Transformers: Cybertron (toyline)

Unicron Trilogy continuity family « Cybertron Toyline Cartoon Manga Commercials

Leader Class Optimus Prime, an example of how complex these toys could get.

The final act of the "Unicron Trilogy", Transformers: Cybertron vastly expanded the scope of the Transformers universe, bringing in the theme of "lost colonies" with different styles, while still unifying the toyline under a central play-gimmick, the Cyber Planet Keys.

Overview

Deluxe Class Override

After Energon's rather muddled gimmick/theme presentation, Hasbro dialed it back for Cybertron by sticking with a single unifying play gimmick: the Cyber Keys. These large discs, with designs based on the planet of their origin, unlocked pop-out weapons and action features in each toy once plugged into the key slot. Any planet's key would work with any toy. With the spring-loaded gimmicks less complex than those in Armada, they freed up the designs to allow for more robot-mode posability.

Where Cybertron gets its diversity is in its aesthetics, through the different planets each Transformer could hail from. Each planet has its own theme, with the toy designs reflecting the culture of each world.

• Cybertron and Earth toys are the most traditional of the series, with future-tech-vehicle and close-to-real-life vehicles respectively, and more "traditional" proportions and detailing.
• The Speed Planet toys are naturally all about the fastness. The vehicle modes are futuristic and fantastical, with transparent plastic tires and other accents. Even the bulkier vehicle modes at least look like they were built for raw horsepower. Colors are bright and clashing, the robot modes themselves streamlined. The Cyber Key gimmicks are typically tied to their swing-out blaster weapons.
• The brutal Jungle Planet is full of robotic beasts, with deeply-complex, nigh-organic sculpting that brings to mind the Transmetal IIs of Beast Wars or the technorganic Beast Machines Maximal toys. Robot modes feature limbs made from beast-bits, clawed hands, and fanged mouths. Melee weapons rule the land, with most Cyber Key gimmicks focused on pop-out blades.
• The Giant Planet is about heavy machinery. Very heavy machinery. Though few in number compared to the rest of the planets, they live up to their planet's name by being some of the largest toys in the line. These heavy construction (or destruction) vehicles are bulky and industrial, plus each one has a tiny Mini-Con partner to operate a work station somewhere on each bot's vehicle or robot mode.
• Planet X bots are similarly few in number. Their only real unifying style is "futuristic danger". The vehicle modes are sleek and deadly-looking, robot modes vicious and pointy.

The tail-end of the line was again heavy on the redecoes (by then a practice that had become expected and largely accepted), but also brought micro-play back into the line. Mini-Con two-packs were released to bolster the ranks of the still-popular Mini-Con class. But the history-making addition to the Transformers franchise was in the Legends Class toys. These sub-Scout, simple and above all inexpensive toys were based on the larger toys of popular/major characters, giving kids the chance to own an Optimus Prime or Megatron they could keep in their pocket. From this point on, Legends-sized toys would continue on in some manner through every major Transformers toyline.

The Cybertron toyline was one of the first lines to create an almost perfect representation of robot mode scale between figures within the line. The previous two toylines in the Unicron Trilogy had almost achieved similar results but a lot of the time characters in the cartoons would either be drawn or have their CG models resized into exaggerated proportions, creating a huge difference between the figures in-hand and the characters presented on-screen. It's likely feasible that the Cybertron cartoon copied the toyline's scale between characters rather than the other way around. This is further evident as a lot of the vehicles in the toyline are out of scale with one another, however the show usually fixed this issue by resizing vehicle animation models to fit a realistic scale. While most of the toyline scale is consistent with what is on-screen, the Giant Planet Natives and Primus are the main exceptions to this, as they were greatly exaggerated in size on-screen to further support the "giant" aspect of their race, and Primus is... well... obviously a planet. Supreme Class Starscream can also be displayed with other figures in the line to create a fairly well-scaled representation of the episode which inspired the toy or next to fellow Supreme Class figure, Primus, to imitate another scene, much like Energon's Omega/Optimus Supreme and Unicron.

Hasbro Cybertron toyline

For Hasbro's line, every Cyber Key (packaged with every toy Scout Class or larger) has a short alphanumeric code printed on its back. These Cyber Key Codes, when plugged into the official Cybertron website (now defunct), unlocked design sketches and extra biographical info on each toy.

General retail

Mini-Con Class

Though we're listing these first as part of our standard "go up in size class" organization, it should be noted that these releases came out in the back half of the Cybertron line, with the fourth (and ultimately final) wave suffering from "tail-ender syndrome" as the line shut down.

Wave 1 (11-2005) (Sky Attack Team vs. Air Defense Team) Razorclaw vs. Steamhammer Shockwave vs. Tankor Sky Lynx vs. Thunderblast		Wave 2 (01-2006) (Lunar Assault Team vs. Exploration Team) Kobushi vs. Landslide Payload vs. Ascentor Scattorbrain vs. Monocle		Wave 3 (03-2006) (Sky Terror Team vs. Council of Sages) Ramjet vs. Scythe Sunstorm vs. Checkpoint Thrust vs. Anti-Blaze		Wave 4 (05-2006) (Deep Space Team vs. Street Action Team) Scrap Iron vs. Grindor Blastcharge vs. High Wire Backblast vs. Sureshock		Mini-Con Class Air Defense Team
Cancelled (Predator Attack Team vs. Night Rescue Team) Terrorsaur vs. Knockdown Offshoot vs. Strongarm Skyblast vs. Nightscream		Cancelled (Council of Sages) Overbite vs. Swoop Divebomb vs. Tracks Wideload vs. Sledge

Legends of Cybertron

Like the Mini-Cons, these toys were not part of the early line, coming out in the back end of the series, but presented here as per our "scaling up" organization.

Wave 1 (07-2005) Hot Shot Megatron Optimus Prime Starscream

Wave 2 (09-2005) Evac Jetfire Leobreaker Scourge

Wave 3 (05-2006) Galvatron Red Alert Soundwave Vector Prime

Wave 4 (06-2006) Hot Shot (red) Optimus Prime (red/black) Sunstorm Thundercracker

Legends of Cybertron Optimus Prime (black version)

Scout Class

Wave 1 (05-2005) Overhaul Ransack Scattorshot		Wave 2 (07-2005) Clocker Hardtop Recon Mini-Con Team (Jolt, Six-Speed, Reverb)		Wave 3 (09-2005) Armorhide Brakedown Undermine		Wave 4 (11-2005) Backstop Brushguard Wreckloose Street Speed Mini-Con Team (Backtrack, Oval, Spiral)		Scout Class Scattorshot Scout Class Hardtop
Wave 5 (12-2005) Swerve Swindle		Wave 6 (02-2006) Lugnutz Scrapmetal (red)		Wave 7 (04-2006) Repugnus Shortround		Wave 8 (Primus Unleashed, 07-2006) Giant Planet Mini-Con Team (Longarm, Deepdive, Overcast) Ransack GTS
Wave 9 (Primus Unleashed, 08-2006) Brakedown GTS Scrapmetal (yellow)		Wave 10 (Primus Unleashed, 10-2006) Hightail Shadow Recon Mini-Con Team (Jolt, Six-Speed, Reverb)

Deluxe Class

Wave 1 (06-2005) Hot Shot Dirt Boss Landmine Thundercracker		Wave 2 (07-2005) Override Red Alert		Wave 3 (10-2005) Sideways Snarl		Wave 3.5 Blurr Buzzsaw Longrack Runamuck		Deluxe Class Hot Shot Deluxe Class Downshift
Wave 4(12-2005) Brimstone Crosswise Thunderblast		Wave 5 (02-2006) Cybertron Defense Hot Shot Downshift		Wave 6 (03-2006) Excellion[A 1] Override GTS[A 1]		Wave 7 (Primus Unleashed, 04-2006) Cannonball Skywarp
Wave 8 (Primus Unleashed, 07-2006) Demolishor Optimus Prime Unicron		Wave 9 (Primus Unleashed, 09-2006) Megatron Optimus Prime Smokescreen

Voyager Class

Wave 1 (06-2005) Crumplezone Vector Prime (w/ Safeguard)		Wave 2 (09-2005) Leobreaker Mudflap		Wave 3 (11-2005) Evac		Wave 4 (01-2006) Cybertron Defense Scattorshot Dark Crumplezone		Voyager Class Quickmix & Stripmine
Wave 5 (04-2006) Soundwave (w/ Laserbeak)		Wave 6 (Primus Unleashed, 05-2006) Nemesis Breaker		Wave 7 (Primus Unleashed, 07-2006) Quickmix (w/ Stripmine)[A 1]		Wave 8 (Primus Unleashed, 09-2006) Galaxy Force Vector Prime (w/ Safeguard)

Ultra Class

Wave 1 (06-2005) Jetfire Scourge		Wave 2 (08-2005) Dark Scorponok		Wave 3 (11-2005) Cybertron Defense Red Alert		Wave 4 (03-2006) Sky Shadow[A 1] Wing Saber		Ultra Class Scourge
Wave 5 (Primus Unleashed, 06-2006) Menasor (w/ Heavy Load)		Wave 6 (Primus Unleashed, 09-2006) Cryo Scourge

Leader Class

Supreme Class

Exclusives

BotCon 2005 Ramjet		Costco Optimus Prime & Ultra Magnus Optimus Prime & Wing Saber		San Diego Comic-Con 2005 Skywarp		Toys"R"Us Landmine, Snarl & Dirt Boss Sideways, Brimstone & Thunderblast Starscream vs. Vector Prime (w/ Safeguard)		San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Legends of Cybertron Skywarp Walmart Red Alert w/ Dirt Boss
Target "Critical Path Pack" (Red Alert & Sideways)[A 1] "Drag Race Pack" (Hot Shot & Override) "Ground to Air Blast Pack" (Crosswise & Thundercracker) "Legends 4-Pack" (Megatron, Soundwave, Jetfire, Optimus Prime)		Evac w/ Bonus Mini-Cons (Razorclaw & Steamhammer) Mudflap w/ Bonus Mini-Cons (Shockwave & Tankor) Leobreaker w/ Bonus Mini-Cons (Sky Lynx & Thunderblast)		Walmart Dirt Boss w/ Downshift Hot Shot w/ Mirage Landmine w/ Dirt Boss Override w/ Mirage Red Alert w/ Dirt Boss Thundercracker w/ Downshift Cybertron Primus w/ Mini-Cons (Strongarm, Offshoot, Knockdown, Nightscream)

Notes

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Denotes a figure that was released in both standard packaging and the "Primus Unleashed" subline packaging, indicating a change over in the line.

Hasbro European market-only releases

As with Energon before it, the European Cybertron line was mostly just the US line outlined above. However, two sets of Micromaster combiner teams that were released as part of the 2003 Universe toy line (which was never officially distributed as such in Europe) in the US, exclusive to KB Toys, got released under the Cybertron banner, using a different assortment number (29514) than their own Universe counterparts as well as the earlier Energon/Universe figures (all of which were released under the assortment number 29460).

Micromasters Series III Midnight Express Overload Railspike Rapid Run Swindle Tankor

Micromasters Series IV Air Raid Fireflight Ro-Tor Silverbolt Skydive Storm Jet

The Railbots

Takara Galaxy Force toyline

Premiering roughly half a year before Cybertron (as Hasbro's lines tended to run approximately 18 months while Takara stuck with 12 months), Galaxy Force would mostly feature slight alterations from the Hasbro versions. Some of the additions to the line, like the Armada retools (sold in Vs packs in Japan) would eventually make their way to the States.

Store-promo Mini-Con giveaways returned in a big way, with full teams devoted to some of the major characters in the line.

Presumably due to lackluster sales, the line ended even earlier than its projected twelve-month run, after only nine months. Several characters and redecos that appeared on the show were either never released in Japan at all, or were given a limited production run and/or only made available as exclusives: First, "Dark Ligerjack" (aka Nemesis Breaker), despite being initially assigned the ID number GD-14, was relegated to a Toys"R"Us Japan exclusive; then "Master Megatron" was given a "limited edition" release; the "Dark Crumplezone" redeco of "Landbullet" (named "Armbullet" in the anime), despite being initially assigned the ID number GD-15, was never officially released in Japan at all; Primus was released in an unaltered Hasbro deco (complete with a tampographed Cyber Key code that was only relevant for the Hasbro release) in special retro packaging marketed as part of the Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers toy line; and "Blendar" (Quickmix) and "Moledive" (Menasor) were only released as e-HOBBY exclusive "USA Editions", also in unaltered Hasbro decos in Hasbro packaging with additional stickers on the packaging, more than a year after the Galaxy Force line had run its course at retail.

Regular retail

Wave 1 (Dec 28, 2004) GC-01 Galaxy Convoy GC-02 Exillion GC-03 Vector Prime GC-04 Dreadrock GC-05 Jackshot GC-06 Backpack		GC-07 Micron Team GC-08 Auto Micron GD-01 Master Megatron GD-02 Thundercracker GD-03 Starscream GD-04 Landbullet		Wave 2 (Jan 20, 2005) GC-09 Guardshell GD-05 Gasket		Wave 3 (Feb 10, 2005) GC-10 Nitro Convoy GC-11 First Aid GC-12 Skids GC-13 Autolander GD-06 Inch Up		Galaxy Force Starscream Saidos Ramble (blue version)
Wave 4 (Feb 24, 2005) GS-01 Buzz Saw vs Blurr GS-02 Runabout vs Longrack		Wave 5 (Mar 17, 2005) GC-14 Fang Wolf GD-07 Flame Convoy GD-08 Dino Shout		Wave 6 (Mar 31, 2005) GD-09 Demolishor GX-01 Noisemaze		Wave 7 (Apr 14, 2005) GC-15 Saidos GD-10 Terashaver
Wave 8 (Apr 28, 2005) GC-16 Ligerjack		Wave 9 (Jun 9, 2005) GC-17 Autovolt		Wave 10 (Jun 23, 2005) GC-18 Live Convoy		Wave 11 (Jul 14, 2005) GC-19 Exigeyser GC-20 Backgild GC-21 First Gunner GD-11 Chromia GD-12 Road Storm
Wave 12 (Jul 28, 2005) GC-22 Sonic Bomber GD-13 Ramble (available in red, yellow, or blue)		EZ Collection (Aug 25, 2005) Galaxy Convoy Master Megatron Starscream		Wave 13 (Sep 22, 2005) GD-14 Master Galvatron GX-02 Soundwave		Wave 14 (Sep 29, 2005) GC-23 Megalo Convoy

Exclusives

e-HOBBY Blendar (USA Edition) Hardtop (USA Edition)		Moledive (USA Edition) Primus (w/ Unicron head, USA Edition)		Hello Mac Caliber Ichibi Megalo Gritbit		Ito Yokaido Caliber Hyakurai Caliber Ichibi Hellflame Quasar		Toys"R"Us-exclusive Gasket Patrol Type TF Station exclusive Hellflame Bulge
Joshin Denki Caliber Mugen Megalo Zapmap		JUSCO Hellflame Bulge White Version Hellflame Graviton Hellflame Graviton White Version Hellflame Quasar White Version		"TF Station" affiliates Caliber Hyakurai Hellflame Bulge Megalo Zigzag Micron Booster Ver.3 (Bit, Clamp, Bug Drone, Bug General, Dice, Jack, Gauge, Plier, Plug, Socket, Trigger, Wrench)		Toy's Dream Project Armada Convoy (USA Edition) Fang Wolf Black Version Soundblaster (w/ Hell Buzzsaw)
Toys"R"Us EX-01 Dark Ligerjack EX-02 Sonic Convoy giftset (Galaxy Convoy, Sonic Bomber, Coby Sen'yō Ramble)		Gasket Patrol Type Platinum Element Platinum Factor Platinum Material		Super Starscream (USA Edition)

Media exclusives

Dengeki Hobby magazine Master Galvatron (EZ Collection)

Galaxy Force DVDs Exillion Red Version Chromia White Version GX-03 Noisemaze Mass Production Type Version

TV Magazine Dark Nitro Convoy EZ Collection Clear Set (Galaxy Convoy, Master Megatron, Starscream) Flame Convoy Sky Lynx Edition Gold Master Galvatron

DVD pack-in Chromia White Version

Mocom Toy Galaxy Force toyline

TakaraTomy/Hasbro licensee Mocom Toy released a selection of Cybertron/Galaxy Force toys in Korea, under the name Transformers: Galaxy Force (트랜스포머 갤럭시포스).

Post-Cybertron releases

Titanium Series Megatron		Universe (2003) Backstop Brakedown Brushguard		Lugnutz Scattorshot Undermine		"Opposites Attack" (Excellion vs. Thundercracker) "Search for the Pirate Moon" (Downshift vs. Cannonball)		Universe (2008) Voyager Class Vector Prime Siege Leader Class Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime Legacy Voyager Class Cybertron Universe Override
Classics Hot Shot Optimus Prime Soundwave		Universe (2008) Overload Vector Prime with Safeguard Backstop Brakedown Brushguard		Ultra Twin-Pack (Optimus Prime, Crumplezone) "Battle for the Cyber Planet Keys" (Blurr, Buzzsaw, Longrack, Optimus Prime, Runamuck)		"The Data War" (Clocker vs. Hardtop) "War of the Waves" (Air Raid vs. Storm Surge) "Warriors From Three Worlds" (Ransack GTS, Repugnus, Scattorshot)
Kre-O Fangwolf		Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime		Generations Selects Hot Shot		Legacy Cybertron Universe Metroplex Cybertron Universe Override Cybertron Universe Starscream Star Raider Cannonball Cybertron Universe Hot Shot Cybertron Universe Vector Prime

Notes

• Fun fact: a large majority of figures in the Cybertron toyline have to have their heads rotated 180° degrees for transformation; whether it be absolutely necessary for clearance/design intent, or for cosmetic reasons (e.g. Thundercracker, whose face gets exposed in vehicle mode whenever his Cyber Key gimmick is activated). Since the cartoon models were heavily based on the toys, this would also be frequently shown in the stock footage transformation sequences.