wave 10 (January 29, 2022)
| Wave 11 (February 26, 2022)
| |||||
Wave 13 (June 25, 2022)
| Wave 14 (July 30, 2022)
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Exclusives
TakaraTomy Mall
|
|
Notes
Introduced in mid-2016, Titans Return (initially touted under the early working name Titan Wars) features its own new line-wide gimmick: all Deluxe, Voyager, and Leader Class figures include a Headmaster-style Titan Master partner, all of which are completely interchangeable. To compensate for the size differences, Leader Class figures feature large helmets that cover the Titan Masters, while Voyager Class figures have spring-loaded pop-out adornments to "bulk up" their heads.[1] All Voyager and most Leader Class figures are Triple Changers; each Leader Class figure's third mode is a base/battle station, which can be manned by the Titan Master figures. Each Deluxe and Voyager figure's hand-held weapons can transform and/or combine to form a "turret" that any Titan Master can sit in, and which can attach to the base modes of the Leader Class figures. Most figures feature several tiny pegs dotted across their bodies, which allow Titan Masters to stand securely on them.
Additionally, a new Titan Master assortment was introduced, each including a single Titan Master, plus a small vehicle or beast. These can transform into a vehicle/beast for the Titan Master to ride, a second vehicle/beast formed by combining with the Titan Master, and a 5 mm weapon for a larger figure to wield. Legends Class figures started out as predominantly Mini-Cassette characters, which can transform into both a vehicle and a blocky PDA that can fit inside Leader Class figures such as Blaster. Starting with Wave 3, this changed into focusing on Mini Vehicles which can often carry Titan Master passengers.
Though never officially addressed by Hasbro, Deluxes no longer included comic books (previously included with Thrilling 30 and Combiner Wars figures in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Asia) in any market, thus eliminating the need for English-only packaging entirely, leaving only two types of multilingual packaging, one for Europe and the other for all non-European markets. However, the character cards included with all figures (except for Titan Masters) now featured Tech Spec stats on their back.
Titans Return also finally brought back a minor but significant feature missing from several previous lines: All size classes are explicitly identified by name on the packaging again (in multiple languages, no less), thus leaving no unnecessary room for confusion with outdated working names floating around. Sort of.
Voting for the second Titan Class figure was conducted via Facebook, with fans choosing between a remake of Omega Supreme, Trypticon, or Scorponok.[2] Trypticon won, but the other two got new figures in the following trilogy.[3]
“ | Harness the power of Titan Masters | ” |
—Official tagline for the Titans Return line |
“ | Many will unite, one will rule | ” |
—Retrospective tagline[4] |
Contents[hide] |
Toys
General retail
Titan Masters
Every Titan Master class micro-figure comes with a triple-changing mini-vehicle or mini-beast that converts to another vehicle/beast as well as a weapon.
Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 |
Legends Class
Every new-mold Legends Class figure features cross-compatibility with other figures in the line. Toys with "spy tablet" modes are designed to fit inside Blaster and Soundwave's chest compartments. All the rest have some form of opening cockpit in their vehicle or beast modes that can seat a Titan Master mini-figure, with the exception of Cosmos.
Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 | ||||||
Wave 5 |
Deluxe Class
Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 |
Voyager Class
Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 | |||||||
Wave 5 |
Leader Class
Wave 1 | Wave 2 | Wave 3 |
2016 | 2017 |
- While debuting at San Diego Comic-Con, these releases were offered by Hasbro at a variety of summer conventions, and also made available online via Hasbro Toy Shop. 2016's releases also had an official UK release via A1 Toys. See individual entries for more information.
Titan Force (2016) | Fortress Maximus Convention Edition (2016) |
While most of these figures and sets were exclusive to particular online or brick and mortar venues in the U.S., they were available at general retail in Asia, with the exception of the "Chaos on Velocitron" set, which was a Toys"R"Us exclusive in Asia as well. In Canada, "Chaos on Velocitron" was released as Toys"R"Us exclusive, while "Siege on Cybertron" was initially available via Toys"R"Us but was later stocked by other stores and online retailers as well. In addition, "Siege on Cybertron" was also available at Amazon in Mexico and at BOL in the Netherlands.
A pair of three-packs featuring Arcee and Grotusque were shared exclusives, having initial releases via Hasbro Toy Shop (and in Arcee's case, a special "early access" release at HasCon 2017 and NYCC 2017), before later being made available via the Toys"R"Us website. The Grotusque set was also available at Toys"R"Us in Hong Kong.
Additionally, pharmacy chain Walgreens also carried two exclusives: For 2016, it was Brainstorm, who was omitted from the general retail Deluxe Class assortment, while for 2017, it was a two-pack featuring Legends Class Wingspan & Cloudraker, who were originally intended to be part of two additional five-figure box sets that never made it. Brainstorm was also available as a general retail release in Malaysia (where he ended up as a royal shelfwarmer) and at Ripley stores in Chile, while the Wingspan/Cloudraker set was available as a general retail release in Taiwan, at Julio Cepeda Jugueterías in Mexico, at EB Games stores in Canada, and at Falabella stores in Colombia.
Walgreens | Toys"R"Us
| BigBadToyStore
|
In 2018, during the course of Power of the Primes, Hasbro released three exclusive Deluxe Class figures in premium-style boxes, each with a Prime Master, to commemorate the Prime Wars Trilogy. Each figure represents one part of the trilogy. Special Edition Repugnus was exclusive to Amazon in North America but available at general retail in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Amazon |
Compatible toys in other lines
Legends
The Titans Return line did not see release in Japanese markets; TakaraTomy instead elected to roll its toy molds into the concurrent Transformers Legends toyline. Legends releases were differentiated by their markedly different colours schemes, often including newly-tooled faces, generally attempting to replicate each character's appearance as seen in the original Generation 1 anime series. With the absence of a dedicated Titan Master Class price point, Legends released the single-packed Titan Master toolings split up as pack-in partners with larger toys; examples include the Titans Return Loudmouth toy, which became the separate robot Goshooter and vehicle Cargo, and the Titans Return Terri-Bull toy, which became Bullhorn and Tankette. This even extended to Titan Master Repugnus; for Japanese fans to get a complete "Repug", they had to purchase his head and body/vehicle separately with Gong and Broadside respectively. As the line proceeded, the amount of retooled parts increased from merely new faces to dedicated new Titan Master molds, extensive changes to the toy's appearance, and even one completely original Leader-sized toy.
Associated fiction generally repurposed the Titan Masters as Headmasters and Godmasters (with larger Transtector bodies), though in toy terms, they remain cross-compatible with the Titan Master head swapping gimmick. The Titans Return compatible toys in Legends are as follows:
Others
Evidently thinking they'd mastered the concept, Hasbro and Takara would frequently dip back in the Titans Return well whenever a toy necessitated Titan Master engineering. The toyline for the live-action movie The Last Knight, which overlapped with the tail end of Titans Return, introduced a pair of molds to represent new Titan Master-compatible characters. Elsewhere, existing tooling would be used to represent anything from new takes on old characters to real-life Japanese celebrities. New toy designs based on Titan Master engineering were still being produced for the War for Cybertron Trilogy toylines in 2020, four years after the debut of Titans Return; of these, Earthrise Snapdragon would herald a sea change in terminology, with his product copy referring to his small partner Krunk as a Titan Master and Headmaster interchangeably. The Generation 1 nomenclature was retained for the subsequent Retro Headmasters line, which brought certain Legends toolings to Western audiences, and it also appeared in the product write-up for Buzzworthy Bumblebee Fangry and Brisko.
Titan Master-compatible toys in other lines include:
Power of the Primes
Following Titans Return, the next and final instalment of the Prime Wars Trilogy was Power of the Primes. This line featured the unified gimmick of "powering up", whether that meant gaining the abilities of one of the original Thirteen Primes, combining, or evolving to Primehood.
Prime Masters
The line introduced the Prime Masters – small robots directly based on the engineering of the Titan Masters. Instead of transforming into heads, the Prime Masters could become "spark modes" to slot into the Prime Armor of various figures, or into the Matrix handles included with the larger toys (see below). These spark modes were essentially Titans Return head modes, but with the front faceplate replaced by the insignia of that particular Prime; this meant that Titan Master heads could fit into the aforementioned Prime Armor, and Prime Master spark modes could be used as heads for Titans Return compatible figures — though with the latter, your mileage may vary on how well each Prime insignia resembles a face.
Prime Master Class | Pack-in partners |
Deluxe and Voyager Class toys in Power of the Primes revisited Combiner Wars-style combination, augmented by the addition of "Prime Armor" accessories that could house Prime Masters (and by extension, Titan Masters and Headmasters) in any of their configurations. Each Deluxe figure included a Prime Armor chestplate that could form a combiner hand; each Voyager figure came with a pair of bracers that could double as combiner feet, as well as an Enigma of Combination accessory to slot into the mounting port of any of the Prime Armor pieces.
Meanwhile, toys in the Leader Class price point each included a two-piece Matrix accessory, consisting of a frame in the shape of the Matrix of Leadership's handles and a block designed after its crystalline core. The Matrix cores were, surprise surprise, the same general shape as Titan Master heads, Prime Master sparks, and the Enigmas of Combination, so each of those things could be mounted into the Matrix's handles. Do you want your Rodimus Prime to open his chest to reveal a Matrix with an effigy of his own face? Now you can!
We mention all these accessories on this page because, despite not turning into little robots, both the Enigmas of Combination and the Matrix cores feature the characteristic neck post compatible with the Titans Return play pattern, meaning you can plug them right in and give your robots greebly cyclopean heads with no neck articulation. You know, if you wanted to
Notes
- As has been noted at the beginning of this page, Titans Return started out under the working name "Titan Wars". That earlier title was featured in schematics on display during BotCon 2015, which constituted the first public hint of the successor to Combiner Wars, as well as in a leaked internal Hasbro sheet for the San Diego Comic-Con 2016 exclusive version of Fortress Maximus.[6] According to former Hasbro Global Brand Development Manager Mark Weber, the cause for the name change were unspecified "legal restrictions".[7] The final name "Titans Return" was first officially used at New York Comic Con 2015. As can be expected, the early name was still used by many retailers around the world (particularly European ones) in official advertising and on store receipts, with annoying persistence.[8] Even worse, the old "Titan Wars" logo was still very prominently featured in an official Hasbro exhibit at ABRIN (the Brazilian Toy Fair) as late as April 2016.[9]
- Technically, the first figure specifically designed for the Titans Return play pattern that got released was Legends Class Buzzsaw, who was given an early release under the Combiner Wars subline imprint. In fact, comparing the product code and assortment numbers of the first two waves' worth of figures strongly implies that Hasbro originally intended to simply continue the Combiner Wars assortments with Titans Return product, rather than relaunching them as new assortments. Under this line-up, Stripes and Rewind would have presumably been released as part of wave 6 of the Legends Class assortment alongside Wreck-Gar while Wheelie would have been released in the subsequent wave together with Ravage and Rumble, and Laserbeak in the wave after that. Blaster would have been released as part of wave 6 of the Leader Class assortment (following wave 5's Skywarp) with Powermaster Optimus Prime released in the subsequent wave. The Deluxe and Voyager line-ups would have presumably remained unchanged.
- Early in the toy line's life cycle, Hasbro Australia promoted the Titans Return figures with three different full-scale advertisement posters (alternatively depicting Powermaster Optimus Prime, Fortress Maximus, or Galvatron) found at numerous public transport stations. This form of public advertisement is pretty much unprecedented for Transformers toys in general, and for a "collector"-oriented line in particular![10]
- Beginning with wave 3 figures, the pictograms on the tech-spec cards went through some minor cosmetic changes from the previous waves; the strength icon changed from a whole muscular torso to just a muscular arm, the 'motion blur' effect on the running humanoid figure which marks speed changed from triangles to striations, the intelligence icon switched from a human brain to a Cybertronian's head silhouette with gears inside, and lastly the firepower icon changed from just a bullet to a bullet followed by a blast effect.
- Another change that occurred with the wave 3 figures was that the default packaging design was now "Decepticon"-themed, after having previously been "Autobot"-themed ever since the Age of Extinction line in 2014, prompting some people to incorrectly assume a packaging design error.
- Listings in Toys"R"Us's internal systems and on Amazon Germany's public website indicated that Wave 5 would also include Optimus Primal and Toraizer Titan Masters, but no such toys ever materialized, with Ramhorn being the only new wave 5 Titan Master. Listings on Walmart's public website for the UPCs assigned to those figures also exist, but now read "discontinued by vendor".
- Titans Return is, to date, the last Generations sub-line to have differences in toy deco or tooling between the international Hasbro releases and Japanese TakaraTomy releases; the subsequent Power of the Primes toyline had identical toys released by both Takara and Hasbro.
- An AR (Augmented Reality) game for mobile devices was seemingly considered to be made to tie into the toyline, as seen from concept art on the Artstation page of concept artist Rob Wiggins. This game even featured a new design for Omega Supreme. Unfortunately, all of Rob Wiggin's Transformers-related posts have been taken down.
References
Transformers: Legacy
Transformers: Legacy (aka Transformers Generations: Legacy)[1] is a subline imprint of the Generations toyline, and the successor to the War for Cybertron Trilogy.
First revealed in late 2021 at Hasbro Pulse Con 2021, Legacy commemorates the approaching 40th anniversary of the Transformers brand by featuring new toys of characters from across the Transformers multiverse. The toys are largely in the scale and style of those from the War for Cybertron Trilogy, including numerous 3 mm posts and 5 mm ports from the C.O.M.B.A.T. System. Non-"Generation 1" characters are updated with a Generations aesthetic to fit with the rest of the toyline, most evident with the toys based on Prime. The toyline also sees the return of combiners from Hasbro for the first time since Power of the Primes, starting with the Stunticons in 2022.
The storytelling of Legacy follows characters brought together from across the multiverse as their universes collide.[2] As such, non-"Generation 1" characters are given prefixes associated with their series of origin, such as "Cybertron Universe". Replacing the package bios of old is a QR code on the back of each box, or for Core Class figures, on the instructions, which leads to the character's bio on the Transformers website. Certain characters have also been given these prefixes to denote specific iterations, such as "Comic Universe" Impactor.
Similar to its predecessor, the toyline features re-releases from previous lines, even all the way back to Siege, though Legacy elects to remove the battle damage paint applications from these toys where applicable.
Contents[hide] |
Toys
Year 1 (2022)
The first year of Legacy focuses on characters that can "harness the power of Energon" as each toy includes an "Energon-infused weapon"[2]: an, often translucent, accessory that the figure can wield in multiple ways and combine with others, not too dissimilar to the 2003 Energon series. In keeping with the theme, the first wave of Core Class includes weapons specifically designed to combine into a large sword.
- Core Class
Wave 1
| Wave 2
|
- Deluxe Class
Wave 1 | Wave 2 |
Wave 1
| Wave 2
|
- Leader Class
Wave 1
| Wave 2 |
- Commander Class
2022 |
- Titan Class
2022 |
- Core Class
Wave 4 |
- Deluxe Class
Wave 4 |
- ↑ Solicited as part of Evolution, Breakdown was released in standard year one Legacy packaging to match the rest of the Stunticons, in the hopes of appeasing those rancorous MISB collectors.
- Voyager Class
Exclusives
Store exclusives
Please note that the exclusivity listed for toys below applies to the United States. The Buzzworthy Bumblebee line is exclusive to Target (in the U.S.) and to Hasbro Pulse. Following on the Kingdom Golden Disk Collection, the Wreck N' Rule Collection focuses on the Wreckers and their new Fossilizer recruits throughout the multiverse. Much like its predecessor, the toys are exclusive to Amazon (in the U.S.) and to Hasbro Pulse and were revealed daily over the course of a week from May 9 to May 13, 2022. Each entry features an in-depth bio, package art that is part of a large battle scene over a statue of Xaaron, and a piece of a large cardboard display.
HasLab
| Walmart | |||
Buzzworthy Bumblebee | Wreck N' Rule Collection |
Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection
Replacing the Netflix-branded War for Cybertron Trilogy subline, the Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection focuses on characters featured in the namesake planet and race. The first assortment was revealed on the June 23 Fanstream, and the toys are exclusive to Walmart in the U.S. A second assortment of Deluxe Class toys was released months later, without prior announcement.[3]
Deluxe Class Wave 1 | Voyager Class Wave 1 | ||
Deluxe Class Wave 2 | Voyager Class Wave 2 |
Generations Selects
Continuing on from Kingdom, the special edition Generations Selects line offers redecoes catering to fans, sold through online retailers in the US and Canada. Funnily enough, Black Zarak and Lift-Ticket were shipped before the general retail Legacy lineup arrived on store shelves.
Shared exclusives |
Legacy (TakaraTomy)
TakaraTomy's Transformers Legacy (トランスフォーマーレガシー Toransufōmā Regashī) toyline features no notable differences from Hasbro's edition of the toyline at the time of writing, with the exception of ID numbers for each released figure (sadly, Hasbro's Legacy toyline ditches the number system seen in the previous War for Cybertron Trilogy toyline) and the omission of all Core class and package refresh figures.
Comic
TakaraTomy's iteration of the Legacy franchise is accompanied by a series of (very) short comics on their website by brand veteran Hayato Sakamoto, thus far uncharacteristically continuity-light for a TakaraTomy outing as befitting Legacy's grab-bag approach:
Transformers Legacy | |||
---|---|---|---|
General retail
Wave 1 (July 30, 2022)
| Wave 2 (August 27, 2022) | Wave 3 (September 24, 2022)
| ||||||
Wave 5 (November, 2022)
| Wave 6 (December, 2022)
| Wave 7 (January, 2023)
|
Exclusives
TakaraTomy Mall
|
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