![]() ![]() The earliest toys released in continental Europe (minus Italy) were distributed by Milton Bradley, which was in the process of being taken over by Hasbro at that point. Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain Due to his absence from the 1985 Hasbro catalog, Jetfire has long been believed to have been held over until the 1986 range, but he was featured in the Autumn 1985 Argos catalog. Some of the non-Takara sculpts were likely dropped due to licensing arrangements ( Omega Supreme, for example, was available as part of the competing Grandstand Convertors line around this time as "Omegatron"). The Constructicons were also missing in the early 90s they got a semi-official import release, and a de-combiner'ed redeco release (see "1992" below). Oddly, numerous toys were left out of the UK range, never to see official release: notably Swoop, Shockwave and Blaster. Alongside with a variation of Optimus Prime that sported red instead of blue feet, Megatron was manufactured by French company Ceji as part of a deal with Hasbro, and the red-footed version of Optimus Prime was also released by Milton Bradley in mainland Europe (see below). They were joined by the figures that had initially been omitted, namely the remaining Autobot cars and Megatron, who was reported by Hasbro to be available from around Easter. But it wasn't until 1985 that Transformers toys were officially introduced to the various European markets under that name.Īll 1984 toys were still available in 1985, now with the addition of rubsigns. Some of the toys in those lines sported Hasbro-series changes, including color schemes and even Autobot symbols(!), as Takara was already shifting production of the toys from Diaclone to their own domestic release of Transformers. It should be noted, though, that various European companies had already released licensed versions of Takara's Diaclone and Microman toys domestically prior to that ( Trasformer by GiG in Italy Diaclone by Joustra in France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands Takara themselves released Diaclone in Finland). The Transformers toy line officially started in most European countries in 1985. Cliffjumper appears in yellow in the 1984 catalogue, but this was corrected for the following year's photos. The assortment names used below are those seen in the leaflet which accompanied the 1984 range.Ĭliffjumper and Bumblebee were both available in red and yellow in 1984, and again in 1985, this time with rubsigns. Also of note is that the line's UK tag-line initially was " Warrior Robots in Disguise", seen in the comic and on much of the early ancillary merchandise. A surprising confirmed omission from the initial wave of 1984 toys is Megatron, whose absence on the shelves was even noted in the letters page of the Marvel UK comic. Recounts of which toys were and weren't available in the UK vary depending on who you ask. ![]() Common consensus is that they came in English-only packaging virtually indistinguishable from the US packaging. Little is known about the earliest toys released in the UK. Given that the Marvel UK comic launched in September '84 (complete with advertisements touting that the toys were "In the shops now!") it seems likely that they were on-sale by mid-summer at the latest, only a few months after the line's US launch. While The Transformers would not reach most of Europe until 1985, a number of the toys from the 1984 US line were also available in the UK the same year. ![]()
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